Couple of questions about Jimmy Page

[minah149]

But he talks about having cats in at least two interviews that I've read...maybe they belonged to someone else? It was in a series of questions about Boleskine.

Just saw this post. There was a mention in a 1988 interview of two cats in Jimmy's house, one of which was a persian (the interviewer also remarked on how clean Page's house was considering the amount of shedding cats do). Recently, Scarlet Page did a photo shoot for a calendar of "Celebrity Pawtraits" and there is a photo of her with one of her cats. She said pets had always been a part of her life so I imagine her father allowed her to indulge in her affection for cats by having them.

Being a cat person myself, I couldn't approve more.

[minah149]

There could be similarities in US/UK law pertaining to license suspensions. It was offered

merely to promote discussion. I'll post precisely what Jimmy said as soon as possible.

Yeah, that's right. If you're convicted (not just charged) of even possession of a substance in most states in the US, your license ends up suspended for six months or more. Even if it's the first time it happens. Driving under the influence is handled differently but it almost always involves a longer license suspension. I don't know what the UK's laws are regarding driving and maintaining a license but I have always wondered. Here, if you don't renew your license, it's "expired" and no longer "valid" and that can be a problem if a cop pulls you over. We have all these little laws and rules and plenty of lawyers to tell us where the loopholes are.

BTW, compared to the UK or not, the roads in the US are scary mostly because of the drivers, not the roads.

Steve, I'm still waiting to read what Jimmy did say. All I ever read is that he said he just doesn't drive. I might have a link to that interview myself.

[SteveAJones]

Just saw this post. There was a mention in a 1988 interview of two cats in Jimmy's house, one of which was a persian (the interviewer also remarked on how clean Page's house was considering the amount of shedding cats do). Recently, Scarlet Page did a photo shoot for a calendar of "Celebrity Pawtraits" and there is a photo of her with one of her cats. She said pets had always been a part of her life so I imagine her father allowed her to indulge in her affection for cats by having them.

Being a cat person myself, I couldn't approve more.

The interview was conducted by Charles M. Young and published as 'Jimmy Page's True Will' in the July 1988 issue of 'Musician' magazine.

Below is a photograph of Peter Grant's children (Helen and Warren) with two cats taken on the lawn leading to Jimmy's moated Plumpton Place estate in 1974. There is outtake footage from TSRTS showing Peter relaxing at home (Horselunges Manor) with his cats but I don't remember if these cats were his or Jimmy's.

Photo Credit: Pennie Smith

Courtesy of Steve A. Jones Archive

[minah149]

The interview was conducted by Charles M. Young and published as 'Jimmy Page's True Will' in the July 1988 issue of 'Musician' magazine.

Below is a photograph of Peter Grant's children (Helen and Warren) with two cats taken on the lawn leading to Jimmy's moated Plumpton Place estate in 1974. There is outtake footage from TSRTS showing Peter relaxing at home (Horselunges Manor) with his cats but I don't remember if these cats were his or Jimmy's.

Photo Credit: Pennie Smith

Courtesy of Steve A. Jones Archive

Yes, that is the interview I was referring to. Thanks.

[JimmyPageZoSo56]

Just wondering if anyone knows this

Do you know what thickness Jimmy Page used on his strings and for his pick?

He used Ernie Ball Super Slinky (.9) and Herco Flex picks (.75 thinkness).

[Setanta]

Steve - there are no states in the UK.

Actually, there kinda are states in the UK. It's not dissimilar to the USA's federal state system.

• England & Wales are two states, but mostly share the same legislation. Also Wales has a devolved legislative assembly.

England doesn't.

• Northern Ireland is a state which mostly shares national legislation, but has some local legislation and has a devolved parliament.

The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland was photographed for the cover of the album 'Houses of the Holy'.

• Scotland is also a state which shares a lot of national legislation, but has a slightly different education system, its own devolved parliament and a lot of specific local legislative law.

Boleskine House is the mansion in Scotland that Page bought, and which Aleister Crowley had once owned.

[Pagefan55]

It would be interesting to know how large Bolseline House is in terms of square feet. I've been there, and I'd guess it's about 10-12 thousand square feet. Does anyone know?

