Any rock and roll fan looking to get in front of a microphone will take a cue from Elvis Presley. Even though Chuck Berry may have introduced the world to rock and roll, seeing Presley shake his hips across the stage lit a fire in kids looking for more than just a catchy tune, a sentiment shared by everyone from John Lennon to Mick Jagger. Although Robert Plant was one of many who followed in Presley’s footsteps, he believed Charlie Feathers could challenge ‘The King’.
Before joining Led Zeppelin, Plant’s style of rock and roll was very different from Presley’s. While there was some blues influence, Plant’s first band, The Band of Joy, appeared to be following in the footsteps of many other counterculture bands of the time. They produced folksy rock with the occasional heavy tune.
Across the country, Jimmy Page was already putting together the dream band he had imagined. After leaving The Yardbirds, Page wanted to create something more muscular than straight blues rock. He persuaded bassist John Paul Jones to join him before discovering Plant’s operatic voice.
Although Robert Plant enjoyed blues rock, his first exposure to rock and roll was through rockabilly songs. He usually heard the greatest rock artists from America secondhand. Even though Presley could slick back his hair and twirl his hips to make girls scream, Feathers could match him in terms of raw rock and roll power.
Feathers’ main calling card, despite not reaching the same eights, was his ferocity while playing. While not aiming for technical perfection, Plant’s focus was on the energetic presence he brought to the stage. He often became as enthralled as the audiences who packed the venues.
When asked about Feathers’ influence, Plant claimed that he could have rivalled Presley in his prime. He said in Digging Deep, “Charlie Feathers was the Elvis that never was. He maintained his rage throughout his career, believing it was justified. Feathers might have been a few years older than Elvis. Bottom line, he had these tracks, and they were fantastic.”
Plant’s vocal style appears to descend from Feathers’, while Presley loomed large over the rest of the rock world. when playing the occasional Elvis pastiche whenever Zeppelin played live, the reckless abandon in Plant’s voice comes from listening to artists with a bit more fury in their soul than Presley. Feathers already had that down to a science.
Despite Plant’s desire to channel his own rage through Zeppelin, he would eventually turn those influences into the blueprint for hard rock. Every other frontman expected to follow his template. Presley may have invented the rock and roll frontman role, but with the help of Feathers’ music, Plant introduced the world to ‘The Golden God’.
