Led Zeppelin helped propel the idea of the recording studio as a sacred space, as an arena for magic. Yet the band’s tours – the largesse, the colossal performances – also became the stuff of legend. Few songs were prevented from appearing in their set lists, but 1976 deep cut ‘Tea For One’ was one of those.
The track stems from a darkly bleak period in Robert Plant’s life. Together with his wife, Maureen, the singer was involved in a serious car crash, and a period of convalescence saw him taken away from his family.
As the band’s career continued at a frantic pace, this sense of estrangement grew more profound. Some of the lyric’s on Led Zeppelin’s album ‘Presence’ address this, with Robert Plant using his words as a space to exorcise his feelings, and re-frame the priorities in his life.
Epic closer ‘Tea For One’ brings this to the fore. Many of the lyrics were penned in New York, with Robert Plant literally drinking tea for one – that most English of drinks, consumed thousands of miles away from home.
On record, it’s a huge performance – the group throw their all into it, revamping the C Minor changes of ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ into something fresh.
If the vocal at times sounds tortured, then perhaps that suits the song. After all, Robert Plant was still recovering from his injuries during the recording of ‘Presence’, and sang his studio part from a wheelchair.
It’s perhaps forgivable, then, that such an emotional missive didn’t quite reach the Led Zeppelin live experience. Sometimes quote by Jimmy Page when re-arranging other tracks on the spur of the moment, ‘Tea For One’ was never performed in full by the band.
When Jimmy Page and Robert Plant toured Japan together during their 90s work, the two decided to try something different – for their 1996 shows, the pair dug out ‘Tea For One’ to rapturous applause. Did time heal old wounds? Perhaps…
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