The songs Jimmy Page called the best of The Yardbirds: “Some great stuff”

A lot of people call Jimmy Page the greatest guitarist in the world, and that’s fair enough. He’s not just very good, but he’s incredibly versatile. There is something about the way that Jimmy Page plays that continues to haunt and surprise, as every song you listen to that he is involved in touches upon various sounds, cultures, and styles. But it took a lot for Jimmy Page to get to the level where he did.

The first thing that needed to happen was that Jimmy Page had to go to a school where guitar lessons were banned. He already had an adoration for the instrument, so much so that he would take it to school with him, knowing it would be taken off him, purely because he liked to carry the instrument around with him everywhere he went.

His school didn’t allow guitar lessons, which many people would likely see as some kind of disadvantage, as it meant that Page was held up in learning how to play; however, this meant that he had to teach himself. He expanded upon his listening by dabbling in various genres that had great guitar sections. He was also often an outsider looking in when working out how to play different passages. It gave him a good ear and a good feel for the guitar.

The next thing that had to happen was that Jimmy Page needed to collapse in Sheffield. Yes, I know that sounds extreme, but this marked the beginning of a vital period for the Led Zeppelin guitarist. The first time Page went on tour was playing lead for Neil Christian and the Crusaders. Things were going well, and people were turning up to the show just to watch this new guitar protégé that everyone was talking about, but the touring life proved too much for a young Page.

Why Jimmy Page’s early setbacks helped shape his guitar mastery

One night, before a gig in Sheffield, Jimmy Page collapsed and had to go home early from the tour. A combination of partying, playing and travelling simply proved a bit too much for him. He was put off touring as a result, and he focused on working as a studio musician instead. This was another important period for him, as he learned more about different genres and different recording processes.

Finally, Page had to play in The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds are one of the most important bands when it comes to modern guitar playing, as Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton all set the standard for what a good rock guitarist should sound like. It was also Page’s first experience playing in, recording with and touring with a band. In fact, a lot of the ideas he eventually brought forward for those early Led Zeppelin albums were ideas he initially thought of in The Yardbirds.

He spoke very fondly of his time in the band because of how influential they were for him, and he had a number of different songs that he was proud of making for them. It begs the question, what was the best? Well, somebody has already asked Page that, and his answer is relatively decisive.

“Jeff and I were playing in The Yardbirds together. When Chris Dreja was taking over the bass, Jeff and I were doing twin leads and harmonies and all of that,” he said, “It was pretty interesting, and we had some great stuff going. ‘Happenings Ten Years Times Ago’ is probably one of the best things to hear of that, or ‘Beck’s Bolero’. And when Jeff left, bit by bit, I got more used to doing it all, and I knew the numbers, so I sort of just took over all of the guitar parts.”