According to Steve Baltin, a contributor to Forbes magazine, Robert Plant and Jackson Browne are two of six classic rock artists who are “undervalued.”
Here is the complete list, in no particular order, and the reasoning behind why they made it:
Robert Plant: “The poster child for underappreciated frontmen. Why? He is the greatest frontman ever in rock, the quintessential rock god, he should have 100,000 screaming fans every time he takes the stage. But fans can’t shake the understandable myth of Led Zeppelin. So Plant plays to 10,000 or so a night instead of the 100,000 fans he should have. And for those who say it’s not Zeppelin, I saw Plant at the Shrine a few years ago, and when he opened with ‘Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You’ it was one of the jaw-dropping live moments.”
Jackson Browne: “He has a career that most musicians would sell their soul for. He gets to release music when he wants, play to sold-out audiences when he decides to tour and is beloved by millions. Just saying he should be celebrated even more for his incredible career.”
Ray Davies: “Davies finds himself in a position like a lot of great rock frontmen who have gone solo. If The Kinks, the band that Davies finds himself forever linked to, were to reunite, it would be selling out 18,000 to 20,000 tickets a night and be top-billed on Desert Trip 2017 (hint). After all, The Kinks were one of the original British Invasion bands in the ’60s and have a slew of hits, including ‘Lola,’ ‘You Really Got Me’ and the gorgeous ‘Celluloid Heroes.’ Davies does many of those songs solo and is one of rock’s great tunesmiths, but is doing theaters on his own.”
Patti Smith: “One of the half-dozen greatest live performers in the history of rock music. Her concerts are a primal, spiritual, animalistic experience that leave you simultaneously uplifted and drained. Yeah, it sounds like an oxymoron, but after watching Smith for two-plus hours you feel as if you can change the world, or maybe already have. At the height of her fame she was playing to 70,000 fans in Rome; she should be playing to 70,000 a night.”
Bonnie Raitt: “She has a dedicated following that ensure she sells out almost on a nightly basis. But a 10-time Grammy winner mixing killer blues with a rock-and-roll swagger and unquestionable heart in her songs is a remarkably rare commodity — in fact there may be only one. So don’t take for granted she tours all the time. She deserves to be playing arenas.”
Van Morrison: “Morrison is an interesting one. Sometimes when he tours he plays venues as big as the Hollywood Bowl. Other times, he plays theaters. Given his infrequent touring, every time he plays live it should be an event. This is one of the great voices ever in rock, and also the man who wrote ‘Tupelo Honey,’ ‘Into the Mystic,’ ‘Moondance’ and ‘Caravan.’ Yeah, legend.”