Jimmy excelled as a writer and producer to the point where even Michael Angelo Batio said he wished he could write like Jimmy. Every one of Jimmy's solos were works of art that fit the songs around them and left an imprint in the listener's bones.
Jimmy in his prime could not carry the water for some street performers I've seen , he was special , but during a time when the bar was very low , there are so many guitarists these days that would play circles around him that will never make it , he was jus fortunate to have had the timing in rocks evolution
@@wvdave771 Fortunate? What sheer and utter ignorance. Jimmy Page is one of the guys who INVENTED how to play lead guitar. He was a major force in CAUSING that evolution of rock. He was one of the people who evolved rock music and rock guitar. There was nothing "fortunate" about it. He is one of the most rock influential guitarists who ever lived. He is one of the guys who paved the way for all those guitarists these days. They are all building on the foundation put down by guys like Page and Hendrix and Jeff Beck. What your post tells me is that you dont have a clue about rock guitar and how it evolved
@callerid3424 you're delusional if you believe Eddie van Halen is one dimensional, or non adventuring, that guy invented more things to do on a guitar than anyone Hendrix was from my time as well as Jimmy page , Hendrix is another that I doubt could cut the mustard in today's music world , he was theatrical , with talent but I feel the theatrics and the vibe would not carry him to stardom in today's pool of talent And by the way , jazz sucks
@@wvdave771 Youre right about EVH not being one-dimensional. But your comments about Page and Hendrix are off. Yes, they weree/are not as technically skilled as many modern players. But that doesnt mean they were inferior No one who ever lived was more revolutionary on guitar than Hendrix. He changed how the electric guitar is played for all time. Anyone in any genre of music who plays electric guitar has been influenced in some way by Hendrix, even if only in their use of feedback and sustain. Electric guitar was changed more in the late 60s-early 70s by guys like Hendrix, Page, Jeff Beck, etc than any time since. Listen to how electric guitar sounded up until 1966. And then what happened to it from 1967 on, with guys like Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Page etc. Its night and day. Those guys completely revolutionized the instrument. Eddie Van Halen is arguably the most revolutionary guitarist since Hendrix, and his technical skill was way beyond what Hendrix could do. But his impact is still not as great as Hendrix. Modern guitarists may be more technically skilled and accomplished, but they are simply building on the foundations laid down by their predecessors. Without Jimi Hendrix there would never have been an EVH. And while modern day shredders may impress with guitar gymnastics, technical prowess and blinding speed, many guitarists of the past were quite superior in their ability to play with melody, emotion, feel, and subtlety. David Gilmour can put more feeling and emotion into a single note than a whole tour bus full of shredders. Guitar playing is an art, not a sport
@@callerid3424 Simply playing rock riffs? Apparently, you dont realize that all of the guitarists you named were formally trained. Eddie Van Halen began as a classically trained pianist. Steve Vai studied music theory for years. There is nothing he cannot do on guitar. And Yngvie Malmsteen??? He comes from a family of classical musicians and studied music theory before he ever picked up a guitar. He preaches to aspiring guitarists to learn theory. He is thoroughly educated in music theory.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Jimmy always projected class and respect, and never badmouthed his "rivals." Jimmy needs no defending: between Jimmy's session work, his Yardbirds contributions, Led Zeppelin, and his solo work, and combining his guitar genius, his skills as a songwriter, and his production techniques, there are only a very small handful of people in modern recording who have contributed more than Jimmy.
More than most, Jimmy Page helped define that late 1960s to mid 1970s era, especially with his and LZ’s songwriting ability. EVH had remarkable guitar playing ability that often seemed to exceed his songwriting/content.
Hendrix did an interview where he admitted that he made a lot of mistakes because he was always reaching for something new, & I believe that's the case with Page as well. Jimmy Page worked to create a vibe because he's a true artist. Listen to his playing on The Song Remains the Same.. Magic. The Stairway version on that record still takes my breath away - not just the solo but as a whole. And his acoustic playing is magical as well. Sure, there's a lot more technically adept players in one sense of the word, but who's humming their music, or their solos note by note?
Yeah playing beyond his means was the coolest thing bc he was using flesh and blood to achieve something he couldn't or didn't know how to do and damn near doing it every time or going down classy if he couldn't quite nail it. Love ed, but there are just elders sometimes In any scenario and no matter how cool you are there are just guys who are older and cooler than you, in other words, killing Jesse James doesn't make you Jesse James. And the contest for goat in guitar terms is just such a huge fucking spectrum it's hard to really give it to just one bloke.
@@CP-kb1du You must work on your reading comprehension if you understood anything like that: John Bryant says Hendrix admitted that HE, Jimi Hendrix, made a lot of mistakes because HE (Jimi Hendrix) was always reaching for something new, & JOHN BRYANT believes that's the case with Page as well.
Agree. Page had played in the studio and knew how to lay down tracks and play cleanly, but the band liked to create on stage, and it was probably more fun than playing the same way night after night. I do think the excesses effected him as well, but I saw him in the 90's with Plant, and he's better live than what I've see on youtube videos.
