Happy Birthday Jimmy Page!!!!

I’m a huge Zep fan and Jimmy is one of my favorite guitar players. In fact, his live “No Quarter” solo on The Song Remains the Same album might just be my favorite guitar solo of all time. I think I read somewhere that it’s actually parts of different solos from different shows that have been creatively spliced together…but I don’t care…I love it anyway. But there’s something I have often wondered about Page…what happened to him after Bonham died? In my opinion, his creativity and even his playing/skill really seemed to deteriorate on all of his post-Zeppelin projects (The Firm, solo album, Coverdale/Page, Page & Plant, etc.) Maybe it’s just me…but I haven’t been that impressed with much of anything he has done since his Zeppelin days. Plant went on to have a great solo career. Page’s peers – Clapton and Jeff Beck – seemed to get better with time, and also had successful solo careers. So what happened to Page? And why does it seem like he has been snubbed by Clapton at his Crossroads festivals? It seems like all the great ones from that era (Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, etc.) have played at those festivals, with the exception of Page. Just curious…

I’m a huge Zep fan and Jimmy is one of my favorite guitar players. In fact, his live “No Quarter” solo on The Song Remains the Same album might just be my favorite guitar solo of all time. I think I read somewhere that it’s actually parts of different solos from different shows that have been creatively spliced together…but I don’t care…I love it anyway. But there’s something I have often wondered about Page…what happened to him after Bonham died? In my opinion, his creativity and even his playing/skill really seemed to deteriorate on all of his post-Zeppelin projects (The Firm, solo album, Coverdale/Page, Page & Plant, etc.) Maybe it’s just me…but I haven’t been that impressed with much of anything he has done since his Zeppelin days. Plant went on to have a great solo career. Page’s peers – Clapton and Jeff Beck – seemed to get better with time, and also had successful solo careers. So what happened to Page? And why does it seem like he has been snubbed by Clapton at his Crossroads festivals? It seems like all the great ones from that era (Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, etc.) have played at those festivals, with the exception of Page. Just curious…

I think you might get a wide variety of answers.

I am a HUGE Page fan as well, and his post Zep career has kinda stumped me at times. I liked his output, but not enough for my tastes.

I have put a nail in the whole Zep reunion business after hearing the 2007 Celebration Day concert. I voiced my opinion in the past about that and explained why in long form, but I felt Jimmy was the weakest link with that show.

Also I would rather hear more work from Plant. What he is doing these days impresses me as far as rearranging the Zep stuff, old classic/standards and his creative material he is making with his band. If you get a chance, run don't walk to one of his shows. You wont be disappointed.

JPJ is pretty diverse in music projects outside of LZ. Not all my tastes but of quality for sure.
I have said this for years, but I would love to see him in some sort of role with Warren and or Mule as far as producing, writing and playing with in some capacity. That man is talented.

And also Jimmy has talked for years about touring and putting out music.
Here is an article from 12/2015 about him touring in 2016. 😛 😛 😉 😉
You can find a few other articles relating to some sort of work in 2016 from Jimmy on the internet.
http://www.guitarworld.com/jimmy-page-reveals-2016-touring-plans/25964

Jimmy Page says he'll be touring in 2016. According to the former Led Zeppelin guitarist, he's assembled (or will soon assemble) a new live band that's "totally different" from Led Zeppelin.

In February, Page said he was getting "fit" enough to perform again and that he was "warming up on the touchlines." Now, however, Page has confirmed to Classic Rock that he will, in fact, head out on a 2016 tour.

"There will be all sorts of material from different eras," Page said. "Right across the board; that’s the way I’m seeing it. But like I said, there will be surprises. It won’t be entirely what people might be expecting."

Despite the occasional one-off appearance, like last month's performance of "Rock and Roll" with Paul Rodgers and Duff McKagan (and with Foo Fighters a few years ago; see below), Page has been absent from the touring scene. He attributes this to his tiring work reissuing the Led Zeppelin catalog.

"It was a question of having time," he said. "The only way to have time is to shut down and then do what you want to do. I’ve been doing so much Led Zeppelin stuff over quite a number of years now; so it’s not been so easy to think about anything else in the tail end of this year. But OK, next year, bang!"

Stay tuned for updates.

[Edited on 1/10/2017 by jszfunk]

It is odd that Page has not made an appearance at Crossroads, though there are a few other guys (Mick Taylor, Peter Green, etc) who should also be asked.

It makes me think of the ARMS tour, I remember reading an article that said that when Page heard that Beck and Clapton were on it, he complained that he had not been invited, and they said "Get your ass in on it then!" I think there was a Rolling Stone article that was talking about the ARMS tour, noting that there was some distance between Clapton and Page backstage - the phrasing was something like "There seemed to be some tension between Eric Clapton, who had recently conquered his addictions, and Jimmy Page, about whom such a thing has never been said." Yoiks!!

I am a huge fan of Jimmy Page's work, and I have also been long struck by the remarkable drop in quality from his Zeppelin (and even pre-Zepp) work to everything that has followed. Night and day.

It's hard to think of anyone else who has slipped so drastically. Peter Green?

And you're right that there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. Obviously the guy was catching a huge buzz for a very long time. Did it leave him that addled that he can't play guitar or even write music as well? That seems to be the case.

I suspect he stopped practicing guitar in the mid or late 70s. He was pretty rough live in 1979-1980 with Zepp, and the soloing on "In Through The Out Door" is less impressive than on "Presence." There are some really rapidly-picked passages and riffs in "Achilles' Last Stand" that nothing on "In Through The Out Door" compares with. His playing since Zeppelin has been sloppy and technically unimpressive overall. His live tone is often pretty lame too in my opinion.

I think the best guitar playing he has done post-Zepp was in the "Unledded" version of "Since I've Been Loving You," which appeared to be a conscious attempt to summon the magic of the 1973 version, albeit with less dexterity and a more limited bag of tricks to draw from. While Plant and Page did some cool re-imagining of some of those songs, few of them involved great new guitar playing.

As far as the decline in his memorable songwriting goes, it may speak to the chemistry of Zeppelin, the arranging skills of JPJ and the input from Bonham and Plant too. The Firm had some stuff that was OK but not great. The soloing was not memorable. I can't help but notice that my favorite Firm song, "Closer," has a sax solo. The solo album "Outrider" had some moments but was somewhat jumbled. He didn't have the right singers overall, and the instrumentals could have used a little editing and revision. I do think the song with Robert Plant on that album is great: the aptly named "The Only One."

My favorite post-Zepp work by Page is the Coverdale / Page album. While I do not like Coverdale's voice or lyrics much, I think Page's riffs and progressions and "guitar army" constructions are really solid. There's still not much soloing to write home about, though. I like some of the playing on "Don't Leave Me This Way," but it is buried in the mix.

With the Page / Plant reunion, out of the new songs they wrote, I like "Most High" and "Shining In The Light" the best. Neither has a guitar solo.

I think the 2007 reunion "Celebration Day" was a well structured, well planned, well rehearsed show. Page plays it safe - he sticks to chords at times in the song "The Song Remains The Same" rather than trying to play those nimble solos - but they were tight, and they were "on." It serves as a good bookend to the "Unledded" DVD.

I have put a nail in the whole Zep reunion business after hearing the 2007 Celebration Day concert. I voiced my opinion in the past about that and explained why in long form, but I felt Jimmy was the weakest link with that show.

Absolutely agree with this statement…in fact, I just watched Celebration Day again over this past weekend because it was on AXS TV. Jimmy’s playing (and tone) is just not that good. There are maybe a few moments here and there, but overall it’s not even enjoyable to listen to…at least not for me…and that’s coming from a huge Zep/Jimmy fan. Now don’t get me wrong…it was cool that they got together for that show, and it was great to see the smiles and the interaction - they seemed to really be enjoying performing together – but speaking strictly from a musical perspective, Jimmy was definitely the weak link. Sad but true.

On a side note…I also saw “Roger Waters - The Wall” movie/concert on AXS this past weekend…it was on just before Celebration Day. First time I’ve ever seen it. I was blown away at how good it was. I’m a huge Floyd fan also, but don’t listen to them as much as I used to. So it had been a long time since I had listened to The Wall all the way through. I didn’t even plan on watching the whole thing, but once I started I couldn’t stop. Great (both musically and visually) in my opinion.

It is odd that Page has not made an appearance at Crossroads, though there are a few other guys (Mick Taylor, Peter Green, etc) who should also be asked.

It makes me think of the ARMS tour, I remember reading an article that said that when Page heard that Beck and Clapton were on it, he complained that he had not been invited, and they said "Get your ass in on it then!" I think there was a Rolling Stone article that was talking about the ARMS tour, noting that there was some distance between Clapton and Page backstage - the phrasing was something like "There seemed to be some tension between Eric Clapton, who had recently conquered his addictions, and Jimmy Page, about whom such a thing has never been said." Yoiks!!

I am a huge fan of Jimmy Page's work, and I have also been long struck by the remarkable drop in quality from his Zeppelin (and even pre-Zepp) work to everything that has followed. Night and day.

It's hard to think of anyone else who has slipped so drastically. Peter Green?

And you're right that there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. Obviously the guy was catching a huge buzz for a very long time. Did it leave him that addled that he can't play guitar or even write music as well? That seems to be the case.

I suspect he stopped practicing guitar in the mid or late 70s. He was pretty rough live in 1979-1980 with Zepp, and the soloing on "In Through The Out Door" is less impressive than on "Presence." There are some really rapidly-picked passages and riffs in "Achilles' Last Stand" that nothing on "In Through The Out Door" compares with. His playing since Zeppelin has been sloppy and technically unimpressive overall. His live tone is often pretty lame too in my opinion.

I think the best guitar playing he has done post-Zepp was in the "Unledded" version of "Since I've Been Loving You," which appeared to be a conscious attempt to summon the magic of the 1973 version, albeit with less dexterity and a more limited bag of tricks to draw from. While Plant and Page did some cool re-imagining of some of those songs, few of them involved great new guitar playing.

As far as the decline in his memorable songwriting goes, it may speak to the chemistry of Zeppelin, the arranging skills of JPJ and the input from Bonham and Plant too. The Firm had some stuff that was OK but not great. The soloing was not memorable. I can't help but notice that my favorite Firm song, "Closer," has a sax solo. The solo album "Outrider" had some moments but was somewhat jumbled. He didn't have the right singers overall, and the instrumentals could have used a little editing and revision. I do think the song with Robert Plant on that album is great: the aptly named "The Only One."

My favorite post-Zepp work by Page is the Coverdale / Page album. While I do not like Coverdale's voice or lyrics much, I think Page's riffs and progressions and "guitar army" constructions are really solid. There's still not much soloing to write home about, though. I like some of the playing on "Don't Leave Me This Way," but it is buried in the mix.

With the Page / Plant reunion, out of the new songs they wrote, I like "Most High" and "Shining In The Light" the best. Neither has a guitar solo.

I think the 2007 reunion "Celebration Day" was a well structured, well planned, well rehearsed show. Page plays it safe - he sticks to chords at times in the song "The Song Remains The Same" rather than trying to play those nimble solos - but they were tight, and they were "on." It serves as a good bookend to the "Unledded" DVD.

Good post JimSheridan and perspective on Jimmy. Nice spotlights on songs you mentioned "Most High" "Shining IN The Light" and I have always loved "Only One" from Outrider. Coverdale Page had some nice material on it.

The Black Crowes thing was interesting. I really enjoy the live recording they put out. Had a chance to see them, but my city was one of the cancelled dates.

Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes - (10/23) ten years gone

You mentioned
"As far as the decline in his memorable songwriting goes, it may speak to the chemistry of Zeppelin, the arranging skills of JPJ and the input from Bonham and Plant too."

I agree . When you have a band/talented musicians like that its bound to be a chemistry thing to degree that influenced that bands writing and music production. That might be one of bigger points as far as Jim's musical output of the last 30 plus years. Zep was his baby.

If people are looking to get a fix for that band, I will reiterate, run , don't walk if Robert Plant is in your city.

Turn It Up

Fixin To Die

Baby I'm Gonna Leave You

Black Dog

Jimmy could have done more but in his defense, he doesn't have a career full of mediocre material.

Clapton for example, released material all through the years and lots of it is weak in comparison to classic Clapton. The solos for the most part come nowhere near his peak.

Beck released a bunch of albums that didn't sell and would sit forever in someones' collection without being played. Again never comes close to his classic albums from either songs or solos.

I too wish that he had done more but when he does even those that want him to play are critical of the material. "It is not Zeppelin." Plant can fart into a banjo and people say it is amazing. 😉 I could easily say that "It is not as good as Zeppelin."

If they had played even a series of shows, you would have been saying that Plant was the weakest link. Could never have maintained trying to sing those songs. For a guitarist to have all the eggs in one basket with one show, that is tough. Especially when the globe will study and review every note that you play. The band would have got stronger every night had it been multiple nights. Plant would have gotten worse. I credit him completely for acknowledging and accepting that.

Jimmy could have done more but in his defense, he doesn't have a career full of mediocre material.

Clapton for example, released material all through the years and lots of it is weak in comparison to classic Clapton. The solos for the most part come nowhere near his peak.

Beck released a bunch of albums that didn't sell and would sit forever in someones' collection without being played. Again never comes close to his classic albums from either songs or solos.

I too wish that he had done more but when he does even those that want him to play are critical of the material. "It is not Zeppelin." Plant can fart into a banjo and people say it is amazing. 😉 I could easily say that "It is not as good as Zeppelin."

If they had played even a series of shows, you would have been saying that Plant was the weakest link. Could never have maintained trying to sing those songs. For a guitarist to have all the eggs in one basket with one show, that is tough. Especially when the globe will study and review every note that you play. The band would have got stronger every night had it been multiple nights. Plant would have gotten worse. I credit him completely for acknowledging and accepting that.

Yeah, Plant recognizes what he is capable of these days and stays within his limits and does a great job, IMHO. Nice band also to compliment him.

Some excellent observations above on Page and his contemporaries.

I have Outrider and enjoy it.

I also feel obligated to purchase most of what Jeff Beck puts out, haven't got Loud Hailer yet, the points above have made me think on that one, ha, ha.

Robert Plant's music gets praised because it is well-executed, thoughtful, often showing him moving in directions that were less obvious, more fresh. He didn't seem like he was even TRYING to live up to Zepp.

Page kept trying. Tired cock rock / heavy metal. Imitation Robert Plant singers. Humorless schlock.

In comparing his post-Zep career to that of Clapton or Beck, I agree that by producing more albums, they have had more "misses." However, they also have hit the mark plenty of times; neither has had as long a stretch of mediocrity as Page has had. On a given night in the 1980s or 1990s or 2000s or 2010s, you can hear Eric or Jeff play with the chops and ferocity that they had in their awesome 1970s days. Jimmy Page has not sounded GREAT live in the 1980s or 1990s or 2000s or 2010s. At best, he has sounded competent.

I DO recommend Jeff Beck's "Loud Hailer." I'm not a big fan of the vocals or some of the production, but it is as daring a guitar album as anything he has done.

Clapton never came close to Layla or Cream.

Beck never came close to Truth or Blow By Blow.

I don't think either had to deal with the same expectations. Clapton's career has lots of ups and downs while no one ever expects Beck to write a song let alone a successful one.

Jump on YouTube. You can find live Beck or Clapton from the past decade that show that they can tear it up live. Heck, just watch some Crossroads shows.

Keep looking on YouTube. Find any evidence that Jimmy Page has served up the goods live in the past few decades. I cited the live "Since I've Been Loving You" from Unledded as a decent effort, but holy cow, check out "Thank You" from the same show. Ouch.

People expect guitar heroics from guitar heroes. If you go see Beck or Clapton, you'll get guitar heroics. If you go to see Jimmy Page, you will not.

Jump on YouTube. You can find live Beck or Clapton from the past decade that show that they can tear it up live. Heck, just watch some Crossroads shows.

Keep looking on YouTube. Find any evidence that Jimmy Page has served up the goods live in the past few decades. I cited the live "Since I've Been Loving You" from Unledded as a decent effort, but holy cow, check out "Thank You" from the same show. Ouch.

People expect guitar heroics from guitar heroes. If you go see Beck or Clapton, you'll get guitar heroics. If you go to see Jimmy Page, you will not.

Never really been a Beck fan, so I wont comment on that.(to much whammy bar!:P )

I have seen Clapton 3 times in the last 12-13 yrs. They were good shows , it was when Doyle was playing with him. EC just looked so disinterested on stage ,maybe going through the motions, mailing it in. I don't know just my opinion. His playing was not bad by any mean's, but I don't know if I would pay to see him again though. Maybe I just hit the shows where the fire was turned down. I have seen clips of him during that time frame where he sounded great and was really bringing it. Maybe people, including my self, miss the guitar god Clapton of 40 yrs ago and some times expect that from him, but those days seem long gone.

Peter Green was mentioned earlier. That situation is a mystery to me. Great playing during those Mac years.

Ritchie Blackmore About Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck

I understand and agree to a certain degree, Jim. But it is really a matter of expectations. People have few with Clapton and absolutely none with Beck. Page is compared strictly to Zeppelin. For example, Outrider was tore apart by the critics and many fans wished it was Zeppelin's next album. While it is not the strongest work, it comes much closer to his prime than albums made during that period by Clapton or Beck.

But again, the same way that you say that Jimmy does not touch his glory years. Neither do the other two especially Clapton. Plays it safe and could play what he does now in his sleep. Years of repetition.

I love Beck as you do but........no one outside of guys like you and I.......cares or buys his releases. I have watched people walk out of his shows from boredom and when he toured with Clapton, the concessions area was packed with people drinking and skipping his set.

Page is sloppier live and always was. The fact that he didn't really tour makes it pretty hard to compare. But when he does play, people are there in massive numbers to see the guitar hero.

I have been lucky enough to see quite a few shows over the years and Page's playing during those Page/Plant tours was great.

I do understand what you mean about Page's decline. I am just as happy that he didn't release 20 albums worth of weak material.

If Page had ever released something as weak as There and Back there would have been war. Clapton has a dozen crap albums from the 70s thru to the 90s. And then some pretty weak ones since then. His only saving grace is albums of blues covers.

Maybe Page knew the material was lacking and just said "f*ck it."

In my opinion, "From the Cradle" was some of Clapton's best work post D&D. Yeah, it was all blues covers...but I don't have a problem with that. I would have loved it if Jimmy had found a decent singer and put out an album of all blues covers...of course, that's assuming he could still bring it...which is debatable. "From the Cradle" came out about a year after the "Coverdale-Page" album...so that provides a good point of reference/comparison. Or listen to Clapton's cover of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" from the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert recorded in 1992. Clapton still had it.

But even if his post-Zep output of new material was somewhat disappointing (to some of us anyway), we do have Jimmy to thank for two really, really good post-Zep releases (BBC Sessions and How the West Was Won), and also how he emptied the vaults and oversaw the remastering/reissuing of the entire Zep catalog. Good stuff.

And after it's all said and done, I'll take Jimmy over either Clapton or Beck any day of the week.
😉

I'll take the studio & live ten year Led Zepp run from 1968 - 1977 over almost any other band's ten year stretch. It's a doozy. Who else was so consistently excellent and ambitious for a stretch of time like that?

I saw Page / Plant twice and have a number of bootlegs of them. I would love to get a recommendation for one on which Jimmy Page plays very well.

If I were to see any one guitar player live in 2017, it would be Jeff Beck. His peers don't come close.

I agree that Beck has kept up his chops and/or evolved. Amazing player.

That said - his material comes nowhere close to the others to interest anyone other than those of a small minority that like his albums. Others go to the shows based on legend and then have no idea what he is playing. Then they talk through the whole show and some cut out early. Drives me crazy how people will talk through his whole set even when he is headlining. The tunes just don't grab most people.

Guess it comes down to great tunes played by a guy less than what he was or great playing on weak material. The best that I have seen in years was when Beck would join Clapton on stage during their co-tour. The truth is that the songs were better than during his set.

Beck faired better than the other two by staying away from substance abuse.

I caught Page/Plant a bunch over those tours and Toronto, Montreal, Boston and NYC were all great shows where Page was great. Especially the Montreal show which was well into the tour. Not sure if you will find boots of those shows.

