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Interviews with Jimmy Page,2014.


Ross62

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^^ Glad you enjoyed the interview..now this below is one that I would have loved to have been at. :yesnod: Look how intimate!!! I hope the rest is put up soon.

Jimmy Page interview @ Shakespeare and Company, Paris, Oct 30 2014

:drool: Look at that bookstore. Look. At. It!!! :faint1:

It would be the first, eighth, twentieth and last place I'd visit.

Amazingly intimate, ideed. They've hosted many artists over the years. Respectful vibe despite the closeness, which is nice to see. Relaxed insightful interview; I very much hope we get to see the rest of it.

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:drool: Look at that bookstore. Look. At. It!!! :faint1:

It would be the first, eighth, twentieth and last place I'd visit.

Amazingly intimate, ideed. They've hosted many artists over the years. Respectful vibe despite the closeness, which is nice to see. Relaxed insightful interview; I very much hope we get to see the rest of it.

I'm quite sure this is the bookstore from "Before Sunset" with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, where they reunite! Love those three "Before" films by Richard Linklater! :yesnod:

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A Quietus Interview

Glitter And Hypnosis: Jimmy Page Interviewed

Julian Marszalek speaks to the Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds guitarist about the monolithic heavy rock albums IV and Houses Of The Holy

image1_1414961683_crop_550x827.jpeg

"Oh yeah!" Jimmy Page's eyes have widened and are sparkling the way they do whenever he gets animated. Which, to be fair, is quite lot. This time, he's responding to the question of whether he'd ever seen The Velvet Underground in full flight live in concert.

"I saw them about three or four times and let me tell you, they were phenomenal."

He pauses momentarily as he re-considers his opinion and corrects himself: "No. No, they were intense!"

He continues: "I'd heard their first album when I was touring the States with The Yardbirds. It's an incredible album, it really is. It still sounds marvelous. The Yardbirds used to cover 'I'm Waiting For My Man' a lot; we used to drop it into the middle of 'I'm A Man'. I'm pretty certain we were the first people to cover The Velvet Underground."

To discover that Jimmy Page, guitarist, producer and driving force behind Led Zeppelin – probably the biggest rock behemoth of the 1970s – is not only a long-standing fan of The Velvet Underground but also an early adopter of the New York quartet's material shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise. Both bands dealt a shared aesthetic of hypnotic and pulverising riffs, drones, alternate tunings, extreme volume, in concert improvisation and the ability to pull back and deliver moments of tenderness that offered respite as much as they did a glimpse at another side of the musicians creating these influential works. In doing so – for both good and for ill – both bands laid the foundations for subsequent generations of musicians whose fingerprints were dabbed way outside of their own fields. And, in a moment of coincidence, Page also produced the 1965 single, 'I'm Not Sayin'' for a pre-Velvets Nico.

TQ is meeting Jimmy Page in the ornate surroundings of the Gore Hotel, which is located behind the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. With its deep panelled walls and chandeliers, the venue somehow manages to offer an imposing sense of gloom despite letting in sunlight from its large windows. In short, this is the kind of location you'd expect to find Jimmy Page in. But then again, Kensington has been Page's manor for quite some time. Led Zeppelin played the Royal Albert Hall on the guitarist's 26th birthday in 1970, he owns a house at the other end of the High Street and his erstwhile bookshop, Equinox, was located not too far away.

Now aged 70, Page cuts a fine figure. He's taller than you'd expect and his sliver hair is swept back and tied at the back in a bun. Slim and dressed in black jeans, boots and a leather jacket, he offers a firm handshake and it soon becomes evident that he's possessed of a sense of humour that belies his reputation. "The Quietus? Oh, I thought you said The Coitus. Now that would've been a conversation," he says.

The next two releases – that'll be the untitled fourth album and Houses Of The Holy - in the ongoing series of Led Zeppelin re-masters have just been released and Page is quite clearly proud of the music he helped make and its lasting popularity. These are enduring works and it's worth taking the time to remove the music from the legends and myths of hedonism, sexual and narcotic excess, violence and darkness that have come, on occasion, to overtake the body of work made by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham. Having sold around 37 million copies, the fourth album, released in 1971, is the third biggest selling in the United States and it's perhaps the album's over-familiarity that prevents it from being actually listened to and absorbed on its own terms. The re-mastering work is splendid thanks to an increased bottom end and a brightness that's been lacking in previous editions. For example, 'Black Dog' sparkles with an effervescence that accentuates the seductive power of that circular riff, the off-kilter time signatures that lock in with the bass groove and the howling a cappella the appears between the musical explosions, and the simmering sexual tension is palpable throughout.

