JimmyPage

Jimmy Page

Riff architect and studio wizard who built Led Zeppelin's hammer

James Patrick Page was born in Heston, Middlesex, in 1944 and grew up in Epsom, where he found a guitar in his new home and largely taught himself. Rockabilly players such as Scotty Moore and James Burton lit the spark, and blues records deepened it. In 1957, still a schoolboy, he appeared on a BBC television talent programme playing skiffle. He briefly studied art but kept returning to music, gigging with Neil Christian's Crusaders before illness on the road pushed him toward work in the studio.

By the early 1960s Page was one of London's busiest session guitarists, working several dates a day for artists including the Kinks, the Who, Marianne Faithfull and Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, whose Diamonds reached number one. He also worked as a house producer at Immediate Records. Having turned down an offer to replace Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds, he recommended his friend Jeff Beck, then joined in 1966 himself, first on bass and then on guitar, briefly sharing lead duties with Beck before Beck's departure.

When the Yardbirds collapsed in 1968, Page recruited singer Robert Plant, drummer John Bonham and bassist John Paul Jones, initially as the New Yardbirds. Renamed Led Zeppelin, they released two albums in 1969 and became one of the biggest bands in the world. Page produced every record, blending heavy blues, acoustic folk and Eastern modes, and crafting landmarks such as Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir and Achilles Last Stand. After Bonham died in 1980, the band ended rather than continue without him.

Page returned to the stage at the Ronnie Lane benefit concerts in 1983 and later formed the Firm with Paul Rodgers, recorded with David Coverdale, and reunited with Plant for the acoustic-flavoured No Quarter project in 1994. He spent many years remastering the Zeppelin catalogue. In 2007 the surviving members played a tribute concert in London that drew millions of ticket requests. He has received an OBE, Kennedy Center Honors and repeated rankings among the greatest guitarists ever, and remains the steward of Zeppelin's legacy.

The 10 greatest Jimmy Page solos

1. 1
   Stairway to Heaven

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1971
2. 2
   Since I've Been Loving You

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1970
3. 3
   Heartbreaker

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1969
4. 4
   Achilles Last Stand

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1976
5. 5
   Dazed and Confused

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1969
6. 6
   Whole Lotta Love

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1969
7. 7
   Black Dog

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1971
8. 8
   Tea for One

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1976
9. 9
   Ten Years Gone

   Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1975
10. 10
    Good Times Bad Times

    Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1969

The sound

Page thinks like a producer as much as a player. His riffs, from Whole Lotta Love to Black Dog, are built on blues pentatonics twisted into hypnotic, off-kilter cycles, and he layers multiple guitar parts into orchestral textures. His solos are loose, fiery and deliberately risk-taking, prizing feel over precision. He embraced alternate tunings such as DADGAD, folk fingerpicking inherited from the British acoustic scene, and unusual sounds including a violin bow and a theremin. His studio methods, especially distant room miking, gave Zeppelin its enormous, three-dimensional sound.

• 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard ('Number One') (guitar) His defining Zeppelin guitar from 1969 onward, heard on countless riffs and solos.
• Fender Telecaster ('Dragon') (guitar) A gift from Jeff Beck, later hand-painted by Page; used on the first Zeppelin album and the Stairway to Heaven solo.
• Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck (guitar) Twelve- and six-string necks let him perform Stairway to Heaven on stage.
• Danelectro 3021 (guitar) Kept in alternate tunings for live versions of Kashmir and slide numbers.
• Marshall Super Bass 100 (amp) His main stage amplifier from 1969, run loud to feed the Les Paul's sustain.
• Sola Sound Tone Bender (effect) A fuzz he relied on during the Yardbirds and early Zeppelin years.
• Maestro Echoplex (effect) Tape echo used for his spacey solo sections on stage.

Covers

• You Shook Me, originally by Muddy Waters (written by Willie Dixon and J.B. Lenoir) A slow, heavy call-and-response between guitar, voice and harmonica.
• I Can't Quit You Baby, originally by Otis Rush (written by Willie Dixon) Page's jagged, unpredictable phrasing makes it a showcase for raw blues guitar.
• When the Levee Breaks, originally by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie Rebuilt around Bonham's thunderous drum sound and droning slide guitar.
• Gallows Pole, originally by Traditional (via Lead Belly) An acoustic folk tune that accelerates into a full-band stomp.
• Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, originally by Anne Bredon (popularised by Joan Baez) Page contrasted delicate fingerpicked verses with explosive heavy passages.
• In My Time of Dying, originally by Blind Willie Johnson (as Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed) An eleven-minute slide-guitar workout on a traditional gospel theme.
• Nobody's Fault but Mine, originally by Blind Willie Johnson Phased guitar and vocal lines mirror each other in a tense, modern blues.

Timeline

• 1944 Born in Heston, Middlesex, on 9 January
• 1957 Appears on BBC television as a schoolboy guitarist
• 1963 Plays on the chart-topping Diamonds as a session guitarist
• 1965 Works as a house producer for Immediate Records
• 1966 Joins the Yardbirds, first on bass
• 1968 Forms Led Zeppelin with Plant, Bonham and Jones
• 1971 Untitled fourth album introduces Stairway to Heaven
• 1980 Led Zeppelin disbands after John Bonham's death
• 1994 Reunites with Robert Plant for No Quarter
• 2007 Zeppelin reunion concert at London's O2 Arena

Facts

1. He first played bass in the Yardbirds before moving to guitar.
2. He recommended Jeff Beck for the Yardbirds after declining the job himself.
3. His Dragon Telecaster was a gift from Jeff Beck.
4. He played a violin bow on his guitar during Dazed and Confused.
5. He used a theremin on Whole Lotta Love and in concert.
6. He produced every Led Zeppelin studio album.
7. He deliberately switched engineers between albums so credit for the sound would stay with him.
8. He owned Boleskine House in Scotland, once home to occultist Aleister Crowley.
9. The 2007 reunion concert attracted around 20 million online ticket requests.
10. He was appointed OBE in 2005 and received Kennedy Center Honors in 2012.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Jimmy Page