When Page first joined the Yardbirds, it was to replace the just-quit bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, mostly playing an Epiphone Rivoli. Image: C Brandon / Redferns Fender Telecaster Donovan and Jimmy Page perform songs from Donovan’s 1966 classic album ‘Sunshine Superman’ with the London Contemporay Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall on 3 June 2011 in London, United Kingdom. Note that Page’s original went missing in 1970 mid-tour… he was eventually reunited with it in 2016. Owning a similar original is a bit of a pipe-dream for most of us, but for a little history read our assessment of a later 60s Les Paul Custom. Page had it retrofitted with a Bigsby vibrato, and you can see it on the cover of the 1960s no-Zeppelin compilation album Jimmy Page And His Heavy Friends. In his session days, Page often used a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’ model, bought new in 1962 for £185. You can forget buying a ‘replica’ Jimmy Page rig in totality as well, but there are plenty of more (just about) affordable options to investigate… Gibson Les Paul Custom If you can’t afford the book – it’s limited edition and listed at £495! – there’s still some details that Page has previously shared. Page told the BBC in 2005 that he owned “around 1,500” guitars, and The Anthology details the best and most famous of those. Image: Art Zelin / Getty Images Jimmy Page: Essential gear “Many people think of me as just a riff guitarist, but I think of myself in broader terms… As a record producer I would like to be remembered as someone who was able to sustain a band of unquestionable individual talent and push it to the forefront during its working career.” Page in performance in New York, circa 1970. The spontaneity was on the level of ESP, which meant it was always exciting.” “The beauty of playing in the band was that when we went onstage we never actually knew what was going to go on within the framework of the songs. It doesn’t matter now what they said, does it?” That’s fantastic! But reviews are very transient. I think Melody Maker dismissed the fourth album in one paragraph. Although it wasn’t overlooked by those who were buying the records. “It doesn’t surprise me that the diversity and breadth of what we were doing was overlooked or under-appreciated at the time. So much so, that he’s talked of plans for a further solo release for over 15 years… but as yet, he’s unhappy (or unwilling) to release what he’s already recorded… Image: Robert Knight Archive / Redferns In his own words… But all of these play a part in Page’s make-up: he’s long-insisted he doesn’t see himself as ‘just’ a guitar player. A one-off CD with Deep Purple/ Whitesnake’s David Coverdale was workmanlike, as was Outrider, the only release credited so far as a ‘solo’ album, and his soundtrack work hides his ‘guitar hero’ status in the shadows. Post Zeppelin, some of his releases have been hit and miss: two more albums with Robert Plant stand up well, the ones with Free’s Paul Rodgers (as The Firm) less so. His earlier studio education certainly went to good use, as Zeppelin romped through a series of diverse albums and he stretched out as a producer.Īt the same time, Zeppelin became the most-lauded live band of the 70s. Cut loose of others’ demands, he made his mark briefly with The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck also on lead guitar, but – as we know – fully realised his own ambitions with Led Zeppelin (originally called The New Yardbirds) from 1968.
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