HOTH_southampton-73-poster_1414963167_cr

The fourth album is Led Zeppelin's most complete and compact statement. It encompasses everything that the band had worked towards on the previous albums. Possessed of an incredible power, there are also moments of the light and shade that Page has spoken so frequently of. There are delicate moments such as 'Going To California' as well as the seductive folk of 'Battle Of Evermore' that contradict the album's reputation as an exercise in heavy rock. The ubiquitous 'Stairway To Heaven', which has come to embarrass Robert Plant over the years, shows a band fully in control of its creativity as it strives and achieves in making a unique musical statement.

What's also worth noting is Page's role as producer. Unlike many guitarists in his position, he doesn't overplay his hand. How easy or difficult was it to divorce those two parts from each other.

"I don't divorce myself as guitarist and producer," he states recalling the making of the fourth album. "It was a conscious decision to have the guitar in the perspective of the group and not to have it overpowering all the way."

Warming to the theme, Page cites the earlier influences of the 50s and the bearing they had on the music he made.

"I guess that was a result of the things that I used to listen to in my teens," he says. "I was listening to the rockabilly records and how you placed the instruments in relation to the voice, and also the Chicago blues movement of the 50s which had some incredible recordings on Vee-Jay and Chess labels. I used to listen to them from that perspective: why did these things work and what effects did they have? I wanted to move that on into a sort of new field and break new ground. So the vehicle of Led Zeppelin was a guitar tour de force but certainly not at the expense of the other musicians.

"See, this is what was really uncharacteristic at this point in time. I think that you had everyone playing really intricate parts but it was blend of these four marvelous musicians to take on this really alchemical quality to make a fifth element."

But was Page a hard taskmaster? There's one story where a take of 'Stairway To Heaven' had been made to the satisfaction of the other members yet Page felt they had a better one in them.

"I don't know about that," he says dismissively. "We weren't one of those bands that did an extra take for luck. You knew exactly where it was; it could be the take beforehand but the one important thing to remember about Led Zeppelin in the studio was that we didn't labour the point. We'd get match ready and then start recording when the whole character of the song was still vibrating. If you carried on doing take after take after take then you'd lose the essence of the song. It was all about capturing the performance."

IMG_0328_1414961657_crop_550x834.JPG

To these ears, Led Zeppelin's fourth album is the band's most mystical. The drones, open strings, tunings and riffs that run through its eight tracks create a hypnotic effect. Listening to 'Four Sticks' with its mantra-like riff and a middle eight that suggests Eastern touches, one is struck by how Plant's voice becomes less a vehicle for the lyrics and more an instrument that's equal to those of his colleagues. What attracted Page to that sound and approach and what kind of reaction was he hoping to elicit from his listeners?

"Well, I'd really accessed the hypnotic elements of music from the Chicago blues with stuff like Howling Wolf," explains Page. "But as far as riffs and trance goes, I find that stuff fascinating. If you listen to the version of 'Whole Lotta Love' on the companion disc of Led Zeppelin II, that side of things takes on a whole different character and it's like a voodoo ritual going on.

"The good thing about the albums out in that point of the 70s was that there wasn't any sort of visual imagery to go with it like videos, so people came up with their own pictures of whatever they wanted and so they made a connection with Led Zeppelin and that was really cool."

Page cites the band's decision to work in the residential environs of Headley Grange, a dilapidated former poor house in Hampshire, as another vital factor in the music that Led Zeppelin was making.

"With the fourth album, the fact that it was recorded under conditions where we were living in a house; eating, sleeping and recording there with the benefit of a mobile recording studio that was sitting out in the drive, it really gave us the opportunity to give 100% commitment to the record," he says.

"The whole work ethic was absolutely superb so we could – did – arrive at things like 'When The Levee Breaks', which is so ominous. It's so dark. It's so dark that there isn't a colour to describe it," he continues. "And then you've got something that is really caressing like 'Going To California'. You've got these extremes of music there.

"We wanted to concentrate all our energies and the work ethic and the ethos by going there to make music that was so strong and intoxicating to each and every one of us. That's the key to the fourth album: it was residential."

Such was the work rate that three tracks – 'Down By The Seaside', 'Night Flight' and 'Boogie With Stu' – were left on the shelf and didn't see the light of day until 1975's Physical Graffiti. Yet given such a treasure trove, Page knew exactly what to use and what to leave off.

"It was very clear to me at the time," he states emphatically. "The fourth album showcases perfectly everything to do with the band, whether it's the individual performances or how it works collectively, the production and everything to do with it. It's a really strong time capsule; that's what it is and so different from the albums that came before. Collectively we made such fine music that it was as if fate put us together and decreed we made music that would change things. I know that certainly that was what I wanted to do – to make music that made a difference."

