James Patrick Page
OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.
Page has been described as "unquestionably one of the all-time most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history". [1] In 2003, Rolling Stone
magazine ranked Page #9 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. [2] He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) [3] and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995). [4]
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JIMMY PAGE TICKETS
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Early years
Page was born to parents James and Patricia Page in the West London suburb of
Heston, which today forms part of the
London Borough of Hounslow. His father was an industrial personnel manager and his mother was a doctor's secretary. In 1952 they moved to
Feltham, and later again to Miles Road,
Epsom which is where Page came across his first guitar. "I don't know whether [the guitar] was left behind by the people [in the house] before [us], or whether it was a friend of the family's - nobody seemed to know why it was there."
[5] First playing the instrument at the age of thirteen years,
he took a few lessons in nearby
Kingston, but he was largely self-taught. Among his early influences were
rockabilly guitarists
Scotty Moore and
James Burton, who both played on recordings made by
Elvis Presley. Hearing the Elvis Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" is cited by Page as being his inspiration to take up playing the guitar.
[6] His first guitar was a second hand 1959 Futurama Grazioso, which was later replaced by a
Telecaster.
Page's musical tastes included
skiffle (a popular English music genre of the time) and acoustic folk playing, particularly that of
Bert Jansch and
John Renbourn, and the blues sounds of
Elmore James,
B.B. King,
Otis Rush,
Buddy Guy,
Freddie King and
Hubert Sumlin.
[8] "Basically, that was the start: a mixture between rock and blues."
At the age of 13, Page appeared on
Huw Wheldon's
All Your Own
talent quest programme in a skiffle quartet, one performance of which aired on BBC TV in 1957. The group played "Mama Don't Want To Skiffle Anymore" and another very American-flavored song, "In Them Ol' Cottonfields Back Home". . When asked by Wheldon what he wanted to do after schooling, Page said, "I want to do biological research" to find a cure for "cancer, if it isn't discovered by then".
In an interview with
Guitar Player
magazine, Page stated that "there was a lot of
busking in the early days, but as they say, I had to come to grips with it, and it was a good schooling."
Page would take a guitar to school each day and have it confiscated and handed back to him at 4:00 P.M.
[9] Although he had an interview for a job as a laboratory assistant, he ultimately chose to leave Danetree Secondary School, West
Ewell, to pursue music instead.
Initially, Page had difficulty finding other musicians with whom he could play on a regular basis. "It wasn't as though there was an abundance. I used to play in many groups... anyone who could get a gig together, really."
Following stints backing recitals by Beat poet
Royston Ellis at the
Mermaid Theatre between 1960-61,
[10] and singer Red E. Lewis, he was asked by singer
Neil Christian to join his band, The Crusaders, after Christian had seen a fifteen-year-old Page playing in a local hall.
Page toured with Christian for approximately two years and later played on several of his records, including the November 1962 single, "The Road to Love".
During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with
glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis) and couldn't continue touring.
While recovering, he decided to put his musical career on hold and concentrate on his other love, painting. He enrolled at Sutton Art College in
Surrey.
As he explained in 1975:
"ref">[11]
Session musician
While still a student, Page would often jam on stage at
The Marquee with bands such as
Cyril Davies' All Stars,
Alexis Korner's
Blues Incorporated and with guitarists
Jeff Beck and
Eric Clapton. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of Brian Howard & The Silhouettes, who asked him to help record a number of singles for
Columbia Graphophone Company, including "The Worrying Kind". It wasn't until an offer from
Mike Leander of
Decca Records that Page was to receive regular studio work. His first session for the label was the recording "
Diamonds" by
Jet Harris and
Tony Meehan, which went to Number 1 on the singles chart in early 1963.
After brief stints with
Carter-Lewis and the Southerners,
Mike Hurst and the Method, and Mickey Finn and the Blue Men, Page committed himself to full-time session work. As a
session guitarist he was known as 'Little Jim' so there was no confusion with
Big Jim Sullivan. Page was mainly called in to sessions as "insurance" in instances when a replacement or second guitarist was required by the recording artist. "It was usually myself and a drummer", he explained, "though they never mention the drummer these days, just me ... Anyone needing a guitarist either went to Big Jim [Sullivan] or myself"
Page was the favoured session guitarist of producer
Shel Talmy, and therefore he ended up doing session work on songs for
The Who and
The Kinks as a direct result of the Talmy connection.
[12] Page's studio output in 1964 included
Marianne Faithfull's "
As Tears Go By",
The Nashville Teens' "
Tobacco Road",
The Rolling Stones' "
Heart of Stone" (released on
Metamorphosis
),
Van Morrison &
Them's "
Baby Please Don't Go" and "
Here Comes the Night",
Dave Berry's "
The Crying Game" and "My Baby Left Me", and
Brenda Lee's "Is It True". Under the auspices of producer Talmy, Page contributed to
The Kinks' 1964
debut album and he sat in on the sessions for
The Who's first single "
I Can't Explain" (although Pete Townshend was reluctant to allow Page's contribution on the final recording, Page did play on the B-side "
Bald Headed Woman".)