[Morgan Rudolph]

It would be interesting to know how large Bolseline House is in terms of square feet. I've been there, and I'd guess it's about 10-12 thousand square feet. Does anyone know?

I was at Boleskine. It looked much smaller than I had always imagined it. Floor plans are available on line. It's also in the Scottish Historic Trust site. I would guess it to be about 3000 s.f.

This is Oprah's house. This is what a 10,000 s.f. house looks like:

[SteveAJones]

It would be interesting to know how large Bolseline House is in terms of square feet. I've been there, and I'd guess it's about 10-12 thousand square feet. Does anyone know?

http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms/76525/boleskine-house/rcahms

[Pagefan55]

Thanks Morgan and Steve!

[scylla]

http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms/76525/boleskine-house/rcahms

Huh, that's weird - I've never seen a photo in which those upper-story windows can be seen. Is this just a planning application for renevations / extensions that never actually happened?

[Morgan Rudolph]

Huh, that's weird - I've never seen a photo in which those upper-story windows can be seen. Is this just a planning application for renevations / extensions that never actually happened?

It does not appear this 1926 addition was ever done. When I was there I only could see 3 sides of the house. Unless there was a massive change in topography on the side I could not see, this addition does not exist. The old Crow did not own the house in 1926.

[scylla]

It does not appear this 1926 addition was ever done. When I was there I only could see 3 sides of the house. Unless there was a massive change in topography on the side I could not see, this addition does not exist. The old Crow did not own the house in 1926.

Yes, I see it was a Mr Priestly...pity. The image of Aleister Crowley wrangling with the local council about his planning application is making me giggle. "Approve my dormer windows...OR YOU WILL DIE BY MIDNIGHT!!!".

Is it known why he offloaded the place? (Crowley not Priestly). Even the image of him showing around potential buyers is weirdly hilarious.

[Morgan Rudolph]

Yes, I see it was a Mr Priestly...pity. The image of Aleister Crowley wrangling with the local council about his planning application is making me giggle. "Approve my dormer windows...OR YOU WILL DIE BY MIDNIGHT!!!".

Is it known why he offloaded the place? (Crowley not Priestly). Even the image of him showing around potential buyers is weirdly hilarious.

Yes the old Crow was not one for practical matters. He left Boleskine in 1913, coincidentally the same year he published secret Golden Dawn material. However my gut feeling when I read "Confessions" was that he never got over Rose. Despite his constant slander of her there is that 'me thinks he doth protest too much". A house that reminds one of a happier life will always seem haunted.

As blasphemous as it may sound to Thelemites, I think he has probably reincarnated wandering the globe searching for her.

[sixpense]

Jimmy Uses Ernie Ball Extra Slinky .08, .11, .14, .22, .30, .38 and Herco Flex 75 Picks and Ernie Ball Earthwood strings on his acoustics.

[Mithril46]

The thing about string gauges is not so clear. Jimmy definetly strung his Paul's in 77' with .009s,, but I could have sworn I read articles

Before and after where he mainly used a .008 set on the Paul's. Yardbirds and early Zep with the Tele Page did use a.009 set.

Also I think Jimmy changed guitar techs sometime in the mid-70's, so the 77' tech didn't necessarily know or remember what Page

Was doing before him. Most of this info comes from the Dave Lewis books I have, or actual articles or interviews.

I would particularly like somebody to find some text, quote, line, etc., that shows Page definitely using .009s in the early 70's on

His Paul's.

[Stairway is NOT stolen]

The thing about string gauges is not so clear. Jimmy definetly strung his Paul's in 77' with .009s,, but I could have sworn I read articles

Before and after where he mainly used a .008 set on the Paul's. Yardbirds and early Zep with the Tele Page did use a.009 set.

Also I think Jimmy changed guitar techs sometime in the mid-70's, so the 77' tech didn't necessarily know or remember what Page

Was doing before him. Most of this info comes from the Dave Lewis books I have, or actual articles or interviews.

I would particularly like somebody to find some text, quote, line, etc., that shows Page definitely using .009s in the early 70's on

His Paul's.

It's possible he used 8's with his Les Pauls. They have a shorter scale length than Fender Telecasters, so he probably found them easier to play with a smaller string gauge.