LZIV_london-nov71-poster_1414963308_crop

Such was the band's thirst for musical experimentation that Page and Plant stopped off in India in 1972 to explore the possibilities of blending their material with further Eastern influences by working with Bombay Symphony Orchestra.

"I was keen to work with Indian musicians and to see how it would work as a fusion with music that they'd never heard before," explains Page. "We did 'Friends' which Robert sang on and 'Four Sticks' which was done as an instrumental and it was an exercise, if you like, to see what could be done. And, as an exercise, it was incredibly successful. These musicians were classically trained within their own idiom and they had this very strong character of their indigenous music. It was something that was worth doing for the sake of a few hours to see how easy it was do that and it was successful."

Asked of these recordings will ever see the light of day, Page's eyes narrow and smiling enigmatically he'll only allow, "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

It's a tempting prospect but what's unlikely to emerge at any point in the future is any more footage of Led Zeppelin. It seems bizarre – by 21st century digital standards, at least – that the one-time biggest band in the world has such a slender visual documentation to hand. Talking to Page, it's difficult to shake the feeling that this is one aspect of the band's past that he'd love to change if he could.

"You're right. There's hardly any footage of the band," he sighs.

Any regrets about that?

"It is what it is," he replies. "In a way it's a sort of a relief because there's a duality to it. It would've been good to have had that filmed document of us rehearsing but with these re-issues without the visual accompaniment people can make up their own visual images. But you have to work with what's at your disposal and make a lot out of very little."

With our time running short, Page perks up and his eyes widen once again when the topic of new music from the guitarist is raised. He's been promising new material since the release of the 2010 documentary It Might Get Loud, a film that gave a tantalising glimpse of what might come.

"I have new music now and I had new music then. I'm really keen to be able to present that in a solo capacity," he enthuses.

So why the delay?

"There were things that came along that really needed serious attention," he replies. "One of those was [O2 live album] Celebration Day, another thing was the Led Zeppelin website, then there was the book of photographs that I wanted to make sure was complete and then there was the Led Zeppelin studio material. They might seem academic but never the less they were all time consuming. But now I've got the opportunity to go into a rehearsal situation next year and then finally get it happening."

He smiles again as he considers the likelihood of new music knowing that his story is far from over. And his eyes keep sparkling.

The remastered Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy are out now on Rhino/Atlantic, available in various formats including companion discs with unreleased material

http://thequietus.com/articles/16606-led-zeppelin-jimmy-page-interview

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A Quietus Interview

Glitter And Hypnosis: Jimmy Page Interviewed

Julian Marszalek speaks to the Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds guitarist about the monolithic heavy rock albums IV and Houses Of The Holy

image1_1414961683_crop_550x827.jpeg

"Oh yeah!" Jimmy Page's eyes have widened and are sparkling the way they do whenever he gets animated. Which, to be fair, is quite lot. This time, he's responding to the question of whether he'd ever seen The Velvet Underground in full flight live in concert.

"I saw them about three or four times and let me tell you, they were phenomenal."

He pauses momentarily as he re-considers his opinion and corrects himself: "No. No, they were intense!"

He continues: "I'd heard their first album when I was touring the States with The Yardbirds. It's an incredible album, it really is. It still sounds marvelous. The Yardbirds used to cover 'I'm Waiting For My Man' a lot; we used to drop it into the middle of 'I'm A Man'. I'm pretty certain we were the first people to cover The Velvet Underground."

To discover that Jimmy Page, guitarist, producer and driving force behind Led Zeppelin – probably the biggest rock behemoth of the 1970s – is not only a long-standing fan of The Velvet Underground but also an early adopter of the New York quartet's material shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise. Both bands dealt a shared aesthetic of hypnotic and pulverising riffs, drones, alternate tunings, extreme volume, in concert improvisation and the ability to pull back and deliver moments of tenderness that offered respite as much as they did a glimpse at another side of the musicians creating these influential works. In doing so – for both good and for ill – both bands laid the foundations for subsequent generations of musicians whose fingerprints were dabbed way outside of their own fields. And, in a moment of coincidence, Page also produced the 1965 single, 'I'm Not Sayin'' for a pre-Velvets Nico.

TQ is meeting Jimmy Page in the ornate surroundings of the Gore Hotel, which is located behind the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. With its deep panelled walls and chandeliers, the venue somehow manages to offer an imposing sense of gloom despite letting in sunlight from its large windows. In short, this is the kind of location you'd expect to find Jimmy Page in. But then again, Kensington has been Page's manor for quite some time. Led Zeppelin played the Royal Albert Hall on the guitarist's 26th birthday in 1970, he owns a house at the other end of the High Street and his erstwhile bookshop, Equinox, was located not too far away.