In 1965 Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager
Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer and A&R man for the newly-formed
Immediate Records label, which also allowed him to play on and/or produce tracks by
John Mayall,
Nico,
Chris Farlowe,
Twice as Much and
Eric Clapton. Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then romantic interest,
Jackie DeShannon. He also composed and recorded songs for the
John Williams album
The Maureeny Wishful Album
with Big Jim Sullivan. Page worked as session musician on the
Al Stewart album
Love Chronicles
in 1969, and played guitar on five tracks of
Joe Cocker's debut album,
With a Little Help from My Friends
.
When questioned about which songs he played on, especially ones where there exists some controversy as to what his exact role was, Page often points out that it is hard to remember exactly what he did given the huge number of sessions he was playing at the time.
Although Page recorded with many notable musicians, many of these early tracks are only available through
bootlegged copies, several of which were released by the Led Zeppelin fan club in the late 1970s. One of the rarest of these is the early jam session featuring Jimmy Page playing with
Rolling Stones guitarist
Keith Richards, featuring a cover of "Little Queen of Spades" by
Robert Johnson. Several songs which featured Page's involvement were compiled on the twin album release:
James Patrick Page: Session Man Volume One
and
James Patrick Page: Session Man Volume Two
.
Page decided to leave studio work when the increasing influence of
Stax Records on popular music led to the greater incorporation of brass and orchestral arrangements into recordings at the expense of guitars.
However, he has stated that his time as a session player served as extremely good schooling for his development as a musician:
"autogenerated1" />
The Yardbirds
In late 1964, Page was approached about the possibility of replacing Eric Clapton in
The Yardbirds, but he declined the offer out of loyalty to his friend.
In February 1965 Clapton quit the Yardbirds, and Page was formally offered Clapton's spot, but because he was unwilling to give up his lucrative career as a session musician, and because he was still worried about his health under touring conditions, he suggested his friend, Jeff Beck. On 16 May 1966, drummer
Keith Moon, bass player
John Paul Jones, keyboardist
Nicky Hopkins, Jeff Beck and Page recorded "
Beck's Bolero" in London's
IBC Studios. The experience gave Page an idea to form a new
supergroup featuring Beck, along with
The Who's
John Entwistle on bass and
Keith Moon on drums.
However, the lack of a quality vocalist and contractual problems prevented the project from getting off the ground. During this time, Moon suggested the name "
Lead Zeppelin" for the first time, after Entwistle commented that the proceedings would take to the air like a lead balloon.
Within weeks, Page attended a Yardbirds concert at
Oxford. After the show he went backstage where
Paul Samwell-Smith announced that he was leaving the group.
Page offered to replace Samwell-Smith and this was accepted by the group. He initially played
electric bass with the Yardbirds before finally switching to twin
lead guitar with Beck when
Chris Dreja moved to bass. The musical potential of the line-up was scuttled, however, by interpersonal conflicts caused by constant touring and a lack of commercial success, although they released one single, "
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago". (While Page and Jeff Beck played together in
The Yardbirds, the trio of Page, Beck and Clapton never played in the original group at the same time. The three guitarists did appear on stage together at the
ARMS charity concerts in 1983.)
After Beck's departure, the Yardbirds remained a quartet. They recorded one album with Page on lead guitar,
Little Games
. The album received indifferent reviews and was not a commercial success, peaking at only number 80 on the
Billboard Music Charts. Though their studio sound was fairly commercial at the time, the band's live performances were just the opposite, becoming heavier and more experimental. These concerts featured musical aspects that Page would later perfect with Led Zeppelin, most notably performances of "
Dazed and Confused".
After the departure of
Keith Relf and
Jim McCarty in 1968, Page reconfigured the group with a new line-up to fulfill unfinished tour dates in
Scandinavia. As he said:
"ref">[13]
To this end, Page recruited vocalist
Robert Plant and drummer
John Bonham, and he was also contacted by
John Paul Jones who asked to join.
[14] During the
Scandinavian tour the new group appeared as "The New Yardbirds", but soon recalled the old joke by Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Page stuck with that name to use for his new band. Peter Grant changed it to "Led Zeppelin", to avoid a mispronunciation of
"Leed Zeppelin."
[15]
Led Zeppelin
Page has explained that he had a very specific idea in mind as to what he wanted Led Zeppelin to be, from the very beginning:
"autogenerated1" />
Influence
Page's past experiences both in the studio and with the Yardbirds were very influential in contributing to the success of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. As a
producer, composer, and guitarist he helped make Led Zeppelin a prototype for countless future rock bands, and was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, influencing a host of other guitarists.
