Jeff Beck discussed Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in a new Classic Rock interview.
“My sister knew Jimmy from Epsom Art School. She came to my room one day and said, ‘There’s a weirdo at school, he’s got a weird guitar like yours,’ and then slammed the door.
I ran after her saying, ‘Where is he?’ She said, ‘I’ll take you over there because I’d like to see him play. I don’t believe he can play.’
“We went over there, he opened the door and we got tea and cake. We visited regularly from then on. His mum had bought him a really good quality tape recorder, so we’d record there. I don’t know where those tapes are now but there’s some rare stuff on them.
“When I first heard what he’d done with Led Zeppelin I thought, ‘That’s a little bit more than inspired by the [Beck’s] ‘Truth’ album.’
“When I finally got over that I realized I needed more than I had. I needed a frontman with girly appeal. Plant certainly had that in abundance – the bare chest, golden locks, and all that. We [the Jeff Beck Group] had Rod Stewart. [Laughs]”
