Paige, Jimmy

James Patrick Page was born on January 9, 1944 in Heston, a western suburb of London, in the family of the doctor’s manager and secretary. In 1952, the family moved to Miles Road in Epsom. Paige went to school at age five; before that he had no peer friends. He recalled:

“This early isolation may have influenced my character formation. Loner. Many are unable to exist on their own. It scares them. Loneliness does not bother me at all. It gives me a sense of security. ”
- From an interview with Jimmy Page to Rolling Stone magazine , 1975. ^[1]

At age 12, Page first picked up the guitar : the old Spanish acoustics he found in the attic of his house. At first, the boy was not interested in the instrument; he wanted to learn how to play it when he heard Elvis Presley 's “Baby, Let's Play House”. “The guy at school showed me chords and off we go,” Paige recalled. ^[one]

Having received the first lessons of the game at a music school (in Kingston), he then proceeded to enhanced self-education. The first guitarists to influence his playing style were Scotty Moore and James Burton (who played with Elvis Presley). Baby Let's Play House was one of Paige’s favorite things. Gradually, a real musical society began to gather around the gifted guitarist, whose members later became, like himself, legends ( Eric Clapton , Jeff Beck ). ^[2]

Career start

On their 14th birthday, parents gave James the first electric guitar, the Czechoslovak Jolana Grazioso, a cheap copy of the Fender Stratocaster. Page worked on it around the clock, even at school. However, they did not appreciate the young Jimmy's desire for music and confiscated the guitar until the end of each school day.

His first successes date back to the same time: for example, he performed on the BBC , playing with his (obviously, nameless) band cover songs of some country - and skiffle songs. In 1959-1960, Page was musically strong enough to go on his first tour, and was invited to the Neil Christian & The Crusaders group. After leaving the ensemble for health reasons, Paige entered the art college, but did not stop his music studies. In the early 1960s, having dropped out of school, he began his career as a session musician, gaining experience and perfecting technical skills.

Jimmy admired Bert Jansch's first album (1965), saying: “At one point I was completely taken by Jensh Bert. When I first heard his disc, I could not believe it. It was much ahead of what either did. Nobody in America could reach this " ^{[3] [4]}

Page was a session musician in David Bowie's band.

The Kinks: “You Really Got Me”

The bands he recorded with included The Kinks . Moreover, according to one version, it was he who recorded the guitar parts for the songs “ You Really Got Me ” and “All Day and All of the Night” ^{[2] [5]} ; this allowed Guitar World to declare that "... if Jimmy Page really played the riff“ You Really Got Me “, it means that it was he who invented the heavy metal at that moment.” ^[6] According to the competing version, all this is nothing more than a "famous myth" ^[7] ; it was alleged that not only the Davis brothers refuted this claim ^[8] , but also Page himself. ^{[~ 1]}

Meanwhile, producer Shel Talmi and John Lord (another session musician, later a Deep Purple member who also became famous) confirm Paige’s participation in the recording: the first claims that the guitarist played the rhythm guitar part ^[9] , the second that he played solo ^[10] .

The Yardbirds

In February 1965, Paige released her solo single “She Just Satisfies” / “Keep Moving”. ^[eleven]

In 1966, Page took a decisive step: he returned to the rock scene as the bass player of The Yardbirds , where the lead guitarist was his old acquaintance Jeff Beck , with whom he shared the lead guitarist position a year later. As a result, Beck left the composition, leaving him in the care of Page, and in 1968 the group broke up completely. Paige and manager Peter Grant (also called the “fifth” zeppelin) retained the rights to her name.

To fulfill the remaining concert obligations, Page (on Grant’s urgent advice) set about forming a new line-up: at that moment John Paul Jones , a bass player, keyboard player and arranger, whom he met during studio work, offered him his services. over the Donovan album. ^[12] The line-up, staffed by vocalist Robert Plant (whom Terry Reed recommended) and drummer John Bonham (Plant, in turn, strongly recommended him), conducted a tour of Scandinavia called The New Yardbirds, and then, at the suggestion of Keith Moon , changed name on Led Zeppelin.