[16] Allmusic states that "just about every rock guitarist from the late '60s/early '70s to the present day has been influenced by Page's work with Led Zeppelin".
For example, his sped up, downstroke guitar riff in "
Communication Breakdown" is cited as being the inspiration for guitarist
Johnny Ramone to develop his punk-defining, strictly downstroke guitar strumming, while Page's landmark
guitar solo from the song "
Heartbreaker" has been credited by
Eddie Van Halen as being the inspiration for his two-hand
tapping technique after he had seen Led Zeppelin perform in 1971. Page's solo in the famous epic "
Stairway to Heaven" has been voted by readers of various guitar magazines, including
Guitar World
[17] and
Total Guitar
, as the greatest guitar solo of all time, and he was named 'Guitarist of the Year' five times during the 1970s in the
Creem
magazine reader poll. In 2001 he was voted London's greatest guitarist in
Total Guitar
magazine's poll of the greatest 12 British guitarists.
[18] In 2003,
Rolling Stone
magazine named him number nine on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time".
Equipment
thumb
For the recording of most of Led Zeppelin material from Led Zeppelin's
second album onwards, Page used a
Gibson Les Paul guitar with
Marshall amplification. During the studio sessions for
Led Zeppelin
, and later for recording the guitar solo in "Stairway to Heaven", he used a
Fender Telecaster (a gift from Jeff Beck).
[19] He also used a
Danelectro 3021, mainly for slide guitar parts. He usually recorded in studio with a
Vox AC30, Fender, and
Orange amplification. His use of the Sola Sound Tone Bender Professional MKII
fuzzbox ("
How Many More Times"),
slide guitar ("
You Shook Me", "
Dancing Days", "
In My Time of Dying", "
What Is and What Should Never Be"),
pedal steel guitar ("
Your Time Is Gonna Come", "
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "
Tangerine", "
That's the Way" and for effect at the very end of "
Over the Hills and Far Away"), and acoustic guitar ("
Gallows Pole", "
Going To California", "
Bron-Yr-Aur", "
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp") also demonstrated his versatility and creativity as a composer.
Page is famous for playing his guitar with a
cello bow, as on the live versions of the songs "Dazed and Confused" and "
How Many More Times". This was a technique he developed during his session days, although he was not the first guitarist to use a bow, since
Eddie Phillips of
The Creation had done so prior to Page.
On
MTV's
Led Zeppelin Rockumentary
, Page said that he obtained the idea of playing the guitar with a bow from
David McCallum, Sr. who was also a session musician. Page used his Fender Telecaster and later his Gibson Les Paul for his bow solos. Page used a laser on his bow to create somewhat of a light show during "Dazed and Confused".
On a number of Led Zeppelin songs Page experimented with feedback devices and a
theremin. He used a
Wah-wah pedal, both in the traditional method of rocking the pedal back and forth as done by
Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, but also by simply leaving the pedal fully forward to enhance the treble. The latter technique was used on the solos for "Communication Breakdown" and "Whole Lotta Love," while the former was mostly seen in live performances.
Music production techniques
Page is credited for the innovations in sound recording he brought to the studio during the years he was a member of Led Zeppelin,
[20] [21] many of which he had initially developed as a session musician.
[22] He developed a reputation for employing effects in new ways and trying out different methods of using microphones and amplification. During the late 1960s, most British music producers placed
microphones directly in front of
amplifiers and
drums, resulting in the sometimes "tinny" sound of the recordings of the era. Page commented to
Guitar World
magazine that he felt the drum sounds of the day in particular "sounded like cardboard boxes."
Instead, Page was a fan of 1950s recording techniques,
Sun Studios being a particular favourite. In the same
Guitar World
interview, Page remarked, "Recording used to be a science", and "[engineers] used to have a maxim: distance equals depth." Taking this maxim to heart, Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as much as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first
British producers to record a band's "ambient sound" - the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other.
[
]
For the recording of several Led Zeppelin tracks, such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "You Shook Me", Page additionally utilised "reverse echo" - a technique which he claims to have invented himself while with The Yardbirds (he had originally developed the method when recording the 1967 single "Ten Little Indians").
Page has stated that, as producer, he deliberately changed the audio engineers on Led Zeppelin albums, from Glyn Johns for the first album, to Eddie Kramer for Led Zeppelin II
, to Andy Johns for Led Zeppelin III
and later albums. He explained that "I consciously kept changing engineers because I didn't want people to think that they were responsible for our sound. I wanted people to know it was me."
