The Time Jimmy Page Received Some Help From 3 of The Rolling Stones
Jimmy Page became the creative mastermind behind a successful band when he formed Led Zeppelin. The band was nearly an overnight success. It quickly went from playing gigs as the New Yardbirds to torturing future rock stars with their epic live shows. Yet before he helped Led Zeppelin take off, Page received some help from three of the Rolling Stones on a little-known project.
Jimmy Page played with the Rolling Stones as a session guitarist
Page did a lot of the heavy lifting in Led Zeppelin. He chose the band’s name (and avoided disaster when he picked Led Zeppelin), wrote most of the songs, and produced the albums. But before he could call the shots, Page had to follow orders as a session guitarist.
One of the songs that featured his pre-Zep playing was “Heart of Stone” by the Rolling Stones. He takes a solo about two minutes into the song. He laid down the track in 1964, but it remained in the vault until 1975. The first time Page bowed his guitar on record happened when he worked on a soundtrack composed by one of the Stones.
He also played with the Stones after Led Zeppelin. Page turned up on the 1985 song “One Hit (to the Body).” His contributions during a jam session ended up on the song “Scarlet” on the stones’ Goats Head Soup album.
Still, there was one time when Page received some help from three Rolling Stones instead of the other way around.
Page received some help from Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts in the 1960s
London in the mid-1960s was a fertile field for fantastic music. The Beatles were going strong, the Rolling Stones were coming into their own, and superstar guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were entering their prime. Page found himself in the middle of the vortex thanks to his work as a session musician and his friendship with Beck.
The future Led Zeppelin guitarist formed a friendship with Clapton, and they recorded several jam sessions together. Far Out Magazine writes that he and Clapton were against it, but Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham pressed Page to release the recordings on his record label.
As George Case writes in Led Zeppelin FAQ, Oldham looped in Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts to overdub harmonica, bass, and drums, respectively.
Page provided plenty of help to the three Rolling Stones before, during, and after his Led Zeppelin days. Jagger, Wyman, and Watts returned the favor for Page, even though he wasn’t thrilled to have the recording see the light of day.
Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones — the rivals that weren’t
Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones battled for the title of biggest band in the world after The Beatles broke up. Yet that rivalry existed in fans’ minds; the bands didn’t feel it.
Page admired the Stones’ work and called the band great in the 1970s, saying he didn’t feel any competition. It’s not hard to think the Stones felt the same way. Why else would they ask him to play with them during the height of both bands’ fame?
Opinionated Stones guitarist Keith Richard once said he didn’t like Led Zeppelin’s music (shot across the bow!), but he left Page out of his critique. Even when criticizing Zep, Richards had to clarify he didn’t hate everything about the band.
Jimmy Page received a little help from three of the Rolling Stones when their manager released some of Page’s home recordings (apparently against his will). It was the least they could do after he helped them during his session days.
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