Robert Plant went on to find great fame as a heavy rock god in the 70's (mostly known for his work in Led Zeppelin but then later solo stuff as well) but our scene knows him best for his CBS 45 B side "I've Got A Secret" (1967).

He's about my age (being born in 1948) and came from a well-to-do family in West Brom (Birmingham). He was intelligent but fell out of love with school work when he discovered blues music while a teenager. He didn't do well in his GCE exams, left school and drifted between 9 to 5 jobs. His main interest was in playing music & he was in groups from an early age. He hung out & played at many of the top Birmingham area blues venues (many being pubs like the Bulls Head - though he was underage). He built up a decent record collection, again mainly blues. He went to a live show @ the Gaumont Cinema in Wolverhampton and was much taken with Bo Diddley. He got a Lambretta & would use it to go over to the Old Hill Plaza. There he'd perform with groups or act as an MC / DJ. Mods & soul music had become in vogue & so he joined / formed a local mod group -- Listen. As it was mod groups that were getting the best bookings they steered that path and the group became known for doing covers of soul songs in their live act. They would do Robert's fave songs; Solomon Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love" and Sam & Dave's "Hold On I'm Coming". Noddy Holder (soon to be of Slade) would act as their Roadie, helping ferry their gear around. They got lots of local gigs + ones as far away as the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire (they'd back up visiting US singers during their acts too).

Listen were soon a big draw on the Birmingham club scene, getting packed house at venues such as the Midnight City Club in Digbeth. Next they landed a record deal with CBS. How this came about I'm unsure, but they were cut by a joint US / UK team -- Danny Kessler & Roger Bolton. Kessler was the Yank, having been head of A&R for Okeh Records and RCA's R&B division. He had co-founded Seville Records in 1959 and then sold his part of the company before joining Leiber & Stollers' production company. Later he returned to Seville Records to work in conjunction with Edward Kassner (of President Records). I guess it was via Kassner / President that he ended up in the UK cutting Robert & Listen (1966). The Listen 45 ( a cover of a Young Rascals track) sank without trace but more tracks were cut and a couple of 45's were put out under Robert's name -- the B side of the 2nd one being "I've Got A Secret".

"I've Got A Secret" was released by CBS in July 67 and was a cover of the Sharpees recording for One-derful from April 66. I guess "I've Got A Secret" was a song that Listen had also done in their live act. At that time the group were playing gigs at venues such as Le Metro in central Birmingham & Chateau Impney in Droitwich. . . . NOW (EVENTUALLY) TO MY QUESTION.

The Sharpees 45 was never released in the UK and due to this, it's unlikely that a UK publishing company was on board with the song and marketing it to UK record companies to get British acts to cut a version. So how come Robert Plant & Listen knew the song (he was performing as Robert Plant & Band of Joy by then).

WELL ... at the time they were frequenting / playing clubs like Le Metro and Chateau Impney (which boasted about having the 1st disco club in the midlands -- The Imp Cellar Club) a certain DJ was resident at both venues -- FARMER CARL DEAN.

Now Carl had a great collection of import soul 45's ahead of many other UK soulies BUT it's also said that Robert Plant had expanded his record collection to also include soul 45's .... so is it known if Robert had this 45, as when not performing in his group he'd DJ himself at various local venues. So he could have spun the 45 & witnessed the dance floor reaction ... OR ... he could have been in attendance when Carl Dean was DJing & heard him play it & again seen the crowd's reaction .... of course, it's also possible that their American producer Danny Kessler (who had worked for Okeh) could have been aware of this US soul hit and had brought the song to them himself. .. .. ... Yet another possibility is that a band that set the club alight at Le Metro near Snow Hill Rail Stn was the Spencer Davis Group -- they were very R&B biased & just maybe they did the song in their live act & that's how Robert first heard it.

. . . . Anyone know the story of how Robert Plant came to cut a version of the Sharpees song ?

Edited October 11Oct 11 by Roburt

Not a clue , but if I bump into him in Mr Tees , Kidderminster I'll ask him .

When he stood in on 6 Music DJing ( not sure who for , may have been Craig Charles vacation) his 1st choice was , Vernon Garrett , Shine It On , probably on Stateside demo , which he told us it was probably his all time fave Soul / RnB tune .

I know he has a collection of , at last count 1 million albums & 45s combined ( still growing ) & is a big fan & collector of the Ace/ Kent output , so he's never turned his back on his Soul / RnB roots , just choose to go down a different path experimenting with different musical influences & still is .

