For this class, one primary source I chose was required to be an interlibrary loan. For this, I chose the book "Jimmy Page" by Jimmy Page. This book is an autobiography, but it is laid out differently. This book has a lot of pictures of his greatest moments, important figures, and personal notes. It feels as if you are flipping through his personal scrapbook. āJimmy Pageā is published by Genesis Publications and was released in 2014.Ā
When you first open the book, it tells you exactly what the purpose of this book is (Page, 2014, p. 3): āThis book is a visual documentary to reflect my contribution to music.ā After reading this autobiography, I can confidently say the book does a great job at giving us a visual documentary of Pageās contribution to music. My research topic is about how technology is changing music, so this book was a perfect match. This book is a direct contribution to my research, as it shows Page using new technology and innovations to create music we all know, as with Led Zeppelin.Ā
This autobiography focuses on Pageās contribution to music, but it also ties into an ongoing debate in the guitar world, which is the debate over how new guitar technology and gadgets can hinder the skill and passion of playing guitar. For example, with certain guitar pedals, you can make simple chords sound beautiful and change their key just with the push of a button. This book relates to this because Jimmy Page saw both sides of the debate and embraced them. What I mean by this is Jimmy Page is a guitar master; he didnāt need fancy pedals and gadgets to make him sound good, but with time and new innovations in guitar technology, he combined new technology and masterful guitar skill, and the result was beautiful. Personally, I am for new technology, as it opens the door to a whole new world of possibilities.Ā
I thought this was a well-written book and easy to read. What I found interesting was how detailed the book was; it follows his life in chronological order. My favorite passages were about the beginning of his music career. (Page, 2014, p. 12): āHere with my first electric guitar and with local band āThe Paramountsā. I could only play on the weekends as I was still in school.ā This was very inspiring because on this page, it shows teenage Jimmy Page in his first real band, which was quite successful while he was in high school, while his bandmates were considered adults. This just shows how talented Jimmy is. All information and pictures in the book were written and hand-chosen by him. The pictures he chose really do a good job at helping to tell his story. In the beginning, these pictures help represent that he wasnāt handed this great talent and connections. They show his journey from starting off as a choir boy, to his first guitar, and eventually to Led Zeppelin. I think the pictures really help people with no musical background understand what Page is talking about. For example, on page 222, he talks about āhis signature Les Paulā; if you are not a guitar player, there is a good chance you would have no idea what a Les Paul is. So, the pictures act as a bridge to make this book understandable to all readers.Ā
I would definitely recommend this book to others who want to research how technology is having an impact on music or to any Jimmy Page fans. I believe this book would be a great benefit to them, as it is a great source that covers both. I would even go as far as to say that this book may even persuade you that technology is good for music, as Page often references and acknowledges his use of nontraditional technology to create some of his music. A great example of Page using nontraditional technology is in the song āWhole Lotta Loveā off their album Led Zeppelin II (1969). In this song, he uses an instrument called a theremin, if you listen to the song around 3:04, you will hear an eerie wailing sound that is the theremin.Ā
This book provides good context for my research about technology affecting the skill it takes to sound good on guitar. It takes that question and answers it by basically saying, What happens when you combine the skill it takes to sound beautiful on guitar and pair it with new technology? This is answered by reading and going through Jimmy Pageās life, as he lived through a big technological advancement in the world of guitar. This book also covers some viewpoints that I had not considered.Like the quality of the guitars, more specifically the material used to build the guitar and how quality affects sound. Throughout this book, as you see Jimmy Page grow in popularity, his guitar collection gets bigger, and you see that he starts to buy good quality guitars. That is when he really starts making his own unique tone for himself, one that distinguishes him from other guitarists. Iām not saying that buying an expensive guitar will automatically make you a better player because, in the beginning of the book as mentioned earlier, we saw that Page was in a successful band during high school with a cheap guitar. Iām just saying the quality of sound is noticeable to a musical ear. I have firsthand experience with this from going to guitar stores and trying out guitars I could never afford; the quality of sound is different.Ā
In conclusion, I thought this was a really good read and gained a lot of insight on my research topic. This book seemed up to date on most guitar technology, as it talks about some of the first technologies used, like guitar pedals and effects. Throughout the book, I was intrigued because all the sources used were from Jimmy Page directly, it almost feels like he is putting the audience in his shoes and really showing his true experience. He does this by sharing personal photos, notes, travel tickets, and even record deal contracts. This was very intriguing because it shows everything. It felt like a crash course on what to expect if you become a rock star.
