Plant, Krauss and Burnett bonded over sweet buns -- oh, and Americana
It's been said many times but we'll say it again: when a rock god and a country goddess meet up, it can't help but end in an impressive sweep at the Grammys. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won a total of five awards for "Raising Sand, the collaboration produced by T-Bone Burnett. All three came backstage to tell the story of the album.
Plant's first encounters with his co-musicians were rife with edible pleasures: "I realized that T-Bone and Alison had a gastronomic need that I have never experienced before. There was so much food in the studio. I had never seen buns and rolls and stuff full of jam and fries.
"They’re American. I started to like them."
Burnett: "There are a limited number of people who like music. Those people really like music. The record industry got into the business of trying to sell music to everybody. But if you make music for people who actually care about music, then you can do well. We care about music so we try to make music we care about."
Plant: "The thing about it is we extensively come from such different places of the musical map. There are a variety of differences in the way we’ve gone about enjoying our lives as musicians. Mine has been the British approach. When I was a kid, I just tried to be American. Great songs were American songs. Mostly, the ones that turned me on were spectacular black Americana. The thing about Alison patiently showed me so much of the American I’ve never been exposed to. There’s so many songs in the air. There’s thousands and thousands of beautiful songs.
"America needs to know what its songs are all about. It’s OK playing the game, but behind and underneath the game, there is something very beautiful here."
He quickly added: “Most of it is Irish and Scottish, by the way.”
Plant also talked about Led Zeppelin's history of being critical of the Recording Academy: "We threw some Grammys, but they weren’t ours, out of the window. It’s a different time. The folks who were turning us down and trying to bury us were running Rolling Stone magazine and all of these other magazines that said we were insignificant philanderists. They couldn’t have been more right."
On being third most honored person in history of Grammys, Krauss said, "I feel amazed I get to do this for a living. I get to work and continue to work in an inspired way. I have been lucky enough to work that way. This has been incredibly interesting. Like Robert had said, we went in the studio for three days to see what we would do and if it didn’t work, it didn’t work. If it didn’t work, it’s because we weren’t drawn to it. How spoiled I’ve really been is amazing, to still have things be in place and continue to work where I’ve kept up at night."
--Mark Medina
Natalie Cole doesn't regret last year's tough love for Amy Winehouse
Natalie Cole, who has stated that she did heroin for a period in the '80s, spoke again about her strong words for 2007 Best New Artist winner Amy Winehouse, who she said didn't deserve her win. "Last year I got in hot water for what I said about Amy Winehouse. I will still say it again. It's very personal for me because of the fact I'm an ex-drug addict. I don't take that stuff lightly. When I had Hepatitis [C] and I was diagnosed last year, it was because of drug use with heroin and it stayed in my body for 25 years. It can still happen to this young woman and other addicts fooling around with drugs. It's the real deal. I don't apologize for things I said. I still wish her the best. I hope what happens to me doesn't happen to her."
In regards to her own struggles with Hepatitis C, she says, "it took me a minute to get my stamina back. But it's really been great. I've been able to kick butt and my voice is still there. I'm very happy and grateful I was still able to go on the road."
"The challenging part is I have to have a dialysis wherever I go. That means every other day, three times a week, I have to find a facility. The facility that I go to, they will research and find other facilities all over the country. It's amazing. They're really all over the country."
"I'm still waiting for a transplant... It's strange having strangers offer to give you a kidney, but there is a bank of donors that we're looking into. They have to go through evaluations as well... People don't realize kidney transplants are not that big of a deal. It sounds like a heart transplant, but it's not. It's like getting your tonsils taken out."
Despite her health issues, she remains connected to her life's work and her place in it: "I still feel very strongly about music. I'm not real happy with some of the stuff I see happening in music but I'm older now. I can say that I can talk a lot of smack about it now. When I was younger, I thought that I was cool, as a lot of the young artists tonight will feel the same way. As you get older, you do get a little bit more serious about your craft. You want to do stuff that lasts."
She added that she'd want to collaborate with Herbie Hancock and John Mayer. "I was thinking I might have a chance to make another R&B album. I don't know it'd happen, but it certainly could."
--Mark Medina
Pregnant M.I.A. earns Estelle's respect
Estelle won for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration but that wasn't the only highlight of her night. She also gazed in wonder at the astoundingly pregnant M.I.A. performing her sleeper hit "Paper Planes."
"I was like, 'Oh God, she's going to break any minute now. I have so much respect for you.' I love people like that. It's a thing where I understand where she's coming from. I would never miss the opportunity to perform with people like Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and T.I... I'd be like, 'Don't worry, I'll be here.' Even if I had a broken leg or something. I'll be here even with one arm. I have so much respect for her."
Kanye West's British pal has another record in the works. "I just started recording right now. I'm feeling it out and [seeing] where I want to go with it.... right now it's a variation of Coldplay-Marvin Gaye."
--Mark Medina
Reactions from Katy Perry, Carrie Underwood, Paul McCartney and more below.
