Thursday, May 21, 2009
Jimmy Page (Final Summative)
My hero is guitarist Jimmy Page, known for his work with Led Zeppelin from 1968 to 1980. He is considered one of the most influential, important, and versatile guitarists and songwriters in rock history. Jimmy Page was ranked 9th on Rolling Stone’s magazine ranking of the 100 Greatest Guitarists Ever. He changed music forever with Led Zeppelin in 1968 when the group first formed. And a new “heavy” sound that no one had ever heard before was created and through the twelve years that Led Zeppelin was around and the seven that they ruled the world of music, Page was the wizard behind it all. Page was not only a key musician but also a sorcerer in the studio. Before Led Zeppelin, Page had worked as a studio musician and learnt all the tricks of the trade so when Led Zeppelin went to record, Page took a really innovative approach to recording that would change the way people record music.
Jimmy Page was born on January 9th, 1944 in a West London suburb to an industrial personnel manager and a doctor’s secretary. He crossed paths with the guitar when he moved with his family to a small town called Epsom in 1952. A guitar was left in the house that his family had bought and at thirteen, he took it to school and got someone to tune it for him. He took lessons but was largely self-taught. He was mesmerized by Rock n Roll after hearing the Elvis Presley song “Baby Let’s Play House”. He was in little bands for his teenage years but in 1963 he got his break recording a song called “Diamonds” that quickly went to Number 1 on the singles charts in 1963 so Jimmy went to work as a session musician from 1963 until he joined The Yardbirds in 1966. The Yardbirds disbanded in 1968 and Jimmy decided to create a new line-up, which would soon become Led Zeppelin.
Page has inspired guitarists and musicians around the world. His innovative tapping-like technique inspired Eddie Van Halen to create his tapping technique. Page was a pioneer of distortion and was one of the first guitar players to have a fuzz pedal. Page was very influenced by rock and the blues but he was also influenced by Indian, folk, and country music and these influences were also thrown into Led Zeppelin’s hard sound which is why there music touches so many people. Jimmy was the original “rock star”. He dabbled in occultist Aleister Crowley’s work, had hundreds of rare guitars, had hundreds of expensive cars that he drove without a license, lived in Aleister Crowley’s castle in Loch Ness with a moat surrounding it, and he had lots of women and money.
Jimmy is now 65 and resides in Berkshire, England. He is involved in many charity concerts and founded the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust with his wife in 1998. His rock star lifestyle has died down though he still collects guitars but he is no longer the dark haired mysterious guitarist that danced on stages around the world with his Les Paul guitar sung low on his waist, rather an old man. Grey hair and wise. He recently joined Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham’s son Jason Bonham for A tribute concert for the man who made Led Zeppelin possible, Ahmet Ertegun.
Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page have gone through thick and thin and Jimmy is my hero because he is still here to tell the tale. Unlike other musicians who drifted into the shadow of death, Jimmy is did all the same things as the others but got through it all. He is the rock that doesn’t roll.