Now aged 70, Page cuts a fine figure. He's taller than you'd expect and his sliver hair is swept back and tied at the back in a bun. Slim and dressed in black jeans, boots and a leather jacket, he offers a firm handshake and it soon becomes evident that he's possessed of a sense of humour that belies his reputation. "The Quietus? Oh, I thought you said The Coitus. Now that would've been a conversation," he says.

The next two releases – that'll be the untitled fourth album and Houses Of The Holy - in the ongoing series of Led Zeppelin re-masters have just been released and Page is quite clearly proud of the music he helped make and its lasting popularity. These are enduring works and it's worth taking the time to remove the music from the legends and myths of hedonism, sexual and narcotic excess, violence and darkness that have come, on occasion, to overtake the body of work made by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and the late John Bonham. Having sold around 37 million copies, the fourth album, released in 1971, is the third biggest selling in the United States and it's perhaps the album's over-familiarity that prevents it from being actually listened to and absorbed on its own terms. The re-mastering work is splendid thanks to an increased bottom end and a brightness that's been lacking in previous editions. For example, 'Black Dog' sparkles with an effervescence that accentuates the seductive power of that circular riff, the off-kilter time signatures that lock in with the bass groove and the howling a cappella the appears between the musical explosions, and the simmering sexual tension is palpable throughout.

HOTH_southampton-73-poster_1414963167_cr

The fourth album is Led Zeppelin's most complete and compact statement. It encompasses everything that the band had worked towards on the previous albums. Possessed of an incredible power, there are also moments of the light and shade that Page has spoken so frequently of. There are delicate moments such as 'Going To California' as well as the seductive folk of 'Battle Of Evermore' that contradict the album's reputation as an exercise in heavy rock. The ubiquitous 'Stairway To Heaven', which has come to embarrass Robert Plant over the years, shows a band fully in control of its creativity as it strives and achieves in making a unique musical statement.

What's also worth noting is Page's role as producer. Unlike many guitarists in his position, he doesn't overplay his hand. How easy or difficult was it to divorce those two parts from each other.

"I don't divorce myself as guitarist and producer," he states recalling the making of the fourth album. "It was a conscious decision to have the guitar in the perspective of the group and not to have it overpowering all the way."

Warming to the theme, Page cites the earlier influences of the 50s and the bearing they had on the music he made.

"I guess that was a result of the things that I used to listen to in my teens," he says. "I was listening to the rockabilly records and how you placed the instruments in relation to the voice, and also the Chicago blues movement of the 50s which had some incredible recordings on Vee-Jay and Chess labels. I used to listen to them from that perspective: why did these things work and what effects did they have? I wanted to move that on into a sort of new field and break new ground. So the vehicle of Led Zeppelin was a guitar tour de force but certainly not at the expense of the other musicians.

"See, this is what was really uncharacteristic at this point in time. I think that you had everyone playing really intricate parts but it was blend of these four marvelous musicians to take on this really alchemical quality to make a fifth element."

But was Page a hard taskmaster? There's one story where a take of 'Stairway To Heaven' had been made to the satisfaction of the other members yet Page felt they had a better one in them.

"I don't know about that," he says dismissively. "We weren't one of those bands that did an extra take for luck. You knew exactly where it was; it could be the take beforehand but the one important thing to remember about Led Zeppelin in the studio was that we didn't labour the point. We'd get match ready and then start recording when the whole character of the song was still vibrating. If you carried on doing take after take after take then you'd lose the essence of the song. It was all about capturing the performance."

IMG_0328_1414961657_crop_550x834.JPG

To these ears, Led Zeppelin's fourth album is the band's most mystical. The drones, open strings, tunings and riffs that run through its eight tracks create a hypnotic effect. Listening to 'Four Sticks' with its mantra-like riff and a middle eight that suggests Eastern touches, one is struck by how Plant's voice becomes less a vehicle for the lyrics and more an instrument that's equal to those of his colleagues. What attracted Page to that sound and approach and what kind of reaction was he hoping to elicit from his listeners?

"Well, I'd really accessed the hypnotic elements of music from the Chicago blues with stuff like Howling Wolf," explains Page. "But as far as riffs and trance goes, I find that stuff fascinating. If you listen to the version of 'Whole Lotta Love' on the companion disc of Led Zeppelin II, that side of things takes on a whole different character and it's like a voodoo ritual going on.

