Walking into Clarksdale

Walking into Clarksdale is the only studio album by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, both formerly of English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released by Atlantic Records on 20 April 1998.[9] The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini at Abbey Road Studios.[10]

Walking into Clarksdale
Studio album by
Page and Plant
Released20 April 1998 (1998-04-20)
RecordedAugust-September 1997
StudioAbbey Road Studios, London, England
GenreBlues rock, hard rock
Length60:43
LabelAtlantic (US/Canada)
Mercury (international)
ProducerJimmy Page and Robert Plant
Page and Plant chronology
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
(1994)		 Walking into Clarksdale
(1998)
Jimmy Page chronology
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
(1994)		 Walking into Clarksdale
(1998)		 Live at the Greek: Excess All Areas
(2000)
Robert Plant chronology
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
(1994)		 Walking into Clarksdale
(1998)		 Dreamland
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(dud)[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[3]
Entertainment Weekly91/100[4]
NME6/10[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Spin3/10[7]
Uncut7/10[8]

The album debuted on the Billboard's Billboard 200 album chart at No. 8, while reaching No. 3 on the UK Album Chart. The single "Most High" was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1999, and reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and No. 26 in the UK.[11]

Plant re-recorded the song "Please Read the Letter" with Alison Krauss for their 2007 collaboration album Raising Sand. This re-recording won the Record of the Year award at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[12] "House of Love" was later re-recorded with different lyrics by Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters for their 2014 studio album Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar.

The title of the album refers to Clarksdale, Mississippi, a town in the Mississippi Delta considered to be the birthplace of blues music.[13]

Background and recording

Following their successful No Quarter tour and subsequent live album release, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant began writing Walking into Clarksdale. For the new record, Page and Plant pursued a more stripped-down sound, eschewing the heavy orchestration of their live performances in favor of a more traditional four-piece band.[13] The initial demos for the album were written by Page on a Harmony H1260 Sovereign guitar, first used during the recording of Led Zeppelin III.[13]

The band met at RAK Studios in August 1997 where they recorded "Burning Up" and "Shining in the Light".[14][15] Shortly after, the band left RAK for Abbey Road's EMI Number Two Studio, where they recorded the rest of the album over the course of 35 days in August and September.[16][17] Page characterized the band's approach as "minimalistic", stating that the band wanted to avoid "embellishments for the sake of it" and that "every note was played in its place to mean something."[18]

The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini, known for producing Nirvana's final album In Utero.[19] Plant reported he had long admired Albini's music and recording techniques.[20] Each song was recorded in a single take, with the full band live in the studio, with the exception of guitar layering on the title track and string and keyboard overdubs on "Upon a Golden Horse" and "Most High".[14]

Release

Walking into Clarksdale was released internationally on 20 April 1998, and in North America on 21 April to widespread critical acclaim.[21] The album's launch was preceded by the release of "Most High" as the album's first single on 30 March 1998. "Most High" debuted at No. 10 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.[22]

"Shining in the Light" was released as the album's second single in May 1998.[23]

Atlantic Records promoted the album extensively, with advertising on major U.S. cable channels and national print publications like Rolling Stone, interviews booked on nearly every major talk show, and a "substantial radio buy" in the top 20 radio markets. In addition to more traditional promotional channels, Atlantic signed a deal with Ticketmaster – a first for the label – to upsell the album directly to customers who ordered tickets to the 1998 tour.[22]

The album cover, designed by Martin Callomon, features photography by Anton Corbijn, best known for his work with U2 and Depeche Mode.[24]

Tour

To promote Walking into Clarksdale, Page and Plant kicked off 1998's "Walking into Everywhere" Tour. The tour, consisting of three tours of Eastern Europe, North America, and Western Europe, consisted of 97 tour dates and featured a mix of both new material and Led Zeppelin classics.[25][26] The band's concert in Bucharest, Romania was professionally filmed for a cancelled home video release, and parts of the concert were broadcast live on the MTV special “Live from the 10 Spot” to promote the album.[27]

Three additional tour legs in Japan, Australia, and South America were planned for 1999. However, following a final appearance in Paris on 10 December 1998 at the Amnesty International “The Struggle Continues…” concert, Robert Plant dissolved the partnership and the planned 1999 tour was cancelled.[28]

Track listing

All songs by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Charlie Jones, and Michael Lee.