John Paul Jones has acknowledged Page's production techniques as being a key component of the success of Led Zeppelin:
"ref">[23]
In interview Page himself gave to Guitar World
magazine in 1993, he remarked on his work as a producer:
"autogenerated1" />
Post-Led Zeppelin career
Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham at Page's home, The Old Mill House at Clewer in Berkshire. For some time Page refused to touch a guitar out of sadness for the loss of his friend Bonham,
In 1982 Page collaborated with director Michael Winner to record the Death Wish II
soundtrack. This, and several subsequent Page recordings including Death Wish III
soundtrack (1985), were recorded and produced at his own recording studio, The Sol in Cookham, which he had purchased from Gus Dudgeon in the early 1980s.
In 1983 Page appeared with the A.R.M.S. (Action Research for Multiple Sclerosis) charity series of concerts which honoured Small Faces bass player Ronnie Lane, who suffered from the disease. For the first shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Page's set consisted of songs from the Death Wish II
soundtrack (with Steve Winwood on vocals) and an instrumental version of "Stairway to Heaven". A four-city tour of the United States followed, with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company replacing Winwood as vocalist. During the US tour, Page and Rodgers also performed "Midnight Moonlight" which would later be recorded for The Firm's first album. All of the shows featured an on stage jam of "Layla" that reunited Page with Yardbirds guitarists Beck and Eric Clapton. According to the book Hammer of the Gods
, it was reportedly around this time that Page told friends that he'd just given up heroin after seven years of use. On 13 December 1983, Page joined Robert Plant onstage for one encore at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
Page next linked up with Roy Harper for the 1984 album (Whatever Happened to Jugula?
) and occasional concerts, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as the MacGregors, and Themselves. Also in 1984 Page recorded with former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant as The Honeydrippers on the albumThe Honeydrippers: Volume 1
, and with John Paul Jones on the film soundtrack Scream for Help
.
Page subsequently collaborated with Paul Rodgers to record two albums under the name The Firm. The first album, released in 1985, was the self-titled The Firm
. Popular songs included "Radioactive" and "Satisfaction Guaranteed". The album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard
pop albums chart and went gold in the US. It was followed by Mean Business
in 1986. The band toured in support of both albums but soon split up.
Various other projects followed, such as session work for Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and The Rolling Stones (on their 1986 single "One Hit (to the Body)"). In 1986, Page reunited temporarily with his ex-Yardbirds band members to play on several tracks of the Box of Frogs album Strange Land
. [25] Page released a solo album entitled Outrider
in 1988 which featured contributions from Robert Plant, with Page contributing in turn to Plant's solo album Now and Zen
, which was released the same year. Page also embarked on a collaboration with David Coverdale in 1993 entitled Coverdale - Page.
Throughout these years Page also reunited with the other surviving members of Led Zeppelin to perform live on a few occasions, most notably in 1985 for the Live Aid concert with both Phil Collins and Tony Thompson filling drum duties. However, the band members considered this performance here to be sub-standard, with Page having been let down by a poorly tuned Les Paul. [26] Page, Plant and Jones, as well as John Bonham's son Jason, performed at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show on 14 May 1988, closing the 12-hour show.
In 1994, Page reunited with Plant for the penultimate performance in ''MTVs "Unplugged" series. The 90-minute special, dubbed
Unledded, premiered to the highest ratings in MTV's history. In October of the same year, the session was released as the CD
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, and in 2004 as the DVD
No Quarter Unledded. Following a highly successful mid-90s tour to support
No Quarter, Page and Plant recorded 1998's
Walking into Clarksdale''.
Since 1990, Page has been heavily involved in remastering the entire Led Zeppelin back catalogue and is currently participating in various charity concerts and charity work, particularly the Action for Brazil's Children Trust
(ABC Trust), founded by his wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha in 1998. In the same year, Page played guitar for rap singer/producer Puff Daddy's song "Come with Me", which heavily samples Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and was included in the soundtrack of Godzilla
. The two later performed the song on Saturday Night Live
. A live album and tour with The Black Crowes follow in 1999.
In 2001 he made an appearance on stage with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards in Frankfurt, where they performed a version of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You". [27]
In 2005, Page was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his Brazilian charity work for Task Brazil and Action For Brazil's Children's Trust, [28] made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that year, and was awarded a Grammy award. [29]
In November 2006, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The television broadcasting of the event consisted of an introduction to the band by various famous admirers, a presentation of an award to Jimmy Page and then a short speech by the guitarist. After this, rock group Wolfmother played a tribute to Led Zeppelin, playing the song "Communication Breakdown". [30] [31]
In 2006, Page attended the induction of Led Zeppelin to the UK Music Hall of Fame. During an interview for the BBC for said event, he expressed plans to record new material in 2007, saying "It's an album that I really need to get out of my system... there's a good album in there and it's ready to come out" and "Also there will be some Zeppelin things on the horizon".
