Raising Sand

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

2007 studio album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

title: "Raising Sand" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2007-collaborative-albums", "albums-produced-by-t-bone-burnett", "alison-krauss-albums", "2000s-covers-albums", "folk-rock-albums-by-american-artists", "folk-rock-albums-by-british-artists", "grammy-award-for-album-of-the-year", "robert-plant-albums", "rounder-records-albums", "vocal-duet-albums", "zoë-records-albums"] description: "2007 studio album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_Sand" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 2007 studio album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameRaising Sand
typestudio
artistRobert Plant and Alison Krauss
coverRobert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand.png
borderyes
released
studio*Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
genre
length
labelRounder, Zoë
producerT Bone Burnett
next_titleRaise the Roof
next_year2021
misc{{Extra chronology
artistRobert Plant
typestudio
prev_titleNine Lives
prev_year2006
titleRaising Sand
year2007
next_titleBand of Joy
next_year2010
artistAlison Krauss
typestudio
prev_titleLonely Runs Both Ways
prev_year2004
titleRaising Sand
year2007
next_titleEssential Alison Krauss
next_year2009
nameRaising Sand
typestudio
single1Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)
single1date2007
single2Please Read the Letter
single2date2008
single3Rich Woman
single3date2008
::

| name = Raising Sand | type = studio | artist = Robert Plant and Alison Krauss | cover = Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand.png | border = yes | alt = | released = | recorded = | venue = | studio = *Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)

Raising Sand is the first collaborative studio album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released in October 2007 by Rounder Records. Raising Sand won Album of the Year at the 2008 Americana Music Honors & Awards and at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

Reception

| MC = 87/100 | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = | rev2 = The A.V. Club | rev2score = B+ | rev3 = Blender | rev3Score = | rev4 = Entertainment Weekly | rev4score = A− | rev5 = Mojo | rev5score = | rev6 = Now | rev6Score = | rev7 = The Observer | rev7Score = | rev8 = Paste | rev8Score = | rev9 = Rolling Stone | rev9Score = | rev10 = Uncut | rev10Score =

The album met with critical acclaim, earning an average score of 87 from reviews compiled by Metacritic. It ranked at No. 24 on *Rolling Stone'''s December 17, 2007 listing of the year's top 50 albums. Being There called it "one of the year’s very best". AllMusic hailed it "one of the most effortless-sounding pairings in modern popular music", but stated that some songs "(felt) like (they were) tossed off". JamBase called the album "subtle, focused and full of life" and said that it was "highly recommended". Village Voice described it as "powerfully evocative" and "utterly foreign, oddly familiar, and deeply gratifying."

The songs on Raising Sand were handpicked by producer T Bone Burnett. Entertainment Weekly described the selection as "eclectic", while Village Voice said, "Burnett flaunts his typical curatorial genius with a whole set of 'have we met before?' tunes."

The musical quality was also praised. The BBC described Krauss's fiddle as "coruscating" and "raw", while The Music Box said Krauss "exceeds all expectations". The BBC said the musicians "make this a stunning, dark, brooding collection, comparable in tone to Daniel Lanois's masterful job on Dylan's Time Out of Mind."

Critics praised Krauss and Plant's vocals; one critic saying that the "key to the magic is the delicious harmony vocals of the unlikely duo". Various critics described Krauss's vocals as "spellbinding", "honey-sweet", "weepy", "saccharine", and "haunting". Plant's vocals were described as "orgasmic" and "slithering".

"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" was released as a single and won the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 50th Grammy Awards and was nominated for the Americana Award for "Song of the Year". The song "Killing the Blues" was No. 51 on *Rolling Stone*s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.

On February 8, 2009, the album won all five awards for which it was nominated at the 51st Grammy Awards: Album of the Year; Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album; Record of the Year (for "Please Read the Letter"); Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Rich Woman"); and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for "Killing the Blues"). Raising Sand was the second of four country albums to win Album of the Year, following Dixie Chicks's Taking the Long Way and preceding Taylor Swift's Fearless and Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour.

The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the UK.

In December 2009, Rhapsody ranked the album No. 2 on its "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade" list. The online music service also called it one of their favorite cover albums of all time.

"Raising Sand is my album of the century," said singer Lily Allen. "I love the whole folky and bluegrass sound. There's one track called 'Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us', which sounds like an epic funeral march: it's haunting and spooky, and Alison Krauss's voice can just make you shiver. Then there's 'Please Read the Letter', which just has such an honest and open sentiment, it's disarming. I'd love to do an album like that."

Chart performance

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling about 112,000 copies in its first week, the highest chart position for either artists' solo work, although Plant had previously reached No. 1 several times with Led Zeppelin. Raising Sand was certified platinum by the RIAA on March 4, 2008. After the album's success at the 2009 Grammy Awards, the album topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and Top Internet Albums chart for the first time on the week of February 28, 2009. The album also hit the top of Canadian Top Country Albums, and also peaked at No. 2 in Billboard Top Country Albums, being stuck behind part of 35 weeks non-consecutive chart topping Fearless by country singer Taylor Swift. Selling 77,000 copies on a 715% increase, Raising Sand jumped 69–2 on the Billboard 200.

