British songwriter and singer Robert Plant and British songwriter and guitarist Jimmy Page of the British rock band Led Zeppelin perform at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 1995 in New York, New York.
Why Led Zeppelin’s Unexpected Collab With ’70s Rock Legend Is Still Dividing Fans 30 Years Later
The performance marked a major career milestone.
When it comes to legendary guitar players, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page has been consistently topping the lists of countless music lovers for decades. Also counted among the most iconic axe men in rock history is Neil Young — but the two musicians have drastically different styles of playing.
So it makes sense that one epic ’90s collaboration featuring Page and Young would result in mixed reactions…but no one could have predicted that people would still be arguing about the performance decades later.
In 1995, when both Led Zeppelin and Young were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they took the stage together to perform a rendition of Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” featuring a particularly unforgettable solo from Young (and a bit of surprise additional shredding by Robert Plant).
In keeping with initial reactions to the performance, commenters on a recently shared clip were divided by Young’s contribution.
“Sigh. Young cannot play solos. Great talents, but not on the guitar. And everyone being polite and pretending, like he’s the 4 year old kid brother pretending. This is embarrassing,” one person wrote, with another calling the clip “painful.”
However, others were quick to defend Young.
“People saying Neil was bad don’t understand this era of music and what this was about. Sorry it wasn’t auto tuned for you,” somebody argued.
“I frigging love Neil Young’s guitar solos,” someone else declared, adding, “Probably because I usually dislike guitar solos. All these so-called guitar heroes boring us with their ‘fret work’, yawn. Feel the passion, not the ‘technical ability.’”
“Boo boo Neil Young can’t play, he sucks, boo hoo” – dude sitting at home with his phone, who will never be remembered for his contributions to music, unlike Neil Young,” quipped yet another fan.
One person who was reportedly thrilled with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame collab was Young himself, who had such a positive experience performing with Zeppelin that he considered recording an entire album with the band, according to Rolling Stone.
While that never came to pass, Young did write a song inspired by the experience, per American Songwriter — “Downtown,” the lead single on his 1995 album Mirror Ball (recorded with members of Pearl Jam).
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Photo of Jimmy PAGE and LED ZEPPELIN, Jimmy Page performing live onstage during the 1977 US tour (either New York or Los Angeles), playing Gibson EDS-1275 twin-neck/double-neck guitar (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Photo of Jimmy PAGE and LED ZEPPELIN, Jimmy Page performing live onstage during the 1977 US tour (either New York or Los Angeles), playing Gibson EDS-1275 twin-neck/double-neck guitar (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
Legendary Rock Star, 79, Thrills Fans With Rare Throwback Pic on Anniversary of Iconic Performance
He’s one of the most influential guitarists of all time.
Jacqueline Burt Cote
While Jimmy Page is known to fans the world over as the iconic and influential guitarist for Led Zeppelin, he’s joined forces with countless other famous musicians since kicking off his career as a highly sought-after session musician in the ’60s — and fans are loving a recent throwback photo commemorating one of his most beloved musical collaborations.
Page, 79, took to Instagram this week to share a photo of himself onstage alongside Chris Robinson and Sven Pipien of The Black Crowes, writing, “On this day in 2011, I went to see @theblackcrowes ‘Farewell To England’ tour.”
“This was the last night of the tour at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London and The Black Crowes asked me to jam on ‘Shake Your Money Maker’ as an encore,” he continued, adding, “I just couldn’t say no, but felt really sad when I was told that this was said to be the last shows of such a brilliant band.”
Of course, as fans know, The Black Crowes (who toured with Page a decade prior to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire show) didn’t actually stop touring for good directly afterwards; though they broke up in 2015, they’ve since reunited (though the only original members left are Chris and Rich Robinson). Still, Page’s followers loved getting a glimpse at the unforgettable music moment.
“Awesome shot. ❤️ You were amazing as usual!” one person gushed, as a second noted, “The Black Crowes were fortunate to have you grace their presence.”
“Jimmy is forever in my heart,” another commenter declared, with someone else calling Page “the greatest guitarist ever and a mesmerizing musical genius.”
In an interview on SiriusXM’s Classic Rewind channel earlier this year, Page reflected on the experience of recording the concerts he played with The Black Crowes at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles in 1999 — released in 2000 as the now-classic concert album Live at the Greek — praising the band for their treatment of one Led Zeppelin tune in particular.
“‘Ten Years Gone’ was a song that I wrote for Led Zeppelin, and it’s on the Physical Graffiti album,” he said. “And it was something I’d worked on at home. It had all this sort of guitar orchestration on it, but I’d never heard it like that apart from on record.”
As Page explained, “in the days of Zeppelin, I’d try and do as much as I could just with the one guitar” while recording in the studio. Playing with The Black Crowes, “suddenly, I heard all these harmonies going on.”
“It was like I’d died and gone to heaven. And I mean it, for sure. It was a really emotional moment,” he continued, adding that Robinson sang the tune “beautifully with so much emotion.”
“Everyone knew everything absolutely,” he recalled. “Everything was absolutely one hundred percent.”
(MANDATORY CREDIT Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music Robert Plant (vocals) of Led Zeppelin performing on stage at Earl’s Court, London, May 1975.
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