Robert Plant and The Priory of Brion | Live footage and Discussion 

Loved the Priory of Brion and love Love's Forever Changes.

Thank you for giving the band Love some, well, love. For many years I had seen it listed as one of the greatest albums of the rock era, but it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that I finally made the time to listen to it and it was truly a transformational experience. Forever Changes is one of the most singular listening experiences that I have ever had and that still holds true two decades after my first listen.

Brilliant. I saw Priory of Bryon at The Roadmender in Northampton. I still feel blessed to have been at that gig..

Great episode Andy. I was born in `69 and have traveled a similar musical discovery path. What an excitement for you to know Robert Plant, let alone play in his band. Fantastic.

Thank you Andy!!

That was a nice rap, Andy, really enjoyed it, and when you talked about Robert's record collection & his 'teachings', it reminded me a lot of my musical background, and me proselytizing my poor friends. He's just a few years older than me, and in the Sixties I was a great Blues lover - British, but also American Blues. Blues as such, is the best musical teacher you can possibly get. It's just a stone throw away from Jazz, Folk & African Music, and then, you basically possess the ticket to travel whatever musical place in the world you want to go. At least for me that is. Love - 'Forever changes' is a true classic. It's like the best Beatles album they never actually recorded. In '68 I stumbled upon an Elektra Records compilation called 'OFF' (there was a 2nd volume, too), and that, besides two tracks by 'Love' (Flash on you & Bummer in the Summer), had in each case two tracks by bands/artists like 'The Doors', Earth Opera', Tim Buckley', 'Ars Nova' & the incredible 'Incredible String Band' a.o. Until then, the only Elektra artist I had known besides 'The Doors' was Josh White's 'Empty Bed Blues' - to this day one of my favourite Blues albums. All the others were uncharted territory for me - and I fell in love, not only with 'Love', but with most of them, especially with Tim Buckley & Earth Opera (a band led by the Rowan Brothers, and, of course, The Incredible String Band. Oh my God, those were the days. Actually, as a meta search to your video, I just discovered that there is a box set 'Forever changing - The Golden Years of Elektra Records 1963 - 1973'. In my (un)humble opinion, Elektra is one of the finest labels of all time - check it out.

Great video! I always enjoy the times when you talk about the evolution of "Rock" music as opposed to Rock and Roll... And yes, it is very much British and that influence lives on today!

Got my copy of Forever changes in 1972 from HMV Mander Center, when I worked there. Excellent episode.

I remember watching you guys when you played Stourbridge...I used to watch Logan when he played for Lye Town Football club. Robert, or Planty as his friend Ken used to call him used to join us in the stands and later in the bar for a few beers. Happy days and a great gig.

How fun! Ty for making this video.

what incredible experiences Andy - thanks for sharing them. 🙂 would definitely love to hear more

You mentioned Keith Carlock. Dude is a beast! And Van Morrison is absolutely one of my all time favorites.... Great stories, Andy!

Thanks Andy, it's the one incarnation of Robert I missed out on despite collecting many bootlegs of the PoB phase.

Love were a fantastic band, really cool to hear you guys cover them.

Great watch Andy, would love to hear more, did you record anything with Robert ?, how did things come to an end with him & are you still in touch ? Cheers, young man 🙂

Hanging with Plant had to be an experience! I was surprised to hear Robert covering a song by Love. Not many cover Loves work. Glad that you shared some of your experiences with the man. You also mentioned Astral Weeks which is an album that I hold in high esteem. I can not imagine the music that RP has experienced in his lifetime. What an experience for you!

Priory Of Brian/Brion! I was in Bishops castle the day you played there. On the chalkboard in the Three Tuns it sad "Priory Of Brian + local guest star". I didn't stay for the gig, I had to go home to Brum. A couple of days later, my mate who isn't a Zeppelin fan said, "Oh yeah, my cousin plays the keyboards with them and Robert Plant's the singer, so I forced him into getting us on the guest list at what I think was your next gig in Lichfield. Subsequently, I saw POB at a workingman's club in somewhere like Old Hill or Quarry Bank and again at some kind of rock club on an industrial estate between Dudley and Brierly Hill. The band was temendous with an amazing selction of covers. My favourite was No Regrets.

Great playing Andy! Cracking snare drum work.

I remember you doing a few Love songs. A little while afterwards Love played Brum and it was cool seeing both !

Thanks so much for sharing your story. We followed the PoB from the moment we became aware. I got some bootlegs and they were great fun. You did some great renditions of songs. I had tickets for your show in Amsterdam and was hugely looking forward to it. But alas, as you might remember, the second evening was canceled in the Melkweg (Milky-way) at the last moment. So you and the others still owe me one concert! 😂

SURREAL

WOW! Man, this IS great! Ilove the other solo eras and its neat to hear this!

Very interesting Andy. I enjoy your playing very much as well. Your playing really drives the song, very impressive.

Yee hee !!! Great playing !!! Great sound !!!

You mentioned the Doors. I love seeing rock groups connecting like jazz musicians. Have you ever watched the doors live at hollywood bowl? That to me is the doors at their best. Really connecting and comnects to me.

Saw this band - awesome. A stepping stone to Strange Space Shifters and Sensational Sensation.