"The good thing about the albums out in that point of the 70s was that there wasn't any sort of visual imagery to go with it like videos, so people came up with their own pictures of whatever they wanted and so they made a connection with Led Zeppelin and that was really cool."

Page cites the band's decision to work in the residential environs of Headley Grange, a dilapidated former poor house in Hampshire, as another vital factor in the music that Led Zeppelin was making.

"With the fourth album, the fact that it was recorded under conditions where we were living in a house; eating, sleeping and recording there with the benefit of a mobile recording studio that was sitting out in the drive, it really gave us the opportunity to give 100% commitment to the record," he says.

"The whole work ethic was absolutely superb so we could – did – arrive at things like 'When The Levee Breaks', which is so ominous. It's so dark. It's so dark that there isn't a colour to describe it," he continues. "And then you've got something that is really caressing like 'Going To California'. You've got these extremes of music there.

"We wanted to concentrate all our energies and the work ethic and the ethos by going there to make music that was so strong and intoxicating to each and every one of us. That's the key to the fourth album: it was residential."

Such was the work rate that three tracks – 'Down By The Seaside', 'Night Flight' and 'Boogie With Stu' – were left on the shelf and didn't see the light of day until 1975's Physical Graffiti. Yet given such a treasure trove, Page knew exactly what to use and what to leave off.

"It was very clear to me at the time," he states emphatically. "The fourth album showcases perfectly everything to do with the band, whether it's the individual performances or how it works collectively, the production and everything to do with it. It's a really strong time capsule; that's what it is and so different from the albums that came before. Collectively we made such fine music that it was as if fate put us together and decreed we made music that would change things. I know that certainly that was what I wanted to do – to make music that made a difference."

LZIV_london-nov71-poster_1414963308_crop

Such was the band's thirst for musical experimentation that Page and Plant stopped off in India in 1972 to explore the possibilities of blending their material with further Eastern influences by working with Bombay Symphony Orchestra.

"I was keen to work with Indian musicians and to see how it would work as a fusion with music that they'd never heard before," explains Page. "We did 'Friends' which Robert sang on and 'Four Sticks' which was done as an instrumental and it was an exercise, if you like, to see what could be done. And, as an exercise, it was incredibly successful. These musicians were classically trained within their own idiom and they had this very strong character of their indigenous music. It was something that was worth doing for the sake of a few hours to see how easy it was do that and it was successful."

Asked of these recordings will ever see the light of day, Page's eyes narrow and smiling enigmatically he'll only allow, "I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

It's a tempting prospect but what's unlikely to emerge at any point in the future is any more footage of Led Zeppelin. It seems bizarre – by 21st century digital standards, at least – that the one-time biggest band in the world has such a slender visual documentation to hand. Talking to Page, it's difficult to shake the feeling that this is one aspect of the band's past that he'd love to change if he could.

"You're right. There's hardly any footage of the band," he sighs.

Any regrets about that?

"It is what it is," he replies. "In a way it's a sort of a relief because there's a duality to it. It would've been good to have had that filmed document of us rehearsing but with these re-issues without the visual accompaniment people can make up their own visual images. But you have to work with what's at your disposal and make a lot out of very little."

With our time running short, Page perks up and his eyes widen once again when the topic of new music from the guitarist is raised. He's been promising new material since the release of the 2010 documentary It Might Get Loud, a film that gave a tantalising glimpse of what might come.

"I have new music now and I had new music then. I'm really keen to be able to present that in a solo capacity," he enthuses.

So why the delay?

"There were things that came along that really needed serious attention," he replies. "One of those was [O2 live album] Celebration Day, another thing was the Led Zeppelin website, then there was the book of photographs that I wanted to make sure was complete and then there was the Led Zeppelin studio material. They might seem academic but never the less they were all time consuming. But now I've got the opportunity to go into a rehearsal situation next year and then finally get it happening."

He smiles again as he considers the likelihood of new music knowing that his story is far from over. And his eyes keep sparkling.

The remastered Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy are out now on Rhino/Atlantic, available in various formats including companion discs with unreleased material

http://thequietus.com/articles/16606-led-zeppelin-jimmy-page-interview

..... Thank you!!

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Today on SiriusXM Classic Vinyl (channel 26 on XM, not sure if it's the same on Sirius), Mr. Page will participate in a Town Hall. Live broadcast starts at 3pm EST, repeated 3 hours later.

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^^ Hi ebk!

Jimmy Page To Climb SiriusXM 'Stairway To Heaven' With 'Town Hall' Appearance

November 6, 2014 at 12:34 PM (PT)

LED ZEPPELIN guitarist JIMMY PAGE will sit down for an exclusive chat with listeners on SIRIUSXM's 'TOWN HALL" series, this FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7th.

