Why It Got Loud...It Might Get Loud: Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page: Led Zeppelin mastermind.

While The White Stripes is my newest interest and U2 is my earliest memory, of the three bands represented in "It Might Get Loud," Led Zeppelin is my hands-down favorite. Like almost anyone else, I had heard of Led Zeppelin, but for much of my life, I had no idea what any of their songs were. I certainly had no concept of their influence on all rock and roll that has followed since their dominance of the 1970s.

In fact, my earliest pseudo-Zeppelin memory is of some goofy-looking guy named Robert Plant in a cheesey 80s music video. As far as I knew, he was just one of many terrible 80s artists. When I got into Zeppelin (12 to 15 years later) and realized the lead singer of this sonic beast was Plant, I was baffled. For me, that name had always been synonymous with Miami Vice, Max Headroom, and time-traveling DeLorians. It wasn't until Widespread Panic covered "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" in the late 90s that I had any interest in Led Zeppelin.

Wait...so the guy that did this...

Also did this?

It was then that a friend loaned me Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album and I avoided returning it for as long as possible. To this day, this is one of two or three albums I'd consider taking with me in one of those deserted island hypothetical situations. From "Black Dog" to "Rock and Roll" (a.k.a. the Cadillac commercial song in recent years) to "The Battle of Evermore" to "Misty Mountain Hop" to "Going to California" to "When the Levee Breaks," this is quite possibly the single greatest recording in history. That's to say nothing of the ground-breaking drum antics of John Bonham on "Four Sticks" (easily my least favorite track on the album) or the most requested song of all-time, "Stairway to Heaven."

This album opened up an entirely new world of music to me. Never before had I heard such power. The sound was and still is so heavy, that despite countless advancements in technology, I don't think anyone has ever been able to recapture anything like it. All other music paled in comparison to Led Zeppelin, specifically their fourth album. With 37 million copies sold, it ranks as the 12th highest selling album in the history of the world. I'm honestly shocked it isn't higher on the list. That said, it ranks as the third highest selling album in United States history. Not bad for a band that hasn't released a new track in three decades.

If you don't already own it and you ever see this odd image at a record store, pay whatever it takes to take it home with you. I guarantee you won't be disappointed in this, the greatest album of all time...name or no name.

Statistics aside, this all leads into one of the Jimmy Page highlights of "It Might Get Loud" for me. The film takes us inside of Headley Grange, a three-story stone house in which Led Zeppelin recorded much of the fourth album. Most notably, I've read numerous articles that mentioned the cavernous hallway/staircase area in which the drum track to "When the Levee Breaks" was recorded. If you aren't familiar with this song, stop reading right now, find it on the internet, plug your computer into the loudest stereo you can find, and crank the volume as loud as you can. I have yet to hear a drum track as heavy and ominous as the drum track on "When the Levee Breaks."

An ancient blues song, Zeppelin remade it into their own epic. Not to get too far off the subject of "It Might Get Loud" or Jimmy Page, but I promise this all ties back into the bigger picture. "Levee" might be my favorite song on my favorite album of all time. The nearly unbearable weight of this song, as best as I can tell, can be attributed to two things: the genius of recording the drum track in such a tremendous open space as the hallway/stairway of Headley Grange and the production genius of Jimmy Page slowing the track down (to the point that it was nearly impossible to replicate live). Other effects (backwards echo on the harmonica, placing the echo ahead of the initial sound) were also key.

The only picture of the Headley Grange staircase I could find.

All that is to say that when "It Might Get Loud" took me inside Headley Grange with Jimmy Page and revealed the infamous hallway/staircase in which much of this took place, I literally got chills. I honestly can't think of a parallel for such footage. Maybe Elvis taking you on a tour of Sunset Studios? Paul McCartney giving you a tour of Abbey Road Studios? Neither of those scenarios really capture the significance of the footage for me, but that's the best I can do. This was where musical history was made and your tour guide was one of the guys that made it happen. Unbelievable.

Headley Grange as it was.

