'Great Guitarists': Keith Richards & Jimmy Page
Short Biography's of 10 - 9 in Rolling Stones' 'Greatest' List
Sep 14, 2009
In 2003 'Rolling Stone' magazine released their list of '100 Greatest Guitarists'. The list compiles together many great guitarists which deserve great attention from any young, budding or experienced musician. This article gives a short biography of numbers 10 to 9, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page.
10: Keith Richards
Keith Richards is a true, genuine icon. His aged, blues battered, well-weathered leathery features are the stuff of modern caricatures and decadent desires of junior dreamers. Through his hell-raising, life to the edge image he has carved a niche for the real ‘rock and blues’ musician.
But, of course, it was not simply the image which has allowed him entry to this prestigious list, he was (and is) an original and innovative guitarist.
Keith was born the single child of Bert Richards and Doris Dupree Richards, Dartford, Kent, England.
It was his mother who first introduced him to jazz legends such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. He described hearing the guitar and beginning to learn it as “Just something you've got to do. You have no choice. I mean, we had other things to do and everything, but once you got bitten by the bug, you had to find out how it's done”.
Beginning a Musical Career
Richards met future band mate and co-song writing legend Mick Jagger at Wentworth Primary School. The two shared the same neighbourhood. In the years to come Richards was expelled from Dartford Technical School. After this he decided to dedicate his time to music and playing the guitar to a more professional level.
After reuniting with Mick Jagger years later, Richards joined the band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, specialising in electrified blues covers of Muddy Waters and Little Walter. This band was discarded once the pair met Brian Jones and Ian Stewart, and consequently went on to form ‘The Rolling Stones’
It was with ‘The Rolling Stones’ that Richards wrote his most enduring and recognised riffs and rhythmic grooves. These included such legendary songs as ‘Street-Fighting Man’, ‘Brown Sugar’ and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’.
Keith Richards has lived a life that many would find destructive and impossible to endure. He has survived addictions and withdrawals, confrontations with the law and too many late nights to even try to remember. He is a true and genuine icon.
9: Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page was born to parents James and Patricia Page on the 9th of January 1944 in Heston, West London. It was in1952 when the family moved to Miles Road, Epsom when Jimmy came across his first guitar at age 13. "I don't know whether [the guitar] was left behind by the people [in the house] before [us], or whether it was a friend of the family's - nobody seemed to know why it was there." Jimmy would famously carry the guitar to school every morning, only to have it taken from him and only given back after lessons had ended.
Beginning a Musical Career
Initially after settling upon music as a potential career (after stints considering ‘finding cures for cancer’ and becoming a famed artist) Page found it hard to settle in a set line for a band. Page therefore began to work as a session musician adding his guitar talent and being referred to as 'Little Jim'. He worked with such acts as The Who, The Kinks, Van Morrison, Marianne Faithful and Joe Cocker. Jimmy often worked at 3 separate sessions 6 days a week. This provided him with great experience and esteem in the studio.
In late 1965, when Eric Clapton officially quit the popular band ‘The Yardbirds’, Jimmy Page was offered the intimidating job of replacement. Instead of abandoning his developing careers in the studio he recommended Jeff Beck. However after hearing ‘The Yardbirds’ were losing their bass playing, Page offered move in as a bassist. However after a few weeks it was obvious he should be switched to share lead guitar with Beck. However due to a lack of success and obvious developing egos the band split not long after forming.
After this Page recruited vocalist Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham and John Paul Jones to form the ‘New Yardbirds’. However soon decided to change the name to a joke made by Keith Moon (suggesting that the proposed ‘super group’ would ‘fly like a Lead Balloon’) to the iconic ‘Led Zeppelin’
It was ‘Led Zeppelin’ that Page created many of the songs he is most associated with, the blast of ‘Dazed & Confused’, ‘The Lemon Song’ and ‘Immigrant Song’, along with anthems such as ‘Your Time is Gonna Come’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
'100 Greatest Guitarists'
Opinions differ greatly on how accurate the entire Rolling Stones list is. The list is evaluated for its positives and negative features in this article. From this link further biographies of the musicians may be reached.
A link to the original list at Rolling Stone can be found here
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