On 6 January 2007, Page was featured at #19 on Channel 4's The Ultimate Hellraiser, a countdown of music's top 25 who "lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle". The show's reason for featuring Page was almost exclusively attributed to the groupies who toured with Led Zeppelin. In addition, many of John Bonham's shenanigans (for example driving a motorcycle down a hotel corridor) were falsely blamed on Page.
On 2 December 2007, Contacmusic.com confirmed that Page was "Too traumatised for Zeppelin reunion" until now. He states in the article, "After John Bonham's death I spent 15 years not even wanting to think about Led Zeppelin. But I also have difficulty thinking it's all over. Now at least one concert is planned and I'm incredibly happy about that."
On 10 December 2007, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, as well as John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham played a charity concert at the O2 Arena London.
On 20 June 2008, Page was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Surrey, for his services to the music industry. [32]
For the 2008 Olympics, Jimmy Page, David Beckham and Leona Lewis represented Britain during the closing ceremonies on 24 August 2008. Beckham rode a double-decker bus into the stadium, and Page and Lewis performed "Whole Lotta Love", representing the change in Olympic venue to London in 2012. [33]
In 2008 Page co-produced a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim entitled It Might Get Loud
. The film examines the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film premiered on 5 September 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival. [34] Page also participated in the 3 part BBC documentary London Calling: The making of the Olympic handover ceremony
on 4 March 2009. [35] On 4 April 2009, Page inducted Jeff Beck into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [36]
Legal action
In July 2007 Page gave testimony and observed evidence on behalf of Led Zeppelin at a court case in Glasgow against an alleged bootlegger. Robert Langley was charged with, and denied, 12 counts of producing and selling products without copyright permission. [37] Page was shown hundreds of CDs and DVDs, ranging from his solo material to his time in Led Zeppelin and The Yardbirds, which Langley was allegedly selling in Scotland during 2005. Many contain footage and audio from Page's personal collection, stolen from his home in the early 1980s. [38]
The goods were found on sale as far away as New York, where shop-owners thought they were official. Page later said "If you have something like this that appears legitimate then it is just not right". Page concluded his day in court by greeting waiting fans and signing autographs.
Personal life
Page's daughter, Scarlet Page, (born in 1971) is a photographer. Her mother is Charlotte Martin, who was Page's partner from 1970 till 1982 or 1983. Page called her 'My Lady'. [39]
Page also had relationships with a number of rock groupies in the first half of 1970s, including Pamela Des Barres, Lori Maddox, Krissy Wood (the ex- wife of Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones) and Bebe Buell.[
]
From 1986 to 1995 Page was married to Patricia Ecker, a model and waitress. They have a son, James Patrick Page III (born April 1988). Following his 1995 divorce, Page married Jimena Gomez-Paratcha. They have three children together, Jana (born 1995) Zofia Jade (born 1997) and Ashen Josan (born 1999). [40]
In 1972 Page bought, from Richard Harris, the home which William Burges designed for himself in London, The Tower House. "I had an interest going back to my teens in the pre-Raphaelite movement and the architecture of Burges", he said. "What a wonderful world to discover." The reputation of William Burges (1827-1881) rests on his extravagant designs and his contribution to the Gothic revival in architecture in the nineteenth century. [41]
From 1980 to 2004 Page owned 'The Mill House', Mill Lane, Windsor, UK - formerly the home of actor Michael Caine. Fellow Led Zeppelin band member John Bonham died at the house in 1980.
From the early 1970s to well into the 1980s, Jimmy Page owned the Boleskine House, the former residence of occultist Aleister Crowley. Sections of Page's fantasy sequence in the film The Song Remains the Same
were filmed at night on the mountain side directly behind Boleskine House.
Page currently resides in Berkshire.
Drug use
Page has acknowledged heavy drug use throughout the 1970s. In an interview with Guitar World
magazine in 2003, he stated:
"ref">[42]
After the band's concert tour of the United States in that year, Page told Nick Kent:
"ref">[43]
In 1975, Page began to use heroin, a fact attributed to Richard Cole, who stated that Page (in addition to himself) was taking the drug during the recording sessions of the album Presence
in that year, and that Page admitted to him shortly afterwards that he was addicted to the drug. [44]
By Led Zeppelin's 1977 tour of the United States, Page's heroin addiction was beginning to hamper his guitar playing performances.
Page reportedly kicked his heroin habit in the early 1980s. [49] In a 1988 interview with Musician
magazine, Page took offense when the interviewer noted that heroin had been associated with his name, and insisted that "I'm not an addict, thank you very much."
In an interview he gave to Q magazine
in 2003, Page responded to a question as to whether he regrets getting so involved in heroin and cocaine:
"ref">[50]
Interest in the occult
The appearance of four symbols on the jacket of Led Zeppelin's fourth album has been linked to Page's interest in the occult. [51] The four symbols represented each member of the band. Page's own "Zoso" symbol originated in 'Ars Magica Arteficii' (1557) by J Cardan, an old alchemical grimoire, where it has been identified as a sigil consisting of zodiac signs. The sigil is reproduced in "Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils" by Fred Gettings, published in 1982 by Routledge & Kegan Paul ().