@@deltawhiskey1398 You can think what you want. Eddie was a good tapper but he didn't have the talent Hendrix had on the guitar. He had great talent but not hendrix level. Hendrix covered a broad range and wrote many great songs. That's why history has rated Hendrix the best ever and Eddie isn't. I'd be glad to be as good as either.
Very classy guy, a well known Satanist who sleeps with 14 year old Girls. Quintessentially British, He could even be part of your Royal Family with those qualifications.
@@thomasphillips4906 which so-called natives do you mean, the first wave or perhaps any of the 25th or more which vanquished the Americas subsequently over even possibly several thousands of years (and to complicate matters, it is now thoughts some ancient waves of influx were more European not East Asian origin…) This land is all our land. Even Europe is a storey of repeated conquests and we’ve all been the overrun and the marginalized at some not very ancient time in history.
I’ll take Jimmy’s musicianship over Eddie and Yngwie’s technicality any. day. of. the. week. Cramming as many notes as possible into a riff doesn’t make it better.
It’s notable how little was said about Eddie Van Halen when he was alive. I used to read the “greatest guitarists ranked” lists and wondered why EVH wasn’t mentioned. After his death, there’s all kinds of articles about him and now he appears on all the “greatest guitarists” lists, as he should be. Funny how that works. Randy California was also a great guitarist but he’s rarely mentioned and I’ve never seen his name on a “greatest”list. He was as good as anyone ever!
@@kaysmith5495 Good points, I imagine you were referring to Randy Rhoads, an excellent guitarist for sure. I remember seeing Eddie on at least one greatest guitarist list before he died, but lower on list than expected. Sometimes, you don't realize what you have until it's gone.
@@kaysmith5495 I have never seen a list, while he was alive that did not include him, what alternate Universe are you living in? There were way more articles about him while he was living...good lord.
@@audiophileman7047 You think they were referring to Rhoads? Who was every bit as good as Ed if not a little better live. Ed made every list I have ever read since the 80s...
@@youtoo2233 Yngwie's like a Paganini on electric guitar. Steve Vai says that even when he watches Yngwie playing very close, he can not figure out how Yngwie picks.
I began playing guitar 36 years ago because I just had to play Led Zeppelin songs. Today I appreciate live Zeppelin more than anything. So many new (old) concerts are being uploaded. It's a great time to be a Zep fan. Occasionally I cringe at an off run Jimmy plays but there are so many flashes of brilliance sprinkled throughout it's always a treat. As a guitarist, listening to these performances is like digging for gold in the highest grade mine in the world. Sure there's some dirt, but there's a lot of gold to be found.
Well said . If you listen to some live concerts by Charles Mingus or Miles Davis you will hear the same thing. What seems like a mistake or a selection of bad notes is just improvised education and it can't be controlled because it's made up on the spot and it will never be performed again in its exact. That's what people like Jimmy Page and Charles Mingus do. They improvised greatly and when you improvise you take a chance.
Some people want it to sound note-for-note like the album. And they want the singers to not take Liberties and phrase it the same way as on the original recording.
@@AlmostReady504 When I hear bands do that it's a real let down. That's a dead song to me, stuck in the past. I'm not interested because I've heard it a hundred times before. On the other hand Zep kept their songs alive, changing and growing, warts and all. Much more interesting to me.
Here’s the difference people. EVH would play his songs live very similar to the album versions, he was too technical to deviate too much from the recorded versions. Jimmy Page on the other hand, would play his songs totally different at every concert. When you play with that much spontaneity and improvisation, the chances of messing things up is a lot higher. Me personally, I would much rather listen to Page playing while taking risks, than EVH keeping it safe.
@@deltawhiskey1398 What era was he awful live? Are we talking 69’ or when he was hooked on heroin in 77? If you know so much about his live performances, give me a concert date when he was awful.
Page's playing started to diminish around 1975. To be fair, the entire band started to sound a bit exhausted and drained in 1975. Plant in particular started having issues with his voice. 1977 had some of the best and worst performances of the band for me. The (Listen to this, Eddie) LA Forum 77 show is my favorite performance from the band. By 1979, Plant had completely lost his peak voice and couldn't hit those high notes anymore without straining himself. Page was also terrible at this point. The only band members who consistently delivered quality performances were Jones and Bonham. Bonham had a few shows where he was clearly drunk as hell and dragging (1977) but he still sounded good.
@@Wheelio This is all true, it still didn’t give EVH the right to criticize Page like he did back than, although he did change his tune later on about Page.
I feel like it's worth mentioning that Page was primarily blues-influenced. Any fan of the blues will tell you that looseness (some might call it "sloppiness"), informality, and organic playing are hallmarks of the genre. Choice of equipment is different between blues guitarists & more technical styles as well, & that plays a key role in what it sounds like, especially live. Even the adjectives people use to describe the styles of EVH & JP are near-opposite. Makes sense that JP worjed to not just stay true to his blues influences but to keep things fresh by trying to never play a song the same way from one show to the next. This might lead to a few unfamiliar notes to the familiar ear.
There's a difference between playing notes out of key vs straight up playing bum notes and messing up. Page could barely play his own material without messing up post 1977.
Yeah that's true as the 70s wore on, Jay Jay French said he saw Zeppelin in 1969 and Page was great, he saw them in the mid 70s and was surprised at how poorly he played. He seemed to get better in the 80s and 90s..
