James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born January 9, 1944) is a British musician and widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock music history. He was the founding member of Led Zeppelin and, prior to that, a member of The Yardbirds from late 1966 through 1968. Before joining the Yardbirds, Page had been one of the most in-demand studio guitarists in England since his teenage years.
Formative years
Page was born 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. Jimmy Page first picked up the guitar when he was 12 years old, and although he took a few lessons, was largely self-taught. His early influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on recordings made by Elvis Presley, and Johnny Day, who played guitar for The Everly Brothers. The Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" was an early favourite on one of his first electric guitars, a second hand 1949 Futurama Grazioso. Page's musical tastes however also encompassed acoustic folk playing, particularly that of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the blues sounds of Elmore James and B.B. King. At the age of 14, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's All Your Own talent quest programme. Jimmy Page in an interview with Guitar Player Magazine, "There was a lot of busking (singing on street corners) in the early days, but as I say, I had to come to grips with it, and it was a good schooling."
Page left school at age 16 to pursue music; after brief stints backing Beat poet Royston Ellis and singer Red E. Lewis, Page was asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band The Crusaders; Page toured with Christian for approximately two years and later played on several of Christian's records, including the November 1962 single, "The Road to Love".
During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with glandular fever and couldn't continue touring. While recovering, Page decided to put his musical career on the shelf and concentrate on his other love, painting. He enrolled in Sutton Art College in Surrey.
Session player
While still a student, Page would often jam on stage at the Marquee with bands such as the Cyril Davis All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and with guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of The Silhouettes, who asked him to help record a number of singles for EMI, 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 & 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's group, and Mickey Finn and the Blue Men, Page committed himself to full-time session work. His studio output in 1964 included Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", The Rolling Stones' "Heart of Stone" (alternate version), 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 Shel Talmy, Page contributed to The Kinks' 1964 debut album (although, despite rumors to the contrary, he did not play any of the guitar solos); and he sat in on the sessions for The Who's first single "I Can't Explain" (although his guitar parts may not appear on the final mix). 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 and Eric Clapton. Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then romantic interest, Jackie DeShannon.
In late 1964 Page was approached about the possibility of replacing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds, but Page turned down the offer out of loyalty to Clapton. In February 1965 Clapton quit the Yardbirds, and Page was formally offered Clapton's spot; Page was unwilling to give up his lucrative solo career, and instead suggested his friend Jeff Beck. On May 16, 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 band with John Entwistle on bass (instead of Jones), however the lack of a quality vocalist and contractual problems brought the project to a halt.
Within weeks, Page was again offered a spot in the Yardbirds and at first played bass guitar with the group after the departure of Paul Samwell-Smith, before finally switching to twin lead guitar with Beck when Chris Dreja moved to bass. The musical potential of the line-up however was scuttled by interpersonal conflicts caused by constant touring and a lack of commercial success. Despite the departure of Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1968, Page wished to continue the group with a new line-up. At first he wanted to call the new group The New Yardbirds, but Keith Moon of The Who suggested that the name would go down 'like a lead zeppelin'. The band modified the name to "Led Zeppelin" so people wouldn't pronounce it "leed".
Led Zeppelin
Jimmy Page livePage's past experiences both in the studio and with the Yardbirds were very influential in the success of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. As a producer, composer, and guitarist for the band, he was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, with his trademark Gibson Les Paul guitar and Marshall amplification. In the studio, Page often used a Supro amplifier and a Telecaster guitar. His use of distorted fuzz guitar ("Whole Lotta Love"), slide guitar ("You Shook Me", "Dancing Days", "In My Time of Dying"), pedal steel guitar ("Your Time is Gonna Come", "Tangerine"), acoustic guitar ("Gallows Pole", "Ramble On") and recording techniques made Led Zeppelin a prototype for many future rock bands. His landmark guitar solo from the song "Heartbreaker" has been credited by Eddie Van Halen as the inspiration for his trademark two-hand tapping technique after he saw Led Zeppelin perform at the LA Forum in 1972. (Page's solo does not itself contain any two-hand tapping.) Page also put to use the bowed playing technique he developed during his session days (though Eddie Phillips of Creation - also produced by Shel Talmy - was the first guitarist to use a violin bow) in songs such as Dazed And Confused and "How Many More Times", and experimented with feedback devices and a theremin. His solo in the famous "Stairway to Heaven" was voted by readers of Guitar World Magazine as the greatest guitar solo of all time.