During tours and performances after the release of the fourth album, Page often had the so-called "Zoso" symbol embroidered on his clothes, along with zodiac symbols. These were visible most notably on his "Dragon Suit", which included the signs for Capricorn, Scorpio and Cancer which are Page's Sun, Ascendant and Moon signs, respectively.
The artwork inside the album cover of Led Zeppelin IV
is from a painting by William Holman Hunt, influenced by the traditional Rider/Waite Tarot card design for the card called "The Hermit".
In the early 1970s Page owned an occult bookshop and publishing house, "The Equinox Booksellers and Publishers" in Kensington High Street, London, eventually closing it as the increasing success of Led Zeppelin resulted in his having insufficient time to devote to it. The company published a facsimile of English occultist's Aleister Crowley's 1904 edition of The Goetia
. [52] Page has maintained a strong interest in Crowley for many years. In 1978, he explained:
"ref">[53]
Page was commissioned to write the soundtrack music for the film Lucifer Rising
by another occultist and Crowley admirer, underground movie director Kenneth Anger. In the end Page produced 23 minutes of music which Anger felt were useless because the film ran for 28 minutes and Anger wanted the film to have a full soundtrack. Anger claimed Page took three years to deliver the music, and the final product was only 23 minutes of droning. On top of that, the director slammed the guitarist in the press by calling him a "dabbler" in the occult and an addict. Anger accused Page of "having an affair with the White Lady" and being too strung out on drugs to complete the project. Page countered that he had fulfilled all his obligations, even going so far as to lend Anger his own film editing equipment to help him finish the project. [54]
Although Page collected works by Crowley, he has never described himself as a Thelemite nor was he ever initiated into the O.T.O.. The Equinox Bookstore and Boleskine House were both sold off during the 1980s, as Page settled into family life and participated in charity work.
Pre / Post Led Zeppelin discography
Single
- "She Just Satisfies"/"Keep Moving" (February 1965)
Albums
- Death Wish II Soundtrack
(1982), US #50
- The Honeydrippers: Volume One
(1984), with Robert Plant
- No Introduction Necessary
(1984), 1968 session recordings feat. John Paul Jones and Albert Lee
- Whatever Happened to Jugula?
(1985), with Roy Harper
- ''Scream for Help (1985), sessions with John Paul Jones on tracks "Spaghetti Junction" and "Crackback"
- The Firm
(1985)
- Mean Business
(1986)
- Strange Land
(1986), with Box of Frogs
- Outrider
(1988), US #26
- Coverdale-Page
(1993)
- No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded
(1994)
- Walking into Clarksdale
(1998), with Robert Plant
- Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes - Live at the Greek
(2000), US #64
- Last Man Standing
(2006) - Jerry Lee Lewis album featuring Jimmy Page on the first track, 'Rock and Roll'.
Pre-Led Zeppelin session recordings have been released on various labels and compilation packages, including:
- Guitar Boogie
Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton blues album (1971)
- Special Early Works
(1972), 1965 session recordings with Sonny Boy Williamson
- Smoke and Fire
(1984), session recordings with Jeff Beck, Noel Redding, and Nicky Hopkins
- ''James Patrick Page: Session Man Volume One (1989)
- ''James Patrick Page: Session Man Volume Two (1990)
- ''Hip Young Guitar Slinger (2000)
Equipment details
;Electric guitars
- 1959 Fender Telecaster (given to Page by Jeff Beck and repainted with a psychedelic dragon design by Page) played with the Yardbirds. Used to record the first Led Zeppelin album and used on the early tours during 1968-1969. It was later used to record the "Stairway To Heaven" solo.
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 1) (originally owned by Joe Walsh) modified with a shaved neck and the addition of a push/pull pot to put the humbuckers out of phase while the toggle is in the middle position. [55] English luthier Roger Giffin re-produced an exact replica of this guitar for Page in 1991 (nicknamed No. 3). Giffin's work was later copied for Gibson's original run of Jimmy Page Signature model Les Pauls in the mid-1990s. [56] [57] [58]This guitar was also used by Gibson as the model for the company's second run of Page signature models in 2004. Produced by Gibson and aged by veteran luthier Tom Murphy, this second generation of Page tribute models was limited to 25 guitars signed by Page himself; and only 150 guitars in total for the aged model issue.
- 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 2) with a shaved down neck to match the profile on his #1; He added four push/pull pots to coil split the humbuckers as well as phase and series switches which were added under the pick guard after the breakup of Led Zeppelin.