I like to call Jimmys live playing " controlled chaos". Borderline brilliant and borderline garage band wraped in one. I can play and learn Jimmys stuff with relative ease, but beside Jamies Crying and Runnin with the Devil, Eddies playing is not in my DNA..their both amazing guitarist, musicians and composers.
to quote Robert Plant, "when we were on our game, we were the best in the land, and when we weren't we were the worst in the land" Plant has always acknowledged that LZ did definitely have bad shows, mainly because of drugs and alcohol.
I’m a huge JP-Zeppelin fan but let’s not forget that, aside from hand injuries, he had some battles with “substances” that might have had a negative impact on his live performances. I am grateful he’s still kicking butt and taking names! ❤️🤘🏼
@@deductivereasoning4257 Never said it was “an excuse.” Said it was one reason, besides hand injuries, that his playing was “sloppy.” Smack is a helluva drug.
Context: Ed calls HIMSELF a sloppy player. "Sloppy" doesn't mean you're not good, or creative. Does Jimmy play sloppily live? Of course, just like millions of others. He even plays that way in some of the recordings. Just listen to the iconic Heartbreaker solo.
I love them both. 2 Legends. There is room in this world for; more than one Guitar God. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. They both Inspire me & I love their work.
OK. But when Eddie heard Allan Holdsworth, he wasn't just humbled, he was inspired and amazed. He knew AH had gone way beyond speed and tricks and entered a whole different realm of sound and musical expression. Yngwie also had the same assessment of AH.
Both were great in their own way! Music is NOT one sided. Every Musician has their own playing style and voices. No two are the same, but all are great Musicians!
Jimmy is an unattainable universe for Eddie !!! Only someone who has no idea about music can compare Van Halen and Led Zeppelin, Led are miles miles ahead!!!
I've been playing guitar a long time and LZ's first album was what sparked me to learn guitar. I was always more of a Rhythm player...I honestly never had any real interest in learning and playing solos. Jimmy Page seems to always be mentioned for his solo work, but his chord progressions and transitions were for me what made his playing great. When I played in bands, I always played in two guitar bands and I always left all the solos to the other guy. What I found was that the opening riffs and chord progressions were what most people connected to in anything we played. Its what got people moving. I think you can say that about pretty much any band and the guitar parts that they play. Joe Perry gets all the attention with Aerosmith, but Brad Whitford's playing is very much the what kept that band humming. I love Elliot Easton's guitar with The Cars, but Rick Ocasik's rhythm progressions is what really defines The Cars' sound. I've seen Led Zeppelin live a few times (yes I'm that old) and I have to say that they mostly were not very good live...I went away really disappointed a couple times. Only JPJ and Bonham were always spot on. Page and Plant were all over the place. I am not a Van Halen fan...never was...but I did see them a couple of times and Eddie was always flawless live. So Eddie had a point. I've also seem the Stones a dozen or more times and so many times they were just plain awful...of course except for Charlie and Bill.
@Larry There's truth to the statement that Page's rhythms were magical and his solos tended to be sloppy. Beautiful writer and arrangements were gorgeous, but leads... sometimes great, many times not.
I think it depend on when you catch them? Hundreds of shows a year you are bound to off on occasion. I seen Eddie drunk and he fell off the stage. He wasn't anything great that night for sure.
I agreed wholeheartedly with the first part of your statement but I couldn't disagree more when you said you have seen Zeppelin a couple times and you were disappointed both times, you're nuts every live tape I've ever seen of them is incredible even the ones that weren't up to par we're still incredible. Just listen to The Song Remains the Same the album or watch the movie, as far as I'm concerned there is no other album in existence that can move me or has touched me like the album The Song Remains the Same. There is truly some Magic in their music. I'm not sure if it comes from a good place but there's no denying how powerful it is😮
No, it's not. You just love him. Great guitarists aren't that rare, great guitarists who can compose great music is what is rare and that was Page. I love Zep, but I have heard hundreds of better guitarists, literally. But only a tiny percentage can write and produce like Page.
So true, when playing live he never played note for note off Zeps recordings. He took chances every night, mistakes and all. To me that made him a great guitarist,
LOLZ. This girl at 8 played better than Jimmy Page ever played on his best day. Her note articulation is 1000x better than Page's ever was. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aAEJpjPvY48.html 🤣 at Page fans.
Yeah Page had a period where his playing had deteriorated in the 70s but looking at performances in the 90s or so with the Black Crowes and various reunions he looked to have recovered. Van Halen had his own issues for a while in the mid 2000s , especially that tour with Hagar but he recovered from that.
@@Siloguy I think it's more brain-related due to the heroin damage. He's not just sloppy anymore, his timing is off in a way where I don't think he's in control of his hands anymore. Les Paul had bad arthritis towards the end, but his timing was still good.
The crazy thing is Heartbreaker is very close to a basic pentatonic scale. When I was learning to play guitar and came across it I thought holy crap that's Zeppelin. Credit to Jimmy because he got there first but that one was definitely low-hanging fruit.
