Jimmy Page (b. 1944) is one of the key figures who emerged in the 1960s to play a major role in defining the sound of progressive heavy rock. A versatile player, originally inspired by figures including James Burton (see page 183) and Scotty Moore, Page played blues, folk, and country styles and established himself as a top session musician, recording parts for groups including them and The Kinks.

He also acted as a producer, working on John Mayall's I am Your Witchdoctor (1965), which featured Eric Clapton. He joined the Yardbirds in 1966 (see page 137) and toward the end of his period with the group he decided to put his own lineup together with singer Robert Plant, bass player John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. Page drew on ideas he had developed with The Yardbirds and put together one of the first modern-sounding heavy-rock bands in which the guitar was supported by a rhythm section with low, thick-textured bass and drum sounds. The band started playing gigs in the autumn of 1968 and after briefly appearing as The New Yardbirds they were renamed Led Zeppelin, and Page used his talents as an arranger and producer to create a fresh synthesis of blues and rock.
 
In October of that year, the band went into the Olympic Studios in London and the first album, Led Zeppelin, was recorded. The playing is hard-edged and driving, with intelligent arrangements and a variety of original guitar sounds. Page puts together combinations of effects, including a distortion unit, wah wah and a Leslie speaker cabinet with a small Supro amplifier. The innovative recording and mixing uses reverb, echo, backward echo, and delays. "Good Times, Bad Times" has metallic power chords, and a fast, bluesy solo with cascading lines with a violin-like sound, and repetitive hypnotic rhythmic motifs drive "Communication Breakdown. With the soloing on other songs, Page uses muted sounds, slide, and call-and-response phrases between guitar and voice. A violin bow is employed to play some guitar parts on "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times?" "Dazed And Confused" is a particularly interesting track that develops through differing sections with a wide range of colors before going into a fast up-tempo section with a solo.


Acoustic guitar is used for "Your Time Is Gonna Come" and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You." The instrumental “Black Mountain Side,” a British, folk-influenced composition, features acoustic guitar in an open tuning and a background of tabla percussion.

Led zeppelin II

The second album, Led Zeppelin II, recorded in 1969, has some acoustic numbers but is substantially built around a number of tracks that are characterized by heavy electric riffs. The rhythmic "Whole Lotta Love" riff features innovative sounds overdubs slide guitar with a special studio effect to add an extra touch before moving into a free soundscape section that ends on dramatically powerful chords with lead breaks. "Bring it on home" starts with a blues, then crescendos to a climax, with orchestrated heavy-rock overdubs. Page takes an inspired unaccompanied solo on "Heartbreaker".

Following on from this important, highly rated album, Page continued to use much acoustic instrumentation, including 12-string, on Led Zeppelin III. Here, some tracks are influenced by the work of traditional acoustic blues artists; others have country and folk elements. On Led Zeppelin IV, "Stairway to Heaven," with its memorable arpeggiated opening, builds up through sections of strummed electric chords and an increase in tempo before breaking into the powerful chords that usher in one of the most lyrical solos in rock. Heavy rock is represented by the popular riff of "Black Dog."

On subsequent albums, Page continued to expand the group's repertoire, producing material that was built on the styles that he had previously developed, and he expanded his vocabulary, integrating new sounds and styles within the group's approach to progressive heavy rock. On Houses of the Holy (1973), guitar is used for the arrangements on the powerful "The Song Remains the same;" on Physical Graffiti (1975), "Kashmir" has dark multilayering with acoustic guitars in unusual tunings and an Indian flavor, and "Bron-Y-Aur" is an acoustic folk piece.