Kerrang! – June 28, 2019

KERRANG! 45

THE AWARDS

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itting at Jimmy Page’s awards
table are two guitarists who
themselves are considered
legendary. The first is Phil
Campbell, the man who this
evening is set to pick up
The Kerrang! Inspiration
Award for serving 32 years
as a member of Motörhead. The second is
Scott Gorham, formerly of Thin Lizzy and
himself a previous recipient of the Kerrang!
Hero Award. Despite their obvious stature,
both musicians are visibly in awe of the man
sitting in front of them.
Jimmy, however, cuts a modest figure and
is excited to talk music with his fellow players
in his self-effacing style. This, despite a career
that is genuinely like no other.
Jimmy’s approach to music has been built on
an ongoing fascination with sound itself. In his
youth he dissected early blues and rock’n’roll
records to the point where he could identify
which studios they’d been recorded in. By
1963 he had already begun producing records,
and the then-19-year-old guitarist was the most
in-demand session player in London. Three
years later, he joined The Yardbirds – one of
the toughest-sounding bands of the ‘60s beat
boom – expanding their musical palette.
When they split in 1968, the guitarist
formed Led Zeppelin, drawing on his love of
experimentation to create a new hard rock
template. Case in point: the brooding, six-
minute tour de force of Dazed And Confused.
“I knew that if I got a band that was really
hot, Dazed And Confused would knock
people out of this world. Parts of that
song are almost going towards
the avant-garde. It’s
very spooky, some
of the stuff
that’s going on.
It’s actually
disturbing to
listen to. It
was meant

to be. It’s meant to cause a disturbance in your

mind,” he says of his musical approach.

Despite the fact that January 2019 marked

the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s debut

album, it remains a bold and timeless musical

statement. “That album says, ‘Things are going

to change,’” says Jimmy. “People were starting

to listen to music in a different way, especially

in America, where radio stations had started to

play album tracks, rather than just pop singles.

So I knew what I wanted to do.”

Recorded at Jimmy’s own expense prior to

the band securing a deal (total cost: £1,782),

the nine-track effort remains the cornerstone

of Zep’s career, reflecting the natural musical

chemistry that existed between the six-stringer,

singer Robert Plant, bass player John Paul

Jones and drummer John Bonham.

That chemistry would last for 12 years, up

until John Bonham’s death on September 25,

1980, after a day of heavy drinking, causing

the surviving members to split. Despite

this, the legacy enshrined across their eight

core studio albums would provide endless

inspiration for fellow

musicians to follow.

Jimmy was also

instrumental in

ensuring that Zeppelin

were the first rock

band to secure full

creative control over

how they made and

packaged records,

simply delivering the

finished product to

their label, Atlantic,

once they had

completed the work.

“That was important

to us,” he says,

“because we didn’t

want to be told what

to do by anyone.”

Just as significant

was their live

presentation, the band’s propensity for

improvising ensuring that no two performances

were ever the same.

“I was pushing myself every night we went

onstage, because I wanted to go further than

the night before,” says Jimmy. “The sets were

going to three and a half hours. With that level

of commitment to it, you would get worn out,

but in another way you’d be extremely fit!”

As well as the music itself, the mythology

that surrounded Zeppelin took on a life of its

own, the band’s penchant for excess creating

a further mystique around the band.

“Everyone knows those stories,” the guitarist

says, “but it’s about what that music imparts

to the listener and the effect it has. That’s why

we’re talking about something that was birthed

50 years ago, and which young musicians are still

coming to because it’s a remarkable textbook.

That whole ethos of four musicians making music

together in a live capacity is real and authentic,

and the music is honest. That’s why it lasted.”

The appreciation for Led Zeppelin’s musical

legacy is evident as the Kerrang! Awards

reach their climax and

celebratory footage of

Jimmy Page through the

years rolls up on the

big screen.

When the Royal Blood

duo of Mike Kerr and Ben

Thatcher present Jimmy

with the award, the

assembled throng are on

their feet for a standing

ovation. He is visibly

moved before retreating

to the studio downstairs

for photos, where he is

besieged by hordes of

fellow musicians. As the

shoot finishes, Jimmy is

smiling broadly. “That

was so cool,” he says.

“Thanks very much.”

No, thank you.

THE WINNER SPEAKS...

“It’s a massive thrill on so many different

levels – the main one being the appreciation

of the energy of live rock music. It’s what

got me as a kid; I heard our version of

rock music in the ’50s on the radio, which

seduced me, dragged me inside the speakers

and never let go. Seeing that Led Zeppelin

footage up on screen was powerful stuff.”

JIMMY PAGE

WORDS:

Phil Alexander

PHOTOS:

Tom Barnes, PAUL HARRIES

With LED ZEPPELIN, legendary axeman JIMMY PAGE helped

write the rock rule book. The word ‘icon’ has rarely been so fitting...