I remember a Kerrang magazine interview with Jimmy Page in the early 80's, probably touring with The Firm. They played him a tape of Van Halen and asked Jimmy what he thought. Jimmy replied by saying he had a hunch that EVH probably played piano. He wasn't wrong I guess because Eddie did play piano as a kid and that maybe informed his tapping.
I've seen both Led Zeppelin ( 3 times ) in their hey day, plus years later, my lead guitarist and I caught their concert in Orlando Florida during their Un-Ledded tour. I've also seen Van Halen twice before Sammy Hagar. While the 3 Zep concerts I attended as a very young teenager were "mixed performances"........one not very good at all, the other was pretty good, and another was rather amazing........and Van Halen was pretty good too......I can honestly say the absolutely best concert we ( I say "we" because literally every person in that arena said the same thing we did after the show ) ever attended hands down, was the Page/Plant Un-Ledded show in Orlando. It blew away the show aired on MTV. They stripped down to just 5 musicians ( drummer, bass, Plant, and Page playing leads as the guitarist for the cure backed him ) and shocked the living sh*t out of all of us, by performing many of the great old songs from the Zeppelin catalog. They performed for just shy of 3 hours. My lead guitarist and I both agreed that on that night, Page was getting the best guitar tones we had ever heard anywhere......from blues to crunchy warm rhythm, and searing leads, not to mention he and Plant both were really ON that night. Page was playing through 2 Matchless heads sitting atop 3 Marshall 4x12 half stacks sitting side by side on the floor. NO Orange amp or Marshall was seen on that stage. Because his sound was SO damned great that night, I am totally perplexed as to why I've never seen or even heard of Page playing through Matchless amps ( hand-wired AAA grade tube amps ) before or since. With all of that being said, I can honestly say that my preference is Page over Eddie, hands down. Page also had a much wider "portfolio" of music vs the limited sound Eddie brought forth. And as a highly seasoned guitarist who gigged for decades myself in central Florida, I've earned the RIGHT to say Eddie's sound although great, was VERY limited. Like Joe Perry once said about Led Zeppelin: "They weren't musical snobs, and shifted through all 6 gears during every studio album".....end quote. That's damned right. There's a video of Van Halen covering Zeppelin's "Hot's On for Nowhere" before they ( Van Halen ) made it big, and it sounds absolutely HORRIBLE. Eddie wasn't even coming close to getting the right sound & vibe of that amazing Zeppelin song. He wasn't even playing the guitar parts correctly.
Nice comment. Page in his hay day was the VERY BEST at getting remarkable guitar tones!!! He did it in his studio world and (apparently) in live performances as well ( I never saw Zepp, regretfully). I'm not at all surprised that you were impressed by his sound. Jimmy was quite focused on the SOUND of his music, in every respect.
@@mysticone1798 Page's studio work with Zeppelin's studio albums is indeed amazing, but he NEVER had the killer LIVE tones like he was getting on that night in Orlando. I'm not saying his LIVE tones weren't great with Led Zeppelin, they were, but everyone in the O-rena ( the arena that once was home to the Orlando Magic pro basketball team ) that night was running around after the Page/Plant Un-Ledded show saying the same thing we were. Every song performed that night, no matter if it was a blues-based number, or any of their other songs with various tones, all were absolutely the best we've ever heard, and I've seen most of the greats back in the day. Seeing as I had attended 3 concerts years ago with the original Zep lineup, I can honestly assume the better tones he was getting that night in Orlando had to have a lot to do with those Matchless amps. Because he played all the same guitars that he had been performing with for decades. I always wanted to buy myself a Matchless amp back in my gigging days, but they were far too expensive. But they truly were (I don't know if they are still in business or not today ) AAA grade 100% hand-wired amps, with all of the finest components........which is why they cost so much. I still believe most of the tone comes from the player's hands, then the guitar chosen, and finally, the amp & speakers.......in that order. My lead guitarist at the time was a total Fender Strat man, and even he admitted those were the sweetest tones he had ever heard coming from Jimmy's Les Paul's that night in Orlando. I'm sure a good sound engineer helped too, but we were right in front of the stage, and better yet, right in front of Jimmy, so we were getting the true sound of his amps that night.
@@mysticone1798 Brother, I wish everyone could've been there to hear, feel, and witness what Page & Plant BOTH did on that evening in Orlando Florida. Plant's voice was stronger than I had ever heard before, even in Led Zeppelin. But it is a known fact that Plant's vocal chords really suffered around 1972/73. He even had to have surgery done on them. He almost never attempted the really high vocals like he did while supporting their first 2 albums on tour. But he sure was strong that night in O-town!!! What sucks, is come to find out, they never professionally recorded that show, and they damn well should have. I've never even heard a boot-leg copy......but boot-leg copies usually such anyway. So all I have to go on is my fond memory of that amazing night. Take care my friend.
Two of the most influential guitarists in history. Eddie said something about Jimmy that most of us had already noticed; Jimmy simply wasn't as good live as he was in the studio. I've listened to hours upon hours of him live now, and he just play great on stage. Frankly, I'm perfectly ok with that. It doesn't take away from how phenomenal of a player he is and those incredibly ICONIC riffs he created. He's an absolute artist in the studio, historical even, and a legendary producer. I love and respect them both. Eddie was just being young and a little dumb in saying that. We've all been young and dumb. RIP Eddie
It does though. I saw Yngwie a few years ago and he still nails his best songs. He's so good at nailing his solos, he makes his drummer and singing bass player set up in the corner so he can have more stage to himself so everyone can see him nailing his solos...