- 1978 Gibson Les Paul Standard
- 1959 Danelectro 3021 AKA 59-DC (tuned to DADGAD and used live for "White Summer", "Black Mountain Side", "Kashmir", "In My Time of Dying" and "Midnight Moonlight" with The Firm)
- 1967 Vox 12-String
- 1960 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom (with Bigsby Tremolo) - stolen in 1970. An ad was placed by Page for the recovery of this highly modified instrument but the guitar was never recovered. In 2008 the Gibson Custom Shop produced a limited run of 25 re-creations of the guitar, each with a Bigsby Tremolo and a new custom 6-way toggle switch. [61]
- Rickenbacker 12 String
- 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 (used for playing "Stairway to Heaven", "The Rain Song", "The Song Remains the Same" and on some occasions, "Tangerine" live and "Sick Again" throughout the 1977 U.S. tour)
- 1969 Gibson Les Paul Standard (seen in "The Song Remains The Same" during the theremin/solo section of "Whole Lotta Love" and for "Kashmir" on the O2 reunion concert. This guitar was later fitted with a Parsons-White B-string bender and used on the Outrider tour.) During Whole Lotta Love in the movie, you can see the back of the head and there is no volute (meaning it is pre-1970), and other close up pictures have revealed a pancake body (those came along in mid 1969 and went away after 1976); thus with no volute and a pancake body, it must be a mid 1969 Les Paul
- 1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster (Used during recording sessions for In Through the Out Door
and 1979 at Knebworth for In the Evening
)
- 1966 Cream Fender Telecaster (Used on Physical Graffiti
)
- 1960's Botswana Brown Fender Telecaster featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender, and neck salvaged from the "Dragon Telecaster". Seen primarily during the 1980s The Firm and Outrider era. Also used at Knebworth in 1979, notably on "Ten Years Gone" and "Hot Dog".
- 1965 Fender Electric XII (12-String)
- 1977 Gibson RD Artist (used at Knebworth in 1979, on "Misty Mountain Hop")
- Gibson SG (seldom used on the 80s tour)
- Another Gibson doubleneck guitar was given to him after he agreed to allow the company to reproduce his original EDS-1275. The guitar was picked by Page out of numerous others after he struck one chord. Page declared "This is it, this is the one!" The guitar was marked (beforehand) #1.
- 2007 Gibson Black Beauty custom (remake of his original stolen in 1970, has modifications concerning pickup configurations which include a 6-way pickup selector, and coil-tap on the bridge pickup)
- Les Paul Goldtop w/ Transperformance tuning device Used on Atlantic 40th reunion, Coverdale/Page recordings, and Page/Plant tours
- Mid 80s Black Kramer guitar with a trem Used for Outrider
- Paul Reed Smith (used on the Outrider tour, notably on "City Sirens" and "Wasting My Time")
;Amplifiers
- Marshall SLP-1959 100-watt amp which was modded with KT-88 tubes, which boosted its output to 200 watts.
- Vox AC-30
- Hiwatt Custom 50 and Custom 100 heads
- Fender Dual Showman
- Fender Vibro-King (used on the Page/Plant "Unledded" special on MTV)
- Orange amps (used with the Theremin, as seen on The Song Remains The Same)
- Supro 1x12 combo (used in the studio for Led Zeppelin I)
;Effects
- Vox wah-wah
- Sola Sound Tonebender fuzz
- Maestro Echoplex
- MXR Phase 90
- MXR Blue Box (used for the guitar solo in "Fool In The Rain")
- DigiTech Whammypedal
;Acoustic guitars
- Gibson J-200
- Martin D-28
- Gibson Everly Brothers
- Giannini 12-String
- Harmony Sovereign
- Washburn 12 String
- Ovation 1994 Double Neck
;Other instruments
- Gibson Mandolin
- Gibson Harp Guitar
- Roland GR-500 Guitar Synthesizer
- Roland GR-700 Guitar Synthesizer
- Fender 10-String 800 Pedal steel guitar
- Violin bow [62] [63] [64] [65]
- Theremin
- Mellotron MKV (Prototype)
- Banjo
;Accessories
- Ernie Ball electric guitar strings
;Collection
Jimmy Page is reputed to own over 1,500 guitars. Page revealed this rough estimate to BBC Radio 2 presenter Stuart Maconie in June 2005.
Due to the fact the guitar was too heavy, one of Jimmy Page's Les Paul Custom Black Beauty guitars is now owned by Dan Hawkins of The Darkness. [66] It is not the same Black Beauty that was stolen from him in 1970.
;Signature models
Gibson released Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul which was discontinued in 1999, then released another version in 2004, which has also been discontinued. The 2004 version included 25 guitars signed by Page, 150 aged by a former Gibson employee (an acknowledged aging 'master'), and 840 'unlimited' production guitars. The Jimmy Page Signature EDS-1275 has been produced by Gibson. Recently, Gibson reproduced Page's 1960 Les Paul Black Beauty, the one stolen from him in 1970, with modern modifications. This guitar was sold in 2008 with a run of 25, again signed by Page, plus an additional 500 unsigned guitars.
