Customer Reviews

Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man: An Unauthorized Biography

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This biography, written by an enthusiast, suffers the usual problems one encounters when there is no input from the subject of the bio, i.e. it's all secondary sources, mostly quotes from old interviews etc that have been hashed and re-hashed over and over,then organized around a thin narrative. Because the author is so respectful of his subject,the less savory episodes concerning drugs, groupies, violence are glossed over.Much more interesting, to me at least, would be a book that pulls no punches concerning the salacious aspects of being a 'guitar god'and rock star, but then attempts to reconcile this with the 'interesting' Jimmy Page who is obviously blessed with intelligence and talent over and above the usual rock'n'roll suspects.That would require access to the man himself, and I gather the author's overtures in that direction were ignored.

Echoing Voltaire's adage "To the living we owe respect...." the author treads so gingerly around his subject that all we are left with is a transparent chronology of life on the road with Jimmy Page, and it's been covered pretty well in many other more interesting books.

The discussions of the music are surprisingly weak, tours roar by in the space of a few sentences, and Page's inactivity as a 'visible' musician over the past decade means the last half to one third of the book fizzles out.

Until Jimmy Page himself sets the record straight, by himself or with a trusted collaborator, attempts at his biography by others, however well-intentioned, will always fall well short of the mark. I cannot recommend this book to seasoned or casual fans of Page, The Yardbirds or Led Zeppelin.

Go to any bookstore and look in the music section, and you'll see books on all the legendary rockers -- Lennon, Dylan, Hendrix, Elvis, Stones, Beatles, Doors, Clapton, Neil Young, Zep -- but this is the first book just about one of the all-time greats, Jimmy Page !! This book has everything -- great early photos, stories about all the session work he did in the early 60s like working with Tom Jones, and how he dated Dusty Springfield, all the great Yardbirds tours, and how he & Clapton used to hang together while they were both unknown, the first Zep tour opening for Vanilla Fudge, how they became huge in the 70s and Jimmy got into heroin, and right up until today, with his 5 kids, including the last one born 8 years ago! We got a chapter comparing all the English guitarists to Page -- not only Beck & Clapton, but Tony Iomni, Richie Blackmore, Brian May, David Gilmour (and quotes from Eddie Van Halen, Joe Perry & Ace Frehly on how Page influenced them). There are quotes from Jimmy on what Zep really thought about Sabbath. For Jimmy Page fans like myself, this is one damn great book, I couldn't put it down!

I have been a Page fan more than half my life. I started playing guitar because of Page. I was interested when I saw this book on the shelf and bought it immediately. It sat on my floor for weeks because I just felt it would be a let down, but finally curiosity got me to pick it up.

It was a let down. There is not a single point in this book that is original in any way. Most of the stories told have been told over and over and over again. It seems silly to try to write a biography about a guy who doesn't want to have a biography written about him.

I once asked the boxer, Marvin Hagler, if he would be interested in having a biography written about him. He said no. So, I did not write it. Not exactly a complex decision.

Jimmy Page rocks. This book does not.

Case is a Led Zeppelin fan, that much is evident but he belabors the point losing all objectivity about his subject. The only thing new Case has to offer is his own, at times mind numbing analysis, as his book completely relies on secondary sources, much to this reader's disappointment. A good editor would have corrected the many grammatical errors not to mention some of the, albeit minor, factual errors in the work. He sums up entire tours and albums mostly to a few paragraphs focusing more on his own analysis (actually referring to Page's riffs on Trampled Underfoot as "Bootylicious.") Case offers little glimpse into the real life of Jimmy Page and his post Led Zeppelin accomplishments (although he did try to contact Page for his input). Despite the numerous flaws, this book was a fun read for a serious fan, particularly as a refresher. Still, Page fans will have to wait for something truly worthwhile. Hats off to Case for trying.

