Jimmy Page – Stairway To Led Zeppelin Part 1

Jimmy Page, guitarist, composer, songwriter and producer all rolled into one, is one of the most influential and charismatic musicians in the history of world music.

Jimmy’s music, a marriage of powerful, passionate hard rock with subtle blues and traditional acoustic sounds, has redefined rock vocabulary forever.

The master-mind of the Led Zeppelin juggernaut, his wholly unique brand of rock is enchanting and irresistible, and every rocker since, has been influenced by it.

Consciously or unconsciously, every player in the musical arena has emulated his style of playing. Page’s musical legacy looms large in the rock landscape.

The Formation Of A Guitar Great

Born as James Patrick Page in Heston, London, on 9th January, 1944, in childhood Jimmy was more inclined towards laboratory research as a possible career. Then, at 13, he heard the Elvis Presley number ‘Baby Let’s Play House’, and was inspired enough to take up guitar lessons at Kingston.

Although he took a few lessons, he was largely self-taught. Other than rock and roll, he was also impressed by the blues music of greats such as B.B. King and Elmore James, and the folk-acoustic music of artist Bert Jansch. His work with Led Zeppelin shows the influence of all these genres along with touches of country and funk.

After high school, Jimmy Page decided to pursue music full time and got a chance to play guitar with a band named Neil Christian and The Crusaders. With them, he got a first-hand experience of recording and touring constantly. After a stint of two years, Jimmy fell seriously ill with glandular fever and had to quit midway.

Putting his musical aspirations on the back-burner, he turned to his other love, painting, and enrolled at the Sutton art college, Surrey. But his fingers were made for the fret board and not for a flimsy paintbrush. He wasn’t able to give up music altogether, and spent most nights at The Marquee, jamming with bands such as Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc. and with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton when they were both unknown guitarists.

Jimmy Page Gets His Break

At the Marquee, Jimmy’s guitar-playing got him noticed by several musical big-wigs and he was offered work as a studio session guitarist. Soon, Jimmy started getting regular session work and from 1963 to 1965, he did studio work for diverse bands such as The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and for soloists such as Marianne Faithfull, Brenda Lee and Van Morrison.

Reports suggest that Jimmy Page was a part of as much as 60% of all rock music recorded in London during that period – an astounding amount of work by any yardstick.

All that session work proved invaluable, for, most of the innovations that he introduced while spearheading Led Zeppelin, he had perfected during his stint as a session man. Eventually, Jimmy also got involved in the production side of studio recording, and produced tracks by Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much and Eric Clapton.

Around the time he quit session work, Jimmy Page was offered a chance to play in the band The Yardbirds after Paul Samwell-Smith left the band. He accepted the offer and took up duty as twin lead guitar with Jeff Beck. The band was not very successful and broke up in 1968.

To honor unfinished tour dates in Scandinavia, Jimmy decided to form a new band called The New Yardbirds. He brought in newcomers Robert Plant on vocals and John Bonham on drums, and took in bassist John Paul Jones who had a great amount of studio work under his belt. As Jimmy said…

“The whole thing was putting a group together and actually being able to play together. There were a lot of virtuoso musicians around at the time who didn’t gel as a band. That was the key: to find a band that was going to fire on all cylinders.”

The New Yardbirds Become Led Zeppelin

And find a band they did, for, after the tour of Scandinavia, The New Yardbirds became Led Zeppelin which emerged as a powerful force to reckon with on the rock horizon. Page took over the reins of the creative and technical aspects of the band in his hands, and steered it in the direction of a whole new genre of hard rock/heavy metal.

Jimmy Page was producer, composer, song-writer as well lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin. Under his expert tutelage, the band was a thumping success with music and lovers from all over the world.

Led Zeppelin & Jimmy Page – Stairway To Heaven Guitar Solo – Live

Between 1969 and 1975, they released six super successful albums one after the other and belted out a succession of hits such as Whole Lotta Love, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, Kashmir, etc, many of which have become immortal in the annals of rock history.

Page’s solo in the famous anthem Stairway to Heaven, has been voted the greatest guitar solo of all time, and also made history as the most requested rock song ever on American radio. Jimmy Page was ranked #9 by Rolling Stone magazine on its list of the top 100 great guitarists of all time.

Jimmy Page – Stairway To Led Zeppelin Part 2 is coming soon.

Scotty Smith
Guitarist Rock ©2008-2009