Fascinating vid. Was lucky enough to see Arthur Lee playing the ‘Love’ material with a band he’d put together, at The Robin in Bilston, not long before he passed away. Early to mid 2000’s from memory. Johnny came on and played a load of songs with him as well. You’re right, it was a very interesting album for its time, which I must admit I only got into in the late 90’s. Way before my time, I’d not long been born when it came out lol Another great vid.

7and7 is check it out blistering tune by LOVE

Very interesting video Andy and good to see some 'pro-shot' live footage of the band, thanks for this. I recently heard the two songs that Priory of Brion recorded and released, Curse the evil woman is an incredible song. I note it was incorrectly spelled "Cuurse the evil woman" on the back cover - I thought this was deliberate, it gave a very Lovecraftian vibe to the song, I thought it was brilliant :). Maybe you can enlighten me about something - did POB also record "Flames"?

Welcome from Portugal! Nice show!!! P.S. Of all the prog bands you should give a new listen (like you did with ELP) is VDGG, especially Pawn Hearts. I know what you mean when you say they are meandering, but that's because the music reflects the state of mind of the subject in the song. I mean, I don't think that that meandering is the same as the one is In The Court of the Crimson King. I can't help thinking I'm preaching to the choir, but I had to say it, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, when it is directed at you! Well, that's it... I really like this channel 👍

Thanx An dy Im still doing my Rudiments I skip work and live in this Strange World Like an add Iccti

So interesting

Today listening to PoB Ashby De LA Zouch Folk Festival, 31st October 1999 😊

Today Sheffield Broadwalk, 25 september 1999. Season of the Witch, etc.

Astral Weeks is incredible.

Andy. Have you ever listened to Tommy Bolin ? He's my fav guitarist of all time.

More!!

Did you played with him at Riga, Latvia in 2001 july

That must have been an incredible experience to play and meet all those artists and performing with Robert, I can’t imagine. He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.

This was great, Andy. I grew up with a solid diet of the Small Faces, Spencer Davis Group, Brian Auger & Jools Driscoll, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Hendrix...and the Yardbirds, who IMO were the single most daring and musically innovative group of the pre-Cream/pre-Hendrix era. With Clapton they were a wannabe blues band, though when Jeff Beck joined they fired on several new cylinders - psych rock, garage rock, raga rock, blues rock, progressive rock, folk rock.... They led the way, and in doing so surely influenced the Beatles whilst also opening the gates of public acceptance for what followed with the arrival of Cream, Hendrix and the rise of the blues rock movement in late '66/'67. It was during that time that 'rock' started to replace 'pop' in the contemporary vernacular. The American scene at the time was very different, largely because unlike the geographically small UK, America was a vast proposition, so touring was more regional than national, thus the ability for rising trends to spread was limited. This resulted in very different scenes in LA, San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Nashville etc. The most interesting musically were arguably the West Coast scenes of LA and San Fran., where many musicians transitioned from one style to another. Jefferson Airplane, the Byrds, the Grateful Dead...these were folk, blues and bluegrass players of acoustic instruments who switched up to electric and went rock 'n' roll. In the UK the musicians seemingly tended to pursue a style and stick with it, though many drummers were jazzers who moved to rock (Ginger, Mitch, Hiseman, Hartley...). And you are quite right: the British scene largely dictated the direction of music. We all recognise the irony that the game-changing British bands were aspiring to make American-style music but in doing so transformed it into something dramatically new and different. Yes were about the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel; Fleetwood Mac was about BB King and Elmore James; Deep Purple was about Vanilla Fudge.... Robert Plant's knowledge of music is indeed extraordinary. And him subtly attempting to educate you reveals his understanding of the human psyche, which is very admirable thing for a 'boss' to do. I think after so-called jazz-fusion and the MTV era many of us drummers were a bit too straight-up and tight - more Level 42' Phil Gould than Little Richard's Chuck Connor - for a blues mongrel like Mr. Plant. Indeed, the swing of, say, Ringo or Mitch had given way to the metronomically quantised 'groove' of human drum machines. Dave Weckl's drumming fr Plant on the Honeydrippers' 'There's Good Rocking at Midnight' (w/Jeff Beck on guitar) was one of the few exceptions of that era. Dave might never have previously played that style of music, but he was equipped to do so. And he did a fine job of swinging from start to finish without coming across as a pastiche of the past. The philosophy aspect of musicianship is much more engaging than the technical aspect. Your musings and personal insights are interesting and enlightening on a number of levels. I enjoy them because they not only prompt me to recall my own experiences, but also to (re)consider my own thinking on some matters. And that is why I listen when you speak. Cheers!

Speaking of Yardbirds... I haven't seen all of your videos*, on the ones I've seen you've never talked about Renaissance. What do you think of them? *And I'm not going to just because of this question. I'll see them all but with time. P.S. II. And what about a video about pre-prog? (Well, I tried!!!)

I met Robert in Frankfurt in '93, when he had to open up for Lenny Kravitz and he was a little pissed off ... The Frankfurt Festhalle was filled to 50 % about and Robert was like, .. well we used to pack this place 2 or 3 days in a row .... and then this woman approached him and told him that they met before in the late 70 s but Robert didn't really want to go in details ...

Can you tell me the song name of the live footage, thank you!

…like a dog,…