News Jimmy Page names the most technically gifted rock singer: “I’ve never heard him sing a wrong note”
Jimmy Page has worked with a plethora of different musicians. Following a stint on tour long before Led Zeppelin, he passed out in Sheffield, which led to him putting his dreams of being in a touring rock band on hold and instead opting to become a session guitarist. The result was that he mastered a number of different playing styles and got to work with a huge variety of groups.
Some of the people he shared studio time with included The Yardbirds, with whom he formed a great working relationship and even joined at one point. He also almost subbed in for Pete Townshend when The Who was recording their debut single, ‘I Can’t Explain’.
Finally, though, Led Zeppelin came around, and with that, he started working with Robert Plant. There was no one better that Page could have formed a band with as Plant had such a massive and exciting vocal range that whatever style Page wanted to play, Plant could reciprocate. It led to the unique sound that Led Zeppelin went on to create, which dabbled in different genres and took inspiration from cultures around the world.
That being said, Page has admitted that Plant was the most technically gifted singer he ever worked with. Granted, Plant was a vocal acrobat, with the ability to see him dance around different styles like the sound was going out of fashion, but the most technically gifted singer Page ever worked with was Paul Rodgers.
In ’84, Page and Rodgers got together with Chris Slade and Tony Franklin to form the rock supergroup The Firm. They had a couple of hit singles, and Page constantly praised Rodgers for his singing ability. He was a massive fan of his and Plant’s but went as far as to say that Rodgers was pretty much perfect.
“With Paul, his phrasing is totally different [from Plant’s]. I would think that Robert was like a vocal gymnast,” he said, “And Paul, I’ve never heard him sing a wrong note; he’s such a technical singer. He really is. And yet he has a quality within his voice that, on the ballads he does, is really caressing. And yet it’s really vibrant in a way.”
A lot of people share this opinion of Rodgers. He has been in a number of bands, such as Free, Bad Company and the Firm, and in each, his vocal ability has shone. It is both difficult to ignore but incredibly warm and comforting; Page does right to call him out for his acceptable talents. Even though The Firm albums that were released were good, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see the two of them collaborate a little bit more.