Post-Led Zeppelin career
Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 following the sudden death of the band's drummer John Bonham, and Page reportedly did not pick up a guitar for several years. He attempted to form a supergroup with ex-Yes members Chris Squire and Alan White, to be called XYZ, but the project was left unfinished. He made a successful return to the stage with the ARMS (Action Research for Multiple Sclerosis) charity series of concerts in 1983 which honoured Small Faces bass player Ronnie Lane, who suffered from the disease. Page then linked up with Roy Harper for an 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. In 1984, Page recorded with Plant as The Honeydrippers. . In 1984 Jimmy teamed up with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company and Free fame to record two albums under the name The Firm. Commercially successful "Radioactive". "Closer" employs a horn section to subtle effect. The cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" featured some fine vocals by Paul Rodgers but was never released as a single. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard's Pop Albums chart. .Various other projects soon followed such as session work for Graham Nash, Box of Frogs, and Robert Plant, a solo album Outrider, a collaboration with David Coverdale in Coverdale-Page, and a live album and tour with the Black Crowes. In addition, he also collaborated with director Michael Winner to record the Death Wish II and subsequent Death Wish 3 soundtrack, released in 1982 and 1985. In 1998, Page played guitar for rap singer/producer Sean "Puffy" Combs song "Come With Me," which heavily samples Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." The two later performed the song on Saturday Night Live.
The surviving members of Led Zeppelin re-formed in 1985 for the Live Aid concert with both Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on filling drum duties. The band considered their performance to be sub-standard however, and were one of the few Live Aid acts to refuse permission for their segment to be included in the 20th anniversary DVD release of the concert.
A year later, Page reunited temporarily with his Yardbirds bandmates to play on several tracks of the Box of Frogs album Strange Land.
In 1994, Page reunited with Plant for the penultimate performance in MTV's "Unplugged" series. The 90-minute special, dubbed Unledded premiered to the highest ratings in MTV's history. The session was released in 1995 as the CD No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, and in 2004 as the DVD No Quarter Unledded. Following a highly successful 1995 tour, to support No Quarter, Page and Plant recorded Walking into Clarksdale, their first new album together since 1979. Page has been one member of Led Zeppelin who has always left open the option for a group reunion.
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 2005, Page was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his Brazilian charity work[1], and was also made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that year.[2] His daughter, Scarlet Page, is a respected photographer.
Non-Music Interests
Jimmy Page is a respected expert on the life and work of William Burges and contributed to a new book about the influential archtitect. In 1972 Page bought the home which 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.
Page had a fascination with the poet, novelist, artist, occultist and founder of Thelema, Aleister Crowley. Page bought Crowley's rural retreat, Boleskine House, which is on the banks of Loch Ness in Scotland, though he no longer owns the property having sold it to hoteliers in the late 1980s; it is currently a private dwelling. Page's collection of Crowleyana is considered to be the most significant in private hands: paintings by Crowley from Page's collection were displayed at a critically acclaimed exhibition at the October Gallery, London, in 1998.
In the early 1980s, Jimmy 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 Crowley's 1904 edition of "The Goetia"; the seriousness of Jimmy's intent was demonstrated by the dustwrapper being printed on the notoriously fragile camel hair paper of the original.
What made people particularly curious about Page's connection with the occult was the appearance of four symbols on the jacket of Led Zeppelin's fourth album. It was generally accepted that the four symbols represented each member of the band. During tours and performances after the release of Led Zeppelin IV, he often had zodiac symbols embroidered on his clothes (those of Capricorn, Scorpio and Cancer which are his Sun, Ascendant and Moon signs, respectively) along with the so-called "ZoSo" symbol. This fuelled the curiosity of many fans who went to great lengths to find out what the symbols meant. The source of the symbol itself is no longer a mystery, though: it 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 (see here: [3] ). It had previously been conjectured that the symbol was derived from various occult and mystical sources, most notably The Kabbalah; a stylized "666" from Aleister Crowley's Equinox publication or from Austin Osman Spare's "Zos Speaks"' but these are now considered to be probably incorrect. It has also been alleged that the symbol is merely a doodle that Page scribbled while on the telephone. Page will still not comment on the symbol's meaning.
The artwork inside the album cover of Led Zeppelin IV is from the traditional Rider/Waite Tarot card design for the card called "The Hermit". Page transforms into this character during his segment of the movie "The Song Remains the Same".
During the time of the PMRC hearing of the 1980s there were some accusations claiming the song "Stairway To Heaven" had satanic reverse-audio messages (known at the time as "backwards masking") in the verse that starts with the line 'If there's a bustle in your hedgerow'.
Page was commissioned to write the soundtrack music for the film Lucifer Rising by another occultist and Crowley admirer, underground movie director Kenneth Anger. Page even allowed Anger to film a portion of this movie in the basement of Tower House (Page's London residence). In the end Page only produced 23 minutes of music which Anger felt were useless. 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 claiming 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. Page's music was dumped eventually and replaced by a version completed in 1980 from prison by Bobby Beausoleil, a Charles Manson family member and convicted murderer. Bootlegs of Page's soundtrack for the project exist and were highly prized by Page's fans until an album also titled "Lucifer Rising" was released by Boleskine House Records on June 19, 1987. The blue vinyl disc contains all 23 minutes of the soundtrack music that Page provided for the movie. The introduction to Led Zeppelin's song "In the Evening" is said to be taken from the unfinished soundtrack, most of which was recorded by running a guitar through a synthesizer. (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Jimmy Page is primarily known for his innovations in recording layered guitars. To learn more about this rock legend, visit the web sites below, two of which include available Tab.
