Jimmy Page lost it?

rsvmark

So I watched 'it might get loud' this morning. Google it. Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page in conversation but it included a section with Page talking about 'Stairway' and it taking a life of its own every time he played it. To be be fair, old footage showed him nailing the solo in that track which brings me to the the point. Just watched the 2007 Celebration day footage on Sky arts. Let's just say imho he didn't make the best of that solo.... Discuss (ducks and runs for cover)

bingefeller

rsvmark said:

So I watched 'it might get loud' this morning. Google it. Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page in conversation but it included a section with Page talking about 'Stairway' and it taking a life of its own every time he played it. To be be fair, old footage showed him nailing the solo in that track which brings me to the the point. Just watched the 2007 Celebration day footage on Sky arts. Let's just say imho he didn't make the best of that solo.... Discuss (ducks and runs for cover)

He was always a bit sloppy live.  Tight but loose is how the whole band was referred to at times..  

StageStruck

I'd hazard a guess there was limited reheasal before the '07 gig. Different to when they were at their peak and playing it every night.

randomhandclaps

Have you ever seen a 71 year old man trying to reverse a car?  Thread a needle?  Balance on one leg?  Yes I think it is fair to say that a 71 year old guitar god whose hay day was 40 plus years ago may be slightly on the wane.

I don't get it.  It's a bit like people moaning about Gilmour the other week for not being what he was now he's at the age of 69.  My granddad was the hardest bastard I'd ever met in my life but when he was a slightly frail 70 year old I never thought "Yeah, I could take you now old man!".  Is the whole point not a respect for what they have done rather than trying to throw them on the trash heap because time is catching up with them?  It seems like a really British thing to do.  America seems to get it better with reverence to the elderly IMO.  People still turn out in droves to see Muhammad Ali and he's (almost literally) a shell of what he was. 

mudslide73

imo he peaked on the Euro 73 run of shows - even then his technique wasn't at the level of 70/71. I agree with @randomhandclaps but I think his decline set in once guitar wasn't his main interest any more

Jalapeno

bingefeller said:

rsvmark said:

So I watched 'it might get loud' this morning. Google it. Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page in conversation but it included a section with Page talking about 'Stairway' and it taking a life of its own every time he played it. To be be fair, old footage showed him nailing the solo in that track which brings me to the the point. Just watched the 2007 Celebration day footage on Sky arts. Let's just say imho he didn't make the best of that solo.... Discuss (ducks and runs for cover)

He was always a bit sloppy live.  Tight but loose is how the whole band was referred to at times..  

Yep, you have to take him for what he is. LZ have never been a recital band, you should hear what Percy does to LZ numbers with his band !

Bucket

@Bingefeller said he's always been sloppy live, but let's be honest - he was often sloppy in the studio as well.

I'm of the unpopular and controversial opinion that he's never been that good. He wrote a lot of great stuff (and stole a lot of great stuff off other people) and is a hugely important musician, I'd never try to deny his impact and influence on the course of music since, but as an actual lead guitarist? He had a couple of great solos, plenty of "meh" ones and some absolute fucking howlers too.

inb4 I get ripped to shreds.

stickyfiddle

I agree with @Bucket. His songwriting, arrangement and production were all leagues ahead of his playing. 

IvisonGuitars

I'm with @bucket & @stickyfiddle. Has he ever 'had it'?

randomhandclaps

Whether he ever had it or not is subjective as it depends what you are looking for. His main impact though was undoubtedly over 40 years ago. A strange thing about Page is that a lot of the time his playing was tidier on other people's stuff. It's like with LZ he was pushing everything to his limits. Guitar playing aside his ability as a composer and producer is well up there. 

Because of the Yardbirds connection Page and Beck are often lumped in together. I'm sure a lot will agree that Page is not a patch on the guitarist Beck is, yet I far more often find myself choosing to listen to Page's work over Beck's.

stickyfiddle

randomhandclaps said:
Because of the Yardbirds connection Page and Beck are often lumped in together. I'm sure a lot will agree that Page is not a patch on the guitarist Beck is, yet I far more often find myself choosing to listen to Page's work over Beck's. Agree with this in particular. Beck is clearly a more gifted musician and player. But as a songwriter, not so much. 

shugz

Out of the Surrey Delta:

Beck - most technically gifted, innovative, forward thinking, constantly seeking to improve/ learn/ acquire new skill. Not a natural songwriter though. He will never be forgiven for Hi Ho no matter how many jazz-rock-fusion albums he does.

Clapton - Once THE man, the trailblazer, game changer, purist. Now a consummate musician that can seemingly coast or play with fire when the mood takes. His contribution to rock guitar can never be undermined no matter how nice his Ferraris and jumpers get. A gifted songwriter when the stars align.

Page - Done it all. Absolutely no need to prove anything to anyone, now or then. Sloppy yet brilliant, tight but loose, sober yet un-sober. Add in fantastic showman, songwriter, musician, bandleader, producer, engineer and very adept at the business side of things as well. He has done the lot. Most of it good, that's not a bad innings no matter how deconstructed the major pents get.

Above just my humbles, I love what all three do. I wish I'd been able to have achieved a fiftieth of what they have. Not quite sure what they put in the Thames Estuary water supply back in the day but must have been tone-tastic- guitario-flouroide or such like

Cheers
Hugh

not_the_dj

Much wisdom to @shugz

Fretwired

Saw Page live in his prime - the thing with Zeppelin was you had to be there .. the volume, the atmosphere .. watching on YouTube isn't the same. These days the music schools and online lessons turn out indentikit guitarists who can play fast and in time but lack soul and passion. Give me the likes of Page in the 70's over today's bland poseurs.

randomhandclaps

Gotta  say that I saw Page and Plant at Earls Court on the Walking Into Clarksdale tour.  I was right near the front, close enough to get showered in the 4 gallons of sweat per minute Jimmy seems to put out.  The power generated by one man with an actually relatively thin guitar tone was unbelievable. 

ICBM

Fretwired said:

Saw Page live in his prime - the thing with Zeppelin was you had to be there .. the volume, the atmosphere .. watching on YouTube isn't the same. These days the music schools and online lessons turn out indentikit guitarists who can play fast and in time but lack soul and passion. Give me the likes of Page in the 70's over today's bland poseurs.

It's not the 1990s any more you know .

Today's bland poseurs can't even play fast and in time.

Drew_TNBD

ICBM said:

Fretwired said:

Saw Page live in his prime - the thing with Zeppelin was you had to be there .. the volume, the atmosphere .. watching on YouTube isn't the same. These days the music schools and online lessons turn out indentikit guitarists who can play fast and in time but lack soul and passion. Give me the likes of Page in the 70's over today's bland poseurs.

It's not the 1990s any more you know .

Today's bland poseurs can't even play fast and in time.

Yes I can!!

shugz

I blame today's drummers. Mine's an utter tossbag....

Cheers
Hugh

scrumhalf

I think that Page's "decline" proves a couple of things:

1) The years catch up with you, motor skills decline.
2) That fact trhat he's till in the public eye almost 40 years after his last decent album (everything from In Through The Out Door onwards) proves that the elusive talent-originality combination has a limited lifespan before one or the other just goes.

Jalapeno

Unledded was awesome !

d8m

Age has caught up with him I guess.

A 71 year old Page still plays better than me though!