29 Palms - 2006 Remaster

In this song, the singer is fixated on a seductive woman who lives there. Could this woman be the Canadian singer Alannah Myles, famous for the song "Black Velvet"? In a 1993 interview with Network magazine, Plant gave a non-denial denial, saying: "We did tour together. We're good friends. I think the world of her. She's a great, powerful lady. She has one of the finest voices of the idiom. She was always very kind to me, very warm-hearted. But the road is the road. Forget about all the rumors, everything is true and untrue. '29 Palms' was written on tour, the last time we were in California." Considering the lyrics, "It comes kinda hard when I hear your voice on the radio/ Taking me back down the road that leads back to you," Myles must be considered the prime suspect. Also note the line "her velvet glove."

Rumors of a relationship with Myles followed Plant for years, but he was always quick to deny them. Part of this may have had to with Shirley Wilson, sister of Plant's ex-wife Maureen Wilson (divorced in 1983). Plant's relationship with Shirley, which he also kept secretive, was coming to an end at the same time stories of his relationship with Myles were beginning. This was all happening around 1990 and Plant's release of his fifth studio album, Manic Nirvana. Plant may have been trying to protect Shirley from the reality of his new affair. He also may have been simply fed up with the gossip, because he was already under fire for starting a relationship with his ex-wife's sister. It was all tabloid gold.

Twentynine Palms is a city in southern California, about 200 miles north of the Mexican border. It's a small city with a population of about 25,000 people and is best known as the primary entry point into Joshua Tree National Park. The location has popped up in music plenty of times before. Its most significant connection is to the 1987 U2 album The Joshua Tree. The band's fifth studio album, it was also their best-selling album and the one that contains many of their most lasting songs. U2 stayed in the Harmony Hotel in Twentynine Palms to shoot pictures for the album.