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Raising Sand

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Untitled

Raising Sand is a collaboration album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Rounder Records. Raising Sand won Album of the Year at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

Background

The two songs written by Gene Clark, "Polly (Come Home)" and "Through the Morning, Through the Night", were originally recorded by Dillard & Clark for their 1969 album, Through the Morning Through the Night. "Rich Woman" was first recorded by McKinley Millet (as L'il Millet) and his Creoles in 1955, for Specialty Records. "Please Read the Letter" was first recorded for the Page and Plant album, Walking into Clarksdale, in 1998. "Gone, Gone, Gone" was originally recorded by the Everly Brothers for Warner Music in 1964. They also recorded "Stick With me Baby" in 1960, for A Date with The Everly Brothers. "Trampled Rose" was originally written and recorded by Tom Waits, and was featured on Real Gone in 2004.

Apart from the influence of Plant and Krauss' vocal styles and talent, the album's producer, T-Bone Burnett is credited with giving the album its skeletal musical style.

Critical reception

Alison Krauss performing with Robert Plant at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival

The album was met with critical acclaim, earning an averaged score of 87 from compiled reviews on Metacritic.[1] This album was #24 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[2]

Raising Sand received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. Being There called it "one of the year’s very best",[3] and Allmusic called it "one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music", but stated that some of the songs "(felt) like (they were) tossed off".[4] JamBase called the album "subtle, focused and full of life" and said that it was "highly recommended".[5] Village Voice commented on the album, saying it was "powerfully evocative" and "utterly foreign, oddly familiar, and deeply gratifying". ..[6]

The compilation of songs on Raising Sand were hand-picked by the producer, T-Bone Burnett. Entertainment Weekly described the cover songs that make up the album as "eclectic",[7] and Village Voice said that "T-Bone Burnett flaunts his typical curatorial genius with a whole set of 'have we met before?' tunes".[6] The instrumental quality of the album was also praised; BBC described Krauss's fiddle as "coruscating" and "raw",[8] and Music Box said that Krauss "exceeds all expectations".[9] The guest instrumentalists were also praised, with BBC saying that the guests "make this a stunning, dark, brooding collection, comparable in tone to Daniel Lanois' masterful job on Dylan's Time Out Of Mind."[8]

Critics praised Krauss and Plant's vocal harmonization, with one critic saying that the "key to the magic is the delicious harmony vocals of the unlikely duo."[10] Various music critics described Alison Krauss's vocals as being "spellbinding", "honey-sweet", "weepy", "saccharine", and "haunting".[8][10][11] On the other hand, Robert Plant's sometimes "wailing" vocals were described as "orgasmic", and "slithering", in regard to his lead roles.[6][11]

"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" was released as a single and won the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards. The song "Killing the Blues" was #51 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[12]

On February 8, 2009, the album won all five awards for which it was nominated at the 51st Grammy Awards: Album of the Year; Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album; Record of the Year (for "Please Read the Letter"); Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Rich Woman"); and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for "Killing the Blues").[13][14] Raising Sand was the second of three country albums to win Album of the Year, after Dixie Chicks's Taking the Long Way and followed by Taylor Swift's Fearless.

The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the UK.

In December 2009, Rhapsody (online music service) ranked the album #2 on its "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" list.[15]

Chart performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling about 112,000 copies in its first week, the highest chart position for either artists' solo work (Plant, however, had previously reached #1 several times with Led Zeppelin).[16] Raising Sand was certified platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2008.[17][18] After the album's success at the 2009 Grammy Awards, the album topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and Top Internet Albums chart for the first time on the week of February 28, 2009. The album also hit the top of Canadian Top Country Albums, and also peaked at #2 in Billboard Top Country Albums, being stuck behind part of 35 weeks non-consecutive chart topping Fearless by Country singer Taylor Swift.

The album entered the Top 5 on the UK Albums Chart, going on to reach #2 in January 2008.[citation needed]

Follow-up album

According to Ken Irwin of Rounder Records, and producer Burnett, the duo have started work on a second album.[19]

Track listing

Raising Sand
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rich Woman"Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Millet4:04
2."Killing the Blues"Roly Jon Salley4:16
3."Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us"Sam Phillips3:26
4."Polly Come Home"Gene Clark5:36
5."Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"Don Everly, Phil Everly3:33
6."Through the Morning, Through the Night"Gene Clark4:01
7."Please Read the Letter"Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant5:53
8."Trampled Rose"Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits5:34
9."Fortune Teller"Naomi Neville4:30
10."Stick With Me Baby"Mel Tillis2:50
11."Nothin'"Townes Van Zandt5:33
12."Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson"Milton Campbell4:02
13."Your Long Journey"Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson3:55

Personnel

Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (2007–2008) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Charts 45
Australian Top Country Albums 3
Canadian Albums Chart 5
Canadian Top Country Albums 1
Media Control Charts 26
Norweigian Albums Chart 1
Swiss Music Charts 33
Swedish Albums Chart 2
UK Albums Chart 2
U.S. Billboard 200 2[20]
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 2[20]
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 1[20]

Certifications

Country Provider Certification
United States RIAA Platinum[17]
United Kingdom BPI Platinum[21]
Sweden IFPI Platinum[22]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Grammy Award for Album of the Year
2009 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Robert Plant And Alison Krauss: Raising Sand (2007): Reviews, Metacritic
  2. ^ "The Top 50 Albums of 2007". Rolling Stone. December 17, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  3. ^ Miller, Adam D. "Raising Sand - Robert Plant/Alison Krauss". Being There. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  4. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Raising Sand - Robert Plant/Alison Krauss". Allmusic. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  5. ^ Cook, Dennis. "Robert Plant | Alison Krauss: Raising Sand". JamBase. November 12, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Cavaleiri, Nate. "Robert Plant & Alison Krauss's Raising Sand: A whole lotta desolate, evocative, engrossing love". Village Voice. October 16, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  7. ^ "Raising Sand (2007) Alison Krauss, Robert Plant". Entertainment Weekly. October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  8. ^ a b c "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand". BBC. October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  9. ^ "Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raising Sand". Music Box. October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Raising Sand". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  11. ^ a b "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raing Sand (sic)". Blender Magazine. October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  12. ^ "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  13. ^ http://content.grammy.com/grammy_awards/51st_show/list.aspx
  14. ^ MTV News Staff (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  15. ^ "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  16. ^ Hasty, Katie. "Underwood Leads Three Country Debuts Onto Chart", Billboard. October 31, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  17. ^ a b "RIAA Searchable Database". RIAA. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  18. ^ "Alison Krauss/Robert Plant go platinum". Country Standard Time. March 20, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  19. ^ Rolling Stone: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Working On "Raising Sand" Follow-Up
  20. ^ a b c "Robert Plant Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  21. ^ [1]. BPI. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
  22. ^ IFPI Sweden Retrieved February 11, 2010.
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