Atlantic Records signed a contract with the group largely due to the reputation of Jimmy Page, whose work the label leaders have been following since 1964, when he first went to New York and personally met executive director Jerry Wexler, the author duo Liber and Stoler, and many other key figures. ^[13]

Led Zeppelin

All the ideas that could not be implemented in Yardbirds, Paige transferred to Led Zeppelin, creating his own unique style of the group, in which each of the participants managed to realize their most powerful qualities. Almost every track of the first four albums of the group is considered a classic guitar. Johnny Ramon said that his style was built on the basis of one riff - “ Communication Breakdown ”. The same meaning for Eddie Van Halen (by his own admission) was “Heartbreaker” from the second album. Page's guitar solo at Stairway to Heaven topped the lists of the best guitar solos from Guitar World and Total Guitar . Creem magazine recognized him as the best guitarist in the world for five consecutive years.

Constantly experimenting with sound, Paige-producer made several discoveries in the studio and used many effects for the first time in history.

In the process of working on his first album, Page used a 1958 Telecaster and a 10-string Fender 800 steel guitar pedal. From the second album onwards, Gibson Les Paul with its Marshall amp kit has become its main instrument. Later, he repeatedly returned to Fender - in particular, he performed a solo in “ Stairway to Heaven ”. For slide guitar parts, Page used the Danelectro DC-59. Among the effects he used in the studio were the Vox AC30, the fuzzbox Sola Sound Tone Bender Professional MKII (“ How Many More Times ”), the thereminwox and the wah-wah pedal (the latter was handled differently from the way Jimi Hendrix and his contemporaries did it) , but in his own way: each time pressing it into a distant position to get a more pointed sound).

The sensation was caused by the Page technique used by Page in “ Dazed and Confused ” and “ How Many More Times ” for the bowed guitar playing, which he mastered when he was a session manager. Before Page, Eddie Philips, the Creation guitarist, had played like that, but guitarist Led Zeppelin (at MTV Rockumentary) talked about taking over this technique from another session musician, David McCallum Sr. Page play with a bow in “Dazed and Confused” was reinforced by an echo: for this purpose he used the EMT reverb - he separated the recorded effect into a separate track and then introduced it into the mix, creating an echo effect. ^[13] Page said (in a 1993 Guitar World interview) that he deliberately changed the sound engineers to work with the group’s albums ( Glyn Jones , Eddie Kramer, Andy Jones, etc.) so that they don’t have a reason to later say that they created it the sound of the group.

Jimmy Page always carried a portable cassette recorder with him, on which he wrote down ideas that came up: it was thanks to the band’s guitarist’s habit of listening to old riffs and forming new combinations from them in the Led Zeppelin repertoire things like “The Song Remains The Same” and “Stairway to Heaven. " ^[13]

One of the most “dense” producer works, Page called the album Houses of the Holy ; on the contrary, Physical Graffiti was in this sense almost improvised: Page made a conscious decision to abandon the overly “polished” sound. Spontaneous recordings appeared here, for example, the song “In My Time of Dying”. Page said that this was the band’s most personal album, as if inviting a listener into the inner world of musicians. ^[13]

In many ways, the idea to visit Morocco was decisive for the sound of the late Led Zeppelin . She came up with Page after a lengthy discussion with William Burroughs at the editorial board of Crawdaddy , in particular the part that talked about the hypnotic side of rock and its parallels with Arabic culture. ^[14]

Citing Zeppelin's Black Mountain Side as an example of such a connection, Burroughs advised the band's guitarist to go to Morocco and explore the country's musical culture directly. ^[13]

Page called Presence his favorite album of the group, “perhaps because it was recorded under almost impossible circumstances”: Plant was in a cast at that moment, it was not known whether he could walk at all, and the future of the group was in doubt. “This is a reflection of the peak of our emotions. There are no acoustic songs, nothing keyboard, nothing soft, ”said Page. In addition, the group was in time trouble. The album was made in 18 days and on average, musicians worked 18-20 hours a day.

This was especially debilitating because no one else brought song ideas. I had to come up with all these riffs: that’s why Presence is so full of guitar weight. But I don't blame anyone. We were all discouraged ... Our mood perfectly summed up the text “Tea For One”. - Jimmy Page, Guitar World , 1993.

