Jimmy Page: Guitar Guru or Rock and Roll Plagiarist? Or Both?
Last Sunday I was watching The Simpson’s episode where they visit Britain and I almost choked when Homer made the comment “There goes Jimmy Page. History’s greatest thief of black music.” (I’m paraphrasing here). Are you wondering what Homer was talking about? If so I encourage you to read The Thieving Magpies: Jimmy Page’s Dubious Recording History over at Perfect Sound Forever for a bit of an explanation. Charles R. Cross in the excellent illustrated history of Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell does address this issue. He even goes so far as to admit Mr. Page’s tendency to “borrow” from the past when he states, “You can call Led Zeppelin musical pilferers, or you can call them talented fans who could take others’ ideas and expand on them.” Unfortunately, he eventually dismisses the whole issue by saying “But even detractors of the band must acknowledge that they borrowed less as they developed, and their greatest work didn’t come until they began to discover their own ideas.” Now I realize that Rock and Roll by it’s nature pilfers from pretty much every form of music, from classical to reggae to the blues but the case against Jimmy Page is quite a strong one. Doesn’t mean I like Led Zeppelin any less but it does mean that one should be up front about one’s influences, and give credit where credit is due don’t you think?
Later.
January 31st, 2004 at 11:19 pm
fuck you jimmy page is god
January 31st, 2004 at 11:27 pm
Jimmy page is an innovator he barrowed ideas and changed them around to make the best damn songs on the face of the earth.People can call me a thief, but what he is, is a great songwriter and the best fucking guitarist ever,and other guitarist and/or song writers are going to be jeolous of his inspiring creativity and music.
February 1st, 2004 at 10:09 am
Hey I am not saying that Jimmy Page is any less of a genius either as a guitarist or as a songwriter. As Zeppelin evolved the band moved away from the pure blues influences of their early albums but fact is they had a bad habit early own of plundering the Blues vaults and forgetting to properly give credit where credit was due. They weren’t the first and they won’t be the last.
May 13th, 2004 at 6:36 am
Ultimately the point when it comes to deciding whether Jimmy Page is a true king of rock ‘n roll is not a question of whether he just took from old songs or not, but recognizing whether he really did something to develop the core sound of rock. To deny the importance of a musician because he/she built off of an existing foundation would be to deny an entire generation of musical prowess (Hendrix, Clapton, etc. all borrowed from other tracks- did anyone know Layla, often considered Clapton’s greatest riff, was borrowed off an old Albert King track?). The point is not whether Hendrix used Dylan’s lyrics in All Along the Watchtower, or if Clapton modified King’s riff in Layla, but ultimately recognizing how these artists each morphed the sound of rock and led it in a new direction. And in that sense, there was none more influential than Jimmy Page. No band set the stage for heavy metal and hard rock like Led Zeppelin. Sure heavy metal bands…the metallicas, the tools, were to come along to create their own songs with their own lyrics, but where would their sound be without Zeppelin? Where would the teenage garage musician sitting around one day strumming a few chords, deciding to finally kick up the distortion and really let it rip…where would he be without Jimmy Page? Jimmy Page not only wrote numerous riffs, and *gasp* constructively modified many existing ones, but also produced and edited all of Led Zeppelin’s work. Led Zeppelin never had a George Martin telling them when to put in an echo or a feedback. No, that was all Page. Led Zeppelin was ultimately entirely Page’s vision. And even the blues musicians that Page built some of his classic hooks off of, the Albert Kings, the Robert Johnsons- even these folks were heavily heavily influenced by even older (and mostly unknown) mississippi delta bluesmen. But of course you don’t here of these guys. So where does the chain end? Or are Page, Clapton, Hendrix all rock ‘n roll pilferers? I mean, to be completely general, everyone’s a pilferer. Styles and methods in so many things- visual art, literature, poetry, practically always develop in a constructive or reactionary method to the status quo style. What Page did was not pilfering. Page not only created, but took many existing things, modified them in ways only he knew how, and made them HIS OWN. And nobody can even half doubt his ability on the guitar. Anybody who does needs to listen to the song remains the same album (live recording) where Page goes for minute after minute after minute of soloing. He can improvise like Stevie Ray Vaughan, can rock as hard as any metal guitarist ever, has stage presence unlike any other guitarist in rock history, and produced Led Zeppelin’s albums better than any contemporary producer could have even dreamed of. And that’s because it wasn’t their vision, it was Page’s.
‘Nuff said. Page is not only a guitar guru. He is THE rock ‘n roll guru.