Booze and heroin definitely dulled Jimmy's live solos and playing at times. However, Jimmy Page is a bona fide master musician, early session guy, songwriter and producer.

Musicians who saw them live in the late 1970s commonly went away disappointed with Jimmy’s obvious impaired performances. He had a drug problem and didn’t bother to sober up for their shows. Eric Clapton was like this then too, he played shows sloppy drunk too.

I’ve known Jimmy Paige as a neighbor. The most unfailingly polite person you’ll meet. Truly a delight. I’m grateful he overcame what was, obviously, a major addition.

Saw him in the Nineties. His playing was excellent. When he pointed the headstock to the sky during Hearbreaker I knew the old Jimmy was back. The solo was clean, and that ain't no easy solo. The crowd went insane. I never heard a crowd that insane over anything including a Larry Bird buzzer beater.

I think this was a fair assessment of Page’s live career. After 1973, particularly in 1977 and beyond (at least until he returned more cleaned up in the late 80s), Page’s concerts were sometimes on point, and sometimes not, depending on his state. I think he always tried to do his best, but I think he also lost the fluid connection of brain and fingers where he could really improvise some “wow” moments. I think it’s unfair of some people to call Page “sloppy” pre 1975 - he was bringing the “guitar army” in one man every night - it required huge focus and energy which was obviously depleted in the late 70s, even as the songs became more complicated and the catalogue bigger. In his prime, even if Page’s soloing style was sometimes disjointed, he had 100% control of the song - rhythm, riff, fills, various touches and subtleties. The guy knew what he was doing and had huge balls, feel and emotion.

Heroine really took its toll on Jimmy and jeopardized the well being of the band. He was sadly the creator and the destroyer. Still the greatest innovator of all time and as good of a producer that ever broke the threshold of a studio….

Imagine being high as balls on heroin and still being one of the best guitar players alive.

Jimmy was lucky he could stand in those concerts. Sober, he's great!

Robert Plant was considering leaving Led Zeppelin due to Jimmy's drug use. He would sometimes be right on but other times not so much.

Yea, the lifestyle caught up to him & affected his playing, so yea, compared to his younger self, not as good, but people dont realize that a slightly compromised Jimmy is STILL better than 99% of all guitarists alive-

I was never a huge Zeppelin fanatic, but Jimmy Page was a guitar player for the ages IMO.

Imperfections = PERFECTION ❤

I’d much rather see/hear someone put it out there on the edge of destruction every solo than to play it safe and copy the record. Sometimes a little slop is better.

Yeah I don’t know about impaired performances, but I do know that Page was improvising a lot on stage, and really pushing it melodically in ways that “cleaner” players never do. The moods and lines he was creating live are really unparalleled in their breadth and deprh. He was more like an impressionist painter as a lead player, going for big ideas and shades of meaning rather than absolute perfection. Oh and his lead on Achilles Last Stand at the Knebworrh 79 show is even better than the album, and almost brings me to tears. The sense of yearning and desperation he achieved on that lead was just amazing.

A brief encounter with heroin possibly could have affected his performances. It certainly affected mine

Jimmy suffered from a lot of mental health problems which led to drug problems especially after Bonzos death. Glad he recovered in the late 80s. 90s Jimmy was a beast

As a guitarist, gigging for the last 30 years, here's my take. There's a big difference between studio playing and live playing. In the studio, you can do multiple takes and get things perfect. On stage, you're not only playing music, but putting on a show. Some of the musicians ship suffers, due to the show. For me, when playing solos, I try to play those note for note. Some of the rhythm stuff, I change, so it's easier to play. It sounds the same, but not playing the same. With that being said, I also believe that Jimmy Page, as big of a legend he is, did get sloppy. I've always looked at it as, he's Jimmy F**king Page, he can play however he wants.

I've been saying this for years. He got VERY sloppy. Listen to THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME songs and then listen in 1977 (MSG), it was sloppy and stuttered, like the pick was getting stuck after a note.

Sloppy or clean, he played with emotion. Thats a fuckin musician.

