Jimmy Page?
COTTRILL:
I feel Page’s style while he was with TheYardbirds (and into Led Zeppelin) was very proficient, technically. Mind you, he was a great showman and all. But Page was also unbelievably focused as he played; he was right on it and you could tell how deeply he was concentrating. He had a very professional air about everything he did. One thing Page did was use very light gauge strings, especially the third “G” string, allowing that over-the top vibrato he had. I used it, too, and got that from Jimmy. (Thank you, Jimmy!) Think Over, Under, Sideways, Down.
I’d have to say that both Beck and Page are unquestionably two of the greatest guitar players of all time. The fact that Page was also an accomplished session player helped his musical career and what he was able to do with it, a great deal.
REDDON: What do you think TheYardbirds contributed to popular music?
COTTRILL:
The Yardbirds invented lots of things. They experimented with everything from unorthodox instrumentation, feedback and Eastern-influenced riffs. Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck were the innovators. The Yardbirds was a very creative and innovative band all around that unfortunately never was able to realize its full creative and live performance potential. They were too far ahead of their time.
Both Page and Beck had that aggressive attitude and cutting edge sensibility to their playing that was very distinctive in The Yardbirds. Entire generations have been inspired by those two guys and will continue to be. Their work is timeless.
REDDON:
Just out of curiosity, in one of our email exchanges, you mentioned that you liked The Rolling Stones a great deal. How does Keith Richards compare as a guitarist to Page and Beck?
COTTRILL:
Keith Richards is really, really good at what he does, creating and playing rock’n’roll songs that you can often trace back to his roots in American R&B. That Chuck Berry type of influence. Actually, Keith Richards is in a different league than Page and Beck. Technically, I mean. (Keith, I do love you!!) Don’t get me wrong -- Richards is excellent and unique at what he does. He has that choppy rhythm guitar thing going and the trademark stage antics, presence and show we only wish we all had. Without Keith, there would be no Stones. He’s the real deal and stands alone.
The Rolling Stones started out doing rhythm & blues cover songs. They weren’t really all that original from a musician’s standpoint, although The Stones introduced America to American music and revved us all up. Did their music sound good? It definitely did and continues to. To me, Honky Tonk Woman is the definitive Stones song. (Keith, thanks for the pedal steel riffs you have done from time to time). This is in contrast to the musical explorations of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and several others, who have always been at their own cutting edge with their guitar playing. Interestingly, Jeff Beck played the pedal steel guitar on some early Yardbirds tracks.
REDDON:
That brings us up to the point of Led Zeppelin’s formation. What did you think when you first heard of Led Zeppelin on the popular music scene in 1969?
COTTRILL:
After The Yardbirds, and when Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin, I thought Page had brought that hard-edged, bluesy guitar style, to the masses as no one else had ever done, for the first time in history. Page’s guitar style became an accepted art form, which was a gigantic accomplishment when you consider it. He did this with his initial work of getting Led Zeppelin together in 1968 and with the recording of Led Zeppelin. I thought The Yardbirds probably would have covered much of the ground that Led Zeppelin did but The Yardbirds disbanded too soon and never had the chance. I thought that was a real tragedy.
As I’ve said, The Yardbirds were always somewhat obscure and didn’t receive the notoriety for whatever reason. Often such exposure - or lack of it - comes down to how effectively a specific artist is marketed.
REDDON: True, that makes sense. What did you think of the debut album, Led Zeppelin?
COTTRILL:
I thought Page’s new band, Led Zeppelin, picked up exactly where The Yardbirds left off. I was excited when I heard Led Zeppelin was formed by Jimmy Page because he was re-emerging with Led Zeppelin. I thought, “This should be good, if it’s Page’s new band.”
I was very happy that the art form that The Yardbirds had developed wasn’t going to be lost and swept under the carpet. Led Zeppelin would continue the next chapter. The Led Zeppelin LP was what I expected, with limited use of echo and “vocal leaking” that would later become a trademark on Led Zeppelin II. If you listen to Whole Lotta Love on Led Zeppelin II, for example, near the end of the song there’s an amazing example of “vocal leaking” which was foreshadowed on the first album in a couple of songs and which became more prevalent on Led Zeppelin II.
REDDON:
Many of the innovations you mentioned earlier that were incorporated into the rock’n’roll genre of the 1960s, such as high volume, distortion, feedback, etc., as well as exceedingly fast guitar work, eventually evolved into the separate genre of “heavy metal”, in the late sixties.
While doing this research, I’ve uncovered a lively debate on exactly who invented heavy metal. Some say it was Blue Cheer, others say The Yardbirds, still others say Led Zeppelin. Do you have a perspective on who you feel invented heavy metal?
COTTRILL:
I’ve heard Blue Cheer and the extreme volumes they played at. Personally, I think the volume was their main claim to fame. Their biggest success, as I understand it, was built around a cover song by Eddie Cochran, Summertime Blues. I think in order to be crowned the inventors of anything, let alone heavy metal, a much wider exposure is required. Once you become a household name and people who may not even really be into music know what you’ve done, then that’s a good measure of the impact you’ve had on your particular vocation or profession.
In my opinion, I don’t think Blue Cheer accomplished that. I don’t think The Yardbirds invented heavy metal, either. At least, not on their own. I think TheYardbirds together with Led Zeppelin laid the groundwork for heavy metal as we have come to know it.
Even though The Yardbirds’ notoriety was a fraction of what Led Zeppelin’s was, they still obtained a great deal of exposure. The Yardbirds toured heavily and put out a lot of music, with an abundance of new and exciting techniques and innovations ingrained into their recorded works. The high volume, speed playing, distortion, etc. is all there on The Yardbirds’ recordings and they did it in concert, too. I saw and heard it myself at Hidden Valley! If The Yardbirds put down the musical foundation of heavy metal, Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin extended the inventiveness that eventually became associated with the genre, as we know it today. That’s my take on it, anyway.
REDDON:
A very interesting one, at that. I’d love to get some of the interview subjects together for a debate on this issue sometime after this book is published. It would be an incredible assemblage of diversely rich, musical perspectives and knowledge.
On the occasion of Led Zeppelin’s 40th Anniversary in 2008, what do you think about Led Zeppelin’s contribution to popular music?
COTTRILL:
Led
