The rock star Jimmy Page regrets not seeing live
For any working musician, stopping throughout the touring lifestyle is impossible. When combing through the daily routines of any musician, they tend to be on a rollercoaster of going on the road from one city to the next and spending the rest of their time in the studio making the next album to promote on the next mammoth tour. While Jimmy Page was equipped for such a lifestyle, it did come at the expense of seeing one of his heroes live in action.
Before he had even joined a proper band, though, Page had already become a child of the studio. Outside of his signature guitar licks, Page would often be heard in the background of many classic pop songs from around the time, contributing different licks to songs like ‘Sunshine Superman’ by Donovan.
Blues always came first for Page, though, and it was only natural that he join The Yardbirds after Eric Clapton began to depart from the group. Infusing bits of psychedelia into tracks like ‘Heart Full Of Soul’, Page was slowly beginning to toy with what he could do in a blues context, often squeezing as much energy out of the guitar as he could, regardless of what musical effect it would have onstage.
When the blues started to get too confining, Page would leave The Yardbirds as well, striking out on his own and putting together Led Zeppelin. Kicking off with their debut in 1968, Page was at the forefront of rock history, pioneering the concept of the guitar riff for millions of potential rock stars on tracks like ‘Communication Breakdown’ and ‘How Many More Times’.
Then again, there was no competition in the English guitar scene when Jimi Hendrix appeared. Playing a mix of blues and psychedelic rock, Hendrix became the archetype for everything a guitar player should be, putting a healthy dose of soul and musicality into every riff from his guitar.
While Page had respected Hendrix for what he brought to the guitar community, he regretted never seeing him work his magic onstage. Despite Hendrix’s penchant for warping his sound in the studio, his live shows were even more chaotic, including various shows where he would play his guitar behind his head, with his teeth, and making his guitar emote in a way few guitarists could master.
After Hendrix’s untimely death in 1970 from a drug overdose, Page lamented that he never got to see the guitar maestro onstage, recalling in Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page, “Every time I came back from tour and Hendrix was playing somewhere, I would always say to myself, ‘Oh, I’m just so exhausted, I’ll see him next time.’ I just put it off, and, of course, there ultimately never was a next time. I’m really, really upset with myself for never seeing him. I really wanted to hear him.”
In the wake of Hendrix’s passing, Page would soon become the premier guitar hero in rock, creating licks that felt like they were being channelled by a spiritual force on songs like ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Kashmir’. Page may not have been able to see Hendrix in all his glory, but the spirit of Hendrix is felt every time any rock guitarist cranks up their amp.
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