Please Read the Letter

"Please Read the Letter" is a song originally recorded by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page for the 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale.[1]

"Please Read the Letter"
Song by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
from the album Walking Into Clarksdale
Recorded1998
GenreRock
Length4:21
LabelAtlantic (US) Mercury
Songwriter(s)Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
Producer(s)Jimmy Page, Robert Plant

Plant and Alison Krauss later recorded a version of the song for their collaboration album Raising Sand released in October 2007. The song was well received by critics, and won the Record of the Year award at the 2009 Grammy Awards.[2]

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
Released2008
Recorded2007
GenreFolk rock, country
Length5:55
LabelRounder
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)		 "Please Read the Letter"
(2008)		 "Rich Woman"
(2008)
Alison Krauss singles chronology
"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"
(2007)		 "Please Read the Letter"
(2008)		 "Rich Woman"
(2008)

Chart performance

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]

The song features in the closing moments of the final episode of the USA TV show The Riches.

Track listing

2008 US CD single (Rounder RPAK102-R1)

  1. "Please Read the Letter" (Radio Edit) (Jones, Lee, Page, Plant) – 3:47
  2. "Please Read the Letter" (Jones, Lee, Page, Plant) – 5:55

References
  1. 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.
  2. MTV News Staff (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  3. "Raising Sand". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2007-10-27. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  4. Halperin, Shirley (2008-02-20). "A Tale of Two Singers". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 500. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
  6. Jones, Chris (2007-10-19). "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand". BBC. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  7. "Raising Sand: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
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