Jimmy Page: We wanted to make long songs

And this is the music that director Bernard McMahon focused on. Of course, there are many interviews in his film, but the songs are performed in full.

– We didn’t want too many tracks and then “heads-talking” (interviews with people in the studio). The director says that the story is in the music, and then there is little dialogue between them.

divided in 1980

Jimmy Page is a gray man, who will soon turn 80, and talks about his time on the Yardbirds group, with Jeff Beck among others. When the group split, he chose to form a new band.

It was Led Zeppelin, who was behind cult songs like “Perfect Love” and “Stairway to Heaven.” The band split in 1980, when drummer John Bonham died of alcohol abuse. The page says:

– When we lost John, it was completely unreasonable to go on. His drumming was very important to the band.

He walks over to recently deceased Rolling Stones member Charlie Watts and says:

– I loved Charlie. The way he played the drums was completely unique.

“We improvised”

Jimmy Page talks about how Led Zeppelin has, in many ways, changed the way pop and rock groups made their albums and performed on stage.

– We wanted to make long songs. We wanted to make albums, where the songs went in and complemented each other. Before that, it was only about making three-minute songs, which could be a hit. And when we were on stage, we often improvised. Lots of bands started doing this, and many were inspired by Led Zeppelin.

Jimmy Page points out that he’s also quite self-taught.

– There were no computers that could help me. I learned by listening to recordings and I believe that most guitarists in the 1960s did. He says you are learning today in other ways.