Unlike other rock guitarists who made themselves strutting frontmen with sub-par and often anonymous musicians as their backing bands, when Page setup Led Zeppelin in late 1968, he surrounded himself with three musicians who were, in many respects, better on their instruments than he was on his, which takes a pretty good handle on the ego to accomplish.
But by the mid-1970s, Zeppelin's monstrous success consumed the group. With no one to say no to them, and bank accounts large enough to easily fuel the biggest drug habits, cocaine and (especially) heroin would eventually destroy the group. While Page was very much the mastermind behind the group's first albums, by 1979 bassist John Paul Jones was doing yeoman work to write and arrange the songs for their last album as a group, In Through The Out Door. Case quotes Jones describing thos sessions. Jones and lead vocalist Robert Plant "would turn up first, Bonzo would turn up later, and Page might turn up a couple of days later...The thing is, when that situation occurs, you either sit down waiting or get down to some playing".
Minor Errors, Questionable Final Chapter
I did notice some minor errors: if Page's 1970s-era musical pyrotechnics inspired you to play guitar (as they did me), you'll catch several glaring mistakes in Case's descriptions of Page's equipment. Describing the launch parties for Swan Song, Zeppelin's record label in 1974, Case confuses New York's Four Seasons Restaurant with the Four Seasons Hotel. And he sets the film Death Wish II in Manhattan, when that sequel very much took place in Los Angeles.
A more serious mistake is the error in judgment involving the book's final chapter, titled, "Outrider: Interpreting The Rune Of Zoso," a misleading title for a chapter that has little to do with deciphering rock's equivalent to Croatoan or Rosebud. (Though to be fair, Case gives it a game attempt earlier in the book during the section on Led Zep IV. Or "four symbols." Or whatever you'd like to call it.) This chapter is instead a long first-person reminiscence of how the author was himself inspired by Page, a rather mawkish coda to end the book on.
But to give the author credit, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first biography of Jimmy Page since Howard Mylett's thorough, though heavily clip-driven look from 1984, Tangents Within A Framework. (Still worth seeking out on eBay, incidentally, for committed Zepaholics.) When that book was written, Page was just beginning to break his long silence after the 1980 death of drummer John Bonham, and the subsequent permanent grounding of the Zeppelin.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!
2 - paul
Let's hope that the book is better than this meandering and pointless review.
3 - John Troulis
After finishing Juliann Whites Book: "Past Presence", I went on to George Case's :" Magnus, Musician, Man". I felt is was a great read. Actually I couldn't put it down. being a died in the wool Zeppelin fan, although never actually seeing the original Led Zeppelin, I found it to be insightful and interesting. Case definitely did his homework and I can't imagine the hours that went into his research for this project. A good deal of the information in the book was pretty common knowledge, although I was surprised by a fair amount of facts I didn't know of. I did get to see Page several times through his career. The Firm tour, which I thought was great being my first time seeing Jimmy live. Great music, sound, solos, singing. Everything. Really good stuff, with the exception of the ride to Long Island all the way from my home in New Jersey. The solo tour which was a little less spectacular for me personally. I found the singer to be a weak knockoff of Robert Plant at best and Jimmy seemed lost and sort of going through the motions of being a 70's rock Icon trying to make the magic he is best know for. It seemed he held his breath before unleashing his solo for Dazed and Confused, which was sloppy and nowhere near what he is capable of as a guitarist. Just shooting for that big show stopping solo without having the luxury of having a great band to help him with the song around the solo. All the same it was great to see him. No one moves like Jimmy Page on stage and no one ever will in my opinion. The last few times I saw him was from the 7th row at the new Spectrum in Philadelphia. Just awesome with Robert for the first leg of their tour. Everything you'd expect. "The Song Remains The Same" was a highlight for me. The way he plays that double neck gives me goose bumps every-time. The next time was at the Meadowlands arena in New Jersey. The second leg of the Page/Plant tour. Awesome again! The orchestra was great and added some great color and depth to the Zeppelin music. I loved it! The very last time I saw Jimmy was the second tour. Without the orchestra. At Madison Square Garden, no less. A place Brian May of Queen had stated in 1978 when I saw Queen there; "The greatest gig in the world". No small compliment from a man thats broken many attendance records all over the world. Two solid hours of no nonsense Zeppelin music. Heavy blues deluxe at it's best! From the opener of the "Wanton Song" through the entire show, I was hypnotized. It was great to see how strong the band and Jimmy played. Total conviction and just raw energy!
I highly recommend George Case's book along with Juliann Whites. Great reading!