Twin Sigil

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Page was born to James Patrick Page and Patricia Elizabeth Gaffikin in the West London suburb of Heston on 9 January 1944. His father was a personnel manager at a plastic-coatings plant, and his mother, who was of Irish descent, was a doctor's secretary. In 1952, they moved to Feltham and then to Miles Road, Epsom, in Surrey. Page was educated from the age of eight at Epsom County Pound Lane Primary School, and at age eleven attended Ewell County Secondary School in West Ewell. He came across his first guitar, a Spanish guitar, in the Miles Road house: "I don't know whether [the guitar] was left behind by the people before [us], or whether it was a friend of the family's—nobody seemed to know why it was there." First playing the instrument when age 12, he took a few lessons in nearby Kingston, but was largely self-taught. Among Page's early influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on recordings made by Elvis Presley. Presley's song "Baby Let's Play House" is cited by Page as his inspiration to take up the guitar. Page appeared on BBC1 in 1957 with a Höfner President acoustic, which he'd bought from money saved up from his milk round in the summer holidays. At age 13, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's All Your Own talent quest program in a skiffle quartet, one performance of which aired on BBC1 in 1957. When asked by Wheldon what he wanted to do after school, Page said, "I want to do biological research [to find a cure for] cancer, if it isn't discovered by then."

In Their Own Story

Page left secondary school in West Ewell at age 15 to pursue music, having gained four GCE O levels. He had difficulty finding other musicians with whom he could play on a regular basis. Page had stints backing recitals by Beat poet Royston Ellis at the Mermaid Theatre between 1960 and 1961. He also played with singer Red E. Lewis' backing band the Redcaps after Lewis had seen Page play with the Paramounts. After the departure of guitarist Bobby Oats, Page was asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band, the Crusaders. Christian had seen 15-year-old Page playing in a local hall. Page toured with Christian for approximately two years and later played on several of his records, including the 1962 single, "The Road to Love". During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with glandular fever and stopped touring. He put his musical career on hold and concentrated on his other love, painting, and he enrolled at Sutton Art College in Surrey. As he explained in 1975: "[I was] travelling around all the time in a bus. I did that for two years after I left school, to the point where I was starting to get really good bread. But I was getting ill. So I went back to art college."

Reader's Guide

While a student, Page often performed at the Marquee Club with bands such as Cyril Davies' All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, and fellow guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of Brian Howard & the Silhouettes, who asked him to help record some singles for Columbia Graphophone Company, including "The Worrying Kind". Mike Leander of Decca Records first offered Page regular studio work. His first session for the label was the recording "Diamonds" by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, which went to No. 1 on the singles chart in early 1963. After brief stints with Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, Mike Hurst and the Method, and Mickey Finn and the Blue Men, Page undertook full-time session work. As a session guitarist, he was known as 'Lil' Jim Pea' to prevent confusion with the other noted English session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. Page was mainly called into sessions as "insurance" in instances when a replacement or second guitarist was required by the recording artist. Page was the favored session guitarist of record producer Shel Talmy. As a result, Page secured session work on songs for the Who and the Kinks. Page's studio gigs in 1964 and 1965 included Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", Jonathan King's "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", the Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", the Rolling Stones "Heart of Stone", Van Morrison & Them's "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Mystic Eyes", and "Here Comes the Night", Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and "My Baby Left Me", Brenda Lee's "Is It True", Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", and Petula Clark's "Downtown". In 1964, Page contributed guitar to the incidental music of the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. In 1965, Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer and A&R man for the newly formed Immediate Records label, which allowed him to play on and/or produce tracks by John Mayall, Nico, Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much, and Clapton. Also in 1965, Page produced one of Dana Gillespie's early singles, "Thank You Boy".

Did You Know?

• Page's first guitar was a Spanish guitar he found in the Miles Road house, and nobody seemed to know why it was there.
• At age 13, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's All Your Own talent quest program in a skiffle quartet, which aired on BBC1 in 1957.
• Page's first solid-bodied electric guitar was a second-hand 1959 Futurama Grazioso, later replaced by a Fender Telecaster.
• Page's first session for Decca Records was the recording "Diamonds" by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, which went to No. 1 on the singles chart in early 1963.
• In 1964, Page contributed guitar to the incidental music of the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night.