These three musicians heavily inspired Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. And we can definitely see why. Plenty of self-taught guitarists like him who have achieved legendary status in rock music have hailed these three iconic rockabilly and blues musicians as inspirations as well.
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1. Elmore James
More than most musicians, blues guitarist Elmore James had a massive impact on Jimmy Page as a young man. He talked about James a few times throughout his career, too.
Elmore James was known for his genre-changing slide guitar work in the early 20th century. That influence can be heard in Page’s music as well. He even covered “Shake Your Money Maker” back in 1999 with The Black Crowes.
2. Gene Vincent
Unless you’re a diehard rockabilly fan, you may have never heard of the incomparable Gene Vincent. This leather-clad rockabilly icon made it big in the mid-1950s with The Blue Caps through their song “Be-Bop-A-Lula”. Vincent inspired Jimmy Page quite a bit, notably for bringing a new, harder vibe to rock music ahead of Led Zeppelin’s heyday.
“We were really, really keen on exactly the same things with the Gene Vincent records and Ricky Nelson records,” Page said of Vincent’s influence on himself and Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. “There were all these fine guitar solos by James Burton and one of the things that we would ask of each other was ‘What’s your version of My Babe?’ ‘OK, what’s your version?’ That sort of seemed to be a common ground between most guitarists around that time, to see how well other guys could cut this solo.”
3. Muddy Waters
You’ll be hard-pressed to find any guitarist who came up in the mid-20th century who wasn’t inspired by the incredible talent known as Muddy Waters. Waters inspired Jimmy Page heavily. And he paved the way for a new generation of guitarists who loved Chicago blues and wanted to take the natural next step into rock music. Waters was an absolutely electric musician, and Page recognized that on multiple occasions.
“As much as there’s technical playing, there’s a whole atmosphere to the performance that really got me as much as anything else,” said Page of Waters’ song “Standing Around Crying”. “That was just so eerie. Oh, my goodness. I get the chills even thinking about that one.”
Photo by Lester Cohen
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