The album entered the Top 5 on the UK Albums Chart, going on to reach No. 2 on January 2, 2008.

Follow-up album

According to Ken Irwin of Rounder Records, and producer Burnett, the duo started work on a second album in 2009.

"To be 61 and faced with the 'difficult second album' is quite a phenomenon…" Plant observed in 2009. "We'd finished everything in ten days in Nashville, and I rented a car and went down the Natchez Trace to Oxford, Mississippi, across to Clarksdale and down into Helena, Arkansas, looking for those ghosts… and thought to myself, 'How can this be? I've just been with complete strangers, recorded 12 amazing tracks, had a fantastic time, and now I'm headed for the Mississippi Delta.'"

In a 2010 interview, Plant indicated that the follow-up sessions were unsuccessful. However, Krauss and Plant eventually released a new album produced by Burnett, Raise the Roof, on November 19, 2021.

Track listing

| title1 = Rich Woman | writer1 = Dorothy LaBostrie, McKinley Millet | length1 = 4:04 | title2 = Killing the Blues | writer2 = Roly Jon Salley | length2 = 4:16 | title3 = Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us | writer3 = Sam Phillips | length3 = 3:26 | title4 = Polly Come Home | writer4 = Gene Clark | length4 = 5:36 | title5 = Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) | writer5 = The Everly Brothers | length5 = 3:33 | title6 = Through the Morning, Through the Night | writer6 = Gene Clark | length6 = 4:01 | title7 = Please Read the Letter | writer7 = Jimmy Page, Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Robert Plant | length7 = 5:53 | title8 = Trampled Rose | writer8 = Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits | length8 = 5:34 | title9 = Fortune Teller | writer9 = Allen Toussaint | length9 = 4:30 | title10 = Stick With Me Baby | writer10 = Mel Tillis | length10 = 2:50 | title11 = Nothin | writer11 = Townes Van Zandt | length11 = 5:33 | title12 = Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson | writer12 = Milton Campbell | length12 = 4:02 | title13 = Your Long Journey | writer13 = Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson | length13 = 3:55

Personnel

|filename=Please Read The Letter sample.ogg |title="Please Read The Letter" |description=Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' "Please Read the Letter" from Raising Sand |filetype=Ogg}}

Production

  • T Bone Burnett – producer
  • Mike Piersante – recording, mixing
  • Stacy Parrish – additional engineer
  • Jason Wormer – additional engineer, editing
  • Kyle Ford – assistant engineer
  • Emile Kelman – assistant engineer
  • Vanessa Parr – assistant engineer
  • Alex Pavlides – assistant engineer
  • Gavin Lurssen – mastering at Lurssen Mastering (Los Angeles, California)
  • Paul Ackling – guitar technician
  • Curtis Laur – guitar technician
  • Ivy Skoff – production manager
  • Lisa Surber – production managing assistant
  • Nicola Powell – project coordinator for Robert Plant
  • Pamela Springsteen – photography
  • Russ Harrington – band photography
  • Steve Jurgensmeyer – art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (2007–2009) | Peak position | Australia|45|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Austria|31|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Flanders|48|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand|access-date=20 November 2025}} | Wallonia|59|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand|access-date=20 November 2025}} | BillboardCanada|5|artist=Robert Plant|access-date=20 November 2025}} | Czech|42|year=2009|week=9|access-date=20 November 2025}} | Denmark|22|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Netherlands|26|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Finland|23|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | France|49|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Germany|id=74906|28|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Ireland2|9|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|access-date=20 November 2025}} | Italy|41|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | New Zealand|3|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Norway|1|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Scotland|2|date=20071104|access-date=20 November 2025}} | Spain|74|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Sweden|2|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Switzerland|33|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | UK|2|artist=Robert Plant & Alison Krauss|album=Raising Sand}} | Billboard200|2|artist=Robert Plant|album=Raising Sand}} | BillboardCountry|2|artist=Robert Plant|album=Raising Sand}} | BillboardRock|1|artist=Robert Plant|album=Raising Sand}} | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ::

::data[format=table] | Chart (2016) | Peak position | Czech|26|year=2016|week=14|access-date=20 November 2025|refname=CZ-2016}} | |---|---|---| ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (2007)PositionSwedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)UK Albums (OCC)US Top Country Albums (Billboard)
19
73
42
::

::data[format=table]

Chart (2008)PositionNew Zealand Albums (RMNZ)Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)UK Albums (OCC)US Billboard 200US Top Country Albums (Billboard)US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)
40
61
34
39
8
11
::

::data[format=table]

Chart (2009)PositionUK Albums (OCC)US Billboard 200US Top Country Albums (Billboard)US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)
176
131
28
40
::

