Keith Richards is one of the most sincere Rock stars out there and has never been afraid to give his honest opinion on other artists and bands, even when he didn’t like them at all. Part of the music business since the 1960s, he already rated many of his peers over the decades, including the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist and producer Jimmy Page.
How Keith Richards rates Jimmy Page as a guitarist
“I love Jimmy Page, but as a band, no, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler. He had cornered the market there. Jimmy is a brilliant player. But I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 2015. He had previously praised Robert Plant, calling him “exuberant,” but in his view, Led Zeppelin was all about Jimmy Page.
“As a band I thought they never took off musically. At the same time Jimmy Page is one of the best guitar players ever known. (They had) a hell of a powerhouse drummer, I think is kind of heavy-handed, myself, but that’s where the “Led” comes in. But at the same time Plant is exuberant, Robert is exuberant.”
He continued:
“Absolutely an LV (Lead vocalist), although I think he is very much in that English mood of Elvis, Roger Daltrey. There was the fringes and blah, blah, blah, and the microphone. (He also recalls) Rod Stewart and even Mick Jagger. (There were) scenes copying each other a bit, but to me Led Zeppelin is Jimmy Page. You know, you wanna cut the story short: Jimmy Page, shy boy,” Keith Richards said on his website back in 2004 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
The Rolling Stones guitarist didn’t need to hear many albums by the band to make up his mind. As early as 1969, he was already criticizing Led Zeppelin in an interview with Rolling Stone. “Led Zeppelin? “I played their album quite a few times when I first got it. But then the guy’s voice started to get on my nerves. I don’t know why; maybe he’s a little too acrobatic. But Jimmy Paige is a great guitar player, and a very respected one,” Keith Richards said.
Although they remained friends and even collaborated in the studio, with Page playing on some Rolling Stones songs, Jimmy once responded to Keith’s criticism of Led Zeppelin. “Keith can say what he wants. He’s Keith Richards. I think he’s done some amazing work. I respect his playing. And he has a solo album out (at the time). But if I was promoting a new album, would I be more caustic? The answer is… no. I’m not sure what he means by calling Led Zeppelin hollow. I think he’s got his tongue in his cheek. What we did was really cool,” Jimmy Page told Classic Rock in 2015.
Keith Richards went to a Led Zeppelin show at Madison Square Garden
Even though Zeppelin’s music wasn’t his “cup of tea,” as the British say when they don’t particularly like something, he still went to see them live in the ’70s. It was back in 1977, when the band was promoting their album “Presence”, released in 1976. The show happened at the Madison Square Garden in New York as C.M. Kushins told in his book “John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin”.
“The second wing of the long tour began again in Alabama on May 18 as the band trampled through the American South. The first week of June, they returned to New York for nearly a week’s worth of sold-out shows. Trusted media ally Lisa Robinson covered the series extensively, writing, ‘When Led Zeppelin performed six sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, Mick Jagger, Faye Dunaway, and Keith Richards were backstage and Carol Channing was in the audience…,’” he said.
The first time Jimmy Page collaborated with the Stones was in 1974 when he was part of the track “Scarlet” that wasn’t released until 2020 as part of the reissue of “Goats Head Soup” (1973). The second time was in 1986, when he recorded the guitar solo in “One Hit (To the Body)”, which was part of the album “Dirty Work”.
Keith Richards is only one year older than Page, but he achieved fame a few years earlier, as The Rolling Stones released their debut album in 1964. At the time, Jimmy was one of the most in-demand session musicians in London, but he had yet to achieve fame as a member of a band.
Jimmy Page said Keith is a versatile guitarist who constructed wonderful riffs
Jimmy Page likes The Rolling Stones and always admired Keith Richards as a guitarist. In his view he is versatile and also a great acoustic player. “The thing about Keith is his timing is really good and he has the imagination to be able to construct these wonderful riffs, which are the driving force behind the Stones’ records, pretty much. Not only that, but he could then turn his attention towards the acoustic playing on the 12-string, where he does ‘Angie’ and things like that. So he’s extremely versatile. And super creative. If you’ve got somebody who can keep coming up with really good riffs decade after decade, that’s pretty serious. And to be respected.
He’s given us decades of wonderful, creative music with an attitude and character which could only be Keith Richards. Let’s hope he lives for another 80 years. Who knows, I might be able to jam with him again in another 50!” he told Uncut magazine in 2023.