Robert Plant - Benefit for Arthur Lee, Beacon Theatre, New York City, 6-23-2006

Singer Robert Plant has long been a fan of 1960s West Coast rock and folk rock, especially the bands Moby Grape and Love. By early 2006, the health of Arthur Lee, the main singer and songwriter of Love, was in rapid decline, due to leukemia. Love was a very critically acclaimed band, but their sales had never been that big, so Lee didn't have much money for his medical care. Thus, some of his musical friends and admirers stepped up to perform a benefit concert to help pay his medical bills. Musical artists at the concert included Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, Ryan Adams, Nils Lofgren, Yo La Tengo, and Garland Jeffreys.

The bad news is that only a bootleg of Plant's set is publicly available, as far as I know. The good news is that the sound quality of his set is fantastic, just as good as an official album.

The really bad news though is that nothing could stop Lee from getting worse. This concert took place in June 2006. Lee had already started chemotherapy sessions, but he died on August 3, 2006, at the age of 61. Probably his health was so bad that he couldn't attend the concert in person. 

Plant's usual backing band at the time also wasn't there. Instead, he was backed by Ian Hunter's band. He also sang a duet with Hunter, the Everly Brothers classic "When Will I Be Loved." For this concert, the band also included lead guitarist Johnny Echols, who was one of the founders of Love and stayed with the band until shortly after the 1967 release of the band's most acclaimed album, "Forever Changes."

As you'd expect at a concert for Arthur Lee, Plant sang some Love songs. Specifically, he did "Bummer in the Summer," "Old Man," "A House Is Not a Motel," and "Seven and Seven Is." And while Love didn't write the song "Hey Joe," they were one of the first bands to record it for an album (prior to it becoming famous by Jimi Hendrix). Plant has sang some of those songs many times in concert. But this appears to be the only time he's ever sang "Old Man" in public.

Plant, having been the singer for Led Zeppelin, also played three classics by that band: "In the Evening," "What Is and What Should Never Be," and "Ramble On." But what's odd is that he did some cover versions not associated with Love that he rarely or never played in other concerts: "For What It's Worth," "When Will I Be Loved," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and "Nature Boy." In fact, this appears to be the only concert he ever played "When Will I Be Loved" and "Can't Help Falling in Love," and he only did "Nature Boy" three other times.

So this is a unique concert for him. If you're a fan of both Plant (solo and in Led Zeppelin) and Love, like I am, this is a no-brainer to listen to. I'm surprised it's not better known in bootleg circles, especially given the excellent sound quality.

This album is an hour and four minutes long.

01 In the Evening (Robert Plant)
02 talk (Robert Plant)
03 Bummer in the Summer (Robert Plant)
04 talk (Robert Plant)
05 What Is and What Should Never Be (Robert Plant)
06 talk (Robert Plant)
07 Old Man (Robert Plant)
08 talk (Robert Plant)
09 For What It's Worth (Robert Plant)
10 talk (Robert Plant)
11 When Will I Be Loved (Robert Plant & Ian Hunter)
12 talk (Robert Plant)
13 A House Is Not a Motel (Robert Plant)
14 talk (Robert Plant)
15 Can't Help Falling in Love (Robert Plant)
16 talk (Robert Plant)
17 Hey Joe (Robert Plant)
18 Nature Boy (Robert Plant)
19 talk (Robert Plant)
20 Seven and Seven Is (Robert Plant)
21 talk (Robert Plant)
22 Ramble On (Robert Plant)

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The cover photo comes from this exact concert. I found a few, so I could have used one with just Plant in it. But I thought it was more interesting to include this one, which has Ian Hunter on guitar at his side. Hunter was much lower in the photo (probably due to some weird perspective issue), but I used Photoshop to raise him up some.