“SIRIUSXM’s TOWN HALL WITH JIMMY PAGE” will feature the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME axeman answering questions from a studio audience about his career, from his earliest days as a session player, then on to his years with the YARDBIRDS to his legendary work as acclaimed guitarist for LED ZEPPELIN and through various collaborations and solo work. Remastered reissues of the band's "LED ZEPPELIN IV" and "Houses of the Holy" were just released last week, with additional content.

“SIRIUSXM’s TOWN HALL WITH JIMMY PAGE” will air on tomorrow at 3p (ET) via satellite on CLASSIC VINYL channel 26, and through the SIRIUSXM Internet Radio App on smartphones and other connected devices, as well as online at siriusxm.com. For rebroadcast times, please visit www.siriusxm.com/townhall.

“JIMMY PAGE was the nucleus of two of the most historic and legendary rock and roll bands of all time," SIRIUSXM Pres./Chief Content Officer SCOTT GREENSTEIN said. "We can't wait to hear from him directly about the incredible stories and histories of the YARDBIRDS and LED ZEPPELIN as well as his latest projects a photographic autobiography: 'Jimmy Page By Jimmy Page' and the newly remastered deluxe editions of 'Led Zeppelin IV' and 'Houses of the Holy'.".

After the broadcast, “SIRIUSXM’s TOWN HALL WITH JIMMY PAGE” will be available on SIRIUSXM On Demand for subscribers listening via the SIRIUSXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and other mobile devices or online at siriusxm.com.

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/135313/jimmy-page-to-climb-siriusxm-stairway-to-heaven-wi?ref=rss

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5 Things We Learned From Jimmy Page's SiriusXM Interview

Led Zeppelin's guitarist and producer explained the origins of the 'Houses of the Holy' album title and gave more detail on his upcoming solo record


720x405-522337205AS010_SiriusXM_s_T.JPG

Photo Astrid Stawiarz

By Kory Grow |

November 7, 2014

Earlier this week, Led Zeppelin released new, deluxe editions of its fourth record and Houses of the Holy albums remastered by producer and guitarist Jimmy Page. The guitarist also recently put out a new edition of his photographic autobiography, Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page, which documents his musical life from choirboy through one of the most iconic guitarists in rock.

To promote these releases, the guitarist stopped by SiriusXM to take part in the satellite radio broadcaster's "Town Hall" series, where contest-winning fans were allowed to sit in a studio audience and ask questions of Page directly. The program originally aired on November 7th but will be rerun numerous times (the schedule is available on the SiriusXM website and on demand for subscribers on the SiriusXM app). From the origins of the Houses of the Holy album title to his plans for his upcoming solo record, here are the most interesting things we learned from the chat.

1. Jimmy Page Did Not Write the Riff for "Black Dog" – Led Zeppelin's bassist did
"John Paul Jones had a riff, and that's the sort of riff you know of that song," Page told the audience. "So we had that, but that's what it was. It was just a riff. And he was playing it over and over, and it was tricky to play.... But during the point of getting to play with that part, it was like, let's try this with a call and response with Robert singing and the riff.... So really, you're asking me what my part of it was, it was actually taking it from a riff and making it into a piece of music."

2. There's a reason why Houses of the Holy was not titled Led Zeppelin V
"It goes I, II and III, as you say, but then IV, there's still four symbols, so it still goes in digits [like IIII], you see," Page said. "But [the fifth album] wasn't going to be Led Zeppelin Victory Sign [V]. So Houses of the Holy." Later, the guitarist explained just why Houses of the Holy is so named. "It's about all of us being houses of the Holy Spirit, in a sense," he said.

3. Page found his first guitar at a house his family moved into
"My first guitar was like a campfire guitar," he said. "And it was left at a house that my family had moved into...and the guitar was at the house. It was all strung up. It's normally something that would be beyond a bit of rubbish."

4. Page is up for correcting Internet misinformation – up to a point
"Oh crikey!" Page exclaimed when the show's moderator asked whether the guitarist had played on the Who's "I Can't Explain" and the Kinks' "You Really Got Me." "This is a result of internet meddling and muddling.... Yes, I was on the Who's 'I Can't Explain.' I wasn't on 'You Really Got Me,' but I did play on the Kinks' records. That's all I'm going to say about it. But every time I do an interview, people ask me about 'You Really Got Me.' So maybe somebody can correct Wikipedia so people won't keep asking me."