“As soon as the band finished recording, sound engineer Keith Harwood and I started mixing until we fell and fell asleep. Then the one who woke up first woke up the second and we continued to work until we fell out again, ”Paige recalled. The guitarist said that he could have required more time from the recording company for work, but ... "I did not want everything to last forever. The circumstances were such that I felt: if the case dragged on, a negative, destructive element could sneak in. This rush allowed us to create an interesting album, ”he said in an interview with Guitar World magazine. ^[13]

Drum Sound

Page always enthusiastically spoke about the technique of John Bonham , but the special, “thundering” sound of the drums is due to him as a producer. Page told that he considers one of his main production achievements to reveal a new, “spatial” sound, which no one tried to do before him:

While playing at studio sessions, I noticed that sound engineers always put the bass drum microphone to the head. After that, the drummer could try his best, but it sounded the same as if he was pounding on a cardboard box. I found that if you move the microphones away from the setup, the sound gets space for a sigh, as if expanding. I continued to explore and expand the possibilities of this approach until we started spreading the microphones into the corridors - for example, the sound “When The Levee Breaks” appeared: as a result of a search for space to extend the most advantageous sound from the drums.

Original text

When I was playing sessions, I noticed that the engineers would always place the bass drum mic right next to the head. The drummers would then play like crazy, but it would always sound like they were playing on cardboard boxes. I discovered that if you move the mic away from the drums, the sound would have room to breathe, hence a bigger drum sound. I kept exploring and expanding that approach, to the point that we were actually placing mics in hallways, which is how we got the sound on "When The Levee Breaks". That was purely in the search for ambience and getting the best out of the drums.

- Jimmy Page, Guitar World Interview, 1993. ^[13]

Page denied the suggestion that the enthusiasm of the musicians at the time of the release of the album In Through the Out Door began to run low. According to him, he and Bonzo have already begun to discuss the heavier, more fatal album that will follow. “We both felt that In Through the Out Door was a bit soft. I really didn’t like “All of My Love”. Something was wrong in the refrain. Imagining the reaction of the audience, I told myself: this is not us, this is not us ... For my time, <album> was not bad, but I did not want to continue this direction in the future ” ^[13] .

Passion for the occult

In the early 1970s, Jimmy Page acquired the The Equinox Booksellers and Publishers occult literature store in London, located on Kensington High Street. The fact that the owner was serious about his mission is evidenced even by the fact that the facsimile edition of The Goetia by Alistair Crowley was re-released here in a camel skin dust jacket repeating the cover of the original.

The appearance of 4 characters on the cover of the fourth album of Led Zeppelin was also associated with the occult aspirations of the guitarist of the group. It is generally accepted that each sign symbolizes one of the members of the group. During the tour after the release of the album Led Zeppelin IV, Page began to appear on the stage in the so-called “Dragon costume”, which depicted the zodiac signs (Capricorn, Scorpio and Cancer) along with his personal symbol “ZoSo”. The meaning of the latter remains unclear, although it is known that Page borrowed it from the book Ars Magica Arteficii (1557) by the alchemist J. Cardan, who interpreted this image as a zodiac collage. But there is an opinion (reflected, in particular, in the dictionary "Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils" by Fred Gettings, 1982) that this is a stylization of "666" used by Alistair Crowley in "Equinox".

Paige's passion for occultism is associated by many with the cover design of Led Zeppelin IV , which is based on a reproduction of Barrington Colby's painting based on the images of the Hermit Tarot card. (Characteristically, it is in this image that Paige is transformed in one of the fragments of the film “The Song Remains the Same.”) The source of the rumors was the emblem of Swan Song Records (a label launched by Led Zeppelin on May 10, 1974), the image of which repeated the plot of the painting “ Evening: Fall of Day ”(1869) by the artist William Rimmer, depicting Apollo , the god of light and reason (in other interpretations - Icarus and Lucifer ).

During the hearings held in the 1980s by the Parents Music Resource Center ( PMRC ), created by Tipper Gore, long-standing accusations of “ Stairway to Heaven ” surfaced, the text of which allegedly contains purported satanic messages (the so-called “backwards masking”) ") - in the verse, starting with the words: If there's a bustle in your hedgerow ... The initiators of the discussion did not come to an unequivocal conclusion.