Certifications

References

References

  1. "Raising Sand by Robert Plant And Alison Krauss". [[Metacritic]].
  2. Jurek, Thom. "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[AllMusic]].
  3. Murray, Noel. (November 13, 2007). "Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Raising Sand".
  4. "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[Blender (magazine).
  5. These aren't "duets" but exercises in sublime harmony. [2 Nov 2007, p.65]
  6. The most remarkable collaboration since Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters is also one of the best albums of the year. [Nov 2007, p.92]
  7. Perlich, Tim. "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[Now (newspaper).
  8. Spencer, Neil Spencer. (October 2007). "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[The Observer]].
  9. Whitman, Andy. "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[Paste Magazine]].
  10. "''Raising Sand'' > Review".
  11. Scoppa, Bud. "''Raising Sand'' > Review". [[Uncut (magazine).
  12. [http://www.metacritic.com/music/raising-sand/robert-plant-and-alison-krauss Robert Plant And Alison Krauss: Raising Sand (2007): Reviews], [[Metacritic]]
  13. [http://www.rollingstone/news/story/17601851/the_top_50_albums_of_2007/24] {{Dead link. (July 2019)
  14. link. (2008-12-10 . ''Being There'' magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2008)
  15. Cook, Dennis. [http://www.jambase.com/Articles/12005/Robert-Plant-Alison-Krauss-Raising-Sand "Robert Plant. Alison Krauss: Raising Sand"]. ''JamBase''. November 12, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  16. Cavalieri, Nate. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080921214523/http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-10-16/music/robert-plant-alison-krauss-s-raising-sand/ "Robert Plant & Alison Krauss's Raising Sand: A whole lotta desolate, evocative, engrossing love"]. ''[[Village Voice]]''. October 16, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  17. [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20166944_20166960_20154255,00.html "Raising Sand (2007) Alison Krauss, Robert Plant"] {{Webarchive. link. (7 October 2012 . ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''. October 26, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.)
  18. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/rwcz/ "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand"]. [[BBC]]. October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008. {{webarchive. link. (May 6, 2008)
  19. [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/plant-krauss-raisingsand-10232007.html "Robert Plant/Alison Krauss - Raising Sand"]. ''The Music Box''. October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  20. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071024131050/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/albums/e3i7b7f6bee78014d179aa335893eb31341 "Raising Sand"]. ''[[Billboard (magazine). Billboard]]''. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  21. [http://www.musicbox-online.com/reviews-2007/plant-krauss-raisingsand-10232007.html "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raing Sand (''sic'')"]. ''[[Blender Magazine]]''. October 23, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  22. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215233636/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17601363/the_100_best_songs_of_2007/13 "The 100 Best Songs of 2007"] ''Rolling Stone''. December 11, 2007. Retrieved December 21, 2007.
  23. "Grammys".
  24. MTV News Staff. (2009-02-08). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV.
  25. [http://blog.rhapsody.com/2009/11/countdec.html "Country’s Best Albums of the Decade"] Retrieved 12 January 2010. {{webarchive. link. (January 19, 2010)
  26. [http://blog.rhapsody.com/2010/02/great-covers-albums.html Rhapsody’s Favorite Covers Albums] Referenced August 1, 2010 {{webarchive. link. (July 31, 2010)
  27. (January 2010). "Albums of the century".
  28. Hasty, Katie. [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1047534/underwood-leads-three-country-debuts-onto-chart "Underwood Leads Three Country Debuts Onto Chart"], ''[[Billboard (magazine). Billboard]]''. October 31, 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  29. [https://www.riaa.com/ "RIAA Searchable Database"]. ''[[RIAA]]''. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  30. [http://www.countrystandardtime.com/news/newsitem.asp?xid=1519&t=Alison_Krauss_Robert_Plant_go_platinum "Alison Krauss/Robert Plant go platinum"]. ''Country Standard Time''. March 20, 2008. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
  31. Hasty, Katie. [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/269391/swift-back-to-no-1-as-plantkrauss-coldplay-soar "Swift Back To No. 1 As Plant/Krauss, Coldplay Soar"], ''[[Billboard (magazine). Billboard]]''. February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  32. (July 2019). "OFFICIAL ALBUMS CHART RESULTS MATCHING".
  33. Daniel Kreps. (2009-02-13). "Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Working On "Raising Sand" Follow-Up". Rolling Stone.
  34. Doyle, Tom. (January 2010). "Artists of the century".
  35. Mansfield, Brian. (September 14, 2010). "Robert Plant loves to dig in America's rich musical soil". USA Today.
  36. (2021-08-12). "Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Announce First Album Together in 14 Years, Share New Song".
  37. "Årslista Album – År 2007". Sverigetopplistan.
  38. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2007". Official Charts Company.
  39. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2007".
  40. "Top Selling Albums of 2008". Recorded Music NZ.
  41. "Årslista Album – År 2008". Sverigetopplistan.
  42. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2008". Official Charts Company.
  43. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2008".
  44. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2008".
  45. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2008".
  46. "UK Year-End 2009". Charts Plus.
  47. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009".
  48. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2009".
  49. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2009".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

2007-collaborative-albumsalbums-produced-by-t-bone-burnettalison-krauss-albums2000s-covers-albumsfolk-rock-albums-by-american-artistsfolk-rock-albums-by-british-artistsgrammy-award-for-album-of-the-yearrobert-plant-albumsrounder-records-albumsvocal-duet-albumszoë-records-albums