Jimmy Page - What’s Up?

Hello,

I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Page's Zep work, and could discourse endlessly upon it - album by album, track by track, overdub by overdub.

But here it is, freakin' 2006, and he has released very little that is worthy of his vision, his talent, his energy.

I mean, sure there's the Firm, his solo lp, Coverdale/Page, the three new No Quarter pieces (which are excellent), and Walking to Clarkdale (also mostly excellent), (and the various star apearances and soundtrack work). I'm aware of his work.

But, really, since Zep disbanded, he has yet to put out something truly representative of what he can do, in my opinion.

So, frankly, I wondering and I'm asking you, what happened to Page?

Like I said, I'm a huge Page fan and I know a lot of you are too, but at this point, I guess I'm just wondering, what's up?

jimmy's been too busy doing charity work and  collecting awards and honours lately- he deserves 'em!

announcements from JP website:

"Guitar legend Jimmy Page was among some of Britain's greatest musicians to be included on Queen Elizabeth's annual list of birthday honours this year.

Page, a founding member of Led Zeppelin, was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his charity work on behalf of poor Brazilian children with Task Brazil and the ABC Trust charity organizations. After his wife Jimena set up the charity – which raises money for Brazilian street children – the founder member of legendary band Led Zeppelin has spent the past decade raising money and raising the profile of the cause.

 Mark Ereira of ABC Trust said: "We are obviously very pleased. We were part of the nomination process as we wanted to recognise what he was doing for the charity as well all he has achieved in music."

"He is extremely important to the trust, a champion for our cause, and he gives a lot of his time to help us raise the profile. The charity would not be where it is today without all his incredible help."

"Jimmy was presented the award on Dec 14th 2005 at Buckingham Palace in London. The 61-year-old rocker said he was overwhelmed to be given the accolade, recalling how he first became involved with Brazilian children in 1994 when fighting broke out between street gangs while he was in Rio de Janeiro promoting an album."At that time in Rio the sun wasn't shining. The army was going into the favelas (shantytowns) and I heard about the plight of the street children,"  said Page.

He joined forces with the British charity Task Brazil and set up a safe
house which has so far supported more than 300 children."I think when you're faced with a plight that's inescapable, and there's something you can do about it, you hope you can make a difference," he said. Page added: "The Queen actually said it was very important work and that it was a horrible problem for the street children."

and not only but also...

"The surviving members of legendary rock band Led Zeppelin have been invited to the land of ice and snow to collect Sweden's most prestigious music award and a cheque for one million kronor (almost $125,000 US). The British band were named winners of the 2006 Polar Music Prize. The award was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, through a donation to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. "

and...

"Jimmy Page, the legendary guitarist for the rock group Led Zeppelin, became the first artist to be immortalised in the British Walk of Fame in London, England on Monday, August 23rd. Page officially opened the new attraction on London's Piccadilly by casting his handprints in cement.

The site, outside the new Virgin Music Superstore in Piccadilly Circus (formerly the old Tower Records store), London's landmark crossroads, is to be a tourist magnet for the city, which attracted more than 15 million foreign tourists last year.
Based on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in the USA, the British version will soon add more music icons including Beatles survivors Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and David Bowie.

"It's a real privilege and a great honour to be the first person to be immortalised this way," said the 60-year-old Page, after leaving his prints in fresh cement. "I'm really chuffed. A Walk of Fame is a fantastic idea and it's high time we had one in London. There are a lot of musicians out there who deserve the honour. If you started putting in all the people I think are deserving, you could cover the whole of London."