Heroin will do that to you......🎸💉👀🙏 He's lucky to be alive after those final years with Led Zep, '75 through '79. He was amazing at Knebworth in '79, but still had a way to go but Bonzo's death at Page's home no less ended everything Led Zep. When I saw him at the last A.R.M.S. concert in December '83 he still looked thin and ragged. But did play well at that show, with Paul Rogers performing 'Midnight Moonlight'(soon to recorded on the Firms first album) Performing an instrumental version of 'Stairway to Heaven' with Jeff Beck & Eric Clapton backing him, and with Beck, Clapton and the rest of that all star band touring for that A.R.M.S. BENEFIT, the encore that night was 'With a little help from my friends' with of course Joe Cocker on lead vocals(Page performed on that Cocker debut album and that's Page's intro riff on 'With a little help from my friends'. From that point on Page has played extremely well from The Firm to Outrider, Coverdale/Page, Page & Plant, with the Black Crows to the O2 Reunion to the Link Wray induction and performaning 'Rumble' at the RRHOF two years ago at age 80. Will he play again? Yes. Will he tour? Maybe, but again he's 80. Jimmy Page has always been an inprov guitarist and sometimes it's clean and sometimes sloppy, I saw him with The Yardbirds with and without Beck, with Led Zeppelin and all the for mentioned bands after Post - Zeppelin. It is what it is, 'The Song Remains The Same'? Not Really......🕶️

There’s a big difference from playing 3 chord rock and blues , to playing Achilles last stand and you shook me !! Yes he was a little more rough around the edges, but that kind of song and others take a lot of work Plus he had the built in problem of not remembering night to night how to play it the same way . Not sloppy difficulty level .

Heroin addiction impairs your motor skills. Duh.

We saw Zeppelin in 77. They were frikkin ' GREAT. 100 FEET FROM STAGE. MAIN FLOOR. $15.00 and we were pissed it was so expensive !

The internet can't not grasp the greys of life, it's either black or white. So don't you DARE say Jimmy Page who created legendary iconic solos could play sloply live, NO he's perfect forever. That noise and those dirty notes you say? No man that's just how rock'n roll is! it was the drugs! he had road fatigue! He never found a pick he was confortable with while touring! His girlfriend had just broken up with him that week! his dog had died! He actually didn't have both arms! Etc etc

so tired of this nonsense. As guitarists we should all strive to be as sloppy as Jimmy😅😅😅

You could say the same about 90% of musicians from his time. The standards were just being set. Bands made more money back then so they could get high and not care.

The fact that his solos were sloppy live only added to how cool it was..he would push himself to the edge of his abilities live and it was beautiful

I read the Led Zeppelin biography by Bob Spitz and it started with the booze addiction, then he heavily got into cocaine and eventually heroin, hence his sloppy playing. I have nothing against Zeppelin nor Page as I am a big fan of both Zeppelin and Page and I see him as an idol.

After '75 is when Page was in the throes of a serious heroin addiction. Sadly, this had a noticeable effect on his playing at live gigs. And while that may explain the sloppy performances, it certainly doesn't excuse it, either.

Jimmy Page is the One. Greatest of them all. Producer, band leader, the right look, songwriter, song stealer, business leader. Page had it ALL. Yeah, drugs got him bad for a while BUT.....Page survived. Bonhams death, tragic as it was, had one silver lining. I'm convinced Bonzos death gave Jimmy That Moment. The moment that ALL drunks/junkies must have.....or die Jimmy Page......forever. My man👍👍

He played really well at Knebworth

Oh he was definitely sloppy, and I'm a lifelong diehard fan. But when he was on, he was fire. I think he just didn't mind being sloppy since he felt he was winging it the entire time. The heroin definitely didn't help, of course. I think he made up for it with the London 2007 show though. And he was quite good on the Page/Plant tours in the 90s.

Live he was useless after 1975. Heroin was taking its toll

Heroin is a bad companion, cut the guy some slack

You know who else was considered "sloppy"? Hendrix. But that was also part of his uniqueness.

I could always tell. What made Zeppelin so great was that Jimmy had a heavy workload playing live. But, so did Plant, Bonham, and JPJ. That's why, together, they were absolutely amazing. I loved how they set up for live shows, as well. They played very close to each other, center stage, no matter how large of a stage they were on. So cool.

All I know is I sound better when I’m shitfaced drunk 😂

Sloppy couldn't be more accurate!

Oh my God They only have princes 😅😎🎸✨👀👋👋

Sloppily fantastic 😮 and one of the true greats!😊 still… ever see the O2 arena show…? 🎉❤

No one can copy those sloppy improvised live licks I think he is the best acoustic guitarist ever. a studio master. When every song is technically diverse and in a different tuning you cant deny the mastery. Timeless

This is a BS discussion. The thing I always appreciated the most about Jimmy Page was he never lost that ability to create and be innovative even during a live performance. He didn't 'play to a formula' but instead he went wherever he wanted in his playing. Probably didn't even care about the occasional "wrong" note as long as he didn't lose the spontaneity. In this respect he was just like Hendrix and a few others from the era where even live music was like a jam session where creativity and innovation was valued. I'm not saying he didn't have a drug problem which affected other areas of the band but I don't find fault with his later playing. I think those who judge him to a formula are missing the point, not really fit to judge one of the greatest ever.

I've noticed that the most successful musicians started young and have a foundational understanding of music theory; they have honed in on things about music, and its foundation is like a science to them. They don't spend their time intoxicated.