Jimmy was usually messed up on what ever he was taking at a particular time...Who cares, Jimmy, Jimi & SRV were all better than the tapping sh!t that Ed did...
There were many others that were influential in the 70's also, it's just who you liked. From, Blackmore Beck, Nugent, Frehley, Derringer, Travers, early 80's Rhoads, Lukather, Neil Schon etc.
I’ve seen JP three times. Live Aid the Firm and with the Black Crows. The BC show was literally like a dream. People were looking at each other asking if what we were experiencing was real? It was real magic. 40 thousand people feeling that good does something you can feel. He is an amazing musician.
Seen the Firm that Crowes show too..their were only a handful of them before it ended abruptly. I know what you mean about it being a mystical type experience.
Most of Page's "sloppiness" on stage was due to the fact that he was usually drunk or stoned. There is live footage from their final tour in 78-79 where Jimmy is playing sober...and his playing is GREAT.
Jimmy Page's career as an onstage guitarist basically peaked in 1973. From then on, in 1975 and 1977, his live playing suffered as he became more involved with drugs. It was also obvious as by 1977 he'd become physically emaciated and that was also due to his vegetarianism. Opinions vary re: his playing ever since and his tenure with The Firm. I only saw him play live onstage once and that was on his 1988 _Outrider_ tour. I was a this concert, 7th row center from the stage and he was GREAT that night. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yet-Y0npEN4.html Thank you.
@@mindcontrol67 It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. It's a simple fact....that he has admitted to himself. There are also plenty of Led Zeppelin biographies out there, too.
Page was indeed a little sloppy live, but he was still a great showman, and his immense presence onstage always compensated. The only thing I find a little lacking in Led Zep’s live catalog is the group’s inability to recreate some of its studio material that contained multiple overdubs (Page really liked to add to extra layers of guitar in the studio, but obviously it couldn’t be recreated onstage).
Page was not sloppy, he didn’t play live the studio version note for note , had he done that Zeppelin concerts probably would have been as boring as hell , people who went to the concerts went to see what was going to be played. If you wanted to listen to a studio version buy the record.
I like Eddie Van Halen and Van Halen but nothing compares the led Zeppelin led Zeppelin is on a whole different level whole different stratosphere their music is so complex every song is good. truly deep musicianship that appealed to the mainstream. amazing ..
What amazes me with Led Zep is the diversity in their songs, so many different styles and feels. Not many hard rock bands could put out a primarily acoustic album just as their career was taking off like they did.
I believe Pages signature riffs and classic solos, like whole lotta love, and stairway to heaven, are masterpieces. Eddie has more techique and flash and much cleaner, end of the day...so what? People dont listen to who is a clean player or sloppy they hear sound. Jimmy had it
Jimmy is quite right about TV and radio in UK. That easily passes the BS test. Despite many of our artists being pivotal in the sixties and seventies rock died for the first time here quite early on.
Have to go with Jimmy Page. I loved Van Halen and Van Hagar, but if I have to choose I would glady give VH to keep LZ. I saw them both live in concert and IMO Jimmmy damn near destroyed the Kingdome when he was done, Eddie not so much. BTW Eddie wasn't the first with the tapping method but I still enjoyed his artistry.
Here’s the facts: All of these players (talked about) are phenomenal. But, they have different styles too. Many of them also had periods where they weren’t top-notch live. When Eddie started, he was more serious about live performance. Then, tensions in the band and drug abuse affected his live performances. We love them all and will always appreciate them for what they gave us. For me….there were two that sat atop the heap for all time (especially in America) and they are Hendrix and EVH.
From a technical and innovative style standpoint yes, but as overall musicians/ song writer, Page blows them both away. Most of Hendrix‘s music is outdated hippie bullcrap and EVH and Hendrix never came close to writing a song like Kashmir, Stairway or The Rain Song for example.
@@dickcnormis1444 What the hell? Hendrix wasn't just innovative but made some great music too. What about Are You Experienced or his version of All Along The Watchtower? And when it comes to EVH, well, let's just say Page never came close to writing a song like Runnin With The Devil, Unchained, the friggin Eruption solo, Little Guitars and many others. You see, it's pointless to compare these rock giants in terms of their abilities and to try to objectively assess who is better. They're incomparable. Page couldn't play like Van Halen and vice versa, same with Hendrix. And the same applies to their songwriting abilities. So it comes down to subjective enjoyment of their music and it's up to you who you like more. EVH is objectively a better technical guitarist but Page's playing has that special inimitable feeling (except those times when his live playing was sloppy). Both great musicians, both have different strengths.
@@acedegenerate6959 well said. People try too hard to compare these “heroes” of music. They are unique and important. And, as you said, it’s purely subjective.
