Music and lyrics
"Please Read the Letter" is in the folk rock genre.[3]
Plant explained that "Please Read the Letter" is a song about yearning for someone, adding that the lyrics are about "unfinished business".[4]
Release
A music video for the single was released in 2008. It was shot in a 1905-built house in South Los Angeles .[4]
The music video was nominated for Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the 2009 CMT Music Awards.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss version
"Please Read the Letter"
Single by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss from the album Raising Sand Released
2008 Format
CD single , Digital download Recorded
2007 Genre
Folk rock , country Length
5 :55 Label
Rounder Songwriter(s)
Charlie Jones , Michael Lee , Jimmy Page , Robert Plant
Music video
"Please Read the Letter " at CMT.com Robert Plant singles chronology
"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" (2007) Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)2007
"Please Read the Letter " (2008) Please Read the Letter2008
"Rich Woman " (2008) Rich Woman 2008
Alison Krauss singles chronology
"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" (2007) Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)2007
"Please Read the Letter " (2008) Please Read the Letter2008
"Rich Woman " (2008) Rich Woman 2008
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Plant and Krauss' version of the song initially failed to chart, but after winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year , the song entered the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at #20 (the virtual equivalent to #120 on the Hot 100) in 2009.
Chart (2009)
Peak position
UK Singles Chart
102
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100[5]
20
Reception
The song has been well received by critics. Chris Jones, in his review for the BBC , felt that the version by Plant and Krauss is "completely improved" from the original track.[6] Thom Jurek wrote for Allmusic : "Slow, plodding, almost crawling, Krauss' harmony vocal takes it to the next step, adds the kind of lonesome depth that makes this a song whispered under a starless sky rather than just another lost love song."[7]
Track listing
2008 US CD single (Rounder RPAK102-R1)
"Please Read the Letter" (Radio Edit) (Jones, Lee, Page, Plant) – 3:47
"Please Read the Letter" (Jones, Lee, Page, Plant) – 5:55
References
↑ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-08-03). "Plant, Krauss Cover Everlys, Waits On New Album" . Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved 2009-01-12 .
↑ MTV News Staff (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List" . MTV . Retrieved 2009-02-09 .
↑ "Raising Sand" . Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2007-10-27. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-12 .
1 2 Halperin, Shirley (2008-02-20). "A Tale of Two Singers" . Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2009-01-12 .
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010 . Record Research, Inc. p. 500. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
↑ Jones, Chris (2007-10-19). "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand" . BBC . Retrieved 2008-12-08 .
↑ "Raising Sand: Review" . Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-12-08 .
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"Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) " by Domenico Modugno (1959)
"Mack the Knife " by Bobby Darin (1960)
"Theme from A Summer Place " by Percy Faith (1961)
"Moon River " by Henry Mancini (1962)
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco " by Tony Bennett (1963)
"Days of Wine and Roses " by Henry Mancini (1964)
"The Girl from Ipanema " by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz (1965)
"A Taste of Honey " by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1966)
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"Up, Up and Away " by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr. , Florence LaRue , Marilyn McCoo , Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson ) (1968)
"Mrs. Robinson " by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel , Paul Simon ) (1969)
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In " by The 5th Dimension (Billy Davis Jr. , Florence LaRue , Marilyn McCoo , Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson ) (1970)
"Bridge over Troubled Water " by Simon & Garfunkel (Art Garfunkel , Paul Simon ) (1971)
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"Clocks " by Coldplay (Guy Berryman , Jon Buckland , Will Champion , Phil Harvey , Chris Martin ) (2004)
"Here We Go Again " by Ray Charles and Norah Jones (2005)
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams " by Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong , Mike Dirnt , Frank Edwin Wright III ) (2006)
"Not Ready to Make Nice " by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire , Natalie Maines , Emily Robison ) (2007)
"Rehab " by Amy Winehouse (2008)
"Please Read the Letter " by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (2009)
"Use Somebody " by Kings of Leon (Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill) (2010)
"Need You Now " by Lady Antebellum (Hillary Scott , Charles Kelley , Dave Haywood) (2011)
"Rolling in the Deep " by Adele (2012)
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