Jimmy Page and MSA

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 23 Feb 2011 2:59 am

I was watching this Led Zep vid of When The Levee Breaks and came across this shot.

As far as I know, there arent a whole lot of photos of Jimmy Page playing PSG.
It looks like an MSA logo. Any more info on this?

Clete

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 23 Feb 2011 5:55 am

In a late '60's interview with Hit Parader Magazine, he said that he wanted to learn PSG. I guess later he played the B bender guitar instead.

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 23 Feb 2011 6:25 am

Very cool. As far as I know, Page had a Fender cable steel as well. It appears on a scattered Zep recording in the context of simple, straightforward licks and such. One prominent song title escapes me now, but I heard it recently and said to myself, "Fender cable steel."

Chris Dorch · Post by **Chris Dorch** » 23 Feb 2011 6:26 am

He uses a Fender 1000 on the Zep 3 album.. Per Hammer of the Gods...

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 23 Feb 2011 8:21 am

In one or another of the many books about them, there are a couple of pictures of him with an MSA. If I remember right, they played at the opening of the movie "The Song Remains the Same" and that's where the pictures were taken.

Ron Davis · Post by **Ron Davis** » 23 Feb 2011 9:13 am

On Zep III there was pedal steel on "Tangerine" & I think there was some on "That's The Way"...
Seems like there was more, elsewhere, but I can't remember right now.

rd

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 23 Feb 2011 10:10 am

"Tangerine".....that's the one. Thanks.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 23 Feb 2011 1:29 pm

Oh, Whew! At least it appears we won't have to vote him the SECOND-best pedal steel guitarist of all time....

Paul E. Brennan · Post by **Paul E. Brennan** » 23 Feb 2011 2:29 pm

There's some steel on Led Zep 1 as well.

Ron Davis · Post by **Ron Davis** » 23 Feb 2011 2:44 pm

Paul E. Brennan wrote:There's some steel on Led Zep 1 as well.

You remember which song?

Ron Davis · Post by **Ron Davis** » 23 Feb 2011 2:47 pm

"Your Time Is Gonna Come" had something that sounded like it's likely pedal steel...

Ron Davis · Post by **Ron Davis** » 23 Feb 2011 2:48 pm

Paul E. Brennan wrote:There's some steel on Led Zep 1 as well.

You remember which song?

Hmmm... It double posted AFTER I posted another post.

Weird...

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 23 Feb 2011 5:31 pm

I'm pretty sure all that slide work in When the Levee Breaks is a PSG, too.
As for Zep 1, PSG is all over Dazed and Confused.

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 23 Feb 2011 5:42 pm

David,
Maybe the third best.... after all Ron Wood has a pedal steel too.
gary

Ron Davis · Post by **Ron Davis** » 23 Feb 2011 6:00 pm

Remember Ron Wood playing bass for Jeff Beck on the Truth album?
I think Beck Ola, too.
He was a SMOKIN' bass player.
Then he went with Rod the Mod & played guitar.
Probably got a raise, too.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 24 Feb 2011 12:49 am

did those english guitar heroes who dabbled at psg make them steelers in the proper sense of the term ?

Archie Nicol · Post by **Archie Nicol** » 24 Feb 2011 3:16 am

I'd like to see Pete throw it around like he does his SG!

Arch.

Jonathan Shacklock · Post by **Jonathan Shacklock** » 24 Feb 2011 9:15 am

From: http://web.archive.org/web/200302101742 ... ge77.shtml

On "Tangerine" [Led Zeppelin III] it sounds as if you're playing a pedal steel.

I am. And on the first LP there's a pedal steel. I had never played steel before, but I just picked it up. There's a lot of things I do first time around that I haven't done before. In fact, I hadn't touched a pedal steel from the first album to the third. It's a bit of a pinch really from the things that Chuck Berry did. Nevertheless, it fits. I use pedal steel in "Your Time is Gonna Come" [Led Zeppelin]. It sounds like a slide or something. It's more out of tune on the first album because I hadn't got a kit to put it together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-AbHItLrJw

Jesse Adams · Post by **Jesse Adams** » 26 Feb 2011 8:30 pm

I believe He also play steel on "down by the seaside" off Physical Graffiti. cool stuff! It sounds like more than one string being moved to make those heavy vibrato chord hits so I don't think it's a B bender.

Here's a little bit of an interview with Jimmy page from '77.

On "Tangerine" [Led Zeppelin III] it sounds as if you're playing a pedal steel.

