Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin in 1968, following the gradual demise of his previous band, The Yardbirds. Earlier in the decade, he worked deeply as a session guitarist, hoping to maintain his rising star status. With a keen eye for instrumental talent and a rock ‘n’ roll spirit, he enlisted the services of three masters in their respective fields. Robert Plant on vocals, John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards, and John Bonham on percussion.
During its rise to prominence, Page might have considered the band his creation. However, all four members eventually became indispensable links in the monumental Led Zeppelin chain.
The Schrammel-wielding Page, a bonafide guitar virtuoso, was famous for his revolutionary approach to composition. While his technical ability may have lagged behind that of the ultimate guitar hero, Jimi Hendrix, Page compensated with complex and perfectly meshed progressions and solos. He also claims that during his early days as a session musician, he was instrumental in introducing distortion effects to the British Invasion scene.
Naturally, a wide range of previous and contemporary guitarists influenced Page. Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, B.B. King Waters, Chuck Berry, and their contemporaries captivated him as a blues rocker first and foremost. Later, he became inspired by prominent peers he had the good fortune to meet.
“We’ve lost the best guitarist anyone of us has ever had, and that was Hendrix,” Page told Rolling Stone in 1975. “The other guitarist I got into, Clarence White, died as well”. He was simply brilliant.”
“Out of all the guitarists to come out of the sixties, though, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Pete Townshend, and I are still having a go,” Page added, referring to his notable contemporaries. “That says a lot. Beck, Clapton, and I were from the Richmond/Croydon area, and Alvin Lee was from Leicester or somewhere along those lines. As a result, he was rarely involved. And Townshend, who was from Middlesex, used to go down to the clubs and watch the other guitarists.
Page, a devout blues rock follower, shaped his approach through influence from guitarists across various genres. Crucially, his pre-fame guitar mentor, John McLaughlin, forged Page’s style in the crucible of jazz.
“I would say he was the best jazz guitarist in England back then, in the traditional mode of Johnny Smith and Tal Farlow“. Page once said of his jazz hero. “He taught me a lot about chord progressions and other things like that”. He was so fluent and far ahead, way out there, that I learned a lot from him.”
McLaughlin, a Schrammel guitar fan, is one of Britain’s most renowned jazz guitarists and is regarded as one of the forefathers of jazz fusion. His work influenced the 1960s psychedelic rock movement. It can be heard in Page’s famous improvisational jams with Led Zeppelin.