A PIECE ON-LINE ABOUT HIM (Carl Dean) ... ... Dene travelled all over the country to all-nighters like Manchester’s Twisted Wheel and the Mojo in Sheffield, before taking up spinning himself. A rare soul collector .... ... In early 1966 he recalls the top Wheel sounds being “Call On Me” by Bobby Bland, “Sweet Thing” by The Spinners, “All for You” by Earl Van Dyke, “It Keeps Rainin’” by Fats Domino, “The Jerk” by The Larks, “(Girl) Why You Wanna Make Me Blue” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do” by The Temptations ...... In ‘64 and ‘65, there were very few imports. They started coming in 1966 when shops were starting to import them .... RECORDS YOU TOOK TO THE WHEEL TO GET PLAYED >> originally it wasn’t played very often and it became very popular. “Tired of Being Lonely” by the Sharpees on Stateside.

I don't think I'd have met him back in the day (as I was a regular at the Mojo & Wheel in 67 / 68, he used to go at an earlier time). But the stuff he was into at the Wheel (& obviously got hold of to play @ Le Metro & Chateau Impney) were similar records to the Sharpees one. He even makes mention of the Sharpees UK released 45 > so if he was anything like me, he'd have been looking out for US only Sharpees 45 releases on auction lists of import soul 45's that were being sent out in the UK back then.

BTW, the Sharpees "Tired Of ..." biggie has been included on the new TWISTED WHEEL album due to it's legendary status at the club.

BTW, I had to laugh at the Chateau Impney allnighter ad ... the live acts were on at 2.00am & 3.30am but they served breakfast (4/6d) at 3am -- so if you felt like eating an early meal (!!?!!), you'd miss much of the live acts shows. The live acts were on at that time to enable them to do (say) a 10pm show at another club earlier the same night -- which meant the niter show promoter would pay less to have the act on.

Edited October 12Oct 12 by Roburt

Slightly off topic , The Chateau Impney is currently closed & in a sorry state , but plans are afoot for demolishing all of the ugly extensions that have been built over the years , restoring it to it's original beauty & functional rooms , & the building of over 100 new homes on the surrounding grounds , not before time .

Nice topic. I'd like to highlight the other side of the Listen 45: "Everybody's gonna say" more Mod than Northern Soul but a very cool number. Just check his likes during his Mod days!!

Thanks for all of this - really interesting thread!👍

There are a few books out there about Robert Plant & his music career. It's obvious his real love was American blues music. I believe he thought the tracks he made with Led Zep were 'blues tracks' though most fans of the group think of them as heavy rock. I'm not a fan of his 70's / 80's rock stuff so have no reason to buy any of the books about him.

I'd think that the mod / soul phase of his career were more coz they were the in thing at the time rather than 'true loves' of his -- but I may be doing him a disservice with my opinion. Anyone got any of the books & if so, what do they say about his mid to late 60's period (his mod & soul periods).

I'm also not sure if when Listen were done & he was going out as Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, he was still doing lots of soul stuff -- though 1968 ads for an old soul club up my way (north Lincs) suggest the group were being booked to do a soul type show ...

His delivery of Fortune Teller with Alison Krauss from 2007 is a pretty good effort also.

Paul

About 12 years ago a good friend of mine bought a box of records from a local church fete. The elderly lady was selling home made cakes and underneath her stall was a box of records. How much for the records he asked, a £1 she said. Well I only have a couple of quid left after buying some of your cakes. No £1 for the box she said, so he bought them.

He brought the box for me to take a look at as none of them he knew and none were soul records, they were all unplayed demos of late 60s psychedelic records. In the box was the two records by Listen on unplayed demos, plus loads more rare records. He sold the records bit by bit and he got £500 then for the Listen singles.

Kev

I'm not sure if it's coz he went on to greater things with Led Zepp ... BUT the Listen & Robert Plant CBS 45's do go for a lot of money. Maybe it is Led Zepp completists that pay the big prices but I guess these 45 cuts have a certain charm of their own (though I believe its just the track that this thread is about that appeals to soulies).

I said I would ask him , if I bumped into him & whilst out walking Vincent our 6 month old Blue Whippet this evening , who got on rather well with Robert , I asked him how it came about that he sang " I've Got A Secret " etc . He told me that Ed Kassner ( of Ed Kassner Music Ltd. ) had sent his team a One- Derful acetate to listen to & record which he did . He honestly didn't know The Sharpees had previously recorded , the group name wasn't on the Acetate , not one of his favourite songs & admitted he struggled with the key , too high for his range .

Just a quick footnote , I did tell Robert why I was asking him , & he gave his blessing for me to update .

Edited Tuesday at 18:454 days by Happy Feet
Footnote

My question answered. Many thanks.

It makes sense really that Ed Kassner would have links to the guys @ One-derful. One of the early soul releases on UK President (he owned / ran President too -- both the US and UK arms of the company) was of course the Mar-V-Lus 45 by Alvin Cash & the Crawlers "Philly Freeze" (Oct 66). In fact the Leaner Bros were so tight with Kassner, that they made EMI withdraw their Stateside 45 version in favour of Kassner's President 45 release. As EMI were the biggest record company in the world at that time, that was a bold move to make.

Edited Tuesday at 19:384 days by Roburt