Jimmy Page, the guitar mastermind behind Led Zeppelin, is often celebrated for his pioneering riffs and iconic solos. But even a legend like Page has his heroes – some widely known and others less celebrated.
In a 1975 Rolling Stone interview, Page reflected on the devastating losses of two extraordinary guitarists. “We’ve lost the best guitarist any of us ever had, and that was Hendrix,” he lamented. “The other guitarist I started to get into died also, Clarence White. He was absolutely brilliant. Gosh.”
White’s work with The Byrds and The Kentucky Colonels, particularly his innovative use of the B-Bender guitar, left a lasting impression on Page. The B-Bender, which White co-invented with drummer Gene Parsons, allows a guitarist to bend notes with a pedal-like mechanism, creating pedal-steel-like sounds. It was a game-changer, and when Page first heard it, he was mesmerized.
“I heard The Byrds’ Untitled album. It’s a live album, and I thought, What the hell is he doing?” Page recalled in an interview with Guitar Player in 2023. “It turned out it was Clarence White playing on the Gene Parsons and Clarence White invention. His idea was to make the string pitch up.”
The discovery of White’s technique soon found its way into Page’s own music, especially on Led Zeppelin’s 1979 album In Through the Out Door. “Albert Lee was the first person I saw using the string bender when he was playing with Eric Clapton. He let me have a go on it,” Page explained. “I managed to get one and started playing it in the days of Led Zeppelin.”
Tragically, Clarence White’s life was cut short in 1973 at just 29 when he was hit by a drunk driver.
While Page holds White in high regard, he’s also an admirer of other less-talked-about guitarists, as he disclosed in the same Rolling Stone interview, when asked which were some of his favorites.
He started by listing Amos Garrett, known for his smooth solo on Maria Muldaur’s ‘Midnight at the Oasis’. Page singled out Garrett’s style as “Les Paul-oriented” and highlighted his control and precision as something truly special, saying: “He’s brilliant.”
And, of course, Les Paul himself left a profound mark on Page’s playing. Beyond inventing the electric guitar as we know it, Paul also gave Page some invaluable advice. “Les Paul said to me, ‘You know what you can do? Same picture, different frame,’” Page told GQ in 2021. “So you never lose the main part of your character that’s recognized, but you adjust the framing of the picture.”
Another guitarist who earned Page’s respect is Elliott Randall, the session player behind the unforgettable solo on Steely Dan’s ‘Reelin’ in the Years’. Page didn’t hold back when rating the track. “That’s cool. I like that one. Steely Dan, classic,” he said in a 2016 interview, giving it a solid “12 out of 10.”
Jimmy has also never made secret his love for Jimi Hendrix – even though the Seattle-born icon was an avid critic of Led Zeppelin’s music. In a Hendrix quote from the ‘70s, he is credited with saying: “I don’t think much of Led Zeppelin – I mean, I don’t think much about them”, although he conceded: “Jimmy Page is a great guitarist”.
Page even admitted to regretting not having officially met him back in the day: “The only time I actually saw him was at a club called Salvation in New York. He was across the room from where I was sitting with some friends. He looked a little worse for wear. I thought, There will be a more favorable time. In the end, there wasn’t.”