[osoz]

The string thing is interesting.

I've found statements in articles and magazines that say thinks like 'Jimmy Page exclusively used .009' I think it is actually impossible from listening to some of the solo work, I can't get close to much of it without using .008

Further to this from the man himself string gauge is briefly discussed on 'It Might Get Loud' the impression he gives is that he uses particularly light gauge strings. I don't have where it is in the documentary but perhaps someone has the clip.

I also read over and over that at least at one time he replaced his high E string with a violin string, moving the rest of the set up one place (so the E from the set became the B etc in standard tuning - presumably the low E was discarded) This would give a set lighter than a set of .007

I think in reality there were so many guitars he used that there is no definitive answer. I know that for BIGLU he borrowed the acoustic guitar, he has stated it had very heavy gauge strings (in his words) yet he found it easy to play and used it for the recording. Seems like a statement from someone with an obvious preference for light gauge strings.

So I don't think during Led Zeppelin at least there was a standard set he used, probably a whole mixture of gauges to suit the style the guitar and piece he was playing. Later he may have stated he used exclusively .009 I guess but the evidence says otherwise.

While I'm here, I wondered if anyone knew Jimmy's favored method of counting music? The rhythmic work has so many variations, there must of been some way he was counting and keeping track of it all??

[osoz]

I found the clip from 'It might get loud', it was actually a banjo string not a violin string he used to replace the high E

[woz70]

The string thing is interesting.

I've found statements in articles and magazines that say thinks like 'Jimmy Page exclusively used .009' I think it is actually impossible from listening to some of the solo work, I can't get close to much of it without using .008

Further to this from the man himself string gauge is briefly discussed on 'It Might Get Loud' the impression he gives is that he uses particularly light gauge strings. I don't have where it is in the documentary but perhaps someone has the clip.

I also read over and over that at least at one time he replaced his high E string with a violin string, moving the rest of the set up one place (so the E from the set became the B etc in standard tuning - presumably the low E was discarded) This would give a set lighter than a set of .007

I think in reality there were so many guitars he used that there is no definitive answer. I know that for BIGLU he borrowed the acoustic guitar, he has stated it had very heavy gauge strings (in his words) yet he found it easy to play and used it for the recording. Seems like a statement from someone with an obvious preference for light gauge strings.

So I don't think during Led Zeppelin at least there was a standard set he used, probably a whole mixture of gauges to suit the style the guitar and piece he was playing. Later he may have stated he used exclusively .009 I guess but the evidence says otherwise.

While I'm here, I wondered if anyone knew Jimmy's favored method of counting music? The rhythmic work has so many variations, there must of been some way he was counting and keeping track of it all??

The thing with string gauges is it's a trade-off between ease of play and tone. Thicker strings = better tone. I use hybrid slinkys on all my electric guitars (46 - 9) and I have no trouble with any of the bends Page ever did. I find .008's ridiculously light and I end up breaking loads of strings and slicing up the end of my fingers if I use sets that are too light. If you're really struggling with those bends the action on your guitar may simply be too high. Stevie Ray Vaughan used to play with 12's(!) and he could bend a tone and a half on the G string. It's all down to practice and building strength (and thick pads on your fingers).

As for Jimmy using a violin string... actually it was a banjo string - a violin string isn't long enough to fit a guitar. And the reason he used as banjo string is because you simply couldn't get thinner sets of strings in the UK in the early 60's.

[osoz]

Yep I corrected it to Banjo string after seeing the clip for the first time in a few years. Strangely I remember reading several times that he said violin strings. Pondered the length, apparently a luthier can get the strings much longer and then cut them down, so I didn't think it was impossible.

i find it really depends on the manufacturer of the strings too, I just picked up an Epiphone G-1275 and I always give a guitar a chance before rushing it off to be set up to my usual preference for low actions and thin strings. It has D'addario 10's and ridiculously high action on the 6 string neck. What I found right away though is they finger pick brilliantly, I won't be attempting a solo at full speed on it though without a string and set-up change. Having said that they are not all that bad for 10s really even with the high action.