@@dickcnormis1444 Music is art, and art is subjective. So, in your OPINION, Page blows them both away, which is fine... that's what your ear tells you. My ear, however, tells me that Van Halen's music is preferable to Zeppelin's. The first record alone is iconic, and that 6-record run from 78 - 85 is the best 6-record run in rock music... in my OPINION. That does NOT mean I don't appreciate Page and his music, because I certainly do -- it's great -- but these guys are all extraordinary, and objectively there is no best or better than. I think Van Halen -- the original band, those first 6 records -- is as good as it gets in the genre, while you think Zeppelin and Page are superior. That's cool... just appreciate them all, because they're all great... subjectively speaking.
With Page live, it's 2 things. 1. He would push himself to the brink of his technical ability at times - and it was usually a mix of brilliance and mistakes, but always exciting. 2. He was guilty in the later years of Zep of being lazy live and was battling substance abuse by then also. By far my favotite player of all time.
Btw, I've always thought the 'Heartbreaker' riff was the grooviest riff ever composed. Jimmy's intro to 'Moby Dick' is also right up there, among others that Page came up with, "out of the ether" as he always liked to say.
Lets all remember, Alex was to be the guitar player originally. They were both classically trained with piano. For whatever reason Eddie just happened to really flourish with guitar and the rest is rock and roll history. So while he did not "invent" tapping he did certainly add it more technically sound to the repetoire of every one else to follow.
Eddie had been taking drum lessons. One day he came home and Alex was playing them better than himself. So they agreed to swap instruments and he pursued guitar instead. Oh yeah. It worked.
Story goes Alex immediately heard Ed's uncanny way with guitar and said basically yup, I think you're doing that from now on... it was Alex' realization of Ed's talent, not vice-versa.
Zep was famous for every concert being a little different. They would try out different things live in the moment, all of them. They were all able to adjust to accommodate the changes. If Bonzo decided to tweak a grove or fill the rest would follow. Some thought Jimmy and the others were "sloppy" when many times they were just changing things in the moment.
There's a difference between improvising and playing "bum notes" which is what Page often did later in his Zeppelin career. Let's not excuse sloppy playing for improv because that's simply not true.
Stevie was great on the guitar, but his songs and his lyrics were elementary honky-tonk crapola. He should've got himself a lead singer and songwriter. But again, his guitar work was phenomenal.
@@T.R.R.Jolkien Like I said, Vaughan's guitar playing was great. But come on, " I love my baby like the finest wine, .... somethin somethin somethin I can do it on time.. Look at little sister. Elementary honky-tonk crapola. :)
@@T.R.R.JolkienDon't bother, this guy is a hater. SRV was arguably the best blues guitarist ever. We like it, that guy doesn't. Such is music, beauty is in the ear of the beholder 😂
@@samr.england613 literally MILLIONS of earthlings around the world would disagree with your comment. Even the metal community knows SRV. Ask Kirk Hammett about SRV and have your mind blown
Let's see Eddie write a song better than something like the Rain song with all its amazing chords and alternate tunings and then I'll listen to his opinion on dogging out Page
@@damonstewart70 Mean Streets is definitely Eddie's best work, it has everything, great riff, insane guitar solos. Also hot for teacher is one of the best. But I agree, none of Van Halen songs are as complex as songs like Rain Song, or Achilles Last Stand, actually even Nobody's Fault but Mine, in the mid 70s Led Zeppelin really wrote pretty complex stuff.
@@lopolik definitely love zeppelin and as a musician I've wrote some complex tunes. But there's just something about that good ole white boy thumping hard rock (I'm blk btw) that makes you drink a beer dance and sweat... that's Eddie
Jimmy Page has influenced so many musicians and literally changed the way rock music sounded as a whole. No one casts as big a shadow as he does, period!
Our shadow's taller than our soul. (Just had to quote it bro, don't get wrong, as I'm a huge LZ fan, and an even bigger fan of the Man who founded the band. Love Jimmy Page and always will!)
I went to school with Steven Vai at carle place. High school my friend and his Joe despagni made his prototype flame seven string in his garage 1986 and all the ibenez handle guitar those were the days of my youth
I personally don't think artist need to be entertainers. In fact for a true artist it must be torture to play the same work of art over and over again. Most artist like to move on and create new work.
I think EVH got too used to hearing he was the world's greatest guitar player, and that's why he was so threatened by other famous guitar players. I agree Page was a sloppy player, but that was part of his style. He didn't have to play sloppy, but he was emulating Delta blues, which was sloppy, so it would sound more authentic.
its mostly because Eddie was a narcissistic drunk who fell into the pond admiring his own reflection in the water. Im glad Jimmy is alive and well and that toll EVH went out the way he did--Karma, man--karma
Page definitely declined as a live player after 1973. Drugs, superstardom and perhaps finger injuries took their toll on Page. In 1981, Page was really out of it after Bonham’s death, so VH’s comments were a bit of a low blow. But Page was unquestionably a direct bridge to VH and that universe so it was a passing of the torch. Page and Hendrix unquestionably showed the way to a style of wild virtuosity and dynamic changes and tones in songs and whole concerts that defined the new post 60s approach to rock guitar. A pioneer who stretched his 60s blues rock techniques into a modern form - his imaginative ideas sometimes outpaced his technical training - but his prowess and talent shouldn’t be questioned.
