14th October 2021
In 1976 Led Zeppelin released an album called Presence. Jimmy Page, the guitarist and founder of this legendary rock band, had retained this quality. He exuded a quiet confidence and wisdom as he pondered roughly 65 years of history with Will Hodgkinson, chief rock and pop critic for The Times.
Page is revered by his followers, and the attendees of the far too short, one hour interview seemed enraptured by the music maestro as he detailed the milestones of his incredible life. The interview was illustrated throughout by photos from his most recent book, 'Jimmy Page: The Anthology' projected behind the musician, which complemented both Page's reflections of his childhood and his heyday years in Led Zeppelin. He began the evening at the very beginning of his music career - when he had first acquired a guitar left at a home he and his parents moved into "left there as an ornament". From this he was shown the ropes of the guitar by a fellow schoolboy, Rod Wyatt, whom Page wrote about in his self-titled autobiography- Wyatt showed him how to "tune it and play a few chords". At the Literature festival, he reminisced to Hodgkinson of this time: "The magic started it, and it never stopped." He proceeded to join a skiffle group as a young teenager (of which there is BBC footage lurking on the internet). There was laughter in the crowd as Page admitted some embarrassment at seeing his very nervous younger self on the TV show.
Later on into the hour Page delved into his time as a talented session musician before progressing into The Yardbirds alongside his friend Jeff Beck. From becoming the group's replacement bass player to their guitarist, and subsequently finding his band mates pursue other paths, Page founded one of the greatest rock bands ever. Most of the interview was situated around these earlier years of Page's incredible life, and interviewer Hodgkinson found himself struggling to find time for the music icon to delve into his later years with Led Zeppelin. An hour was far too short for the expansive history of this music icon.
Photo by Baron Wolman, iconic images.net
Throughout the interview I admired Page's enthusiasm, even when dealing with questions on the evening he had probably answered many times before he would be the one to jump in with extra details. He'd interject just before the topic (and the timeline)- was pressed forward by Hodgkinson. The interviewer himself appeared to have developed a good rapport with Page, and as an observer it was good to see the icon comfortable and genuinely interested in what the journalist had to ask.
As a keen follower of the group I attended the evening pretty well-read, and whilst I knew many of the details Page reflected on, I was excited to hear new threads emerge on the band I had formed such a deep connection with. There was a fascinating tale about how he came to owning the exotic Sitar, to elaborating on his other instruments, stage costumes and inspirations, including the guitars he used for a song I believe to be highly underrated- the magnificent Ten Years Gone- a pair of Fender telecasters, on one of which he 'wrote all the sections' of the song and presented to the band, and the one he used for the record itself, on the album Physical Graffiti.
There were also reflections on the places that helped Led Zeppelin build their musical anthology- from a small cottage in Bron-Yr-Aur, Wales, where Jimmy Page and bandmate Robert Plant could relax and create music in the Welsh countryside. 'We had a break at Bron-Yr-Aur... it was just so tranquil. It was a civilised way of dealing with the craziness, the chaos of life on tour.' Headley Grange was also drawn upon, the former Victorian workhouse which became a base for the band to develop their albums. There were also musings on the late John Bonham and his drum setup that created a tremendous sound up the void between the stairwell at Headley, which was later utilised to create the awesome drumming heard in When the Levee Breaks on the band's fourth album. 'The sound was ricocheting off all the glass and wood', Page told Hodgkinson. 'It was immediate: I knew we had to do When the Levee Breaks right there.'
The interview culminated with a look at the band's reunion in 2007 at the O2 arena, and meant that Page could reflect on his career leading up to that point. He even expressed, 'I was more nervous doing that concert than any of the sessions I did when I was a kid', he explained, 'I didn't want to be the one making the mistakes.' Despite this, he revealed the wonderful feeling the climactic show gave him- 'my hairs were standing on end throughout, so I think it was a superb concert.' And very soon after that, the compressed retelling of the highlights of Page's career had ended.
I mused to myself after the interview as to how I was one of the youngest people there. Many of the visitors were from older generations, and I thought to myself how much popular music has evolved since Led Zeppelin was founded in 1969, and the importance of keeping legends such as Jimmy Page at the forefront of music history to never be forgotten.
(Photo by Robert Knight Archive/Redferns/Getty Images)
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