Just as a last thought, I really think Jimmy was the kind of guy who would have just tried out what he needed to achieve his goal. I've seen like dozens of people saying they can't string bend and they are using things like 11s on their guitar. I think if jimmy wasn't making a bend he wanted, he would have just gone lighter and not worried much about it.

[em1165]

lol, no, that's just because age has made his eye-area droop making him look Chinese. You can see photos of him when he was younger that he definately does not look Chinese, but unfortunately due to his face shape and genetics, as he aged, the skin fold on the top part of his eyelid drooped down, and ended up resembling a Chinese person...

i am sure that you did not mean any offense and i might just be overly sensitive but the way that this is worded kind of makes it sounds as if being asian is a negative? i am not asian myself but if i was, i would be kind of hurt.

[em1165]

He's terrific. One in a billion.

i am glad you brought this up... i met him once and he was extremely kind, but it was just one time.

i know that no one is perfect and everyone has a bad day here and there but there are a lot of things out there that suggest he might not be the nicest person in the world by people who are in a position to know...

since you guys seem to know so much about him, i wondered if you would feel comfortable confirming or denying some of the things i have read and heard. mind you, these are not rumors that have been started by fans or others surrounding them. these things have been written by journalists who have risked their reputation if they are not true...

the first one was about janine safer [?}, the publicist. she made some disparaging remarks about him. OF COURSE, she was his employee and, let's be honest, we don't always love our bosses!

one incident in particular involved a journalist from creem who said that jimmy would only let her interview him if janine was there. all three of them spoke the same language and were within a few feet of one another. apparently jimmy insisted that the interviewer ask janine the questions and then janine turned and asked him the questions. and then the same the other way around. he answered janine and she answered the journalist. i am laughing as i am writing this because it sounds so absurd but back in the day these guys could do ANYTHING they wanted....

the second report was from a book written by mark ellen who hosted an interview with roy harper and jimmy in the country. he said that jimmy got up to urinate in the bushes and his female companion went with him and basically "assisted" him in relieving himself. it sounds like he basically stood there and she handled the rest of it. no pun intended....

anyway, obviously these are not criminal offenses by any stretch of the imagination but i was a little surprised when i heard them...

hopefully no one is offended by me asking these things.

[Disco Duck]

i am glad you brought this up... i met him once and he was extremely kind, but it was just one time.

i know that no one is perfect and everyone has a bad day here and there but there are a lot of things out there that suggest he might not be the nicest person in the world by people who are in a position to know...

since you guys seem to know so much about him, i wondered if you would feel comfortable confirming or denying some of the things i have read and heard. mind you, these are not rumors that have been started by fans or others surrounding them. these things have been written by journalists who have risked their reputation if they are not true...

the first one was about janine safer [?}, the publicist. she made some disparaging remarks about him. OF COURSE, she was his employee and, let's be honest, we don't always love our bosses!

one incident in particular involved a journalist from creem who said that jimmy would only let her interview him if janine was there. all three of them spoke the same language and were within a few feet of one another. apparently jimmy insisted that the interviewer ask janine the questions and then janine turned and asked him the questions. and then the same the other way around. he answered janine and she answered the journalist. i am laughing as i am writing this because it sounds so absurd but back in the day these guys could do ANYTHING they wanted....

the second report was from a book written by mark ellen who hosted an interview with roy harper and jimmy in the country. he said that jimmy got up to urinate in the bushes and his female companion went with him and basically "assisted" him in relieving himself. it sounds like he basically stood there and she handled the rest of it. no pun intended....

anyway, obviously these are not criminal offenses by any stretch of the imagination but i was a little surprised when i heard them...

hopefully no one is offended by me asking these things.

Pure speculation on my part: Perhaps Page wanted to give himself extra time to answer the Creem journalist's questions during that particular interview. I've read that some foreign government officials who speak fluent English will use an interpreter when dealing with American journalists or diplomats for this reason.

[em1165]

Pure speculation on my part: Perhaps Page wanted to give himself extra time to answer the Creem journalist's questions during that particular interview. I've read that some foreign government officials who speak fluent English will use an interpreter when dealing with American journalists or diplomats for this reason.

that could be very true. the journalist and publicist thought it was just him being childish, but maybe he was reluctant to have any of his words twisted around.

now, what do you have to offer up regarding the peeing incident, lol ; )