Not putting him down, but I've Always heard him as Sloppy in his solos...but the rhythms/melodies he comes up with... 😳😯🤯 Unreal!

68 to 75 Page was the man!

Page never played a song the same way twice. It was really annoying.

FFS ITS CALLED HERION & BOOZE stop the waffle JIMMY PAGE is is without a doubt 1 of GREATEST ROCK GODs EVER ....LED ZEPPELIN music will live 4 ever ...& Jimmy was untouchable from 69 _75 💯

Many musicians play songs differently every time you hear them, its not 'sloppy' its self expression.

Most overrated guitar player.

There is at least one lick that Jimmy seemingly has a problem with live and it is in the song Misty Mountain Hop which isn’t played often . It drives me crazy when he doesn’t execute it. But at times he approximates certain leads and they are poignantly fitting. It is one of many reasons to collect live Zeppelin bootlegs and makes listening to them so much fun.

Although a fan, I thought I was the only one who considered Page quite a scruffy player live. At least he remained true to his blues idols😂

His life, he enjoyed everything, and indulged in what he knew would affect his health. Took its toll on others before him.

É O MAIOR GUITARRISTA PRA MIM. EM ESTÚDIO E AO VIVO.

Один из лучших гитаристов в мире. Что хотите, пишите. Это ничего не изменит. Пейдж, легендарный музыкант

Eddie van halen said this in an interview. His hands were always fucked up. He went on tour injured after a certain year almost every time.

I love the part where he showed us the difference

Indeed he was, still a legend.

Seriously playing the same thing gets tedious...give the guy his award 🏆

Well is very important to mention that Jimmy broke his hand in two separate occasions once breaking his pinky and the 2nd time his ring finger both times his left hand (fretboard hand)

Jimmy Page Best 🎸 The word

Oh come on man apart from 1 or 2 little slips ups, he played excellently at Knebworth in 79 I was there and even watching it on KZfaq all these years later. I still am in awe at his playing especially on Stairway, No Quarter, 10 Years After etc etc, it was a magical experience!.

Unfortunately, he fought heroin addiction back in those days. I’ve known what it’s like to be in the ups and downs of opioid use, due to chronic pain. It can affect every aspect of your life, even when you’re not addicted. He’s still one of my favorite guitarists of all time.

From may 75-aprill 77, zeppelin didn't play live. Robert Plants son passed shortly after the tour started, and the band didn't play live again till Kebworth 1979.

Let's remember that when we talk about the status and dignity of a rock star like Jimmy Page, we should be careful with inappropriate behavior and words. Jimmy Page has touched the lives of millions of people and millions of guitarists, and his brilliant life will remain forever in this world. Thank you for all the hard work you have done for us, Jimmy. We are your lovers.

I saw Page and Plant in the early nineties, he was great, one of my favorite concerts all time

him not being able to RIP a telecaster in multiple live/uploads is just outright SAD considering.

Jimmy and Jeff Beck played what Blackmore once called "chance music" meaning that if you caught them on a good night they would be untouchable . The same could be said about Hendrix, you knew by his attitude that he wasn't "on" that day.

Jimmy is who he is, and that’s all that matters. He’s inspired me to be a hard-working, and equally sloppily natural musician. And if he really needed to, he could peel the paint off the walls with his stellar guitar stylings. I’ll praise the man forever.

Theres a interview of brad whitford a killer guitarist who is super fluid and literally doesn't mess up (carries the guitar parts in aerosmith, love ya joe) but he said he saw an early Zeppelin concert and he couldn't believe how articulate and precise jimmy was, he saod he was incredibly technical and he played at time better than the record, thats why when jimmy got sloppier he said he was a bit disappointed because he knew how incredible jimmy was and could be as a player

People don’t understand how golden sobriety is

He was at his best when LED Zeppelin played in the Royal Albert Hall in 1970

Page's Brown notes are simultaneously hilarious but somehow they also work.

From their Royal Albert Hall concert and BBC Sessions to How The West Was Won and the Song Remains the Same was their best live era. After Physical Graffiti came out it was very noticeable Jimmy’s heroin addiction and alcohol abuse had changed him for the worse unfortunately. They still made great songs but if you watch Led Zeppelin DVD it’s obvious he was so strung out he could barely stand. 🫠

You fail to mention one very important point: Led Zeppelin would have super long improvisations, not to mention 3 1/2 hr concerts every night ('73/'75/'77). He became a heroin addict in 1977 and that tour had some rough moments. He was fine at Kenworth. I've heard HUNDREDS of Zep bootlegs - they jam a lot. I credit them for that.

