Biographer, journalist, broadcaster and New Musical Express senior, features writer Chris Salewicz sets a high watermark by laying title claim to being the "definitive biography" of the guitar legend Jimmy Page.
As for the results; Jimmy Page: The Definitive Biography, is at times chronologically sketchy, ping-ponging through years and stories, often in the same chapter, without a discernably coherent timeline or story line. I am not an over-sensitive fan-boy, who wouldn't be happy about anything written about their all-conquering hero; I do tend to lean towards stories that move from point A to B to C to D.
The book does reveal a lot of details on Page's rise from in demand session player to songwriter and onto rock God status. One thing I will credit Salewicz with doing, is dispensing with the childhood tales of woe, abuse, poverty and the phoenix-like rise through the power of music, that normally dot so many rock star bios.
While I was never a huge Led Zeppelin fan, i thought I knew tidbits and trivia about Page so I was surprised to learn about his start as a studio musician and his songwriting and partners penning tunes for pop stars of the era.
Like most, I knew about his time with the Yardbirds, which at points featured Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, but I didn't know he joined the band as a bassist. His shift to guitar happened when Beck had an ongoing bout with tonsillitis during an extended tour.
If this was the first foray into Page's story it may have earned Salewicz's a different level of acceptance for his take. In the end it comes off as a stitched together bits and pieces of stories told elsewhere, yet carefully packaged as a fly on the wall's view of a legendary musical figure. Biography? Yes. Definitive? Not so much.
