In my younger life I knew Led Zeppelin was a famous band from the 70’s but couldn’t tell you any songs.  Later I would go through a revelation involving a lot of, “Wait, that is a Zeppelin song?”.  I do remember his later bands The Firm and Power Station from when they debuted on the radio.  Anyway, I know he is a guitar God and I’ve learned parts of songs like Bad Dog and (of course) Stairway.  I heard him doing an interview promoting this book and decided to get a copy.  I could have sworn is was Marc Aaron but could find no evidence.  So it had to be on NPR.

I have no experience with his first book, “Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page”, so I can’t compare them.  “The Anthology” is a giant coffee table book filled with endless pictures of guitars, amps, and clothes from throughout his career.   Each page has a little independent write-up.  They are roughly in chronologic order and as a collection form a history of his career.

I did take away two things.  First, Jimmy indicated that the Yardbirds (whose members all went on to further greatness) broke up not because of inter-member strife, but that they didn’t like the constant pressure of the  label demanding they output another hit.

Second, the guitar picture that stood out to me was a Les Paul converted by Transperformance.  It was an early self-tuning guitar, packed with electronics to manipulate the mechanical tuners.  I recognized the technology from my first days as an Electrical Engineer at the start of the 90’s, when I had hopes and dreams.  But alas, like most guitars I desire, they are too unique and expensive to acquire.

I bought my 60th Anniversary edition Danelectro in part because Page played one during “It Might Get Loud” which was a weird film, that brought together Page, The Edge, and Jack White representing three generations of guitarists.  (The other part was I liked the sparkly blue finish, and I had taken an interest in Danelectro after learning Ricky Wilson played a Dano Pro in a live version of Private Idaho.  [Ricky used Mosrite guitars in the early days but those are unattainable because other bigger cult bands also used them for that surf sound]).  But I digress.

“Jimmy Page: The Anthology” is a beast of a book.  Don’t drop it or a corner might slice through the bones of your foot.  I definitely came away with a more complete vision of Page’s musical career.