Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page says he took on the task of remastering the band's catalogue because it was the right thing to do – and he refutes the suggestion that he's obsessed with his own past.
In the first part of an exclusive interview with the Classic Rock Magazine Show, broadcast tonight on TeamRock Radio, Page says: “I pay attention to what’s going on in the world of Led Zeppelin. It’s not that I’m obsessed by it. But I sort of started the band, I produced the band, and I like to see how things are going along the way.
“It’s magic that it’s sustained a serious popularity and a serious fanbase from 1980 all the way through. It’s fantastic.”
The guitarist believed it was necessary to embark on the project because a great deal of live recordings had been released over the years, and it was necessary to match those with relevant studio material.
He says: “You know instinctively when something is right to do and you just jolly well do it. You put everything you’ve got into doing it. It was an epic task – I knew that – but it’s right that it should be out there.”
Asked by presenter Nicky Horne how he felt about delving into his own past, Page replies: “When I started what became this project, what I was doing was going through my whole archive. It went back to me being a teenager with a tape recorder at home, doing what a lot of musicians did, writing songs – really embarrassing stuff!
“I wanted to hear them; I wanted to see what they were; I wanted to make an inventory of them. It goes through all of that to the Yardbirds, and my contribution, and then it gets to Led Zeppelin. I was listening to all of this stuff. You can listen to it – but not have any idea of the things that are really important.”
He says of the remaster series: “There’s so many treats. People who love Led Zeppelin, who listen intently, are going to get so much out of this.”
The first part of the exclusive interview will be broadcast tonight (Wednesday) on the Classic Rock Magazine Show, which airs on TeamRock Radio every weeknight from 6pm. The full interview will be featured in an hour-long special on May 26.
