Jimmy Page Once Brutally Called Out the Famous Artists He Worked With
Jimmy Page found fame as Led Zeppelin’s guitarist. The band’s name was something of a joke, but Page avoided disaster when he chose it over two other terrible options. Before that happened, though, the guitarist spent several years working as a session musician. He played with several notable bands, but Page once called out the famous artists he worked with, saying one thing in particular was disappointing.
Jimmy Page recorded with several seminal bands before forming Led Zeppelin
After perfecting his guitar playing by copying Elvis Presley songs, Page segued to playing on several famous songs as a session musician.
He played on a Rolling Stones song as a session player. Page also sat in with the band on later tunes after he formed Led Zeppelin. The guitarist played with The Who and the Kinks. He played rhythm behind Pete Townshend’s solo on The Who’s “I Can’t Explain.” Page did the same job on the first Kinks album. The guitarist contributed to Donovan’s 1966 No. 1 hit “Sunshine Superman” and played a Zeppelin-like solo on the artist’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man” two years later.
The demanding and monotonous life of a session musician wore on the guitarist, though. Page suddenly realized he had to quit during one particularly stressful project. He wanted to flex his creative muscles, but Page once said working with famous musicians wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Page once said working with famous artists as a studio musician was ‘disappointing’
Page’s time as a session player wasn’t all bad. He played on famous songs and learned recording skills that he brought to Led Zeppelin. Still, the grueling pace of session work and his lack of creative freedom didn’t suit Page. Plus, playing alongside famous musicians wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
In her Abbey Road Studios documentary If These Walls Could Sing, Mary McCartney, Paul McCartney’s daughter, unearthed a clip of a young and cleanly-dressed Page giving a TV interview. The interviewer asks him what it’s like working with some of the “really big names in show business.” Page didn’t hesitate in calling out the most famous artists of the day:
“Disappointing [slyly grinning]. They don’t come out how you expect them to be. It’s rather disappointing on the whole, I would say.”
Jimmy Page
Don’t meet your heroes, they say. The reality likely won’t live up to expectations. Page’s list of heroes contained Elvis, Lonnie Donegan, and several blues musicians near the top. Pete Townshend and the Davies brothers from the Kinks weren’t his heroes, per se, but Page said it was disappointing to work with famous artists as a mid-1960s session guitarist.
The guitarist’s session work came in handy with Led Zeppelin
Page learned studio recording techniques — overdubbing, mic placement — during his session days. He brought those skills with him when he formed Led Zeppelin, but he also brought a mindset and work ethic that he couldn’t have formed elsewhere.
He helped Zep’s debut album come together in an astonishing amount of time. The guitarist, who produced all of Led Zeppelin’s albums, badgered drummer John Bonham to lay down a better track on “Stairway to Heaven.” Bonham called out Page because of it, but Bonzo’s final take is the powerful version that made the final cut.
Page channeled the breakneck pace of session work later in Led Zeppelin’s career. The guitarist worked nearly around the clock to record Presence in less than three weeks.
Jimmy Page called out famous artists he worked with as a session guitarist, saying it was disappointing since they were never how he expected them to be. For all the cons of being a session musician, Page proved with Led Zeppelin that there were at least a few pros.
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