5. Page's new solo record will be a "guitar project" that could come out next year
After saying that he had a plan for a new solo record in his Rolling Stone interview last month, Page threw out some other hints at the Town Hall interview about what it could be. "That gives me some time to work on the guitar project that I've got in mind," he said. The moderator repeated that phrase, "Guitar project?" and Page joked, "Well, I'll be playing the guitar. I can't be sitting around on that one." The room laughed. "Whatever it is, hopefully what I've got in mind will surface sometime maybe next year." After the moderator complimented Page's 1988 solo record Outrider, the guitarist said, "I think probably it's time for another solo album," he said. The audience applauded.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/5-things-we-learned-from-jimmy-pages-siriusxm-interview-20141107

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http://news.tbs.co.jp/newsi_sp/catch/20141105.html

This video interview with a Japanese TV station came across my Twitter feed.

I do think JP is backing himself into a corner with all of this declarations of playing live in 2015. I understand this has been going on for approximately 15 years but not to this extent with such a media blitz (from what I understand anyway; I haven't been following the band closely for too long).

I know people think that no reporter will ever call JP on this if he fails to make good on his promises, but I don't think that's necessarily the case. I know we fans imagine that scenario as playing out as some sort of an ambush, but he's said this enough that a reporter (or even a fan) could ask him quite innocuously, considering the sheer number of times he's promised this over the last couple of months.

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I'm quite sure this is the bookstore from "Before Sunset" with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, where they reunite! Love those three "Before" films by Richard Linklater! :yesnod:

Tried remembering, but couldn't so I looked it up and it seems you're right about it being in "Before Sunset." Apparently it was also in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" which I'd seen fairly recently but can't recall the bookstore scene in that one either. Will revisit the movies, and one day visit that bookstore.

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Jeff Coons from Interview Magazine...His influential beginnings with Led Zeppelin...

..."You thought me how to feel"...Jeff Coons talks about Power of Led Zeppelin Sound...

http://www.interviewrussia.ru/en/jeff-koons-abstraction-powerful-weapon

...and Legendary Guitarist's next awaited appearance with much anticipation as always..

http://www.acehotel.com/calendar/losangeles/evening-jimmy-page-conversation-chris-cornell

edited....for detail..

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Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page still rocks

CNN | Added on November 11, 2014

The guitar god talks his strangest show, hand care tips and what he believes is classic rock really is.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/showbiz/2014/11/11/jimmy-page-led-zeppelin-guitar.cnn.html

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Hi Sam, I was not sure if this should go here or under (Available at Newstands thread..)

Jimmy Page Revisits 'Led Zeppelin IV' and 'Houses of the Holy' — Five Questions
Posted 11/12/2014 at 10:44am | by Brad Tolinski
page_2.jpg
In this excerpt from the new GW, Jimmy Page revisits Led Zeppelin IV & Houses of the Holy.
Holy Spirited: Guitarist and producer Jimmy Page revisits two of Led Zeppelin’s most god-like albums, IV and Houses of the Holy.

In this excerpt from our Holiday 2014 cover story, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page responds to five points posed by Guitar World's Brad Tolinski.

GUITAR WORLD: One of the biggest bits of news is that you’ve included some of the original Los Angeles mixes of IV on one of the bonus discs. The story has always been that, aside from “When the Levee Breaks,” the mixes done at Sunset Sound Studios were a disaster. However “Stairway to Heaven” and “Misty Mountain Hop,” both included in the companion disc, sound pretty damn good.

After we completed most of our work on the fourth album at Island Studios and Headley Grange [a remote three-story stone farmhouse that Zeppelin used as a recording facility], [engineer] Andy Johns and I went to Sunset Sound in Los Angeles to mix. The tapes included most of the music that would end up on IV, including “Stairway,” “Going to California,” and even a few things that ended up on Physical Graffiti, like “Down By the Seaside” and “Boogie with Stu”—but not “Battle of Evermore,” which wasn’t finished yet.

We did some great work there, and I was particularly impressed with their wonderful echo and reverb facilities. The only problem was, they also had a rather “colorful” studio monitoring system. While we were mixing, everything sounded huge and the low end sounded especially massive. But when we returned to England and played our work back, the sound was nothing like what we had heard in Los Angeles. It was deflated…a pale echo of what we’d heard in L.A.

Around that period of time, there were alarming stories of tapes that had been damaged or slightly erased or interfered with by magnets used by airport security. We all wondered whether anything had happened to them. In actual fact, nothing had happened to them. Regardless, the band was not particularly enamored with the way things sounded, so I agreed to remix everything.

There were exceptions. The Sunset Sound mix of “When the Levee Breaks” had a density that we could not be replicated when we remixed it in England. It didn’t have that space—that black hole. So we put that one on the original album. We’ve included the remix on the companion disc so you can decide for yourself.