I had perhaps unfairly high hopes for this book, and to be honest read it cover to cover in about 24 hours. So I guess it either has something going for it or I am so starved for new biographical material on Jimmy Page that even a marginal rehashing of well-worn interview materials is still strongly compelling to me. As pointed out in other reviews anyone who has researched Page's career with any reasonable amount of due dilligence is not going to find much, if anything, new in Case's tome. In addition to the dearth of fresh material, I also at times found the narrative structure (ie -- combining pieces of disparate, sometimes strangely isolated, source interview snippets together to illustrate a point) to be a bit presumptuous. My main beef, however, comes when the author gets cute with his prose and mixes Led Zeppelin song titles in with his editorializing -- a truly amateurish literary device. Things get embarrassing every time he pullls this stunt.

That said, there's nothing really terrible about the project. The man knows his subject and is clearly a fan first and historian second. The book would have been stronger had Case stayed with his strength as a researcher and rounded things out more fully. Too me Magus, Musician, Man feels like a People Magazine caliber collage as opposed to a complete biography, unauthorized or otherwise. Maybe in light of the fact that Page isn't talking that's the best we can expect. Even so, with what is out there, and what the author tapped into for source material, a more complete picture was in his grasp. Case clearly could have used a good editor to clean up the multiple glaring typos and reign him in when he got too clever for his own good. The latter issues fall square on the shoulders of the publishers.

I really was pretty eager to read this book. You hear so many things about Page that you figured he would be interesting on many levels, too bad the book didnt come through. You see the "unauthorized biography" thing and you expect to get all the details and controversies but instead you get nothing new at all. I feel like I know nothing more about the guy after reading the book. Its obvious why its so flawed because it is simply a rehash of pieced together interviews and articles and published quotes that anyone could have obtained. The author doesnt interview anyone or get anything from any sources to give us anything new. Really just not a good book. The only thing interesting were the tidbits about the equipment he used, but even that was too little and will probably only interest guitarists or musicians.

I came to this book not expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised. The book is well written and informative, especially about Jimmy Page's musical influences. It has helped me understand Led Zeppelin's music much better, while gaining an appreciation for Page as a person. The author did a great job, particularly given the lack of cooperation from Page himself. I really liked this book.

This book was obviously written by a Jimmy Page fan wich i am too. Anyway this is a great reading for any Pagey addict. When you open the book of spells it's really hard to close it even if the clock reminds you it's time to sleep!

Lots of facts. Did his homework. For that he gets 2 stars. If you remove the excessive adjectives and adverbs and areas where he overly uses a "colorful-look-at-how-exciting-my-writting-is" style, you can get this book down to about 1 page (front and back) of material. If you do this you get a 3 minute read and can move on to a more substantial book... like a Chilton's car repair manual.

George Case tries, in the space of only 250 pages, to get inside the larger than life persona of Jimmy Page, and make it a three-dimensional portrait ("magus, musician, man") at that. Done without personal access to the man or his representatives, the result must be considered a failure.

Jimmy's bio is presented chronologically, mostly based on interviews or magazine articles from the now quite distant past. If one wants to read about the music scene in early-60's England, or life on the road with Zeppelin, you may as well read those articles yourself, or better yet read "Hammer of the Gods." There are more, and better stories most anywhere than this recycled work includes. It's very sketchy. Case is an amateur musician, I emphasize 'amateur,' and his commentary on much of the music is pretty lightweight as well.

Less, or worse, is yet to come, in that Case is also trying to address Page the person and 'the magus.' The person might be handled by discussion on musical control over the band, his various moves, his relationship with his families and children and ex-bandmates; there is no insight or discussion of motivations, or anything that goes on inside the head of Page (besides the swishing around of cocaine). As regards 'magus,' Case notes Page's interest in Crowley and the occult without ever mounting a serious inquiry into just what it was that Page was trying to accomplish, the role of yoga or meditation or ritual or anything else in bringing this off, or even whether Page considered this aspect of his life successful or rewarding (or even maintains an interest today). In other words, Case just doesn't know enough to venture an opinion.

The book is a very fast read; there's basically nothing to it but a bare-bones outline of Page's march through life. Just what makes him such an important figure at all is hardly even addressed. Maybe the most interesting part of the book is a segment where he actually discusses the guitarists of other, competing, bands, everyone from Ace Frehley to Eddie Van Halen to Angus Young. Save your money to buy "How the West Was Won" and you will see and hear for yourself what made Led Zeppelin the quintessential 70's band.