In a new, all-encompassing interview with Total Guitar, Led Zeppelin icon Jimmy Page discusses his evolution as a guitarist, writing rock's greatest albums and the gear behind them. An excerpt follows...

Total Guitar: There was a heavy influence of blues on the first album - in "You Shook Me" and of course "Dazed And Confused", which turned into an epic piece in live performance...

Jimmy Page: “Well, 'Dazed And Confused' was basically a vehicle for improvisation. There are various versions of 'Dazed And Confused' out there, but what can be told right across the board wherever you hear it, there’s a couple of verses and then there’s improvisation – from Robert, as well."

Total Guitar: So you played it just going wherever the mood took you?  

Page: “Yes, there are whole areas of things that just come out on the night and then they don’t get repeated again. It’s quite extraordinary, and it keeps getting longer and longer and longer. But there’s a hell of a lot to say in that, because it wasn’t just jamming on one chord, it was going through all manner of movements like a classical piece."

Total Guitar: How did you set up improvisational moments?

Page: “You go into it then you take off and try to come up with whatever you come up with along the way. But there’s a way of coming out of it, so then there would be musical signatures so that the band knew we were coming to the end of that piece and... Watch what’s coming next!

“So there were signposts, but in between you could go straight or you could go over the mountains, as far as the improvisation goes. And the improvisation was pretty fresh every night. There were character bits that stayed, for sure, but there was a lot of stuff that got played one night and never got revisited again ever."

Read the complete interview here.