I think you’ve said each album is essentially a reflection of what you were feeling at that particular time and space. Houses of the Holy is the most celebratory album in your catalog. It’s the only album without a blues.

Well, I’m not sure I’ve ever said it was a summing up of where we were at that point in time; it’s more about what we’re managing to achieve musically under the roof of a recording facility. I think it’s more about how we’ve managed to push things, and we’d been pushing all the way through.

Here’s the interesting thing: if we had been forced by the record company to make singles, we would’ve never been able to explore like we did or make albums like IV or Houses of the Holy. Because we created each album as an independent production, we could actually dictate that there would be no singles. And when you look at the whole of the catalog, my god, you realize what a saving grace that was not to have to comply with commercial radio. Our attitude was, “Here’s the album, and if you want to give something to radio, then fair enough, but don’t bother asking us to follow it up with something similar.”

“The Song Remains The Same” is genuinely unusual. It’s almost a compendium of folk and country guitar techniques presented in a completely different context—the opening solo features straight flat-picking, the bends behind the vocals are reminiscent of country guitarist Clarence White, and there’s a healthy amount of hybrid picking on your Fender XII.

That’s fair enough. It wasn’t intentionally any one of those things. It was just the result of me listening to all these alternative six-string things at the time and summing them up…or perhaps reprogramming them. [laughs] But it’s all a question of taste—of what you put in or leave out to make the most of your technique relative to the song.

I was so OCD then that, by the time it came for me to record my guitar parts, I was completely absorbed by what I was doing and the right parts just seem to come out. And most of the solos were pretty spontaneous. I’d warm up and then immediately record, and then I’d do the next one. I never wanted to labor the point of anything.

Why isn’t the song “Houses of the Holy” on Houses of the Holy?

Because it comes out on the next album. [laughs] It’s meant to be a little mischievous.

The guitar solo on the original version of “No Quarter” is one of your more unusual statements. It’s jazzy without being jazz.

With the piano being the way it is, the last thing I wanted to do was play a jazz homage. It would’ve been too obvious. I wanted to show the guitarist hasn’t gone to sleep—he’s thinking about presenting the composition in a different way, using different colors and tones and figures that are…spritely. It’s like water nymphs or something coming through.

Photo: MirrorPix/Courtesy of Everett Collection

http://www.guitarworld.com/jimmy-page-revisits-led-zeppelin-IV-houses-holy-interview-guitar-world-brad-tolinski

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NPR Soundbites

Jimmy Page: On a Lifetime in Rock 'n Roll

https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/412933

Interview from 2:40-33:00

You will all be mostly annoyed by the interviewer.

For future remaster pressers, may I humbly suggest, fewer geeky fan boys...more just journalists.

(And in case you're wondering, Dimi Mint Abba.)

Yes, I wish these interviewers' techniques went beyond essentially naming a photo and asking for elaboration on it/the event.

I think it's hard because many interviewers aren't very invested in the interview (not that that's the case here), and more importantly, JP has a tendency to dance around almost any question and/or not answer in a fully satisfying way. I think it's an unconscious tendency at this point. I'm sure it's also difficult when there are so many topics deemed off limits.

I listened to his Sirius interview and there were so many open-ended questions from the crowd -- questions that were somewhat thoughtful although I'm sure he's heard them many times before -- that he answered in the blandest way possible.

Of course, a good interviewer or actual journalist should be able to extract a bit more with their skills, even if the interview subject is quite reticent.

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:drool: Look at that bookstore. Look. At. It!!! :faint1:

It would be the first, eighth, twentieth and last place I'd visit.

Amazingly intimate, ideed. They've hosted many artists over the years. Respectful vibe despite the closeness, which is nice to see. Relaxed insightful interview; I very much hope we get to see the rest of it.

Shakespeare & Company Bookshop - Here is the rest of the interview...enjoy:-)

jimmy-page-4-ws-1440.jpg

http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/jimmy-page-led-zeppelin-photographic-autobiography-interview/

Sorry for just a link, to long for me to copy. Back to work:-)

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Looks like Jimmy will be on Ellen's show 11/21...not 11/11.

Yes. He is on with One Direction.

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

A source close to the Ellen Show's producer claims that a collaboration / surprise jam is happening.

The source also said, "We are waiting on confirmation from Richard Branson."

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Yes. He is on with One Direction.

From the sublime to the ridiculous.

A source close to the Ellen Show's producer claims that a collaboration / surprise jam is happening.

The source also said, "We are waiting on confirmation from Richard Branson."

Very good humor Reggie! Perhaps, One Direction are Zep fans as I know Branson is!

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