Page ended with Scandal’s collaboration with filmmaker (and Crowley’s other admirer) Kenneth Enger , who ordered him the soundtrack for his movie Lucifer Rising. The fact that, in place of the full-length soundtrack, Page brought to the light in three years of operation only “23 minutes of electronic drone” (music was created on a guitar passed through a synthesizer) angered Anger, and he attacked the guitarist with numerous reproaches. Among other things, he accused Paige of profaning Satanism and preferring the “white lady” (cocaine) too much. Page made a rebuttal, stating, in particular, that he had allowed Enger to shoot a fragment of the film in the basement of his Tower House in London. This unfinished work of Jimmy Page was released by Boleskine House Records on June 19, 1987 on blue vinyl. It is believed that the instrumental introduction to the track " In the Evening " subsequently went into the song from here.

While Page was a passionate collector of Crowley's books, he never called himself a telemite , was not a member of the OTO, and distanced himself from occultism. The bookstore The Equinox, like the Balskin House mansion, was sold in the 1980s, after Paige had a solid family and dedicated himself to charity work.

After the collapse of Led Zeppelin

After the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980, Jimmy Page began a solo career and began performing with various artists at numerous charity events. In March 1981, he gave a concert with Jeff Beck in Hammersmith-Odeon, after which he held a series of concerts in support of the ARMS Foundation (Action Research for Multiple Sclerosis) - after it became known about Ronnie Lane ’s disease from The Small Faces . Paige’s two compositions (recorded with the participation of Steve Winwood , Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton ) entered the soundtrack for the movie Death Wish II (three years later and the third film in this series came out with music written and recorded by a guitarist).

At a Madison Square Garden concert, Jimmy Page was joined by lead singer Paul Rogers , with whom they later formed The Firm . Paige, according to eyewitnesses, looked extremely exhausted, because shortly before that he had completely got rid of addiction to heroin - after seven years of dependence.

In 1981, Page, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White (both from Yes ) formed the XYZ supergroup (the abbreviation stands for “ex-Yes-Zeppelin”). After several rehearsals, the musicians decided to abandon further collaboration, but some of the recordings were released by a bootleg, which shows that part of the material prepared here later entered the repertoire of The Firm (“Fortune Hunter”), as well as Yes (“Mind Drive”, “Can You Imagine?”). In 1984, Page played at the Yes concert in Dortmund, Germany, in the song “I'm Down.”

With Roy Harper, Page recorded the album “Whatever Happened to Jugula?” And gave several concerts - mainly at small folk festivals, under the pseudonyms The MacGregors and Themselves.

In the same year, the guitarist resumed collaboration with former colleagues: with Robert Plant, he formed the short-term project The Honeydrippers (releasing the album of the same name), and with John Paul Jones created the soundtrack for the film “Scream for Help”. With Paul Rogers (ex- Bad Company , Free ) Jimmy Page formed The Firm , a group that recorded two albums: The Firm (# 17 Billboard Pop Albums Chart) and Mean Business (1986).

The musicians Paige collaborated with in the mid-1980s included Graham Nash , Stephen Stills , Box of Frogs , The Rolling Stones (1986 single “One Hit (to the Body)”). During these years, Page worked mainly in The Sol's own studio in Cookham, which he bought from Gus Dungeon in the early 1980s. Here they recorded the first solo album Outrider .

In 1985, three Led Zeppelin members reformed the band (inviting Phil Collins and Tony Thompson to play drums) to perform at Live Aid (1985). The quality of the performance of the group members did not satisfy, and they were the only participants in the event who asked not to include the recording of their set in the anniversary DVD dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the concert.

In the same year, Paige wrote the music for the film “Death Thirst 3”.

In 1986, Page, along with former members of The Yardbirds, took part in the recording of Box of Frogs' Strange Land album.

Two years later, Led Zeppelin gathered again to perform at a concert dedicated to the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records , which took place on May 14, 1988 . In 1990, Page and Plant performed at a charity concert in support of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Center , performing Misty Mountain Hop , Wearing and Tearing , and Rock and Roll .

