Jimmy Page interview, Circus, May 1974, by Kathleen Stein
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Inside Jimmy Page—The Musician and The Man
The love affair between a man and his guitar
In 1974 over 25,000 people elected Jimmy Page the Best Guitarist of the Year in the annual Circus Magazine Poll. Led Zeppelin's virtuoso riff artist was a runaway winner. Clobbering the venerable hermit, Eric Clapton, who came in a distant second, Page also left a dozen or more of rock's mighty guitarists standing in the dust. Far behind were Jan Akkerman of Focus (who had been voted best guitarist in the world in an English press contest), cool-licking Dickie Betts, eclectic John McLaughlin, star-dusted Mick Ronson, not to mention bloozey Johnny Winter, Jerry Garcia, Alvin Lee, George Harrison, Keith Richard, Mark Farner, and other favorites. None of these, according to the pollsters, could hold a candle to the Zep axeman's prowess.
Obviously Jimmy Page, as a rock guitarist, is a Very Important Person to fans, press and musicians alike. Even if certain critics don't agree that he's the hottest guitarist alive, they admit that in the great Period of the Electric Guitar, which began in the late '60's, musicians like Page, Clapton and Hendrix brought the strumming instrument to a peak which might never have been reached without them.
What does Jimmy himself have to say about all this—his music, his past, his collection of guitars and instruments, his future plans? It's best to let the Page speak for himself.
Schooling himself: Looking mild-mannered, almost boyish, Jimmy Page strode out of the recording cell and into the waiting area of the control room. He was wearing a conservative dark red denim suit, a plain shirt and sneakers. The giant 16-track tape console and a pile of Dolby noise reduction pieces were heaped up in a corner behind him. And against this backdrop, Zep's lead axeman didn't appear barbaric (as reported to be) at all. "The good thing about the guitar," he began, "was that they didn't teach it in school. Teaching myself was the first and most important part of my education. I hope they keep it out of the schools."
It was hard, hard work. Page practiced (and still does) three hours a day. He'd been at Art School and done general education in Sutton and Croydon. Then he broke into the music world, playing session gigs in the mid-Sixties. One of his more memorable experiences was the guitar acrobatics he performed on Joe Cocker's hit single, "With A Little Help From My Friends."
"I only did a few sessions because I didn't want to fall into that trap of playing on every disc out in England," he said as a group of rock musicians played soundlessly behind the heavy glass window in the studio.
But Jimmy really came into his own in the famous nest of guitarists known as The Yardbirds. Playing doublebarrelled leads with Jeff Beck, Jimmy learned to work his guitar in a group. "I knew Jeff Beck and I enjoyed music," Page admitted. "I couldn't read music so I taught myself that too. I can write it down at my own pace, now."
But The Yardbirds eventually folded with just about one big hit, "Over Under Sideways Down," in 1966. There are some critics, though, who thought that Zeppelin was a carefully contrived and thought out plan, masterminded by Jimmy to launch a supergroup on the market he saw growing on the horizon even while he was with the Yardbirds. "It was never that controlled," he had responded adamantly in an interview in New Musical Express. "In fact I never wanted the Yardbirds to break up at all—it was me who was trying hardest of all to keep them together."
Spontaneity of the Zep: But Led Zeppelin was inevitably launched, and as fame avalanched upon them it was impossible to be objective about the group's success and how it happened. Page, even today, tries to understate the Bigger-than-the-Beatles rating of the Zep. He maintains a strictly musical position. Barraged by questioning reporters, he stated simply that, "we tried to inject more light and shade into our spontaneous pieces and some sense of the dramatic. If there was a key to our musical success, that was it."
Jimmy, truly a one band man, seldom sees himself as a musical entity separate from Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. When he talks about his experience with the Zep he usually uses a "we." Once in a while, though, one gets a glimpse of the private feelings Page experiences on the stage in the houses of the massive ecstatic audiences.
"Going out there, I think it's the spontaneity, really. Something comes out of the guitar that never came out before. You don't know where it comes from, but it's there. Every time we get together, something comes out. It's always changing every night," he continued. "We never get two guitar breaks that are the same. All those riffs appear out of nowhere—every night. And because of that, one's mind is constantly working."
