Rock music is most often characterised by conflicts, arguments, and ego battles. As you can imagine, therefore, the richly saturated rock scene of the 1960s and 1970s featured near-constant competition between a variety of artists.
The Who predated Led Zeppelin by a number of years, and the bands came together in very different circumstances.
Townshend he has often alleged in interviews that The Who were responsible for that distinctive Led Zeppelin sound. “We sort of invented heavy metal with Live at Leeds,” he once told Toronto Sun, “We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin, you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar.
“I don’t like a single thing that they have done,” he once said, resenting the mere notion that The Who could be mentioned in the same sentence as Led Zeppelin. “I hate the fact that I’m ever even slightly compared to them.”
On the other side of the argument, Led Zeppelin’s flamboyant frontman, Robert Plant, does not seem overly keen on The Who, either. Although, to be fair to the singer, his beef with The Who appears to be largely resigned to the band’s constant reunion tours and old-age live shows, which Led Zeppelin have repeatedly refused to embark upon.
“I saw the Who trundled around the stadiums of America, and I found it so dull, obvious and sad,” Plant once told Rolling Stone. The singer also highlighted his disappointment at the replacement of drummer Keith Moon. “The fact that they carried on without Moon was always a mystery to me, but the fact that they did it again and again, augmenting it with more and more musicians…I don’t want to be a part of that aspect of entertainment. I’ve played Vegas already.”
Pete Townshend claims Robert Plant copied Roger Daltrey on BBC Radio Scotland.
Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey’s relationship was discussed by The Who’s Pete Townshend in an interview with Billy Sloan on BBC Radio Scotland.
Townshend recalled the time when The Who were at the Olympic studio cutting songs for their album “Who’s Next,” describing how the group faced pressure from burgeoning heavy rock bands:
By that point, I believe we were aware of Led Zeppelin’s pursuit of the Who, who they finally overtook in terms of heavy rock.
Townshend went on to say that Plant’s imitation of Daltrey may have contributed to their success: But I believe Robert Plant was a shrieker because he imitated Roger’s theatrical appearance. Robert Plant was midway between Roger Daltrey and Steve Marriott from The Faces, however he had his own style. In the end, he found his own feet, but I believe Roger was conscious that he needed to truly hone his skills.
