Robert And Michael Meet Jimmy Page

By Michael White

Jimmy Page, Robert Godwin and Michael White

This picture was taken at the Four Seasons Hotel on March 27,1995 after the Page and Plant show in Toronto. Robert Godwin and I went there after the show hoping to meet with Jimmy and Robert. Rob had met Jimmy once before 10 years earlier in 1985. At that point Jimmy had known of 'The White' for several years. Phil Carson, Jimmy's manager at the time, had recently played him some demo tapes of 'The White' that were made for Atlantic Records. Jimmy was impressed by the tapes and told Rob, "Michael does it best!" He also mentioned to some mutual friends of ours that he would like to meet with me someday. I had never had an opportunity to meet him until now. I was hoping that 'someday' had finally come.

We entered the lounge and ordered a drink. Suprisingly, there were only about twenty people in the place. A few minutes later Jimmy came thru the door with two big body guards. Not suprising was that he was immediately approached by all twenty people in the bar. Rob and I sat for a while, not wanting to crowd him any more than he already was.

After the mobbing had calmed a bit I got up and went over to say hello to Jimmy. As I walked across the room I kept thinking, "What if I introduce myself and he says, who the hell are you?"

As I got close enough to shake his hand, a body guard stepped into my path and said, :He's busy, mate. What can I do for you?" I told him that Jimmy would know who I was. At that point he wrote down my name. He asked me to wait until Jimmy was free, and I said I would. It was a few moments later when the note was passed on to Jimmy. I can't tell you how pleased I was when I heard him say, "Where's my old friend Michael?" I quickly moved forward and stuck out my hand. I was ecstatic! I was finally meeting Jimmy and he seemed genuinely happy to meet me as well. I invited him to come and sit with us at our table and he accepted without hesitation. As we walked back across the room we were followed by his body guards.

Rob and I had the pleasure of sitting and talking with Jimmy in the lounge for almost two hours. He was candid, friendly and in a very good mood (possibly due to an excellent show earlier that evening).

The conversation covered lots of topics including Led Zep's recording techniques and how he first became interested in the Theremin. I told him of a rare album by a group called, 'Lothar and the Hand People'. This record was released in 1967 and included the use of a theremin on many of the songs. It even has a picture on the back cover of the guy playing it, in a stance looking alot like Jimmy. I asked him if that might have been where he got the idea for using the theremin. He said no, and proceeded to tell me that he first saw it used by bandleader Spike Jones in an old movie called, 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'.

We had been sitting with Jimmy for about an hour when Robert Plant entered the bar. I hadn't seen or spoken with him in years. He was surrounded by girls and body guards, and obviously in a very social mood. I excused myself from the table and went over to say hello to him. Once again I got the body guard treatment. After standing and waiting for a few minutes he turned and saw me. I extended my arm to shake his hand, but his hands were already full, if you know what I mean. He nodded and said, "Hello Michael". I told him it was a great show and that his voice was in excellent form. He thanked me and said he was really enjoying himself. We made small talk for a few minutes more, but there were so many females taxing his attention, I felt I should say goodbye.

Back at our table Jimmy was talking to Rob about his book, 'The Illustrated Collectors Guide to Led Zeppelin'. In reference to Zep's tour schedule in the early days Jimmy said, "I knew we worked hard back then, but I never realized how hard until I read your book".

The day before the P+P show I called the hotel and left a message with the road manager for Robert and Jimmy inviting them to my show in Toronto that night. Jimmy expressed his disappointment at missing my show (the previous night) and said if he would have received my message earlier he would have been there. (Timing is everything isn't it!)

We each ordered another drink. If anyone is interested, Jimmy had a gin and tonic. He said that he and Robert had written some new songs were planning to record another album. That was good news.

I mentioned to him that when we play 'Thank You' I substitute a synth guitar for the organ sound. Jimmy said, "Synth guitars are good for some things". He went on to tell me that he has never really liked synth guitars for lead work because of their inherent tracking problems and glitching. I agreed with him and added that I only use it for rhythm. Then I asked him about his new guitar with automatic tuning presets. He was very eager to tell me all about it and how important it is to his live performance.

I told him I am a big fan of the 'Hurdy Gurdy'. I happen to own two of these unique instruments. I even played one on the song 'Psychometry' found on my first album for Atlantic Records. I mentioned this to Jimmy and he asked, "How good of a Hurdy Gurdy player are you?" I told him I could play a few songs, but knew very little about the techniques necessary to advance my playing. He said, "it's a very difficult instrument to master. It takes alot of practice". We began talking about Nigel Eaton, the incredibly talented Hurdy Gurdy man with P+P. Jimmy couldn't praise him enough.

Probably one reason he sat with us so long was because we were in a secluded part of the lounge. I think he enjoyed relaxing and not being swamped by autograph seekers. Having said that, it was at that time that we were approached by a crowd of fans with lots of collectables for him to sign. Soon after they arrived he turned and announced that he had enjoyed visiting with us, but it was time for him to go. At our request, he autographed our tickets and posed for a few pictures. We shook hands, said our goodbyes and then he headed out the door.

These were some of the highlights of the evening for me. I would just like to say that after performing Led Zeppelin's music for close to two decades, it was the thrill of my life finally meeting Jimmy Page. He was everything I expected him to be... and more. I look forward to meeting with him again.