Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton were close friends in the 1960s and are credited with launching their musical careers together as the Yardbirds. In 1963, Clapton became a member of the Yardbirds; however, by 1965, he was dissatisfied with the band’s shift towards a pop-oriented sound and desired to leave.
Page was informed by Clapton that he could take Page’s place as The Yardbirds’ guitarist. But Page declined the offer because he was loyal to Clapton and the two guitarists were very close. The two guitarists were good friends mostly because of the Blues. They would jam together and spend time together. But one of these jam sessions was going to destroy their friendship.
What Happened Between Jimmy Page And Eric Clapton?
Jimmy Page was keen to experiment with sounds and create something original in his pursuit of becoming a producer. The guitarist captured the sounds during a jam session with Clapton. These sounds were subsequently included in the album “Blues Anytime: An Anthology of British Blues”. Since Clapton was unaware of this release, he became irate as soon as he learned that the records were available for purchase.
Page defended himself to Clapton by saying that he didn’t make any money from the album’s sales and that Clapton didn’t receive any royalties from the record. But they lost each other as friends, and Clapton lost faith in them. Later, after growing tired of producing, Page started playing guitar with The Yardbirds.
In addition to having an awkward situation with their romantic relationships, the two did not speak for years. In the 1960s, Clapton dated Charlotte Martin. Following their breakup, Martin commenced dating Page, with whom he eventually had a child, Scarlett Page, in 1971.
The Impacts Of The Fallout
After the Yardbirds broke up in the 1968s, Page continued to pursue music and founded The New Yardbirds, which eventually included John Bonham and Robert Plant to become Led Zeppelin. In 1969, Clapton met Blind Faith during a rock festival while the two were on tour together.
Their reunion wasn’t nearly as dramatic as one could have possibly imagine. Regarding Led Zeppelin, Clapton expressed his thoughts by saying that, in his opinion, they were excessively loud. Page, on the other hand, was not present for Clapton’s show and didn’t even see him perform. Later on, Page came clean and said that he doesn’t listen to any modern guitarists because he doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton.
