The Jeff Beck cover that left Jimmy Page “terrified”
In 1968, formed from the dying embers of the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin consisted of four incredibly talented musicians: Robert Plant as the lead vocalist, Jimmy Page on guitars, John Paul Jones as bassist and keyboardist, and John Bonham behind the drums.
Page had begun to build his status as a guitar hero to the heights of fellow Yardbirds alumni Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck and sought to reform the band as a heavier answer to the burgeoning pop-rock craze. Meanwhile, Clapton performed with the short-lived psychedelic rock outfit Cream, and Beck had formed The Jeff Beck group.
Naturally, Page and his new band sought hastily to establish themselves as a competent force on the British scene in the late 1960s. They cruised through this early challenge with distinction thanks to hits like ‘Good Times Bad Times’, ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’, ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Communication Breakdown’ appearing on the 1968 eponymous debut album.
Also appearing on this gem-encrusted release was ‘You Shook Me’, a modernised version of Willie Dixon and J.B. Lenoir’s blues classic, which had most famously been recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962.
“I feel good, sure I like it. I love it. I wish someone would call my name fifty million times a day. The more you call, the more people gonna hear. That don’t bother me,” Waters once beamed in response to the hard rock nod.
Led Zeppelin would fold the cover into their live shows for five years after its release and were immensely proud following Waters’ endorsement. However, Page was initially nervous to release the album track.
In a 1977 interview with Guitar Player magazine, Page explained how, just after Led Zeppelin recorded their ‘You Shook Me’ cover, he heard Jeff Beck had exactly the same idea. “Beck and I came from the same sort of roots,” he said. “If you’ve got things you enjoy, then you want to do them – to the horrifying point where we’d done our first LP with ‘You Shook Me’, and then I heard he’d done ‘You Shook Me.’ I was terrified because I thought they’d be the same. But I hadn’t even known he’d done it, and he hadn’t known that we had.”
Fortunately, the two versions weren’t as similar as Page had feared.
How did Jimmy Page pay tribute to Jeff Beck?
The two men shared a close friendship, with Beck being one of the first rock and roll friends he ever made, after his sister introduced the two guitarists to one another. When Beck passed away, Page was quick to pay tribute to the legendary six-string maestro.
James Moir, the British comedian better known as Vic Reeves, shared the beautiful tribute from his funeral, “Just came back from Jeff Beck’s funeral. The greatest eulogy was from Jimmy Page. He said ‘Jeff was the quiet chief’ , he was talking about all the guitarists. And he was right. Jeff was the future as far as guitarists go. We will miss you Jeff and your music will love forever, Goodbye my good friend x”.
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