BY: SAM RAPALLO

Jimmy Page 's incredible career spans four decades, appearing on an innumerable list of recordings.  Best known for his trademark Les Pauls, double-neck guitar and riff-master deluxe, his contributions to rock history are nearly unmatched.  He first picked up a guitar as a child, curiously plucking away on a Spanish acoustic given to the family.  Soon after, Page became entranced with rock and roll, inspired by Elvis Presley's "Baby, Let's Play House".   The rest is history...

In the early sixties, he performed and  recorded with several bands including Carter Lewis & the Southerners and Neil Christian & the Crusaders.  His first taste of success came with an early session (in 1963) that reached #1,  "Diamonds" by Jet Harris & Tony Meehan, featuring Page on guitar. 

In a rare hand-written letter in 1963, sent just after this single peaked, Page expressed his excitement:  "I was lucky enough to play backing guitar (on "Diamonds"), the ex-Shadows Jet Harris & Tony Meehan.  You can understand how knocked out I was when it made #1 position", writes Page.   Incredibly, a 19-year-old Jimmy Page writes to his American friend, Ron Kellerman, asking "Do you think there would be interest in America for a guitarist like me?"   This is by far one of the biggest understatements in music history!

Soon after, Page became one of the hottest session guitarists in the U.K., turning down an offer to join the Yardbirds after Clapton left.  Of course, he later joined the Yardbirds in 1966 in a brief guitar super-group with Jeff Beck and taking over the lead guitar spot until the group's demise in 1968. The formation of Led Zeppelin in the summer of 1968 would bring unparalleled success.  Through Zep, Page could unleash his playing and songwriting in a variety of styles: blues, folk, Indian etc., but the magic of Led Zeppelin created  an unimaginable chemistry of its own.

It would take volumes to properly delve into Page's extraordinary career.  Suffice to say, he's inspired countless others around the world and has helped create some of the greatest music of all time.

Personal Bio:
Born: January 9th, 1944  in Heston, Middlesex  U.K.

Selected Discography:

Rare Jimmy Page solo 45 Released in 1965. The solo 2 songs by Page are released in mono only. Rare outtakes from the master multi-track vault tapes reveal a much stronger sound when mixed in stereo, including an instrumental version of "She Just Satisfies". The B-side, "Keep Movin'" originally featured a longer jam before the fade out.

DEATH WISH II - Soundrack (Music by Jimmy Page) Purchase online The first post-Zep release for Page was this soundtrack album in 1982.  Definitely some great material here, some of which was included in Page's concert set from the A.R.M.S. tour in 1983, the Firm and Outrider in 1988. Finally (in 1998), it has been released on CD, in a limited-edition import from Japan.  Click here to order it online!

PAGE TUNINGS:

The unique guitar tunings used by Page gave opportunities for diverse musical exploration.  Here are the some of his alternate tunings, which vary from open chords to original creations.

D A D G A D For Jimmy Page, the most famous alternate tuning is an Indian-based structure, which gives the guitar a sitar-like sound.  Page first learned it in 1966, when Al Stewart taught him to play "Black Waterside", (by folk musician Bert Jansch).  The next Yardbirds' album ("Little Games" released in 1967) featured Page's "White Summer" in this D modal tuning.  The first Zeppelin LP would then include  "Black Mountain Side", similar to Jansch's arrangement.  "Kashmir" and later "Midnight Moonlight" (a left-over song from the Zep era called "Swan Song") would also feature this tuning.

C A C G C E The Led Zeppelin III era contained a stronger focus on acoustic sounds.  This folk tuning was used on "Friends".   Also recorded during this period (and in the same tuning) was the instrumental "Bron-Yr-Aur" (later released on "Physical Graffiti") and "Poor Tom" (finally released on "Coda" in 1982).

C G C G C E An open C tuning was used for the slide blues "Hat's Off to (Roy) Harper" in 1970.

D G D G B D Open G was used by Page on several songs including: "Black Country Woman" &  "Going to California".  Tune it a semi-tone down for the studio version of "That's The Way".

D A D G B E Simply drop the 6th string to a D for "Moby Dick" and "Ten Years Gone".

Rain Song (DGCGCD - studio version)  (EADADE - live performance) Probably the most "pretty" chords were achieved with these tunings for the Rain Song, which raises a step for the live performance.

My Days With Page