  1. "Shining in the Light" – 4:01
  2. "When the World Was Young" – 6:13
  3. "Upon a Golden Horse" – 3:52
  4. "Blue Train" – 6:45
  5. "Please Read the Letter" – 4:21
  6. "Most High" – 5:36
  7. "Heart in Your Hand" – 3:50
  8. "Walking into Clarksdale" – 5:18
  9. "Burning Up" – 5:21
  10. "When I Was a Child" – 5:45
  11. "House of Love" – 5:35
  12. "Sons of Freedom" – 4:08

Japanese bonus track

  1. "Whiskey from the Glass" – 3:01

Note

  • "Most High" and "Shining in the Light" were released as singles, with a music video for the former. "Most High" was also featured as a CD single with the B-side "The Window".

Personnel
Band members
Additional musicians
Production

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for Walking into Clarksdale
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[47] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Page & Plant / Jimmy Page / Robert Plant - Walking into Clarksdale review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  2. "CG: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  3. Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 333. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  4. "Album of the Year - Walking into Clarksdale". Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. Segal, Victoria. "Walking into Clarksdale". NME. Archived from the original on 1 October 2000.
  6. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 613. ISBN 978-1-4391-0939-7. OCLC 56531290.
  7. Vowell, Sarah (May 1998). "Reviews - Page & Plant Walking into Clarksdale". Spin. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  8. Bonner, Michael (May 1998). "The Rover". Uncut. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  9. "BPI".
  10. "Steve Albini talks about recording Robert Plant and Jimmy Page Remastered Audio HD 720p" (MP4). Porcupine Band. YouTube. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  11. "41st Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. MTV News Staff (8 February 2009). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  13. Bordowitz, Hank (2014). Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin : interviews and encounters (First ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-61374-757-5. OCLC 892799385.
  14. Page, Jimmy (2020). Jimmy Page: The Anthology. Guildford, Surrey, England: Genesis Publications. pp. 343–348. ISBN 978-1-905662-61-6. OCLC 1203144576.
  15. "Jimmy Page's Guitar Arsenal". The Mix. Vol. 22, no. 7–12. 1998. p. 198.
  16. Williamson, Nigel (2007). The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin. Rough Guides. London: Rough Guides. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-4053-8421-6. OCLC 735617843.
  17. Case, George (2007). Jimmy Page : magus, musician, man : an unauthorized biography (1st ed.). New York: Hal Leonard. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-4234-0407-1. OCLC 77830203.
  18. Lewis, Dave (2010). Led Zeppelin: The 'Tight But Loose' Files (1st ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-220-9. OCLC 993060734.
  19. Klosterman, Chuck (2002). Fargo rock city : a heavy metal odyssey in rural Nörth Daköta (First Touchstone ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4711-0450-3. OCLC 973483909.
  20. "Dave Grohl: 'Page & Plant' Ray Gun". www.fooarchive.com. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  21. Buckley, Peter, ed. (2003). The Rough Guide To Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 765. ISBN 1-84353-105-4. OCLC 59305933.
  22. Christman, Ed (18 April 1998). "Jimmy Page, Robert Plant Keep 'Walking'". Billboard. p. 9. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  23. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn presents Rock tracks 1981-2008. Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-174-1. OCLC 234835387.
  24. Walking into Clarksdale - Page & Plant, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant | Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 22 December 2021
  25. "Jimmy Page & Robert Plant's Concert & Tour History | Concert Archives". concertarchives.org. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  26. Archive-Chris-Nelson. "Page & Plant Announce U.S. Tour". MTV News. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  27. "Page Plant: MTV Live on the 10 Spot". Binged. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  28. Lewis, Dave (2012). Led Zeppelin : from a whisper to a scream. London: Omnibus Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-85712-788-4. OCLC 992804924.
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  44. "Robert Plant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
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