missytootsweet Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 The topic title ^^^^ is a quote from the YouTube comments section. There are many, many similar comments that Jimmy Page was playing way out of tune during the song. I'm trying to find the definitive answer. Maybe a musician here would know. So, my question is 1) is he playing terribly out of tune here, and 2) would the average fan even notice? Can you point it out for me on the video please? I probably have a tin ear or something. I think he plays/sounds very good..... thanks missy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetleron Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 probably because he rarely nails the intro/outro plus there was that "sleeping sickness" going around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black-Dog Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 For me it isn't out of tune. Out of tune was OTHAFA hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetleron Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 i don't watch the seattle show all that much i must admit however......this is a pretty shit performance i'll give a little excuse for the fact that computer speakers are shit and if you were at the venue it probably was so loud it didn't sound all that bad........but still i think you have to go a long long way to say pagey sounds even remotely decent......and bonham seems off all over the place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NobodysFaultButJimmys Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 It does sound off to the most of the other bootlegs I have, but this could just be the Amp, Effect, I know he was off his head during 77' but he'd be ashamed to do something so silly as be out of tune, the mans a perfectionist !¬ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom kid Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 It does sound off to the most of the other bootlegs I have, but this could just be the Amp, Effect, I know he was off his head during 77' but he'd be ashamed to do something so silly as be out of tune, the mans a perfectionist !¬ Actually he was out of tune a lot of the time, especially on Kashmir but from what I've heard those Danelectro's are bloody hard to keep in tune! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hecube Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Definitely out of tune. I have been playing guitar for 25 years, so I feel I have some kind of expertise to back that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutrocker Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Definitely out of tune. I have been playing guitar for 25 years, so I feel I have some kind of expertise to back that up. Yes...I've been playing about as long myself, and though I'm no Jimmy Page (schwacked out on smack or otherwise) when it comes to picking, he was notorious for being out of tune live. And, yeah, the Seattle version of ALS is a trainwreck (not as bad as the next gig in Tempe, but...close) Don't get me started on the Seattle OTHAFA, though. That fucking solo is an embarassment. Any detractors of Page's 'sloppy, out of tune' style have all the ammo they need in that solo. Funny, though...ALS actually isn't that hard to play- it's a lot harder than it sounds. I was surprised when I sat down to figure the tune out. It's been a while, mind ya, but the thing boils down to about four chords... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspensound Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Actually he was out of tune a lot of the time, especially on Kashmir but from what I've heard those Danelectro's are bloody hard to keep in tune! That´s not Danelectro on that vid. But it´s out of tune, or maybe the tape is stretch out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutrocker Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 That´s not Danelectro on that vid. But it´s out of tune, or maybe the tape is stretch out Actually, Aspen, I think Tom was referring to the Danelectro Page played "Kashmir" on from '77 on...that thing never stayed in tune, more like CADGAD tuning, not DADGAD. The "White Summer">"Kashmir" from April 6 in Chicago is one of the funniest things I've ever heard...the Danelectro is waaaaaay out of tune, Page can hear it, tries to fix it (while still playing "White Summer") before finally saying "Fuck it!" and gives up... My best friend, whom I've known thirty years, is one of those jazz-type pickers who can play all those wierd ass chords you need eight fingers to play, can do all the Satriani/Vai type "shredding" bits up and down the fretboard, eighty notes a second (personally that type of playing isn't to my taste but to each their own- I'm more a bluesy/pentatonic player)...anyway, he loves Zeppelin, but for thirty years now whenever he's over at the house and I've got Zeppelin on (or Hendrix, for that matter), he'll hear something, and shout at the speakers, "Tune your fucking guitar, Jimmy!!!!" One time I burned him a CD of "Jimmy's greatest misses" (such as the Seattle OTHAFA, the Berlin White Summer, etc) just to tweak him. He wasn't impressed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chillumpuffer Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 A mate of mine would always produce this kind of snippet to say that he was out of tune. Though to be honest there are many instances of cringeworthy stuff from that tour. One also has to forgive the actual sound from that video. But then again i remind my mate with The Albert Hall Show of just how good Jimmys playing can be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutrocker Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 To be fair, Page could whip out some "cringeworthy" licks at any given time in his career. Hey, it happens- sometimes you hit upon a good idea and just can't quite carry it off. The cringeworthy stuff just got more common over the years...possibly depending on how much booze, blow and/or smack was currently flowing through Jimmy's system at the time... Like I said, though, I'll take Page's cringeworthy playing over the shredders any day. When Page fucks up, he fucks up with feeling...I get no sense of soul or feeling whenever I hear Steve Vai, just a sense of "Look at me! I'm playing sweep arpeggios in Phrygian mode! Is this a great country, or what?!" (my aforementioned shredder friend and I have been debating this back and forth for about twenty years now ) Although, to be fair, sometimes when I'm playing I'll deliberately try to play