Omnivores, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Some Beloved Evergreen Cheese

Listen up, kiddos: Once there was a band called Led Zeppelin and they ruled the world. Back in the dinosaur-friendly Jurassic – 1969-1976, the period before the In Through the Out Door album, I don’t bother with that one – many Western cave shelters had Zeppelin records on their shelves sitting next to a whole variety of other eclectic musicks. For my older sister, my gateway to the band, they were played in rotation with Cal Tjader, Pentangle, and Barbra Streisand. (My sister is way older than me.)

If you’re of a generation riper than Millennial, you may already suffer from a classic rock radio-induced Zeppelin fatigue. Try to forget that: Take some cleansing breaths and dig into this. (See the vid below.)

First some data: According to a study, music fans are divided into three categories: omnivores, univores, and a third group of omnivores that listens to fusty classical in addition to rock and pop. The majority of us are univores; people tend to be more like univore-like these days.

I’ve personally had some Zeppelin revisionism recently, influenced by the highly disputed (by the band itself – it’s not flattering) but very compelling band muckraker, The Hammer of the Gods (1985). (FYI: Some of its juicier bits are verifiably true, like Jimmy Page’s relationship with a then 15 year-old girlfriend. Google Lori Maddox.) While I can't deny the greatness of some of their output, I’ve had to take them down a few notches.

(Plus, Page’s post-Zeppelin legacy is pretty dismal – c’mon, Cloverdale Page and The Firm? Anyone? – and those weatherbeaten Page and Plant reunions. Though, you have to give props to Plant’s more recent work, especially with Alison Krauss and John Paul Jones’ work with Diamanda Galas and Them Crooked Vultures. Come to think, Page is the only stinker.)

Anyway, for me, the true Zeppelin evergreen has always been Since I've Been Loving You. If you’ve a low threshold gag reflex for unctuous cocktail lounge cheese, you may balk at where Corinne Baily Rae steers this gem to start. If so, then trust me, you’ll love the second half. I prefer the first but whatever: When people without Robert Plant’s Herculean wail try to go toe-to-toe with the original, they come off like a suckas. Rae doesn't go there. She journeys elsewhere else and it’s a brilliant choice.

She does it right: