JIMMY PAGE: HEAVY METAL GODFATHER

His guitar is slung low, hanging almost to his knees. His head is thrown back, with dark curls of hair flowing onto his shoulders. His eyes are closed or glazed over, his mouth fixed into a pout. The fingers on his left hand move deftly across the fretboard, while a small plastic pick, grasped in his right hand, attacks the strings.

The pose is a classic one, favored by most heavy metal guitar heroes. But who originated this style, back when there was no one to copy? Jimmy Page, guitar virtuoso —who solidified the 60’s British blues rock movement, defines heavy metal lead/rhythm guitar with Led Zeppelin throughout the 70’s and, in the 80’s, well, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Born January 8, 1944 in Heston, Middlesex, England, James Patrick Page spent his early childhood years wrapped up in various non-musical activities such as stamp collecting, butterfly chasing and fishing. His only musical outlet was occasionally singing in a choir. Then young Page began listening to the radio, picking up music being played by American rock ’n’ rollers like Little Richard and Elvis Presley. One song that apparently drew Page to the guitar was Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House,’’ a particularly lively ensemble piece that featured dual guitar parts and bass. This combination, still relatively new in the late 50’s fascinated Page.

Jimmy got his first guitar, a Grassioso electric, when he was 13. Cloistered away in his room, Page religiously imitated the guitar sounds created by James Burton (guitarist for Ricky Nelson) and Scotty Moore (Elvis Presley’s guitarist). Page’s musical horizons expanded considerably where he also became exposed to the work of such legendary blues guitarists as Elmore James and B.B. King. This basic mixture of traditional blues with seminal rock established the foundation that synthesized into Page’s blues-rock style.

In his late teens, he acquired a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson “Black Beauty” Les Paul and a Gretsch Country Gentleman. At this point, Page also began playing with Nigel Christian and The Crusaders—a pre-Stones British rock band. Making the equivalent of $200 a week adding guitar parts to various blues rock arrangements, Page thought he was in heaven. But in the miclst of this nightly, multiple set routine in English pubs, Page collapsed from exhaustion. Apparently the non-stop work and travel aggravated a glandular disorder that sapped Page of virtually all of his strength. Because of this, he began to seriously doubt if he’d ever be able to withstand the rigors of the road.

So for 18 months Pagejeft music behind and studied painting at a British art college. The energy that had produced striking, melodic guitar solos was now being channeled into oil and acrylic swirls on canvas. His paintings were superior, imaginative, but did not fully express his creativity. He needed a musical outlet. These feelings became stronger. Then Page realized he had to make a choiceart or music.

This decision was pretty much made up for him. After several months of art school, Page began to explore solo blues playing, turning up at places like The Marquee Club in London for Thursday night jam sessions. On one of these occasions, Page was approached by a record producer who wondered if Page was interested in doing some studio guitar work. The opportunity sounded good to him, so be began a series of sessions that quickly multiplied, to the point where Page turned his back on art achool forever. Between 1963 and 1965, Jimmy Page was the most in demand session guitarist in England. This was due, in large measure, to the fact that (with the exception of Big Jim Sullivan) he was the only electric guitarist around who could consistently lay down such spirited pop-rock-blues licks in a studio environment. That’s Page’s guitar on the Who’s first single, “I Can’t Explain,” and Them’s “Gloria.” Page also added guitar parts to records by such a diverse collection of artists as Herman’s Hermits, Donovan, The Kinks, Petula Clark, Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones.

During the Stones sessions, Page also got involved with production work, learning the trade from Andrew Oldham (producer of all the early Rolling Stones records). Page subsequently fell into a position as house producer/arranger/composer for Oldham’s Immediate record label. Page and Oldham co-wrote/produced Nico’s ’65 single, “The Last Mile.” They also became involved with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. The most memorable Bluesbreaker cuts Page was involved with were “I’m Your Witchdoctor” and “Telephone Blues,” featuring Eric Clapton. During this period, Page and Clapton spent many Sunday afternoons jamming and inventing songs.

The free-form aspects of guitar playing were something that Page sorely missed during his tenure as a session player/producer. Consequently, with the advent of more bass and orchestra-oriented arrangements after the mid ’60s, Page eased out of studio work.

He had initially spurned an offer to join the Yardbirds when Eric Clapton left the group in early ’65. But. in July of ’66, when Yardbird bassist Paul SamwellSmith departed, Page free from all commitments, became a Yardbird. He began playing bass and then switched to guitar when Jeff Beck took ill (Chris Dreja taking over on bass). When Beck returned, he and Page played lead/rhythm guitar in tandem.

There were some legendary lead guitar duals between Page and Beck while they roamed the stage together. Beck would rattle off a series of lightening fast riffs, then Page would explode with a rush of bluesrock triplets. Amazingly enough, Page and Beck never attempted to blow each other off the stage. Instead, they produced a kind of stereo effect, bouncing lines back and forth. Unfortunately, very little recorded work remains of these Beck-Page guitar interactions—most notably, one single called “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago.”

When Beck left the Yardbirds in late ’66, Page assumed a centerstage role, some of his best work with the group captured on a rare LP, The Yardbirds With Jimmy Page Live At The Andersen Theatre. At this point, Page’s electric guitar style was described as “calculated but vicious.”

After the Yardbirds disbanded in July of ’68, Page and Yardbirds bassist Chris Dreja attempted to form a group to be known as the New Yardbirds. The line-up initially was to feature Jimmy on guitar, Dreja on bass, lead vocalist Terry Reid (at that point a lead songer with Peter Jay & the Jay Walkers) and drummer Paul Francis. This combination never played a note together, however. Reid, committed to solo contract with Mickie Most, declined the New Yardbirds gig, but put Page in touch with a pair of fledgling rock musicians from Band of Joy—singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham. The initial spark between Page, Plant and Bonham was apparently “magical.” Then, when Chris Dreja decided to become a professional photographer (Dreja shot the photo on the back of Led Zeppelin’s first LP), John Paul Jones (ex-Jet Harris and numerous sessions) was brought in to play bass and keyboards. The New Yardbirds line-up was set and, after just a few rehearsals, they embarked on a brief tour of Scandinavia.

Since Jimmy Page was the only surviving Yardbird in the bands, in October of ’68, the New Yardbirds were thrown around until the group oficially became known as Led Zeppelin—the name apparently suggested to the band by Who drummer Keith Moon. Early Zeppelin gigs in clubs around London featured covers of such songs as “Long Tall Sally,” “Tobacco Road” and the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There.” Even at this stage, Page’s alternately soaring and crunching guitar licks played off of Plant’s screaming vocals with a'inimitable bluster.

Led Zeppelin signed a record deal with Atlantic in late ’68 (largely engineered by group manager Peter Grant and sealed because of Page’s sterling musical reputation). The first Zeppelin album, recorded in just 30 hours with engineer Glyn Johns, featured an authoritative, agressive mealnge of rock and blues. Standout cuts were “Dazed And Confused,” “How Many More Times” and a cover of Willie Dixon’s “You Shook Me.” This very same Dixon song also conicidentally appeared on Jeff Beck’s Truth LP, released around the same time. (Beck’s album also included “Beck’s Bolero,” an arrangement of the Ravel piece that Page claims he conceived, played 12-string guitar on and produced.)

There was, at this point, an obvious professional rivalry present between Page’s Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group and Clapton’s Cream. But even though Page, Beck and Clapton shared basic roots, their styles were individual and distinct. Beck played with a stinging, acrobatic style that already showed signs of heading towards jazz; Clapton established a brittle, trebly but always fluid blues-rock thrust; and Page, using more foot pedals, feedback and bottom end, produced a metallic blast of sound that would come to be labeled “heavy metal.”

What accentuated and added to the dynamism of Page’s crashing onslaughts was his penchant for mixing acoustic instruments into Led Zeppelin’s music. The first album’s “Black Mountain Side” was an acoustic steel string number reminiscent of British guitarist/Pentangle member Bert Jansch. Subsequently, Page added touches of steel guitar, mandolin, sitar and even banjo to Zeppelin LPs. Also, a unique innovation that Page developed involved using a violin bow instead of a pick while playing electric guitar. While Page furiously bowed the strings, fretting notes and chords, mysterious, haunting tones resulted.