Yeah, what a bummer, you know? That a man with such talent on the guitar would have a series of finger and hand injuries. It's akin to the best voice impersonator in the world getting throat cancer.
If that is what you're disposition is after listening to all of the comments and acolades given from Eddie towards Jimmy, then I think you lack awareness for context. We don't know what was said before that leading up to that comment, Eddie could have been joking about something. This is what people do all the time, take things out of context. If they were talking about his injuries just before that comment and eddie was laughing while saying it then it changes everything. None of us were there so we don't know.
@@m00ndawg McDonalds have sold billions of burgers, all shitty. Seethe harder. You have committed the fallacy of consensus gentium. That reveals your quite low IQ. Yngwie could play Page when Yngwie was 12. Page could not play one Yngwie song right now. Reality. Learn to accept it. Good luck!
EVH's opinion of JP means nothing to me. I saw JP with LZ 8 times in the 70's. I saw EVH on every tour through Dallas from 1978-1984. VH shows were fun. LZ shows were transformational. EVH at his best has never bested JP at his best. That's the story right there.
I Saw him with the black crowes in 2000 he was spot on for almost four hours at Jones beach amphitheater on a hot summer night no warm up band and seven encores
Yeah. I was there too. Wished they played more Black Crowes songs though. Kenny Wayne Shepard was the warm up act. I had also saw Page/Plant in 95 & twice 98. Jimmy was in great form during that Clarksdale Tour!
As a life long Jimmy Page fanatic, I enjoyed all these stories! I have to take issue though with one point. I feel it's pretty obvious that the sloppy playing you see in live Zeppelin in the late 70s is also very much to do with being intoxicated on stage. To say "it wasn't his fault" I suspect wasn't true. I think he was often pretty bombed on stage and managed to put the shows on dispite this point, and precisely because he was such a phenomenal player sober. In other words, he was so good, he could play drunk and stoned. Just not as well but well enough. I feel like because he was a shy person, it was easier to calm his nerves before going on stage.
The truth is that the Tapping technique came about because Eddie couldn't play the Heartbreaker solo and his hammer on and pull offs with one hand like Jimmy does, so out of laziness or cheating he thought of doing it with two hands like some others did, and it worked out much better for him.... This story was told by Eddie much later, but with the actual details changed a bit.... Eddie owes a lot to Jimmy Page.
Both great players (different) I'll take Page however.. Eddie hade alot of influences throughout his life he was a huge Who fan and loved alot of Townshend's playing and song writing..
Very true. The fast playing to me is more of a show off, I'm cool, trending 80s isn't that awesome type of thing. It died for a reason. There's a reason Ozzy with Randy Rhodes is not real popular anymore in the metal world outside of die hard Ozzy fans, where more recent bands like Metallica are still more popular as far as I know, and it's not because they're more recent. I have no interest in listening to any of that Blizzard of Oz stuff, and would much rather listen to some good old stuff like Black Sabbath Hole in the Sky. Simple, but good.
page was always great: on vinyl, and on various other chemicals, of _course_ .. so were a lot of-various-artists, but page turnt the whole damn thing to gold, he and tony iommi, don't-cha-know~ [to be fair, frampton deserves quite a bit of credit as well, merely for that song called 'day's dawning', check that:: freakinay, riiiight, guys??]
The first time I saw Led Zeppelin was on April 26, 1969 at Winterland in San Francisco. Their first album was released in January 1969. Jimmy was playing the Fender Telecaster that Jeff Beck gave him. My friend and I recorded the whole 3 1/2 hour show. Page was "COOKING" on guitar that night. He was frickin' incredible on "I Can't Quit You Babe." I have listened to so many 1969 Zeppelin shows across the U.S. and this show was by far the best. I do not know why Eddie Van Halen would slam a great guitarist like Jimmy Page. The guitar tapping technique has been around since the 1940's. Van Halen perfected it. Thank you for the video.
Ed STILL talked highly of Jimmy Page BUT if he complained about something about Page he had good reason . When the Led Zeppelin catalog was remixed , some of the remixed albums sounded bad , like In Through The Out Door . Ed was very critical of the Led Zeppelin remixes . As for Yngwe , Gene Simmons said it best , " You're much more likely to hear someone hum or whistle a Van Halen tune than a Yngwe tune ANY DAY . I hardly hear any Yngwe tune on the radio .
Seeing as Eddie was hammered all the time back then, I'm sure the booze did most of the talking for him back then. I don't know many humble alcoholics.
I fvckin represen respet resent thatim rillygood all the time rightnow imma little hight but if I had my ax my ass my ask i'd shower you how to play it burp
The best example of this is Dazed and Confused. The studio version is like 8 minutes maybe, but most live versions are up to 40 minutes of pure improvisation.
Before a certain time, it wasn't really a thing for rock guitarist to sit there and do exercises until they had Van Halen-like technique. After Van Halen became popular, everyone did it. Keith Richards, Clapton, Page, early Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Brian May, David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, early Alex Lifeson, even Jimi Hendrix. No shredders who played really clean, fast, scales like you started seeing in every 80s heavy metal band. Even the ones who weren't as sloppy as Page could be never attempted to do anything nearly as challenging technique-wise as the post Van Halen shredders. In my opinion the classic rock musicians were usually more tasteful, better musicians, who wrote better music, but the physical technique in popular rock/heavy metal evolved rapidly after Van Halen. Although I thought what set Van Halen apart was that he was not just a shredder but a great musician and songwriter.
