Guitarist Admits He Was ‘Rude’ To Jimmy Page

Former Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre recently recounted how Jimmy Page attempted to get his attention while he was recording the solo for “Aqualung,” noting that he had to turn his back on the Led Zeppelin icon.

Martin Barre talks about Jimmy Page

Barre admitted what he did might have come off as “rude,” and there was important work to be done, “Aqualung” ended up as Jethro Tull’s best-known calling card after “Locomotive Breath.” The titular album had become the best-selling LP in the Ian Anderson led collective’s entire discography, as well as a staple of progressive rock.

Moreover, the solo was spontaneous, and Barre told Guitar World in a new interview that Anderson would’ve probably taken over the solo spot had he not wrapped it up at the time Page interrupted him:

“[‘Aqualung’s’] solo was all done on the fly. I think it was take two – and if I hadn’t got it in two then it would have been a flute solo. But that’s when Jimmy Page, who was recording with Led Zeppelin in the basement of Basing Street Studios, came up to say hello.”

“He was in the control room window, waving madly. I was in the middle of the solo, and I thought, ‘Sorry, but I can’t stop.’ And I didn’t. I just turned my back. Which was a bit rude. But that was the solo on ‘Aqualung.'”

Rude or not, it’s hard to imagine a world where the situation caused any bad blood between the two guitarists. In 2021, Barre stated that he was “sure” Page understood the predicament he was in, even though members of Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull barely saw each other during that time:

“I’m sure he understood that when you’re out there doing something, you need to get on with it. The funny thing about the story is that Zeppelin had been in the studio, in the basement, for over a month working on ‘Led Zeppelin IV,’ and we’d never ever seen any of them.”

“It just happened that the moment he chose to pop in was whilst I was recording that solo. I either had to put my guitar down and say ‘hi’ or carry on with the solo.”

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