To be a successful “rock star” in this day and age, you have to be accessible. MTV pulled the curtain, but the Internet, social media and meet-and-greets have placed unprecedented demands on the “rock star,” a figure once shrouded in mystique and aura. Well, at least the cool ones like Jimmy Page. A big part of Led Zeppelin’s appeal in the 1970s was this air of mystery and intrigue that surrounded the band, and Jimmy Page was largely responsible for that. Chris Salewicz captures the essence of the man, the music he created, and more in Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography.
For nearly 500 pages, the reader learns about the life of one of rock’s most influential and intriguing icons. A sleight, frail, yet intelligent and sophisticated artist who mastered the guitar, Page ascended the ladder in the early 1960s music business quickly, becoming an in-demand session musician by the time he reached 20, playing on records by Van Morrison, the Who and the Kinks, among others. From there, Page joined the Yardbirds with his friend Jeff Beck. Salewicz is there to detail each step the guitarist takes towards creating his masterpiece — the mighty Led Zeppelin.
Along the way, Salewicz reminds us of Page’s dark side, his obsession with notorious occultist Aleister Crowley, his numerous liaisons with women and young girls, and the insurmountable control he attained as the leader of the biggest band of the world, and his descent into a cocaine and heroin addiction that only got worse after John Bonham’s death. Somehow, over the course of Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant reunions, along with other personal and professional events, Page emerges as a cleaned-up father, philanthropist, and musical legend who continues to carry the Led Zeppelin torch and bask in its never-ending glory.
Salewicz includes full interviews he has done with Page, as well as accounts from band insiders, friends, groupies, business associates, other musicians, producers and various relevant concerned onlookers. While a lot of the information in the book is well-known among fans, there are a few obscure tidbits here and there that provide fodder for trivia buffs bent on knowing the gooey underside of a public persona.
The Face to Face chapter, which comprises a long-winded account of Salewicz’s 1977 in-person interview with Page, along with another “face to face” exchange between the author and the guitarist in 1979 before the Led Zeppelin’s Knebworth gig, somewhat slow the pace, and the post-Zeppelin chapters, the last 60 pages of the book, could use a little more bulk in spots. For the most part, however, Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography, now available on paperback, presents a full and vivid portrayal, which, despite a heavy emphasis on the artist’s flaws, ultimately reveals a survivor whose sway and suaveness have never fallen out of style.
~ Shawn Perry