Still, what most listeners were drawn to in 1969 was the crunching, swooping electric guitar maneuvers Page developed throughout “Whole Lotta Love.” That song, contained on Led Zeppelin II and released as a single (rising as high as *4 on Billboard's HOT 100 in ’69), really put Page and the rest of Led Zeppelin on the international map. Also, the 15 second Page solo in the middle of “Whole Lotta Love” quickly became one of heavy metal’s classic riffs.

The blues on Led Zeppelin II was represented by “The Lemon Song"—Robert Plant wailing “Squeeze my lemon till the juice run down my leg,” while Page was fingering pulsing, throbbing licks. The roots had not been forgotten.

By mid-1970, Led Zeppelin, boosted by the success of “Whole Lotta Love,” could do no wrong. The group had quickly built an adoring following matched only be the Rolling Stones. Riding atop this huge wave of popularity, Page and company released Led Zeppelin III in October of 1970. The LP surprised some listeners with its many folk/acoustic shadings, mixed with hard rock punch. But this, as stated previously, was Page’s bent. The ultimate fusion of his folk/heavy metal sides occurred with “Stairway To Heaven,” included on Led Zeppelin IV, released on November of ’71.

“Stairway To Heaven” proved to be one of the true rock anthems of the 70’s. Page’s seductive acoustic/electric guitar picking and chording swelled deliberately with Plant’s multi-colored vocals before exploding into a riotous climax. The song was never released as a single, mainly because Page would never consent to editing dowri the eight minute original. Instead of settling for a stripped down version of “Stairway To Heaven” live, Page also began using a double-neck electric guitar—featuring a 12-string for the first half of the song and a six string for the searing finale lead work.

Amazingly enough, Page and Beck never attempted to blow each other off the the stage. Instead, they produced a kind of stereo effect.

Jimmy Page, as Led Zeppelin’s main instrumental cog and producer, further expanded the group’s musical profile with Houses Of The Holy (released in mid-’73) and Physical Graffiti (released in early 1975). Without the pressure of having to produce commercially “hot” material to survive, Page steered Zeppelin into musical areas like soul and reggae while still maintaining a solid heavy metal core. During this period, Page also refined his ability to build entire songs by layering guitar parts in the studio. “Ten Years Gone ” from Physical Graffiti exemplified how Page could harmonize and expand multiple guitar lines, achieving dynamic effects. Though Presence (released in ’76) did not maintain a consistent level of musical passion, the LP is remarkable in view of the fact that Page recorded all of the guitar overdubs for every track in a single night. Robert Plant, rendered virtually immobile by a serious car accident in Greece in 1975, contributed very little to Presence. Page, more than ever, had to do it all.

The film/album The Song Remains The Same (released in ’76) does not necessarily capture Led Zeppelin at its highest point, but it honestly portrays the power the band could muster live even on an “average” night—at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1973. Page, in particular, runs the gamut of his electric guitar gymnastics. Also, during the film, concert footage is intercut with band members’ fantasy segments. Page created perhaps the most interesting and haunting scenerio. He is shown climbing a mountain behind his Scotland home to the strains of “Dazed And Confused.” Filmed at night, the scene ends with Page at the mountain’s top (a symbolic nod to his birth sign, Capricorn “The Goat”), his head silhouetted against a full moon.

After 2V2 years filled with touring, writing music for the Kenneth Anger film Lucifer Rising, and studio work, Page worked his electrical musical touch all over Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door. Released in August of ’79, the LP marked a return to simpler rock and blues styles. “Hot Dog” was a virtual tribute to rockabilly and Sun Records; “I’m Gonna Crawl” rose with Page’s classic blue notes; “Carouselambra” unfolded into a ten minute opus out of the mold of “Kashmir” (from Physical Graffiti); and “Fool In The Rain,” the LP’s first single, lurched ahead with Page’s best metallic fret scratchings.

In Through The Out Door stands as the last recorded work Page has been a part of. And since the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25, 1980, there has been no Led Zeppelin—the group officially disbanded in December of ’80. For a time, rumors were flying that had Page, Plant and John Paul Jones collaborating with guitarist Steve Howe of Yes and drummer Cozy Powell (ex-Rainbow, currently with the Michael Schenker Group). But no official confirmation was ever released. Only one thing is for certain. Whatever and wherever Jimmy Page is creating right now, he is no doubt further stretching and experimenting with the possibilities of the guitar.