What happens when Page plays in so many different halls, in different acoustical climates, to different audiences? The humidity is the worst problem he admitted in the British press. "It's a drag because you're working on something and your ideas start going on a solo and a string breaks. It's really like reaching a climax and not making it. It's just like that, really, it feels horrible. It's so frustrating because you have to rethink it."
Does Jimmy miss jamming with other guitarists, which he hasn't done since the Yardbird days? "Sometimes I've felt it would be nice working with another guitarist," he replied thoughtfully to a London reporter. "But it would have to be somebody really capable, not just a rhythm guitarist. It would be nice to get someone that you could work out double leads with. I think Jeff and I in the Yardbirds were the first to use two guitar leads and since then it's been an obvious progression. But then," he said, changing his train of thought, "I don't think it would be right, because it's more of a challenge to try to get it with just what we've got in the band."
Loch Ness lair: Although he's an extremely capable musician in his own right, Page doesn't write anything outside the context of Led Zeppelin, not even a tune for his own satisfaction that might never be used by the band. "If I find a number coming that I know wouldn't be suitable for Zep, I scrap it," he explained, seemingly unaware of his unique brand of loyalty. "I stop working on it from that moment on."
"I write a lot at home," he continued, describing the eerie landscape surrounding his estate on the shores of myth-enshrouded Loch Ness. Page is fortunate in having a studio set up where he can try things out. Lately he's been experimenting with chords a lot more, and has tried out a few unusual vocals.
The Loch Ness home, formerly the sprawling grounds of famed magician, Alistair Crowley, provides a shelter for Page's amazing array of instruments. "I'm getting involved in instruments that I've never tried before and it's really therapy for myself. I've gotten things like a mellotron and a synthesizer. I never played keyboards before and I've been coming to grips with all these things. And well," he said with a light in his eye that made him look to the reporter like a mild version of the barbarian he's supposed to be, "they have such a good sound you can't help but get something good out of them."
Antiques for loving fingers: Like many other top guitarists who are in love with the antique-y luxury and mellow tones of older guitars, Page mainly plays his rare Les Paul. "There's no doubt that these old guitars between 1952-60 were made by the last of the post-war craftsmen," he said to Disc recently. "They're more responsive to the player's touch. Clapton was probably the first to realize and popularize the use of the 'Stratocaster' with two pickups, but my favorite was an old Fender-Telecaster. Unfortunately it fed back on stage and so now I only use it on sessions." The Les Paul Jimmy now uses was probably originally sold for about $400, but today pickers are willing to pay at least $1400 for one.
"You have to be careful you don't pick up a fake," Jimmy cautioned. "Because the Japanese and some of the original manufacturers are re-making the old models, but without the individual craftsmanship that counted."
Jimmy divides his attention between his electric and acoustic guitar picking. He has to treat the two instruments differently he says, because of the different mechanics of the guitars. "I don't think the finger style works on an electric. You just get overtones and harmonics coming out. But then again," and his mind switched gears again, "an electric guitar can work for you. It can start singing on its own through the electronics."
"My affection and fascination with the guitar is just as strong as it's ever been," he once admitted to NME. "There are so many styles of playing and listening to and to get off on. You can't help but be totally involved with it. I'm still coming to terms with the instrument even now."
What visions lie in the crystal ball of Page's future? A solo album? No, never, as long as Led Zeppelin is together. However, Jimmy has played lead guitar on two cuts from protest-cum-psychedelic folk singer Roy Harper's recently released British LP, Roy Harper. It is rumored that Jimmy is also producing a quick second Harper album called Valentine. And on Valentine's Day Page appeared, along with Ron Lane and Keith Moon on stage at Roy's concert at the Rainbow. The same source revealed that Page may be working on the production end of an LP involving oldies artists too; Page is an oldies fanatic. "And," says the heaviest of metal pickers who also knows chord structures stretching from Bach to Raga, "best of all I like dirty music." And that's rock 'n roll music.