When they did the ARMS shows, Page was in bad shape and was the weakest by far and also the crowd favorite.

I'll take the studio & live ten year Led Zepp run from 1968 - 1977 over almost any other band's ten year stretch. It's a doozy. Who else was so consistently excellent and ambitious for a stretch of time like that?

Totally agree. No one even came close to having a 10 year run like that.

I'll take the studio & live ten year Led Zepp run from 1968 - 1977 over almost any other band's ten year stretch. It's a doozy. Who else was so consistently excellent and ambitious for a stretch of time like that?

Totally agree. No one even came close to having a 10 year run like that.

Absolutely and although Page was declining for In Thru, JPJ just came on stronger.

Sadly after that, heroin/Bonham's death probably stole another 2 or 3 classic albums from Page. He didn't play and like anything......you lose it to a degree.

All the previous remasters, boxsets and live releases and then the newest versions all took up a lot of time. Took care of his own stuff first. But I think that Page should have become a producer for others long ago.

I'll take the studio & live ten year Led Zepp run from 1968 - 1977 over almost any other band's ten year stretch. It's a doozy. Who else was so consistently excellent and ambitious for a stretch of time like that?

Totally agree. No one even came close to having a 10 year run like that.

Absolutely and although Page was declining for In Thru, JPJ just came on stronger.

Sadly after that, heroin/Bonham's death probably stole another 2 or 3 classic albums from Page. He didn't play and like anything......you lose it to a degree.

All the previous remasters, boxsets and live releases and then the newest versions all took up a lot of time. Took care of his own stuff first. But I think that Page should have become a producer for others long ago.

Speaking of the previous remasters/box sets...this older box set of 4 CDS was how I was introduced to the LZ catalog:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin_Boxed_Set

And I got so accustomed to the order of the songs in that box set, that it actually seemed a little strange when I started purchasing each album individually. In fact, I still prefer listening to those old CDs from that box set even though I now have each individual album. I think in some way I have to attribute that to the "genius" of Jimmy Page...his song selection and the ordering of the songs for that box set (assuming he made those decisions) was perfect and will forever be imprinted on my brain. And I can't say this about any of the other box sets that I own. Zep was Jimmy's "baby" and he has done a great job of preserving that legacy through all the reissues/remasters, releasing all the previously unreleased stuff, etc.

And, by the way, to second what someone said above...if anyone has any good boots of those Page/Plant shows (meaning shows where Jimmy really lit it up)...then he/she should start a vine. Please.

Not the greatest quality audio but you can get the idea. These guys were on fire at this show.

Page/Plant Montreal

No doubt that Jimmy's best days of playing & writing are long behind him. I was a big Zep fan in high school, but as I got older, gravitated more toward ABB, Hendrix, Trower and the Meters. Ever since my 11 year old son began taking drum lessons 4 years ago, I have been rediscovering the Zep catalog. His teacher is a big Bonham fan and therefore works on a lot of his technique & tunes with my son. I have taken my son to see Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience twice now, and I only have great things to say about that band. They nail ALL of the Zeppelin catalog! Their guitarist, Tony Catania, plays Page better than Jimmy has played himself since the mid-70's. Jason incorporates old home videos of his dad and tells stories which really give the show a personal touch. Comparing Jason's band to the Celebration Day concert is not even fair - they are head & shoulders above the old guys. That being said. I do agree with someone's earlier assessment that Page IS the weak link. They did tune down a whole step to accommodate Plant's vocal range, so I also agree that if he was asked to sing those tunes night after night, he may have let a lot of fans down. I would like to see Jimmy, Robert, and John do some sit-ins with Jason's band. Having those guys back them up would be a great way to please fans and spread the word about what a great band Jason has assembled. It's far more than a tribute band. As he said, "I'm having fun up here, but we're not f&$@ing around!" He plays the music with reverence and does not want to tarnish the Bonham or Zeppelin name. If you're a casual or hardcore Zep fan- go check them out. You'll be glad you did.

........ while no one ever expects Beck to write a song let alone a successful one.

that made me chuckle..... he kind of gets a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card at times