The guitarist and producer Jimmy Page was one of the legendary British musicians deeply influenced by American blues music. Led Zeppelin would have never sounded the same if it weren’t for all the bluesmen who inspired the members of the band and that’s why they can also be defined as a blues rock group.
Although many bands that came after them copied their style, a few others who emerged around the same time also created something special with their blues influences. One of them was the Texan power trio ZZ Top, about whom Jimmy Page has spoken and shared his opinion.
What is Jimmy Page’s opinion on ZZ Top
Jimmy Page is a big fan of ZZ Top, he said they were “damn fine” and had great music. “I think that’s what rock ‘n’ roll is all about. They really are incredible. They have great music, really fine playing, really solid, and they have a sense of humor as well. They’re damn fine. And everyone is enjoying it and they’re enjoying themselves. As far as their videos go, every one has been a winner, hasn’t it? But I must admit I haven’t had that much to do with videos,” Jimmy Page told Guitar World in 1986 when asked if he liked the power trio.
During that same conversation, he had mentioned them when talking about doing music videos. He had praised their video for “Rough Boy”, released that same year. “Making them, yeah, but not appearing in them. I like the idea of it, I don’t know how to explain the techniques of it. I can’t even mime the bastards properly and that is a drag (laughs).”
Jimmy Page continued:
“But all I can say to you is if you’ve seen ZZ Top’s latest one (“Rough Boy”) then you could see how I’d say to somebody, ‘I have this idea, but I don’t know how it’s done.’ There are techniques which I’ve been away from for a long time and I wouldn’t know. I’m determined to find out how some of that (ZZ Top) video was done,” Jimmy Page said.
As told by the book “Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography” by Chris Salewicz, Page had the chance to see the trio playing live still in 1974, when he and Peter Grant went to Austin Texas, to ZZ Top’s First Annual Rompin’ Stompin’ Barn Dance and Bar BQ at the University of Texas Memorial Stadium. With 90.000 fans, ZZ Top was supported that day by bands like Santana, Joe Cocker and Bad Company.
They were formed in 1969, only one year after Led Zeppelin. But had the chance to release their debut album only two years later, in 1971. By then the British band had already conquered the world with their first four records.
ZZ Top’s guitarist and singer Billy Gibbons is a fan of Led Zeppelin and has even had the chance to cover their songs. One such occasion was at the 2020 NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show. Gibbons played “Whole Lotta Love” with Slash, Lzzy Hale, Robin Zander, and Rick Nielsen.
Billy Gibbons said Jimmy Page is one of the greatest
Although Billy Gibbons was influenced primarily by the Texas Blues scene, he was also well aware of what the British musicians were creating with their own take on American Blues. Talking to Music Radar in 2018, the ZZ Top frontman praised Page. He listed him as one of the greatest and mentioned the time when he played with Jeff Beck in The Yardbirds. “There’s the collection of great guitar players from Britain. Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Mick Abraham. I’d call all of this the British block in my list.”
“Jimmy Page is one of the greatest. I would invite all of you readers to go check out the nightclub scene from the 1966 movie Blowup, where The Yardbirds are playing. They had Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page at the same time! Listening to the band doing Train Kept A-Rollin’… it’s just ferocious. Both of those guys had tone for days,” Billy Gibbons said.
It was after the end of The Yardbirds that Jimmy Page went on to create Led Zeppelin. Initially called The New Yardbirds, the group was also influenced by Jeff Beck, who at the time was making heavier music. Interestingly, shortly after ZZ Top released their first album, they were already well aware of Led Zeppelin. They were invited to record in Memphis, where the British band had already been, which encouraged ZZ Top to go there and give it a try themselves. “Those (guys from Memphis), are the guys that persuaded us. They said, ‘You know, you make fairly good records, but you might want to consider coming here to Memphis. We think that we could raise the bar.”
He continued:
“And I said, ‘Well we seem to be doing OK in Texas. What’s up here in Memphis?’ And they said, ‘Well we’ve got a great studio, Ardent Recording, why don’t you come by?’ And I said ‘OK’. He says, ‘As a matter of fact there’s a good group. They play loud they play some kind of bluesy stuff like you do. I said, ‘Who is it?’ He said, ‘It’s a group from England called Led Zeppelin.’ I was going ‘Okay!’ (huge laugh),” Billy Gibbons told Shindig magazine in 2019.
Nowadays ZZ Top is formed by the original members Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard (Drums). They are accompanied by Elwood Francis (Bass), who replaced the late Dusty Hill.