LED ZEPPELIN frontman Robert Plant appears on the upcoming album by British folk-rock act FAIRPORT CONVENTION, 50:50@50, which honors the group’s 50th anniversary. Plant sings lead vocals on a special version of the gospel classic ‘Jesus on the Mainline,’ which was taken during a show in Banbury, U.K.
FAIRPORT CONVENTION bass player Simon Pegg posted a message on the group’s official website explaining that 50:50@50 includes studio tracks on half of the release and live audio on the other half, recorded at a handful of U.K. shows. The album also features live audio from the group’s annual summer festival, Cropredy.
Plant first collaborated with FAIRPORT CONVENTION in 1971, when he sang with the band’s lead vocalist at the time, Sandy Denny, on the LED ZEPPELIN track ‘The Battle for Evermore.’
Other Plant, FAIRPORT CONVENTION performances include gigs at the Cropedy Festival in 1986 and 2008.
50:50@50 will arrive on CD and digital formats on March 10. Pre-release copies of the collection are available now via FAIRPORT CONVENTION’s online store. Snippets from all of the songs on the upcoming album are streaming via the website, to boot.