Many people make the mistake of thinking that Page is sloppy. He is not. He is going with the flow. Imagine Page surfing a wave while he's playing. Directions are changed, adjustments are made, one course is abandoned for another. He's no Barney. Carving, aerials, hang five, hang ten, shooting the curls. Maybe there's a reason why "shredding" is a surfing slang as well as a guitar playing slang.
I probably saw Zep 10-12 times in the 70's and really only once or twice was I really impressed with Jimmy's guitar playing in a "live" setting. I think it's been said many times that he drank too much or took a few too many drugs while on tour so he probably was drunk or stoned. No matter, the guy was a great guitarist, just not while on tour (mostly). It's sad because all of the guitarists mentioned in this video are or were great players, but the smell of success has a way of ruining that due to outside influences. Been playing music regularly for 59 years and still see it today.
I too went to a couple Zep shows in the 70's. Page was horrible!! Plant had a tough time holding notes as well. Just a comparison, around the same time went to a Johnny Winter's performance, WOW at that time he took Page to school!! BTW nicely written, I'm just bitter, old man on the porch screaming , get off my lawn!
I am enjoying the discussions about live music in the old days. I am talking Winterland and Fillmore west in San Fran and the Santa Clara County fairgrounds in San Jose. I was 15 yrs old . This was festival seating on a floor sometimes. The sound was always poor. Remember the old sound was a wall of amps. Electric guitar tuners did not exist! Tuning your guitar was manual and optional. And everyone was stoned. I dont remember high quality sounds and performances until the late 80s and 90s.
Jimmy Page was a versatile guitar player. He played acoustic, electric and steel guitar. When I first heard Led Zeppelin II, I was amazed that Page played all those different guitar parts himself. That being said, Page couldn't play live as well as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen was one of the best live players ever. He was very impressive.
I don’t know why he said it . Perhaps he was just feeling full of himself at the time. That said , it’s the truth. I’ve never seen or heard a live recording or video of Jimmy that wasn’t sloppy. I am a huge Zeppelin fan btw and a drummer of 40 plus years. I’m also a huge Van Halen fan. While what he said was true (except for the 2 year old comment) , should he have or was it necessary? No probably not. That said I’ve never seen or heard a live performance of VH that David Lee Roth didn’t sound horrible in. I’ve seen them live twice and I can assure you he focuses more on his image than his voice. I’ve also seen Eddie not miss notes from time to time also. It happens. No one is perfect. Jimmy Page is a guitar legend as is Eddie. In the end Im glad Eddie had something nice to say about him.
That is completely accurate. Saying it was a 2 year old is hyperbole. Page is sloppy, it is part of his appeal in way, his sloppiness often doesn't sound bad. This is the difference between virtuosity and improvisational excellence. Virtuosity requires playing the notes accurately as written. You don't have be a virtuoso to be enjoyable and popular.
I am the drummer for twenty years late, and very often we do improv breakdowns going to other songs extended jams and so forth. I think Jimmy said it best when he said we are tight enough to be able to play loose and improvisation and experimentation. And we play truth to that to this day. That was his quote on why Zeppelin could not continue without John Bonham. You know Jimmy new John before he knew John Paul and Robert
Cool story !! LOL He never saw him l playing live ...Sure Page is a performeur !! Serioulsy , Page gave us so many a song , a riff and all !! Hearbreaker did that effect on me too !!Not only your story is way cool but those footages too !! Mate you did once again an awsome work on that vid !! Rock on !!!! ( By the way , we did not have MTV in France , and well now yes if you have those satellite channels ). Hey , cannot do tapping neither , well , not my thing , i let this to Eddie and those who do it well .
It's actually not that difficult, and nowhere near as hard as you might think. It was great that Eddie popularised it (although you can kinda see Brian May do it on the Bohemian Rhapsody video, but only with his strumming hand), and Eruption was phenomenal. Check out the youtube channel guitarlessons365 and go to the "eruption tapping section" video. The part of Eruption that precedes the tapping part is far, far more difficult.
@@raoulduke344 Yep mate , thanks , been playing since 40 years ..just not my style , but cheers for the infos , you are cool !! I saw Eddie Live 25 years ago ...I like him , but JJ Cale too : )
@@shakeyourguitartutorials Same. I find it difficult to incorporate into my own playing which is mostly Blues, Rock and Blues-Rock. I've not been playing anywhere near 40 years (not even 2 years), which tells you how easy the tapping part is to play (I'm not trying to take anything away from Eddie though). Who's the best live act you've seen in all your years?
Well , hard to answer ,Tom Petty , U2... when i was very young ... My only regret is to have miss Led Zep , Jimi , and all , i was too young ..Well i saw Clapton , and the Who, and a few others that were were very good too , well , Actually it depenends of the day , your mood , and the performance , When i saw Van Halen we were all boiling of that heat and to many people there , impossible to get water ...Cheers : )
