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One of the most influential American guitar players of all time, Joe Walsh entered Rock history for his solo work and also for his contributions to James Gang and Eagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n He was part of one of the most talented generations of Rock guitar players and had the chance to meet and watch many of his greatest peers perform. Over the decades, he gave his opinion on many of them, including Jimmy Page, the guitarist and producer of Led Zeppelin<\/p>\n What is Joe Walsh\u2019s opinion on Jimmy Page<\/p>\n Joe Walsh has been a big fan of Jimmy Page since his days in The Yardbirds, a band Walsh used to see whenever he could. They first met when James Gang was the opening act for Led Zeppelin<\/a> and their friendship continued over the years. The American guitarist was also crucial to their sound, since he was the one who gave Page his famous Gibson Les Paul guitar.<\/p>\n \u201cOddly enough, Jimmy Page played a Telecaster in all of The Yardbirds. The James Gang opened for Led Zeppelin when they first came to America. We opened for them, and they played four or five places \u2013 one of them was Cleveland. So I met Jimmy, and (Zeppelin\u2019s) first album had just come out and people were just starting to discover Led Zeppelin. The word of mouth was huge. But a lot of people came to hear The Yardbirds songs because that\u2019s all they knew.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo Jimmy and I became friends because pretty much that\u2019s a three-piece band with the lead singer. Jimmy said to me, \u2018Look, The Yardbirds is great and I played on so many records\u2026\u2019 He played on so many sessions! If you look up what he played on, you\u2019ll be amazed. But he said, \u2018This Telecaster ain\u2019t cutting it for Led Zeppelin. And I don\u2019t know what to do.\u2019 Now, Les Pauls virtually didn\u2019t exist in England at the time. They didn\u2019t hit popularity yet. They were pretty easy to find because they hadn\u2019t been discovered \u2013 and they didn\u2019t cost very much.<\/p>\n Joe Walsh continued:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the fact, when that became the guitar for rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, the rest is history. But he said, \u2018I got to get a double-coil situation. I\u2019ve looked for Les Paul, there aren\u2019t any in England. Do you know any way you could help me get one? Because Led Zeppelin ain\u2019t making it with a Telecaster.\u2019 And I happen to have two. I found one in the basement of a family-owned music store, I think in Athens, OH, where Ohio University is. It was just in the basement. I just walked in another garage, and it was all boxes. I said, \u2018What do you got downstairs?\u2019 And there was a Les Paul!<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I found another one through a friend, I traded him some stuff for one. So, one I really liked and one I just was saving for a rainy day. So I gave Jimmy that one. (That\u2019s the) Les Paul he calls Number One. The body of Led Zeppelin music is that Les Paul that I gave him. (I couldn\u2019t imagine Led Zeppelin with a Telecaster) No, neither could I, neither could he. And he said, \u2018I\u2019m in big trouble here.\u2019 I said, \u2018Look, just try this out. I think this will solve the problem. And if you like it, we\u2019ll talk,’\u201d Joe Walsh said in an interview with Wrong Notes Podcast<\/a> in 2021.<\/p>\n He also revealed that Jimmy Page eventually paid him about $1,500 for the guitar later on. It was slightly less than what he had originally paid for it, and now the instrument is worth millions of dollars.<\/p>\n Page is also a fan of Joe Walsh and thanked him for the guitar<\/p>\n Jimmy Page is also a fan of Joe Walsh and loved the music of James Gang, saying to Rolling Stone<\/a> in 1975: \u201cHe has a tremendous feel for the instrument. I\u2019ve loved his style since the early James Gang.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview with Corus Radio<\/a> in 2015, Page recalled how much Walsh insisted he bought the guitar at the time. \u201cI\u2019ve done all the first album pretty much on the Fender Telecaster. So we promoted the first album on the road. We played in San Francisco second time round, because we played in like January 69. This is just a few months later, relatively speaking and Joe Walsh comes along with this guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe says: \u2018You\u2019re going to buy this guitar. I\u2019ve got a Les Paul custom, which means he had three pickups on, electric pickups and this one had two. and he said: \u2018No, no\u2019, you got to buy it and I said: \u2018You know, Joe, I\u2019m really happy with the Fender Telecaster\u2019 and he said: \u2018No, you gotta have it!\u2019 He convinced me that I should buy it and he was right.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued:<\/p>\n \u201cJoe says there\u2019s magic in guitars and I think he\u2019s right, especially those guitars, because they all sounded very different from each other. It wasn\u2019t (those) kind of guitars that are really consistent scientifically engineered. In those days there weren\u2019t so much. So you could find a guitar that really had a character, that was user friendly,\u201d he said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).<\/p>\n