SuperDave Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Interesting take on Jimmy Page for his 65th birthday and the musical direction he should take, now that his proposed project with John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham is off. This may have been written before the statement with Jimmy's manager was released as there is no mention of it in the article. Letter to Jimmy Page (On the Occasion of Your 65th Birthday) Randy Ray Courtesy of Jambands.com January 9, 2009. Happy Birthday, Mr. Page. You have made it to the age of 65 in a career that does not spawn creative longevity or integrity—two traits you have mastered. Kudos to you on a lifetime of accomplishments. We all have benefited from your musicianship, and your album production which spawned a new way to look at how one records sound by capturing the true ambience and mystique of a room where artists hit the actual notes. Lately, it appears that you have a bit of an artistic dilemma. Not only that, everyone and their sister’s business manager appears to have their own advice on what you should do. Far be it from me to add to the Led Zeppelin funeral pyre, but I think it is to your advantage to remember why you began playing music. You heard Scotty Moore’s guitar licks on Elvis Presley’s version of “Baby Let’s Play House,” and off you went. I’m not too sure that moment of epiphany included a singer. I say this because even your one true musical soul mate Robert Plant said that your initial post-Zeppelin project, the soundtrack to Michael Winner’s Death Wish II film, was the route that he found you should have taken, and appeared disappointed that you didn’t. The instrumental passages on that inspired work contain some rather scintillating soundscapes that only you could achieve. Your playing has always featured “tangents within a framework” and that “tight but loose” feel which you have defined in the studio and the stage. What has been missing in recent years is your courage to continue in that vein without jeopardizing your past work. You have often said that an artist’s goal is to shock the audience, and I think that is a trait that you have ignored in the last decade while you consolidated the Led Zeppelin legacy. To shock is to surprise without warning, and what made your work so timeless in the past is that you found a way to blend disparate elements into one clear vision of perfection. Why not use a bit of that notion with Messrs. Jones, Bonham, and a few other musicians to see if you could continue to seek the edge in your music without a singer. I realize that you miss playing. You miss playing with a group. You’re a guitarist who is used to being in a band with a bassist, drummer, and a singer. It has been nearly nine long years since you had to leave the Black Crowes tour to get back surgery, an incident that has sidelined you to this day with only the lone gig at O2 Arena on December 10, 2007 as a memory for modern audiences to cherish. However, each journey begins with one step, and my only humble advice is that you obviously still have the energy, desire, and will to forge a new artistic campaign. Why not just start with a few simple jams, instrumentals, and riffs recorded in a studio, and released on a limited edition LP? Perhaps you could then play a series of small dates with a group of musicians while downplaying the need for this to be one big circus and a dull echo of your legendary past. Keep it focused. Deliver new music. Play live again. There is still time. Of all the 65-year old creative chaps still walking with their respective muses, you are one of a select few that can provide that artistic shock to an audience which is so important to your philosophical framework. In the meantime, rock on, happy birthday, and THANK YOU. May your music always sail across every ocean throughout all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatbo Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 the author of this letter obviously loves page's music but has little understanding of the artist.... the "advice" he offers sounds simple, but isn't. for us, the legacy of led zeppelin is for rejoicing. for the creators of that legacy, it can be crippling. opportunities for a musical situation where all involved are 100 % committed are far and few between. anyone else that chooses to collaborate with page may in fact be giving up their own artistic career. those that have no artistic ambitions but just want to perform are not the preferred collaborators. film soundtracks are wonderful collaborative musical creations, but if jimmy dedicated himself to that field, a live page onstage might even be rarer. and page onstage can move mountains.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hang-man Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Interesting take on Jimmy Page for his 65th birthday and the musical direction he should take, now that his proposed project with John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham is off. This may have been written before the statement with Jimmy's manager was released as there is no mention of it in the article. Letter to Jimmy Page (On the Occasion of Your 65th Birthday) Randy Ray Courtesy of Jambands.com January 9, 2009. Happy Birthday, Mr. Page. You have made it to the age of 65 in a career that does not spawn creative longevity or integrity—two traits you have mastered. Kudos to you on a lifetime of accomplishments. We all have benefited from your musicianship, and your album production which spawned a new way to look at how one records sound by capturing the true ambience and mystique of a room where artists hit the actual notes. Lately, it appears that you have a bit of an artistic dilemma. Not only that, everyone and their sister’s business manager appears to have their own advice on what you should do. Far be it from me to add to the Led Zeppelin funeral