Jimmy Page

That’s where I heard feedback first – from Les Paul. Also vibratos – even before B.B. King, you know. I’ve traced a hell of a lot of rock and roll, little riffs and things, back to Les Paul – it’s all there. I mean, he’s the father of it all: multi-tracking and everything else. If it hadn’t been for him, there wouldn’t have been anything really.

The reason I write music is that I feel it’s a vehicle or channel which leads to your true self, your essence.

[In 1969] I think lyrics have always been important to any serious writer of music.

I don’t believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

Talent is cheap, and many talents treat themselves cheaply.

If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!

Joe’s been my drummer for 14 years, and we’ve been buddies for six years.

It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.

There is nothing more stuntastic than rapping in front of an orchestra.

I’m trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it’s difficult is ’cause I’m changing all the time.

Monk taught me more about music composition than anyone else on 52nd Street.

I used to play pianos in bars. You know in hotels, you’d see guys playing piano with a snifter? That was me, with a painted-on mustache. I was about 15.

I’m trying to make music a sensual expression, not and academic experiment.

Improvisation is the most widespread of all musical activities. Why did so many people spend so long pretending it never happened?

Nothing is so well-prepared as a great spontaneous performance.

‘Swing’ is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a ‘swing band’ in music.