There have been many books featuring Jimmy Page in the context of his old band, but this one is the first time his life story has been told in such exhaustively researched depth and detail. Although without input from Page, Martin Power does a towering job, weaving his conversations with former Page colleagues with existing Page interviews into the fullest account yet of the guitarist’s life until his appearance at the recent Stairway To Heaven court case.
Running to more than 600 pages, the book is divided into three parts. Your Time Is Gonna Come deals with Page’s childhood, early bands, lucrative career as a session guitarist and breakthrough with The Yardbirds. Dancing Days recounts the monster that was Led Zeppelin, wisely concentrating on facts and music rather than tedious Hammer Of The Gods reruns. In The Evening covers the 36 years since Zep ceased after John Bonham’s 1980 death, Page dabbling in various projects but so dominated by the behemoth he created that he’s doomed to live in its shadow, now as archivist and curator.
Page compiled his Jimmy Page On Jimmy Page photo book in 2010 but says he will publish his autobiography only after his death, making Power’s engrossing tome the all-time definitive chronicle.