As I told one of the friends that watched this with me, Jimmy Page was the brains behind Led Zeppelin. I'm a huge Robert Plant fan . His vocals were absolutely unrivaled by anyone I ever heard before or since. Many imitated it (Steven Tyler, Axle Rose, every hair band in the 80s, etc.), but no one ever compared. Even approaching his twilight years, as his vocal range seems to have faded a bit, the purity and smoothness of his voice remain unmatched. And he isn't a bad songwriter either.

Even with the charisma of a frontman like Plant, Zeppelin would have never taken off without Page. An accomplished session musician on random tracks for various British artists (The Who, The Rolling Stones, etc.), Page landed a gig with The Yardbirds just as their time was coming to a close. When The Yardbirds came apart and their manager suggested he form a "New Yardbirds," Led Zeppelin was born (performing early shows as "The New Yardbirds").

The New Yardbirds? Nothing against Beck or Clapton, but this doesn't look like their thing. Thank God for Keith Moon's (The Who's drummer) quip that this band would take off like a "Lead Zeppelin."

Page and his new lead singer, Robert Plant, were fast friends and shared a lot of similar musical passions. Where Plant was a vocal prodigy and impressive songwriter, Page was a daring composer and producer. Not only did his guitar antics rival Hendrix and anyone in generations to come, but he would tinker with effects and technology in the studio to create sounds, depth, and breadth that no one had ever dreamed of. Layers upon layers of sound would give Led Zeppelin its unique place in music history, all at the direction of Jimmy Page.

This guy's name is Jimmy Page. He plays guitar well.

So, back to "It Might Get Loud." Aside from the Headley Grange footage, any shot containing Jimmy Page demanded my full attention. When The Edge's (and Jack White's) eyes lit up watching Page play "Whole Lotta Love," I felt like the lucky guy that introduced them to Led Zeppelin decades ago. Of course, they were well aware of Zeppelin 20 to 40 years prior, but to see the expressions on their faces, you would think it was their first time witnessing the genius of Jimmy Page. Remarkable.

Wow, they got old. But the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion suggests that neither Page (right) nor Plant (left) have lost a step...at least according to the caregivers at their respective nursing homes.

Two final highlights for me: "In My Time of Dying" and "Kashmir." "In My Time of Dying" is (like many classic Zeppelin songs) an old blues song reworked into a hard rock epic. I could rattle off 10 or 20 Led Zeppelin songs that many moderately interested fans would recognize, but "In My Time of Dying" is one of the few (along with "Levee" and "Kashmir") that could stand alone as works of art to anyone that never heard Zeppelin play a note.

In and of itself, "Dying" contains multiple movements and arrangements that should impress a classical music buff. The slide guitar and funky off-beat rhythm make it a mind-blowing track worthy of more praise than it has ever received. Now, take iconic guitar players from the last two generations, saddle them with the task of playing along with the genius that orchestrated it all 30+ years ago, and see what happens.

White and The Edge do their best to keep up with Jimmy.

What happens is one of the most incredible couple of minutes in my musical memory. Say what you will about any one of these guitar players or their respective bands, but the three of them absolutely destroyed "In My Time of Dying" in a way that I never imagined. Page handled the best known licks, but both White and The Edge added nuances (both playing slide guitar) that took this song to an entirely new level. I literally scooted to the edge of my seat, hung on every note, and shook away the chill bumps as this song came to an end. I would have done terrible things for another few notes.

I won't spend as much time on "Kashmir" since it is actually in the special features, but suffice it to say that many similar thoughts crossed my mind as a couple of guys that just gained enormous amounts of my respect watched in awe as one of my (and millions others') heroes taught them another lesson about one of his many iconic riffs. Absolutely surreal.

You may be able to hear "Stairway" in any guitar shop, but it never sounds as sweet as when Jimmy plays it on his double-neck.

In short, Led Zeppelin is rock and roll, Jimmy Page is Led Zeppelin, and nothing would have ever been as loud without him.