Jimmy Page had to up his game on Led Zeppelin III, especially on album centerpiece “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” The minor-key slow blues was a gear shift for the band that contributed to negative reviews for Led Zeppelin III, but Page explained how his solo approach on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is exactly like the Zep classic “Stairway to Heaven.”
Jimmy Page had ‘exactly the same approach’ on his ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ solos
Led Zeppelin was on top of its game almost immediately. Two hit records in 1969 and a slew of tours on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean propelled them to stardom. Yet Page still had some growing to do as a guitar player.
How could a skilled musician who spent years as a session player and the lead guitarist for the Yardbirds need to up his game? Because of his Led Zeppelin bandmates. Page had to match Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham with his “Since I’ve Been Loving You” solo.
“After hearing this wonderful construction where everyone is playing so beautifully together and making their own statements — big statements, massive statements, accents and phrases, locking into it and swooning — I had to deliver a solo that would live up to this incredible buildup,” the guitarist told Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page author Brad Tolinski.
“It was like getting ready for a hundred-yard dash or something. Just vibing up for it, psyching myself up, and coming up with some idea of how to get the solo off, and then — go! It’s exactly how I felt before I played my third pass at the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ solo. I approached it [“Stairway”]in exactly the same way.”
Jimmy Page
Page didn’t mention it, but his third of three passes at his “Stairway to Heaven” solo is the one immortalized on Led Zeppelin IV. The one that lands at or near the top of the list for best guitar solos ever. The one where he channeled the approach he took on “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”
Page’s technique on his solos was the common thread between 2 of Led Zeppelin’s best songs
Zep fans won’t confuse “Since I’ve Been Loving You” with “Stairway to Heaven.” The former is a slow-paced meditation on minor-chord blues that stays in the same place for much of the song. The latter is an operatic suite with several movements: The acoustic opening, a mid-tempo midsection, and a fanfare that builds to a rousing crescendo.
Yet “Since I’ve Been Loving You” was the essential and relatively anonymous precursor to “Stairway to Heaven.”
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The reel-to-reel tape had only so many tracks left when the band recorded “Stairway.” So, Page had just a few chances to record his “Stairway” solo and have it match his expectations and the exceptional efforts of Plant, Jones, and Bonham. His task on “Since I’ve Been Loving You” was even more challenging. Page had two attempts to record his “Loving You” solo, per Tolinski. His bandmates had put forth amazing efforts, and he had to match them and the emotion of the song. It’s hard to argue he didn’t deliver.
Would Page have nailed his memorable “Stairway to Heaven” solo without his experience recording “Since I’ve Been Loving You?” We may never know. What we do know is that he took the exact same approach on both songs and delivered both times. We rank his “Loving You” solo as Page’s best guitar solo that isn’t “Stairway to Heaven.”
The Led Zeppelin IV track is a certified classic. Even casual fans know the song, or at least know of its famous solo. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is a relative obscurity by comparison, a song often overlooked except by massive Led Zeppelin fans. Yet Page channeled the same technique on the classic “Stairway” solo as did on “Since I’ve Been Loving You.”
‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ is one of the guitarist’s best Led Zeppelin moments
Page’s jaw-dropping “Since I’ve Been Loving You” solo never ceases to amaze us. Even the engineer, Terry Manning, a music professional who worked with several bands, called it the best rock guitar solo of all time. “Since I’ve Been Loving You” was a high point for Page and the band.
The song had been a part of their live set, but their attempts to record it for posterity never met their expectations. They wanted to make it more than a standard blues tune. Once they found the sweet spot, Led Zeppelin had relatively few chances to make their vision a reality.
“Since I’ve Been Loving You” was done live in the studio, meaning the band kept overdubs to the bare minimum. It’s why you can hear Bonham’s squeaky bass pedal in the mix early in the song.
As for the solo, Page cut it in Memphis, Tenn., studio without any effects and performed a masterpiece. The song flies under the radar for many non-Zep fans, but it might be one of Page’s best Led Zeppelin songs.
Jimmy Page explained that he used exactly the same approach to the solos in “Since I’ve Been Loving You” and “Stairway to Heaven.” Both songs required Page to match the exceptional efforts of his bandmates and deliver a solo that would live up to the incredible buildup. One became a classic rock icon, the other a gem for die-hard fans. Yet both prove Page was one of the best guitarists of all time.
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