Some people just can’t get in to the Christmas mood, Led Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page was less than cheerful discussing some of his fellow musicians in an interview with GQ magazine.
Page was happily chatting about the latest reissues of Led Zeppelin’s back catalogue, when he became irritated by questions about former bandmate and Cream drummer Ginger Baker.
The guitarist also wasn’t too thrilled being asked about his band’s frontman Robert Plant and his point blank refusal to reform Led Zeppelin, even though Richard Branson offered the group €500 million to reform.
Jimmy wouldn’t even entertain any questions about Whitesnake’s singer David Coverdale, his interest in all things satanist and his alleged history with drugs.
Speaking With GQ, he says he was upset by Ginger’s comments in the film ‘Beware Of Mr Baker’, about deceased drummer John Bonham.
Page says: “That’s an interesting film, because of the way the film starts. Doesn’t it start with Ginger hitting the director with a cane?
“I was a bit disappointed by that. His criticism was that Bonham didn’t swing. I was like, ‘Oh, Ginger. That’s the only thing that’s undeniable about Bonham.’ I thought that was stupid. That was a really silly thing of him to say.”
Discussing Robert Plant, he says: “Sometimes I raise my eyebrows at the things he says, but that’s all I can say about it. I don’t make a point to read what he says about Zeppelin.”
“But people will read me things he has said, and I will usually say, ‘Are you sure you’re quoting him correctly?’ It’s always a little surprising. But I can’t answer for him.”
“I have a respect for the work of everyone in the band. I can’t be dismissive of the work we did together. I sort of know what he’s doing. But I don’t fully understand it.”
Chatting about John Bonham, Page says: “I was very keen on making the most of John Bonham’s drum sound, because he was such a technician in terms of tuning his drums for projection. You don’t want a microphone right in front of the drum kit.
“Sonically, distance makes depth. So employing that ambience was very important, because drums are acoustic instruments. The only time John Bonham ever got to be John Bonham was when he was in Led Zeppelin.
“You know, he plays on some Paul McCartney solo tracks. But you’d never know it was him, because of the way it was recorded. It’s all closed down.”
