Jimmy Page

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds, from late 1966 to 1968, before founding English rock band Led Zeppelin.

Page is credited as a forefather of heavy metal by not only turning up the accepted volume of the electric guitar but also with his anthemic riffs and meticulous studio production. Page is widely considered to be the first producer to truly create the "heavy" sound of rock music with the combination of new drum recording methods and revolutionary room.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #9 in their ranking of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Page also has the distinction of having been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice as a member of both The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

Music production techniques

Page is also widely credited for the innovations in sound recording he brought to the studio during the years he was a member of Led Zeppelin. During the late 1960s, most British music producers placed microphones directly in front of the amplifiers and drums, resulting in the sometimes "tinny" sound of the recordings of the era. Page commented to Guitar World magazine that he felt the drum sounds of the day in particular "sounded like cardboard boxes." Instead, Page was a fan of 1950s recording techniques; Sun Studios being a particular favorite. In the same Guitar World interview, Page remarked, "Recording used to be a science," and "[engineers] used to have a maxim: distance equals depth." Taking this maxim to heart, Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as much as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first British producers to record a band's "ambient sound" - the distance of
a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other. This technique was constantly adapted and developed, to the point where he placed microphones in hallways, which is how he achieved the distinctive drum sound for "When the Levee Breaks".

For the recording of several Led Zeppelin tracks, such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "You Shook Me", Page additionally utilised "backward echo" - a technique which he is widely believed to have invented himself whilst with The Yardbirds (he had originally developed the method when recording the 1967 single "Ten Little Indians"). This production technique involved hearing the echo before the main sound instead of after it, achieved by turning the tape over and employing the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal.

Page has stated that, as producer, he deliberately changed the audio engineers on Led Zeppelin albums, from Glyn Johns for the first album, to Eddie Kramer for Led Zeppelin II, to Andy Johns for Led Zeppelin III and later albums. He explained that "I consciously kept changing engineers because I didn't want people to think that they were responsible for our sound. I wanted people to know it was me."

Guitars

Electric guitars

* 1959 Botswana Brown Fender Telecaster Given to him by Jeff Beck, originally Olympic White then stripped and hand painted with dragon
* 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 1)
* 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 2) Given to him by Joe Walsh[23]
* 1960 Danelectro 3021
* 1967 Vox 12-String
* 1960 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom - stolen in 1970
* Rickenbacker 12 String
* 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 (used for playing "Stairway to Heaven", "Celebration Day", "The Rain Song" and "The Song Remains the Same" live)
* 1973 Gibson Les Paul Standard
* 1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster
* 1966 Cream Fender Telecaster
* 1959 Fender Telecaster
* 1965 Fender Electric XII (12-String)
* 1977 Gibson RD Artist
* Gibson SG (Very seldom used, 80s tour)
* Another Gibson doubleneck guitar was given to him after he agreed to allow the company to reproduce his original EDS-1275. The guitar was picked by Page out of numerous others after he struck one chord. Page declared "This is it, this is the one!" The guitar was marked (beforehand) #1.

Acoustic guitars

* Gibson J-200
* Martin D28 Acoustic
* Gibson Everly Brothers Model Acoustic
* Giannini 12-String Acoustic
* Harmony Acoustic
* Washburn 12 String Acoustic
* Ovation 1994 Double Neck Acoustic
* Andy Manson custom Triple Neck Mandolin, 12 string & 6 string acoustic

Other instruments

* Gibson Mandolin
* Fender 10-String 800 Pedal steel guitar
* Cello Bow
* Theremin
* Banjo

Pre / Post Led Zeppelin discography

* Guitar Boogie Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton blues album (1971)
* Special Early Works (1972), 1965 session recordings with Sonny Boy Williamson
* Death Wish II Soundtrack (1982), US #50
* The Honeydrippers: Volume One (1984), with Robert Plant
* No Introduction Necessary (1984), 1968 session recordings feat. John Paul Jones and Albert Lee
* Whatever Happened to Jugula? (1985), with Roy Harper
* The Firm (1985)
* Mean Business (1986)
* Strange Land (1986), with Box of Frogs
* Lucifer Rising (1987)
* Outrider (1988), US #26
* Coverdale-Page (1993)
* No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded (1994)
* Walking into Clarksdale (1998), with Robert Plant
* Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes - Live at the Greek (2000), US #64
* Last Man Standing (2006) - Jimmy Page guests on the first track, 'Rock and Roll' of this album by Jerry Lee Lewis.

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