Rosie & Robert Anthony in HMMT
Steve The Lemon Sauer
The gist is that the Rosie sung about in "How Many More Times" was a girlfriend
of Keith Relf (of The Yardbirds), Jimmy Page, and then Robert Plant, so she was
referred to (hurtfully so) as "the hunter," hence that Albert King song being
included also in Zep's "How Many More Times."
And the "Little Robert Anthony wants to come and play" line is not about Robert
Anthony Plant, but Rosie's brother with that name, who "had the mindset of a
10-year-old during the whole of his adult life." Also kinda harsh. Read on
for the full story.
Checkmate,
Steve "The Lemon" Sauer
---
'How Many More Times' is actually one of the most autobiographical songs ever
written by Zeppelin. If you examine the lyrics carefully, there is quite a lot
of Page and Plant contained in this song:
The 'Rosie' in HMMT is an interesting story in its own right. Going back about
7 months, someone on DG posted part of the story about Rosie. I'll fill in the
gaps here:
'Rosie' is Rose Kolodny, a respected avant-garde artist based in the Carnaby
street scene of the late 60's in London. She was known for her unusually long
fingernails, which she painted in daring (for the time) colors, along with
other unusual garb.
Keith Relf first introduced Rose to Page during Page's Yardbird days when Rose
was but a schoolgirl. Reading between the lines, Keith was [sleeping with] Rose
when she met Jimmy and subsequently the couple split up. The cause of the split
was that Rose fell under Jimmy's spell, and this ultimately led to Keith
leaving the band.
Rose continued to have an on again off again relationship with Page throughout
the next few years, and it is after Page introduced her to Plant that Robert
also began a relationship with her. It is significant because it is one of the
few times documented that Jimmy and Robert had a common relationship, both
usually preferring to stay out of each other's way when it came to women. In
any case, Rose soon gravitated to Robert as Jimmy moved on to greener
(younger?) pastures. The general consensus is that Robert included her in the
lyrics because of this relationship.
Rose fell out of the Zeppelin orbit soon after Led Zeppelin started to chart
successfully. Some unkind gossips have hinted that Robert dumped Rose because
of his new found fame, but the real reason was that Plant grew apart from Rose
because of her increasing interest in hunting activities. Robert was personally
opposed to the shooting of defenseless animals. Robert was known to refer to
Rose as 'The Hunter' during the dissension of their relationship, something
that caused her a lot of pain.
Robert Anthony is not Plant as some misguided people have stated. Robert
Anthony is actually Rose Kolodny's younger stepbrother, Robert Anthony.
Bobby was born with profound mental disabilities, and he had the mindset of a
10-year-old during the whole of his adult life. He spent most of his time
playing with children's toys. Bobby was convicted in 1968 for career
shoplifting and struggled all his adult life with this habitual problem.
http://members.aol.com/lemon43800
SirhcMan
-CHRIS
CHECKMATE LEMON! I WIN, YOU LOSE!
LDuper
some of the lyrics (I was a yong man and never been kissed, started thinking
over just what I'd missed) from an old folk song called 'Kisses Sweeter Than
Wine,' one of the first songs I ever learned on the guitar.
This story doesn't sound plausible to me.
Rosily-
LindaD
Steve The Lemon Sauer
On a more positive note, Linda Duper sez:
>Isn't HMMT based on an old blues or folk tune called "The Hunter?"
The one section is. "They call me the hunter, that's my name. / They call me
the hunter, that's how I got my fame." The original has another line here, but
Robert skips to the tagline, "There ain't no use to hide, there ain't no use to
run, cause I got you on the sights of my..." [love] "...gun."
"The Hunter" was written by the boys in the MG's (known for backing Booker T.
Washington, and then the Blues Brothers Band much later on). The MGs were the
house band at Stax Records. They wrote "The Hunter" for Albert King who
recorded it on the Stax label. Then the song jumped into the repertoire of
every British blues band out there. Paul Rodgers' band Free (big hit "All
Right Now") had a version of "The Hunter" on an album.
The main lyrics of "How Many More Times" (and also the rhythm, guitar,
everything basically) is based on two Howlin' Wolf songs, "No Place To Go" and
"How Many More Years."
>I remember
>some of the lyrics (I was a yong man and never been kissed, started thinking
>over just what I'd missed) from an old folk song called 'Kisses Sweeter Than
>Wine,' one of the first songs I ever learned on the guitar.
Yes, what a great song! There are so many versions out there. Guthrie &
Seeger, a band called Bongwater (look them up on cdnow.com), and Jimmie Rodgers
(the white folk singer not to be confused with the black blues singer Jimmy
Rogers I wrote about a week ago because of Page/Plant's involvement in a
tribute album to him).
The extracted lyrics from "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" are:
When I was a young man and never been kissed / I started thinking it over what
I had missed / Well I got me a gal and kissed her and then / Oh Lord I kissed
her again
Musically, the melody is far from what Robert sings in "How Many More Times"
but the lyrics are quite similar!
"Rosie" is an old prison blues song in itself.
>This story doesn't sound plausible to me.
"And it makes me wonder." If the story has any credit, then it makes sense why
Robert would include the lyrics from "Rosie" and "The Hunter" (and by
extension, "How Many More Years": "How many more years are you gonna
rape?reign? my life? (2x) Well the way you do, you're gonna rape?reign? my
life! [Verse two:] How many times you gonna treat me like you do? How many
more times you gonna treat me like you do? You took all of my money and all my
love too." - HW)
CHECKMATE SIRHC MAN - I WIN YOU LOSE!
Steve "The Lemon" Sauer
http://members.aol.com/lemon43800
SirhcMan
If anyone is gonna bring this old board back to life its gotta be me!
Steve The Lemon Sauer
sirh...@aol.comnospam (SirhcMan) writes:
Then let's stage a good ol' fashioned flame war!
But we already know the outcome, you will win and I will lose.
SirhcMan
I dont even need a message, My sig will say it all:
robertgr...@gmail.com
> Is there any credibility to the following story?
>
> The gist is that the Rosie sung about in "How Many More Times" was a girlfriend
> of Keith Relf (of The Yardbirds), Jimmy Page, and then Robert Plant, so she was
> referred to (hurtfully so) as "the hunter," hence that Albert King song being
> included also in Zep's "How Many More Times."
>
> And the "Little Robert Anthony wants to come and play" line is not about Robert
> for the full story.
>
> Checkmate,
> Steve "The Lemon" Sauer
>
> ---
>
Not trying to give you a hard time....just think sometimes things are what they appear to be...