If a picture paints a thousand words, then the photograph of Robert Plant, shot in the West Midlands town of Wednesbury on August 10, 1967, tells quite a story. In the photo, the future Led Zeppelin frontman can be seen surrounded by young people dressed in regulation Summer Of Love attire. They're holding placards.
"Legalise pot!" says one.
"Happiness is pot-shaped!" reads a second.
"Don't plant it, smoke it!" advises a third.
And then there's the one held aloft behind Plant's head: "Robert Plant must go free."
The image can be found all over the internet. The picture library giant Getty Images, which licences the photo for commercial use, describes it as "Musician and singer Robert Plant after he appeared in court on drugs charges." Another library, Alamy Stock Photo, uses the same description.
For Plant, who was just days away from his 19th birthday when the picture was taken, the charges were timely. After all, what prospective rock star doesn't want to generate column inches for the kind of crime that signifies a rebellious, anti-authoritarian streak but doesn't run the risk of a custodial sentence?
Except there were never any drugs charges. The whole thing was a PR stunt.
In August 1967 Plant was fronting the Band Of Joy. He'd been in the band since they formed in April but had been fired by the original lineup, so he brought in a second group of musicians from Wolverhampton band Paper to form a new Band Of Joy, and hired a manager, Mike Dolan, who'd looked after Plant's previous band Listen.
According to local music paper The Midland Beat, Listen's debut single was to be called The Pakistani Record Collector (in the end, the band recorded one single for CBS, a cover of The Young Rascals' You Better Run) so it's possible Dolan had an eye for a headline. And when the young Plant became involved in a minor traffic accident and was charged with "driving without due care and attention," Dolan seized the opportunity. He wrote a press release and sent it to the local newspapers.
"Robert Plant is well known for his sympathy with the 'Flower Generation' and for being an ardent supporter of the campaign to legalise the smoking of cannabis," wrote Dolan, avoiding all mention of the traffic violation. "In view of this public appearance, a large number of flower children, and other Robert Plant fans, have decided that this will be an ideal time and place to display their support to Robert's beliefs.
"As a result of this, at least 30 fans have already made banners, in preparation for a demonstration meeting, to take place at approximately 10.30am next Thursday, 10th August, outside the court buildings."
Dolan then advised the local media to send reporters and photographers, informing them that Plant would be wearing, "Oriental style clothes, including an original Indian bridegroom chest piece."
The media duly obliged and showed up en masse, outnumbering the seven "protesters" – who included Band Of Joy members John Elston, Dave Evans and Steve Taylor, plus Plant's future wife Maureen Wilson and a trainee nurse, Dorette Thompson – by a significant margin. But they willingly took the bait, taking their photos and writing their stories.
"Flower Group Protest!" screamed the Evening Mail, reporting that the protesters were calling for the legalisation of "pop" drugs. "Singer wears Oriental clothes in court!"
"Police, who had been given previous notice of the protest, peered curiously from the windows of the police station, which is below the courtroom," noted the Express and Star. "Some even came out to photograph the strangely assorted bunch, which included two girls in mini-mini skirts."
Inside, the case went well. The singer conducted his own defence and pleaded not guilty. The court was told that Plant had pulled out of a side road and collided with an overtaking vehicle before his van mounted the pavement and hit a tree, but the prosecution failed to convince the magistrates that he'd been careless and the case was dismissed.
There was some collateral damage. Dorette Thompson, the trainee nurse who supported Plant, was fired by the West Bromwich and District Hospital Nursing Committee after her picture appeared in the newspaper, despite being on annual leave from the hospital at the time of the protest.
"She was an innocent party," Plant told the Express and Star. "All she did was try and help me out. I would not have thought Dorette's action warranted dismissal."
The damage was done, but it didn't matter. Dolan had achieved his aim.
"We helped him get his first publicity," said Tony Noons, Plant's then-booking agent, "and the rest is history".
