Listen Live

In an in depth interview with Classic Rock Magazine, Jimmy Page lets us know he’s not ready to lay down his guitar just yet. He looks back at his musical journey from his childhood singing in his church choir, finding his first ‘Excalibur’ guitar, and his meeting with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards at the 1962 American Folk Blues Festival in Manchester. He even talks about the founding of Led Zeppelin and so much more.

Jimmy Page

A fascinating part of the interview is when he was asked if Led Zeppelin would have continued making music if John Bonham hadn’t died. Page says that the guys in Led Zeppelin were already discussing where they wanted to take the music next. Jimmy Page said “John Bonham and I discussed what sort of shape the next album should be, because each album was different to the last,”…“It just so happened that “Presence” was basically a guitar album, so as John Paul Jones had his Dream Machine (a Yamaha synthesizer used on “In Through the Out Door”), it was only right to do a keyboard album. So we had been discussing what we’d do for the next one, and there were definite ideas of what we could do.”

He also talked about his work with XYZ. A project with Yes members Chris Squire and Alan White. There is some unreleased music that he hoped would get an official release. According to Page “it’s really good music… fascinating to listen to”. He mentions his work with Paul Rodgers as members of The Firm. They scored a hit in 1985 with “Radioactive”. Among other projects, the interview includes working with David Coverdale, The Black Crowes, and his post Zeppelin time with Robert Plant.

Jimmy Page Through The Years

Most interesting is his answer to what musical project he will be working on next. Jimmy Page said, “I’m never not doing something,”…“and I’m never not doing something that’s going to surprise people. It’s like when I did a spoken word project with my girlfriend (2019′s “Catalyst” with Scarlett Sabet). Nobody was expecting me to do that, because nobody had done that before. It was really wonderful to do. But I’ve always got ideas, and the day that I wake up and haven’t got any ideas of what to do and how to do it, that for me will be a very sad day. And that day looks like it’s some way off yet.”

He’s found time during the pandemic to work on his guitar playing. He says “One of the things I was complaining about before we all had to lock down was that I wasn’t having enough time to play guitar. I was able to actually say: ‘Well, this is it. You can do it every day now.’ So, it’s given me an opportunity to reconnect properly with the guitar.”

You can read the full interview in Classic Rock Magazine, on sale now.

It’s safe to say that we can’t wait to see and hear what Jimmy Page does next.

— Doug O’Brien