Jimmy Page has done it all. From rising as London’s finest session guitarist when still just a teenager, to helping The Yardbirds push guitar rock into the future, to featuring of the indomitable ‘Beck’s Bolero’ with friend Jeff Beck, and to filling the void left by The Beatles with Led Zeppelin, these four instances are remarkable for someone who had not even reached 25. Furthermore, it’s arguable that his list of successes is only really eclipsed by that of Paul McCartney and John Lennon as only they can put forward the arguments that they achieved more consequence.
As is understandable for someone of such immense gravity, the list of classic tracks that Page has featured on is lengthy. As a session musician, he contributed to the likes of The Who’s ‘Can’t Explain’, Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’, and Shirley Bassey’s iconic James Bond theme tune, ‘Goldfinger’, three absolute classics that would make any teenager over the moon at having their name attached to.
Elsewhere, he performed on what is arguably the most important release by The Yardbirds, ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’ – the first truly psychedelic rock song – and of course, the 1966 instrumental ‘Beck’s Bolero’ was a monumental moment for guitar music. It ramped the form up to truly epic proportions, fusing classical music and majestic hard rock, again signalling the coming psychedelic craze, as well as its progressive offshoot.
It’s incredible that these are just a handful of examples, and that we haven’t even got to the discography of Led Zeppelin yet. The British band, formed in 1968, originally as ‘The New Yardbirds’, quickly rose as the most exciting outfit on the planet. In doing so, they knocked an ailing Beatles off their perch as the world’s biggest band thanks to frenetic cuts such as ‘Communication Breakdown’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’. A new era had arrived.
The quartet would continue pushing their craft forward until their tragic 1980 split upon the death of drummer John Bonham. Across their arc, they committed a long list of classics to record, which includes the likes of ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Achilles Last Stand’, ‘The Rain Song’, and ‘When the Levee Breaks’.
Yet, for Page, there is one song he considers their finest, because of its stunning synthesis of their hard rock fire and innovative orchestral proclivities. That is ‘Kashmir’, from 1975’s Physical Graffiti. It is the most prog-rock moment in their back catalogue, famed for Page’s Les Paul going toe-to-toe with a full string section conducted by bandmate John Paul Jones.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2012, Page explained why ‘Kashmir’ is his favourite Led Zeppelin song. “It’s difficult to be asked, ‘What’s your favourite Zeppelin track?’ They all were,” Page told David Fricke. “They were all intended to be on those albums.” However, he quickly said: “I suppose ‘Kashmir’ has to be the one,” he said.
“All of the guitar parts would be on there,” he continued. “But the orchestra needed to sit there, reflecting those other parts, doing what the guitars were but with the colours of a symphony.”
Page was then asked how he delivered such an element sound. In his response, he touched on his lifelong fascination with all things metaphysical, and indeed the esoteric nature of the song. Suggesting his music comes from an unearthly place, he said: “Riffs come out of the ether, out of nowhere”.
The guitarist added: “Will you tell me where that is? Because no one knows.”