pyre, but I think it is to your advantage to remember why you began playing music. You heard Scotty Moore’s guitar licks on Elvis Presley’s version of “Baby Let’s Play House,” and off you went. I’m not too sure that moment of epiphany included a singer. I say this because even your one true musical soul mate Robert Plant said that your initial post-Zeppelin project, the soundtrack to Michael Winner’s Death Wish II film, was the route that he found you should have taken, and appeared disappointed that you didn’t. The instrumental passages on that inspired work contain some rather scintillating soundscapes that only you could achieve. Your playing has always featured “tangents within a framework” and that “tight but loose” feel which you have defined in the studio and the stage. What has been missing in recent years is your courage to continue in that vein without jeopardizing your past work. You have often said that an artist’s goal is to shock the audience, and I think that is a trait that you have ignored in the last decade while you consolidated the Led Zeppelin legacy. To shock is to surprise without warning, and what made your work so timeless in the past is that you found a way to blend disparate elements into one clear vision of perfection. Why not use a bit of that notion with Messrs. Jones, Bonham, and a few other musicians to see if you could continue to seek the edge in your music without a singer. I realize that you miss playing. You miss playing with a group. You’re a guitarist who is used to being in a band with a bassist, drummer, and a singer. It has been nearly nine long years since you had to leave the Black Crowes tour to get back surgery, an incident that has sidelined you to this day with only the lone gig at O2 Arena on December 10, 2007 as a memory for modern audiences to cherish. However, each journey begins with one step, and my only humble advice is that you obviously still have the energy, desire, and will to forge a new artistic campaign. Why not just start with a few simple jams, instrumentals, and riffs recorded in a studio, and released on a limited edition LP? Perhaps you could then play a series of small dates with a group of musicians while downplaying the need for this to be one big circus and a dull echo of your legendary past. Keep it focused. Deliver new music. Play live again. There is still time. Of all the 65-year old creative chaps still walking with their respective muses, you are one of a select few that can provide that artistic shock to an audience which is so important to your philosophical framework. In the meantime, rock on, happy birthday, and THANK YOU. May your music always sail across every ocean throughout all time. Hey-Up, Short & Simple, When "Sir" Jimmy Page needs "Tips & Advice" on what he Should or Should not do, there is nobody on a "Higher Plain" on this Revolving Planet than he. Jimmy Page (& all Led Zeppelin members) can walk on water & then Turn it into Wine, thats enough for me. All the best, Hang-man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGDAN Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 "for us, the legacy of led zeppelin is for rejoicing. for the creators of that legacy, it can be crippling." Hi Beatbo, You Sir, have certainly been visited by the giver of insight, and intelegence abounds in your every posts on this forum. You could not have put the situation to us more clearly, and now we can see why Robert is not forthcomming on the musical venture that we all want him to undertake. I for one can see why he would not want to partake in the carnal venture that he has been accoustomed too, a New Virgin to be deflowered in every City that the Tour Bus passes through. He is a better man than I, and most of us Red Bloodied men on here, how could he resist? Regards, Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatbo Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hi Beatbo, You Sir, have certainly been visited by the giver of insight, and intelegence abounds in your every posts on this forum. You could not have put the situation to us more clearly, and now we can see why Robert is not forthcomming on the musical venture that we all want him to undertake. I for one can see why he would not want to partake in the carnal venture that he has been accoustomed too, a New Virgin to be deflowered in every City that the Tour Bus passes through. He is a better man than I, and most of us Red Bloddied men on here, how could he resist? Regards, Danny hey, danny! you're too kind. this dope thinks jimmy page onstage is a "dull echo". he has oviously never felt the hammer of the gods drive a spike in his forehead live. i have 18 in mine.... regards, beatbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGDAN Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 hey, danny! you're too kind. this dope thinks jimmy page onstage is a "dull echo". he has oviously never felt the hammer of the gods drive a spike in his forehead live. i have 18 in mine.... regards, beatbo Hi Beatbo, Not kind, just honest. I've seen the man 4 times, would have seen him more but tickets to see the Guitar God are few and far between over here. Still I have no complaints, he always delivered more than I could ever have hoped for live, and I hope to see him again some time in the near future, like we all do. Regards, Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 It's possible that the material just wasn't there and he couldn't commit to it because it may not have been up to his standards. I don't think we have seen the last of Jimmy. I think he will come up with something and hopefully surprise us with some great material. Let's hope. With everyone living longer, today's 65 is around yesterday's 55 or somewhere in there, so maybe he doesn't feel that old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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