With the
53rd overall pick in the
third round, AliceLoveGarden is proud and frankly stunned to be able to select in the category of guitarist, Jimmy Page.
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 co-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, as a member of
The Yardbirds (1992)
[3] and as a member of
Led Zeppelin (1995).
[4]
Page has explained that he had a very specific idea in mind as to what he wanted Led Zeppelin to be, right from the very beginning:
“I had a lot of ideas from my days with The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds allowed me to improvise a lot in live performance and I started building a textbook of ideas that I eventually used in Zeppelin. In addition to those ideas, I wanted to add acoustic textures. Ultimately, I wanted Zeppelin to be a marriage of blues, hard rock and acoustic music topped with heavy choruses -- a combination that had never been done before. Lots of light and shade in the music.
[5]”
[edit] 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 many future rock bands, and was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, influencing a host of other guitarists.
[10] For example, his sped up, downstroke guitar riff in "
Communication Breakdown" is cited as guitarist
Johnny Ramone's inspiration for 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 the inspiration for his two-hand
tapping technique after he saw 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 and
Total Guitar, as the greatest guitar solo of all time, and he was named 'Guitarist of the Year' five years straight during the 1970s by
Creem magazine.
[edit] Effects
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 also used a
Fender Telecaster. He also used a
Danelectro DC-59, 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", "
Ramble On") also demonstrated his versatility and creativity as a composer.
Page is famous for playing his guitar with a
Violin bow, as on the songs "
Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times". This was a technique he developed during his session days, although strictly speaking he was not the first guitarist to use a bow, since
Eddie Phillips of
The Creation had done so prior to Page.
[9] 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.
On a number of Led Zeppelin songs Page experimented with feedback devices and a
theremin. He used a
Wah-wah pedal but not always in the traditional way of rocking it back and forth as done by
Jimi Hendrix and other contemporaries; instead, he put it fully forward in the treble position to get a sharper tone.
“Many people think of me as just a riff guitarist, but I think of myself in broader terms... [A]s a producer I would like to be remembered as someone who was able to sustain a band of unquestionable individual talent, and push it to the forefront during its working career. I think I really captured the best of our output, growth, change and maturity on tape -- the multifaceted gem that is Led Zeppelin.
[5]
Here are some of my favorite Page riffs, via Led Zeppelin.
No Quarter live in Madison Square Garden
Nobody's Fault But Mine
Ten Years Gone
And a wicked version of my favorite, Since I've Been Loving You