Also, once you're touring and very busy daily schedule, practicing is almost impossible. So during those times where people thought his playing had suffered he was probably never practicing. He'd probably just show up at the gig (and after a night's partying) and just start playing the show.

Jimmy was always a little loose but who cares. He is one of the best ever. He plays with soul and style. He wrote so many beautiful solos.

Let's talk about Kirk Hammett now

Honestly, I dont think you can ever judge a performance unless you were there.

❤ WHEN I SAW THEM IN 1977 HE SURE WAS PLAYING REAL GOOD❤

Apparently he was sloppy when he was on heroin. Sometimes when he was playing the guitar with two necks, he was seen strumming one neck, but fingering the chords on the other neck! It was not a good look (or sound) by all accounts. Heroin is bad mkay

I was just caught up on the fact that Jimmy Page was a session guitarist in his TEENS

His style changed as he wanted a different tone from his guitar and cleaner sound that's more the roots of rock and roll beginnings. Wasn't surprised when he and Robert put out an album of classic covers as the Honeydrippers

And then theres Dimebag never sober playing every note so perfectly. He was something else

I love how Page makes his guitar sound. It's very unique to him. Just like all the greats, if you here their licks from across the room, you know almost instantly who's playing them.

Of course he was that's what made him great the recovery and the fills he put in to get back on track did some of the best guitar work I've ever heard. He is the best

You are totally right. Maybe drugs use made him to lose some of his ability to perform great guitar solos, some of them really complicated to perform. Maybe one proof of that was his performance at first LIVE AID Concert. But beside all this I really recognize Jimmy as one of the greatest guitar player of whole rich history.

Oh, I've noticed. I have enough boots to document every period of Zep from 1968 to 1980. Yes, the sheer technical ability did slide, especially live. But I prefer to focus on how his songwriting continually changed and expanded. It only took seven years to go from Communication Breakdown (a blazing solo) to Achilles Last Stand (13 guitars overdubbed and orchestrated). 13 GUITAR TRACKS!

People forget that studio recordings are polished. Live is the hardest thing to do and that's why all pop stars suck if they use backing tracks. Playing live has so many variables. If standing one can lose balance while being moved by the music. The grateful dead were very sloppy but if you take LSD it's perfect and breathes.

Zeppelin was Zeppelin until 1974-75...That's it

The two warm up shows in Copenhagen and to a slightly lesser extent the first Knebworth show in 79, Jimmy was on fire. There’s a couple shows from the 1980 tour over Europe and quite a few from the 77 US tour where Jimmy was on fire as well. Not as consistent as he was in the earlier days, and not saying smack didn’t hamper him, which it did, but thru the entirety of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy was doing things on stage nobody else could do. It’s also the era, nobody can outright say “oh he was on dope this gig” click tracks and loopers and a small army’s worth of tech guys running a rig and what not weren’t around back then. He definitely did get sloppy but quite a bit, that sloppiness and over the edge playing worked out for the better more often than not

I saw The Firm in 86 and he was fantastic.

I prefer "unscripted"

The guy’s genius was his songwriting, not his guitar playing. He was an average guitar player, from a technical standpoint. The solo to Stairway was the best he ever did, which was iconic. But, he never came close to that quality of a solo again.

There are key elements to a song that I, and others, expect to hear at a concert. Play the critical sounds in a song and I'm happy (that's why I paid money).

Jack Daniels and heroin. He cleaned up later. If he had not cleaned up, he would have been dead by now. The guy had his problems but he's written some of the best riffs of all time. Living legend.

I used to think he was sloppy and messed up. However after hearing how Eddie Van Halen had experienced the same thing from Jimmy live some information about Jim at that time came forward about a serious problem Jim had after either a car accident or something where he had really hurt his wrist. (I can't recall the exact reason) and how instead of canceling the tour that year he went on with it yet his playing suffered massively. It was at Zeps highest heights and a lot of footage was shot of him during that time as well so many saw him playing severely impaired because of his wrist. I've seen him now during other years and he's not one bit sloppy or messy.😮❤

Live music is art just like making a LP. They are just different art forms of art. I like the human aspect of live & the predetermined in the studio as well. 🤘😎

Those knebworth concerts are legendary tho

Hendrix detractors like to tell you how sloppy he was live. Well his lifestyle was pretty damn sloppy too. But when, like Page, he was good, he was very good!

I've seen Led Zeppelin a number of times. As a guitarist and musician I agree with this. My 2 sons and I saw the Page Plant Tour at the old Omni in Atlanta in the early 2000's. It was a great concert with all the variety of musicians! But on one song in particular Page was doing a solo and was a full fret flat and played like that for some time! But the band played on. Plant just looked at the audience and just shrugged! They are obviously very close, and Plant's gesture just exemplified that, like what was he supposed to do?! Hahahaha!