(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sat 15 November 2025 14:18, UK
Mick Jagger’s story with Led Zeppelin dates back to before they were even a band, and he followed their journey closely.
In contrast to other bands, Led Zepellin had an advantage from the gates, which was Jimmy Page. He was on everybody’s radar in London due to his session work, as well as his time with The Yardbirds. Before forming Led Zeppelin, he’d already been invited into the world of The Rolling Stones, which earned him a fan for life in Jagger.
In 1974, even after Led Zeppelin had established themselves as one of the biggest acts in rock, The Rolling Stones reconvened with Page for ‘Scarlet‘. However, it took until 2020 for it to see the light of day, and at the time, Jagger described Page as “one of the best session guitarists at the time” on BBC Radio 2.
In the same interview, he reflected on their decades of friendship and discussed Page’s time as a session musician, sharing, “And that’s how I met Jimmy, and that’s how I met John Paul Jones – because he was the bass player. So I knew Jimmy from then, and I knew John Paul Jones from then, and then ten years later – or a bit less than ten years later – they made this very successful band”.
The Rolling Stones frontman recalled watching those early Led Zeppelin concerts, which he called a “great, thunderous racket”. In the late 1970s, they were, arguably, the two biggest bands in the world, and fortuitously, had booked the Musicland Studios in Munich at the same time. During this time, Led Zeppelin worked on Presence, and The Rolling Stones recorded Black and Blue.
If things had gone to plan, Led Zeppelin would have finished before The Rolling Stones arrived in Germany. However, Page needed to stay longer than he initially anticipated to tie up some loose ends. While this was frustrating, it allowed him to play their tracks to Jagger, who provided feedback on their creations.
Led Zeppelin in 1969. (Credits: 2025 Paradise Pictures Ltd)
Speaking about the album to MSN, Page shared: “That’s the one where it took three weeks to record and do overdubs. We did it in the Musicland Studios, Munich and after us were the Rolling Stones. I called them up and asked if I could get a couple more days, because they were busy trying out various guitars, and they said OK.
“The tracks were done, and Robert’s vocals were done, and I was going to do what I had normally done and still do – the overdubs and production.”
The guitarist continued: “There was me and the engineer Keith Harwood, and whoever woke first would get the other up and we’d get straight into the studio and do the guitar overlays. It was the same with the mixing.”
The Led Zeppelin founder then recalled Jagger’s mind-blowing reaction to ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’, which injected him with confidence in the song.
He shared, “Jagger was staying in the same hotel, and I went up to see him to say thanks for letting us use the studio in their downtime. He said, ‘What have you done?’ I said, ‘I’ve done an album; do you want to hear some?’ I put on ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’, which he sort of knew as a blues song and he was quite startled by it.”
Due to the level of their friendship, Page knew that Jagger would provide his honest thoughts on Presence rather than lip service out of politeness. Therefore, his reaction to ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ was reaffirming for Page, who placed Jagger’s opinion on a pedestal. While Presence, which admittedly was made at a traumatic time for the band, isn’t Led Zeppelin’s greatest work, ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’ is a song that continues to stand up today.
Related Topics
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.