In 1993, Page and David Coverdale recorded a joint disc ( Coverdale-Page project), which caused a sensation and great expectations around the world, however, the plans for a big world tour after recording the album were realized only in a modest one-week Japan tour in December 1993, after why their creative ways diverged again.

In 1994, Page and Plant signed up for MTV Unplugged : an hour and a half set went under the heading Unledded and its premiere received the highest rating in the history of MTV. In October of that year, the CD No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded was released , and in 2004 the DVD “No Quarter Unledded”. After a successful No Quarter tour, Page and Plant recorded Walking into Clarksdale (1998).

Since 1990, Page has been actively remastered the Led Zeppelin back catalog, occasionally appearing in charity concerts, in particular in support of the Children Trust , a foundation founded by his wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha.

In 1998, Page played the guitar part in Puff Daddy ’s track “Come with Me” (the “Kashmir” sample was also used here), which was later included in the soundtrack of the Godzilla blockbuster. Later both appeared with this song on Saturday Night Live.

In 1999, Page began working with The Black Crowes , recording a live double album with the band. In 2001, Paige, with members of Limp Bizkit and Puddle of Mudd, performed the Thank You version at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards in Frankfurt . ^[15]

In 2005, Jimmy Page was awarded the Order of the British Empire (in recognition of his charitable activities in Brazil), and also became an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro . In the same year he received a Grammy. In November 2006, Led Zeppelin was introduced to the UK Music Hall of Fame, during the ceremony Paige gave a short thank-you note broadcast on television, after which the Australian band Wolfmother performed Communication Breakdown as a tribute.

On December 10, 2007, three Led Zeppelin members, along with their son, Led Zeppelin drummer Jason Bonham, performed at the London O2 Arena : the concert received enthusiastic responses and was the cause of numerous speculations about the revival of Led Zeppelin.

On June 20, 2008, Paige received an honorary doctorate from the University of Surrey, for his services to the music industry.

At the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games, Jimmy Page, David Beckham and Leona Lewis represented Great Britain: Beckham rode into the stadium in a double decker , Page and Lewis performed “Whole Lotta Love” ^[16] .

In 2012, Jimmy Page, along with Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, took part in a press conference in New York that announced the release of a live album from Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena on December 10, 2007.

In 2014, Paige was actively engaged in reprinting the entire discography of Led Zeppelin. In June 2014, remastered versions of Led Zeppelin I, II, and III were released. At the end of October of that year, the group's fourth and fifth albums, IV and Houses of the Holy , were reissued. Physical Graffiti is scheduled for release on February 24, 2015, with the remaining Presence , In Through the Out Door and Coda at the end of May 2015.

In 2015, according to official statements, Jimmy Page is planning a world tour with guitarist and Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell .

In 2018, along with Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, he released the first official autobiography book about Led Zeppelin.

To date, Jimmy continues to remastre rare and unreleased recordings of Led Zeppelin and The Yardbirds, and also takes an active part in a wide variety of music and social events around the world.

He lives in London with his girlfriend, a 27-year-old Iranian-French poetess Scarlett Sabet.

• In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine included Page on the list of 100 greatest guitarists of all time , placing him in 9th place. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine again included him in his list of virtuoso guitarists, this time in third place, behind only Jimi Hendricks and Eric Clapton.
• In 2007, Page received the Classic Rock Awards in the Living Legend Award.
• According to a 2008 poll by American radio station Chop Shop among music experts, Jimmy Page was named the greatest guitar player of all time. ^[17]
• In 2009, Jimmy Page was included in the list of the greatest guitarists of all time by the British magazine Classic Rock .
• In 2013, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were awarded the ECHO Music Award for Excellence in Music.

1. 2009 - “ Get Ready, It Will Be Loud ” / It might get loud - Jimmy Page

Comments

Sources

• jimmypage.ru. Guitar Player, 1977
• Альбомы с участием Джимми Пейджа
• 50 Years of Jimmy Page
• www.jimmypage.com
• www.ledzeppelin.com
• http://vk.com/jimmypageclub