like sloppy, '77 era Page (minus the copious amounts of stimulants, mind ya) and it's not as easy as you'd think...I actually have to work at trying to sound that bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ywyexv Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 To be fair, Page could whip out some "cringeworthy" licks at any given time in his career. Hey, it happens- sometimes you hit upon a good idea and just can't quite carry it off. The cringeworthy stuff just got more common over the years...possibly depending on how much booze, blow and/or smack was currently flowing through Jimmy's system at the time... Like I said, though, I'll take Page's cringeworthy playing over the shredders any day. When Page fucks up, he fucks up with feeling...I get no sense of soul or feeling whenever I hear Steve Vai, just a sense of "Look at me! I'm playing sweep arpeggios in Phrygian mode! Is this a great country, or what?!" (my aforementioned shredder friend and I have been debating this back and forth for about twenty years now ) Although, to be fair, sometimes when I'm playing I'll deliberately try to play like sloppy, '77 era Page (minus the copious amounts of stimulants, mind ya) and it's not as easy as you'd think...I actually have to work at trying to sound that bad! Great answere !-- What you wrote about Vai is the same I feel about Al Di Meola.JazzRock often played without emotions -opposite to Mclaughlin. Just when I trie to reach new dimensions with my own playing I get "out of tune" sometimes.But who cares? Punk or trash metal is real freedom from this point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutrocker Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Great answere !-- What you wrote about Vai is the same I feel about Al Di Meola.JazzRock often played without emotions -opposite to Mclaughlin. Just when I trie to reach new dimensions with my own playing I get "out of tune" sometimes.But who cares? Punk or trash metal is real freedom from this point of view. Indeed...and let's not forget Punk was a reaction to the whole slick production, year in the studio, overdub it to death excesses of the mid 70's, as well as the overblown showy improvs of bands like Zeppelin, Floyd, etc...Punk was about emotion and expression, not musicianship. Al DiMeola...my friend loves that guy too; again, not my cup of tea. Closest I get to that kinda music is Steely Dan, who, for all their studio mania (the aforementioned 70's excesses they helped pioneer...seven different guitarists trying the solo for "Peg"? ) can actually write a mean song as opposed to a bunch of jazzy noodling...IMO if you cannot write a song -preferably one that stands on it's own when played solo- it doesn't matter how fast or exotically you can play. Or as Keith Richards once said, "A great guitar solo in a shitty song is still just a great guitar solo in a shitty song." The guitar solo in "Stairway To Heaven" -or "Peg", for that matter- is special because it's part of a great song. Al or Vai's solos may be great solos (I'll never knock their abilities even if it's not my style) but their songs are really just vehicles for their playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Al DiMeola...my friend loves that guy too; again, not my cup of tea. Closest I get to that kinda music is Steely Dan, who, for all their studio mania (the aforementioned 70's excesses they helped pioneer...seven different guitarists trying the solo for "Peg"? ) can actually write a mean song as opposed to a bunch of jazzy noodling...IMO if you cannot write a song -preferably one that stands on it's own when played solo- it doesn't matter how fast or exotically you can play. Or as Keith Richards once said, "A great guitar solo in a shitty song is still just a great guitar solo in a shitty song." The guitar solo in "Stairway To Heaven" -or "Peg", for that matter- is special because it's part of a great song. Al or Vai's solos may be great solos (I'll never knock their abilities even if it's not my style) but their songs are really just vehicles for their playing. So fucking true!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yupter Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Meh , sounds more like Jimmy's fingers are not fretting properly than anything else. His "Sticky Fingers Syndrome" must've hit him hard this tour . His mind was running at the same time his hands were trying to jump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missytootsweet Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thank-you for the above replies. I have 2 follow-up questions to the topic. 1) Jimmy Page would know by ear pretty quick when he is out of tune, right? 2) And couldn't he have then adjusted the Gibson or Danelectro on the fly? Or is that impossible to do? (Just curious, obviously I'm not a musician). Thanks for your answers! ..............missy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tea for Tanja Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thank-you for the above replies. I have 2 follow-up questions to the topic. 1) Jimmy Page would know by ear pretty quick when he is out of tune, right? 2) And couldn't he have then adjusted the Gibson or Danelectro on the fly? Or is that impossible to do? (Just curious, obviously I'm not a musician). Thanks for your answers! ..............missy In Berlin 1980 he was not able to tune the Danelectron himselve.He gave it back to his roady after he heard it was out of tune. I don´t know if JP could hear this always f.e. if he has taken anything before the gig.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabe Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I believe Jimmy was experiencing a touch of the 'Seattle Fog'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutrocker Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 also consider how it might have sounded onstage...no in ear monitors in those days Page might not have even been able to hear himself some nights, no matter how good their sound system was. Case in point, the Kingdome in Seattle was an acoustic nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura_Page Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yes, he's a little out of tune, at least at the intro of the song. He could have adjusted the gibson if there was only one chord out of tune, that's it seems to me hearing the video. But, as Nutrocker says, he might hadn't been able to hear himself very clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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