References
- Jimmy Page Biography
- The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum: Inductee Biography: The Yardbirds (1992)
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum: Inductee Biography: Led Zeppelin (1995)
- Charles Shaar Murray, "The Guv’nors", ''Mojo'', August 2004, p. 67.
- Steven Rosen, 1977 Jimmy Page Interview, ''Modern Guitars'', May 25, 2007 (originally published in the July 1977, issue of ''Guitar Player'' magazine).
- Dave Schulps, Interview with Jimmy Page, ''Trouser Press'', October 1977.
- Interview with Jimmy Page, ''Guitar World'' magazine, 1993
- ''Led Zeppelin In Their Own Words'' compiled by Paul Kendall (1981), London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-86001-932-2, p. 11.
- Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography
- Crowe, Cameron. "The Durable Led Zeppelin" ''Rolling Stone'' March 13, 1975
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Triple J Music Specials - Led Zeppelin (first broadcast 2000-07-12)
- “I first met Jimmy on Tolworth Broadway, holding a bag of exotic fish...”, ''Uncut'', January 2009, pp. 40-41.
- Dominick A. Miserandino, Led Zeppelin - John Paul Jones, TheCelebrityCafe.com.
- Jimmy Page Online (unofficial website)
- "Their Time is Gonna Come", ''Classic Rock Magazine'', December 2007
- 100 Greatest Guitar Solos
- Page wins popular vote in Brit guitar poll
- Charles Shaar Murray, "21st century digital man", ''Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin'', 2008, p. 56.
- Light and Shade
- "Rock’s sonic architect", ''Classic Rock Magazine'', December 2007
- Ian Fortnam, "Dazed & confused", ''Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin'', 2008, p. 41.
- David Cavanagh, "Interview with John Paul Jones", ''Uncut''.
- Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography
- BBC News Report
- Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press, p. 139.
- Led Zep's Page Joins Limp Bizkit's Durst And Puddle of Mudd's Scantlin On Stage
- Jimmy Page given OBE for charity work
- Zeppelin's Page made Rio citizen
- Wolfmother live at Led Zep's induction
- Led Zeppelin make UK Hall of Fame
- 26 June 2008
- Knight, Tom. London rap troupe fly flag at Beijing Olympics ''The Telegraph''. 16 June 2008. Accessed 24 July 2008.
- It Might Get Loud
- Olympic Documentary London Calling - screens this week
- Rock Hall presenters to include Eminem, Jimmy Page
- Jimmy Page Testifies In Bootlegging Trial
- Star Page witness in bootleg case
- Title Unavailable
- Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography
- Rock legend's pilgrimage to castle
- Tolinski, Brad, "The Greatest Show On Earth, ''Guitar World'', July 2003; re-published in ''Guitar Legends Magazine'', Winter 2004, p. 72.
- Case, George, "Jimmy Page: Magnus, Musician, Man", ''Hal Leonard Books 2007''; excerpt printed in ''Guitar World'', May 2007, p. 52.
- Cole, Richard (1992) ''Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored'', New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-018323-3, pp. 322-326.
- The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin
- Power, Mystery And The Hammer Of The Gods: The Rise and Fall of Led Zeppelin
- In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music
- Aizelwood, John, "Closing Time", ''Q Magazine'' Special Led Zeppelin edition, 2003, p. 94.
- Hammer of the Gods (LPC)
- Nick Kent, "Bring It On Home", ''Q Magazine'', Special Led Zeppelin edition, 2003
- ''Jimmy Page interview'', Guitar World magazine, January 2008
- Crowley, Aleister ''The Goetia''. London, 1976 Equinox (Booksellers and Publishers) Ltd. ISBN 9780905841007
- ''Sounds'', March 13, 1978.
- ''The Story Behind The Lost Lucifer Rising Soundtrack'', Guitar World magazine, October 2006
- http://www.gibson.com/press/custom/pr/customjimmy1.html
- Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography
- Luthier Roger Giffin with Jimmy Page's 1958 Les Paul
- Electric Guitars:The Illustrated Encyclopedia
- http://www.higgs.com/archive/casestudies/jimmy-page-les-paul.html Case Study:Page's Prototype Les Pa
- http://www.higgs.com/archive/casestudies/jimmy-page-les-paul.html Case Study:Page's Prototype Les Pa
- News article from the Ottawa Citizen
- Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man - An Unauthorized Biography
- Led Zeppelin 'Talking': Led Zeppelin in Their Own Words
- In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music
- The Cambridge Companion to the Guitar
- Lords of the Prance