mystic fred wrote: jimmy's been too busy doing charity work and  collecting awards and honours lately- he deserves 'em! announcements from JP website: "Guitar legend Jimmy Page was among some of Britain's greatest musicians to be included on Queen Elizabeth's annual list of birthday honours this year. Page, a founding member of Led Zeppelin, was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for his charity work on behalf of poor Brazilian children with Task Brazil and the ABC Trust charity organizations. After his wife Jimena set up the charity – which raises money for Brazilian street children – the founder member of legendary band Led Zeppelin has spent the past decade raising money and raising the profile of the cause.  Mark Ereira of ABC Trust said: "We are obviously very pleased. We were part of the nomination process as we wanted to recognise what he was doing for the charity as well all he has achieved in music." "He is extremely important to the trust, a champion for our cause, and he gives a lot of his time to help us raise the profile. The charity would not be where it is today without all his incredible help." "Jimmy was presented the award on Dec 14th 2005 at Buckingham Palace in London. The 61-year-old rocker said he was overwhelmed to be given the accolade, recalling how he first became involved with Brazilian children in 1994 when fighting broke out between street gangs while he was in Rio de Janeiro promoting an album."At that time in Rio the sun wasn't shining. The army was going into the favelas (shantytowns) and I heard about the plight of the street children,"  said Page. He joined forces with the British charity Task Brazil and set up a safe house which has so far supported more than 300 children."I think when you're faced with a plight that's inescapable, and there's something you can do about it, you hope you can make a difference," he said. Page added: "The Queen actually said it was very important work and that it was a horrible problem for the street children." and not only but also... "The surviving members of legendary rock band Led Zeppelin have been invited to the land of ice and snow to collect Sweden's most prestigious music award and a cheque for one million kronor (almost $125,000 US). The British band were named winners of the 2006 Polar Music Prize. The award was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, through a donation to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. " and... "Jimmy Page, the legendary guitarist for the rock group Led Zeppelin, became the first artist to be immortalised in the British Walk of Fame in London, England on Monday, August 23rd. Page officially opened the new attraction on London's Piccadilly by casting his handprints in cement. The site, outside the new Virgin Music Superstore in Piccadilly Circus (formerly the old Tower Records store), London's landmark crossroads, is to be a tourist magnet for the city, which attracted more than 15 million foreign tourists last year. Based on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame in the USA, the British version will soon add more music icons including Beatles survivors Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and David Bowie. "It's a real privilege and a great honour to be the first person to be immortalised this way," said the 60-year-old Page, after leaving his prints in fresh cement. "I'm really chuffed. A Walk of Fame is a fantastic idea and it's high time we had one in London. There are a lot of musicians out there who deserve the honour. If you started putting in all the people I think are deserving, you could cover the whole of London."

Yes, I've read this stuff too, but receiving awards doesn't really keep you "busy" (and of course he deserves them). Also, I think it's great that he's doing charity work, but again, we're talking about years and years of recording inactivity. I just think there's something going on with him, like he's lost his confidence or something. For a man who has devoted his earlier life to the guitar, to the art of the guitar, it's just frustrating to meet with the sparse output of his post Zep period.

Peter wrote: I would imagine age has much to do with it. Most artist's most productive/original years are those prior to middle age (20s-30s). I think youthful anger, aggression & angst are often good for art (especially rock), and we generally become more contented as we age (we tend to attain love, career goals, parenthood, etc). Study major artists/musicians, and I'm certain you'll find that, overwhelmingly, their earliest years are seen as their "best" re their art. "The best art comes from pain" is an oft-repeated maxim. Perhaps ol' Jimmy P is just too darned happy!

While I see your point, I personally don't think Page is just happy and that explains the inactivity; as an artist he's too ambitious for that. Actually, most artists that I'm aware of produce into their final years, and while their most popular work may be the work of their youth, their most mature work is usually their later work. I'm not looking for Jimmy to recreate the scorching intensity of the early Zep years, I just want to hear what he's into now.

I even want to hear Page do soundscapes, if it has to come to that...

Peter wrote: bluetailfly wrote: Peter wrote: I would imagine age has much to do with it. Most artist's most productive/original years are those prior to middle age (20s-30s). I think youthful anger, aggression & angst are often good for art (especially rock), and we generally become more contented as we age (we tend to attain love, career goals, parenthood, etc). Study major artists/musicians, and I'm certain you'll find that, overwhelmingly, their earliest years are seen as their "best" re their art. "The best art comes from pain" is an oft-repeated maxim. Perhaps ol' Jimmy P is just too darned happy! While I see your point, I personally don't think Page is just happy and that explains the inactivity; as an artist he's too ambitious for that. Actually, most artists that I'm aware of produce into their final years, and while their most popular work may be the work of their youth, their most mature work is usually their later work. I'm not looking for Jimmy to recreate the scorching intensity of the early Zep years, I just want to hear what he's into now. I even want to hear Page do soundscapes, if it has to come to that... Well, i did say "I imagine age has much to do with it." No, I don't imagine age alone accounts for Page's dwindling output/quality, but it's likely one of the relevant factors. Also, perhaps he has "said" most of what he wants to say in music, and is leery of imitating himself, or becoming a pathetic, Vegas-playing charicature of his younger self (see Elvis, etc). (Witness The Far Side's Gary Larson, and his early retirement for just that reason.) Better to go out on a high note, when on top. "It's better to burn out, than to fade away...."

Yes, maybe so, and I'm not disagreeing with you as much as I am disagreeing with that choice. Doing a comic strip every day will burn you out, so what Larsen did makes sense. And he's still doing new far side stuff. I think the 2006 calendar was all new. I mean he still creates.

But Page is smart enough to not be an Elvis (and anyway, Elvis was never that pathetic, imo; at least he got out there and did his show; I think if you were a fan, you wouldn't have thought it was pathetic; it just appeared pathetic in contrast to sixties and seventies counter culture coolness.)

But Page, I think it's mental. I think he feels trapped by his legacy. It may be safer to go out on top in terms of media attention, but it seems like a rather difficult way to live your life as a performer, especially one as dynamic as Page.