I am. And on the first LP there's a pedal steel. I had never played steel before, but I just picked it up. There's a lot of things I do first time around that I haven't done before. In fact, I hadn't touched a pedal steel from the first album to the third. It's a bit of a pinch really from the things that Chuck Berry did. Nevertheless, it fits. I use pedal steel in "Your Time is Gonna Come" [Led Zeppelin]. It sounds like a slide or something. It's more out of tune on the first album because I hadn't got a kit to put it together.

You've also played other stringed instruments on records?

"Gallows Pole" [Led Zeppelin III] was the first time for banjo, and on "The Battle of Evermore," [Led Zeppelin IV] a mandolin was lying around. It wasn't mine, it was Jonesey's. I just picked it up, got the chords, and it sort of started happening. I did it more or less straight off. But, you see, that's fingerpicking again, going back to the studio days and developing a certain amount of technique -- at least enough to be adapted and used. My fingerpicking is a sort of cross between Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs, and total incompetence.

Read the whole thing here
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/jim ... an-00/6088

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 27 Feb 2011 5:31 am

Jimmy Page was not the only Led Zep member to own a pedal steel. Bassist John Paul Jones bought a ZB guitar in the mid 1970's when I worked for the UK ZB importer. Jones and a roadie came into the showroom, and told owner Eric Snowball that he would like to buy a green single 10 model. When Jones' roadie presented Eric with a company cheque, Eric queried it, as they wanted to take the guitar away with them. The roadie had a quiet word in Eric's ear as to who the buyer was and they went on their way with the ZB.

Paul E. Brennan · Post by **Paul E. Brennan** » 28 Feb 2011 3:02 pm

I was a huge Led Zeppelin fan when I was a kid. However, when I learned that the instrument Jimmy Page was playing in "Your Time Is Gonna Come" was a pedal steel guitar I resolved never to have anything to do with an instrument that sounded so out of tune and downright awful. It was a long time before I learned how a pedal steel ought to sound (courtesy of Basil Henriques).

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 1 Mar 2011 7:52 am

Drifting a bit here perhaps, but the great British guitarist Allan Holdsworth has also dabbled on psg, there's actually some pretty cool steel playing on his beautiful song "Tokyo Dream" from his 1984 album "Road Games." I read that he played some in that wild book of his "Reaching for the Uncommon Chord" and sure enough before one of the solos there it is. Wonder what kind he had...

Keep on pickin' everybody.

Gerald

Clete Ritta · Post by **Clete Ritta** » 2 Mar 2011 2:04 am

Ken Byng wrote:...John Paul Jones bought a ZB guitar in the mid 1970's...

I have one good JPJ story (actually a good Doors story too),
Growing up in NJ, I used to skateboard with a kid named Dan up the block from me.
Turns out his dad was Paul Rothchild.
Not just the producer of the Doors, but at the time one of the few importers of Alembic basses.
One day, he showed me a most amazing custom made bass.
I played it for a minute. I had just learned the riff to Black Dog or something.
As soon as he told me it was for John Paul Jones, I put it right back in the case!~
I was a much bigger fan of Zep than the Doors back then too

Gerald Menke wrote:Drifting a bit here perhaps, but the great British guitarist Allan Holdsworth has also dabbled on psg, there's actually some pretty cool steel playing on his beautiful song "Tokyo Dream" from his 1984 album "Road Games." I read that he played some in that wild book of his "Reaching for the Uncommon Chord" and sure enough before one of the solos there it is. Wonder what kind he had...

Maybe an MSA? I dunno

Maybe I was Three Sheets To The Wind

That was an amazing era of fusion guitar for me. At Rutgers College in NJ around 1985-6, I saw Allan play "Tokyo Dream", pretty much note for note. He was brilliant on the guitar and STEPP that afternoon, though I dont recall him playing a steel. I have that very book "Reaching for the Uncommon Chord", signed by Allan himself somewhere. I learned maybe %25 of it by ear and watching. The music helped, but some things just arent humanly possible except by Allan himself.

Maybe not the top of your personal steel players list, but at the end of the day, I like all of the music they have produced. Im glad that they were interested enough in the instrument we here all like so much! To use it right away (even at their admitted limited ability) at some point in their stellar careers of master craftsmanship is just PSG music history! The pedal steel guitar has been around as an influence in lots of genres.

J Page J Garcia R Wood P Townshend A Holdsworth etc. keep em coming!

They were obviously completely inspired by it to have to want to try and play the darn thing in the first place, am I wrong?

Clete

Dave McKeough · Post by **Dave McKeough** » 2 Mar 2011 3:11 am

Just goes to show that everyone wants to play pedal steel!

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 2 Mar 2011 5:46 am

They were obviously completely inspired by it to have to want to try and play the darn thing

AbSoLutLey !