Despite being one of the most influential figures to pick up the electric guitar, Jimmy Page is a divisive player. Although his technical and songwriting ability is rare, some have criticised him for being sloppy and inconsistent.
This can be attributed to his idiosyncratic approach and that, in the live setting, he would seldom play his iconic solos identical to those on record, preferring to pull something fresh out of the bag. For some fans, this proved his artistic brilliance, but for others, it was an indicator that he left the finest version of his playing in the studio, where he was afforded much time to work on his flourishes. For these purists, this was not the way of the greats of the fretboard.
One of those who rose in Page’s wake was blues rock hero Joe Bonamassa, and fittingly, he once outlined why the Led Zeppelin man is the “toughest” player to copy. He said: “Page arguably is the toughest to kind of copy the sound [because] he had these kinds of wacky slurs and things that he would do. In some circles, it’s argued he’s not a very accurate player. I disagree. He’s intrinsically very consistent, so that’s not a question of accuracy. That’s just how he plays. And one of the hardest things to do is copy those idiosyncrasies in his playing, so much so that I’m not going to bother attempting it.”
Page even finds himself hard to emulate. He outlined this after the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin reformed in 2007 at London’s O2 Arena for The Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert. Following their resounding final flourish, he noted that he never plays his recorded solos the same in the live arena. Yet, he explained why he recreated his most famous one, ‘Stairway to Heaven’, almost note for note – but still not the same – during the show.
He revealed that he decided to perform the solo in ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the O2 to prove he could replicate the brilliance he conceived in the studio. He told Light and Shade author Brad Tolinski: “I don’t think anybody thought I could actually play it! I guess I just wanted to show I could.”
It is interesting that Page wanted to show that he could play the solo on ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Not only did he espouse humility in doing so, but he still refused to completely deviate from his trusted approach of improvising live, showing his absolute belief in this tactic. After all, Page’s Led Zeppelin are one of the finest jam bands of their era; this was key to their magic.
Listen to Jimmy Page playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the O2 below.
