Cover Image: Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page

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Member Reviews

I finished this book but it took me a long time. I am not sure why the author wrote this book since he clearly is not very fond or Page or LZ unless it was just to get his long ago interview back into print. There was no new information here. A lot of book seems to be information from other sources. I am not a fan of reading fan posts in a book. I can do that on the internet. A lot of emphasis is on the black magic aspect of Page. I think the author was right this book is cursed.

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This is a well written and thoroughly researched. From his childhood through the last lawsuit they have been dealing with if you have been following the outcome will be at the end. I actually liked this book very much and you get a total look at the man the person, the group and a look into what I think was at least the main reason why they broke up. Seeing how they all came together and how the critics didn’t want anything to do with them when their first album came out. Everything changed when they began selling records and stadiums. I have to admit I was one of those kids living in a small desert town when hearing the music I bought the album with some money I had and I was hooked. I did not buy the rolling stone because as a kid there were other magazines to buy that were more important, plus baseball cards. Their music was what made everything and then went into the seventies. Reading these pages took me back into time and I was able to see what their lives were like the good and the not so good and the pressure of making the next album better than the last. Even the one people don’t like critics I still think is some of their best work. A fantastic book about true rock and roll.

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"Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography" is a massive book, detailed, researched, and thorough, focusing primarily on Page's musical career both as a session musician and as the founder of the mega-group, Led Zeppelin. It's focus is on the things most fans are most interested - the Zeppelin years. As such, it details the quick rise of Page to guitar god status and his - and the band's - downfall in arrogance, in drug addiction, and eventually, with the death of Bonzo (John Bonham, the drummer) choking to death on an alcohol binge, the end of the biggest Tyrannosaurus rex of rock bands, and Page's withdrawal and hermitlike years following the dissolution of the surviving three-quarters of the band. As such, what you are reading feels like a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy.

From the introduction, the author and is determined to present Page and the band in an honest light, warts and all. With an arrogance and a swagger that came from early success, there was violence around the band, groupies, including underage girls, were ever-present, as were what would become mountains of coke and heroin and booze. In the later years, the tours were marred by riots in the streets and by musicians who were so doped up, they could barely complete a set. And, whole chapters are given to Page's fascination with Alistair Crowley and his twisted world of black magic.

The tours are each discussed, particularly the success of the American tours, as well as the production of each album, the pressures of putting out each album, and the sales success of each.

It is a testament to how awesomely talented Page is that his music has remained so popular for so long and that each and every note of many of the songs are instantly recognizable. For me, I would have liked to hear more about the composition of the songs, but that's probably a different book.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

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This biography was well researched and contained a lot of information that I hadn’t previously read in other books. The author’s attention to detail is evident in the writing. Highly recommend!

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