If guitar heaven exists, it's 'Loud'
Michael Ordoña, Special to The Chronicle
Friday, August 21, 2009
As documentary filmmakers go, Davis Guggenheim is a rock star. He won an Oscar for directing Al Gore in "An Inconvenient Truth" and he's married to the beautiful, Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue. But on this day, he's happy to be the roadie.
To his left in a conference room at the Beverly Wilshire, under a ragged mop of black hair, sits Jack White. One of today's boldest and most intriguing musical figures, White is best known (so far) as half of the White Stripes. And to his left is enthroned a silver-maned lion from the Olympic pantheon: Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.
White begins by asking mischievously if The San Francisco Chronicle is still printing Zodiac ciphers, as the filmmaker and the elder statesman laugh. Once assured none has appeared in years, he explains why he agreed to be in Guggenheim's "It Might Get Loud" with fellow guitar gods Page and the Edge of U2:
"I liked the idea that he didn't have a definite idea of what he wanted to do. It could have been some bad Guitar Center instructional video or something," says White with a sneaky laugh, in the rapid speech of a highly gifted child whose thoughts outpace his words.
"Or it could have gone one by one through all the Zeppelin albums, the U2 albums, etc. But we wouldn't get any depth about how these people are attacking the instrument, or how any guitar player should take a fresh look at attacking their instrument."
The documentary contains jaw-dropping archival footage of the artists, as well as revealing reminiscences of their earliest experiences with music and moments of discovery.
"Davis came to London and outlined this idea he had about one's approach to the guitar," says Page, who terrified his share of parents with all those rumors of occultism in the '70s. Now he speaks in quiet, measured tones with the confidence of a gentleman who can still summon lightning bolts at age 65.
"His grand design was to start with just the two of us, interviewing on tape, to get to know each other, just to get a feel for it. Those two aspects of it, opening up the door that way - and then Jack, who I'd sort of met a little bit, and the Edge; I thought this could be a really interesting chemistry."
Guggenheim's film runs full speed from music-movie cliches. There are no overdoses, no tales of insane rock 'n' roll excess; just the rarest of glimpses into the artistic furnaces burning within these three renowned guitarists with completely different styles. At its best, the documentary captures a hint of the creative spark.
"I think Jack has said, and it's pretty smart, that the guitar is a MacGuffin in the film," says Guggenheim of trying to express something ineffable in a six-stringed theme. "The guitar is a reason for us to sit and talk, but it's really about what that spark is. That's the thing that drew me in, but then you shouldn't talk about it."
Like many musicians, Page and White prove reticent to describe personal hinge moments, even ones captured in the movie.
"Watching it objectively, there are many revealing moments (about myself) that I noticed. I'm not going to tell you what they are," says Page, matter-of-factly. "But I feel the others have some wonderful moments in respect to that: Revelations, aspects of their characters being revealed that you didn't know beforehand.
"As far as Edge goes, his approach to his work ... he's like a scientist in his laboratory, working away on soundscapes."
Declining the opportunity to slag the missing member of the triumvirate (the Edge is touring with U2), White happily refers to a scene in which the three jam on a Zeppelin classic: "I like watching Edge playing slide guitar on 'In My Time of Dying,' too; it showed his relationship to the blues. You can see it in some of his songs, like 'Even Better Than the Real Thing' or 'Bullet the Blue Sky.' All three of us have different slide techniques; it was great to see us playing slide together. That's one of my favorite parts."
"Yeah, because it's unlike what you think about the Edge," adds Page. "Suddenly he's improvising a solo, and he's playing it really, superbly well."
The movie contains a number of mind-blowing moments for fans, such as Page spinning the 45 of Link Wray's "Rumble" and playing air guitar with it, or White, onstage with the Raconteurs, tearing into a solo so single-mindedly he's unaware his hand is bleeding.
"I remember afterwards, at the end of the show I saw all that (blood) and I thought, 'Well, they happen to be filming ... good thing they didn't come the night before!' " He laughs, then adds: "Those things happen when you're really pushing yourself extremely hard. Some singers collapse ... things like that happen."
The guitarists need no pushing, however, to assess each other's work.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the guitar solo in 'Whole Lotta Love' is some of the greatest notes ever played on the guitar," White says. "I put that up there with Blind Willie Johnson, 'Dark Was the Night.' I think there's just an incredible amount of intensity in those, whatever it is, 15 seconds that will stand the test of time, forever."
Page says, "As far as Jack's work, it's evolving all the time. It's fascinating, it's marvelous, marvelous. I've got the utmost respect for what Jack has done, what he's doing. He's what live music is all about."
As White bows his head in what looks like embarrassment, Page adds, "That's it, that's inspirational for everybody." {sbox}
It Might Get Loud (PG) opens Friday at Bay Area theaters.
To see a trailer for "It Might Get Loud," go to links.sfgate.com/ZHSL.
Jimmy Page
Born: Jan. 9, 1944 (Heston, England).
Why we care: This brilliant guitarist has written some of the greatest riffs and ripped some of the most searing solos in rock 'n' roll (see also: "Heartbreaker," "Stairway to Heaven," "The Ocean" and many others) and is a groundbreaking producer whose innovations include reverse echo (as in "Whole Lotta Love") and recording the drums for "When the Levee Breaks" in a mansion's tall entrance chamber to achieve that song's famously apocalyptic sound. Two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin). Ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Resume builders: Led Zeppelin is one of the biggest-selling acts in music history, with more than 100 million units sold in the United States alone. The band's fourth album, with a title made up of symbols, is still one of the Top 15 worldwide, with more than 37 million copies sold. His non-Zeppelin output includes the Yardbirds, the Firm and two collaborations with Zep singer Robert Plant. Before the Yardbirds, Page was a sought-after session guitarist. Even he is unsure how many records he played on, but among them: Van Morrison and Them's "Here Comes the Night," Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and the Bond theme "Goldfinger."
Quotable: On the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games, Page said: "There've obviously been overtures made to Led Zeppelin, but for instance, if you start with the first track on the first album, 'Good Times Bad Times,' and you take the drum part, what John Bonham did there - I mean, how many drummers in the world can actually play that, let alone Dad on a Christmas morning? There might be a lot of alcohol consumed over Christmas; he's still not going to get it."
Jack White
Born: John Anthony Gillis, July 9, 1975 (Detroit).
Personal: Youngest of 10 children.
Why we care: The creatively restless White is a driving force behind at least three bands: The White Stripes (a two-piece outfit with ex-wife Meg White, whose surname Gillis took when they married), the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather (primarily as drummer). Started own label, Third Man. Ranked No. 17 on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Resume builders: Has released six White Stripes and two Raconteurs albums, plus one with his new outfit, the Dead Weather. Has collaborated with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys and Loretta Lynn (whose White-produced "Van Lear Rose" won the Grammy for best country album), among others.
Quotable: On laying down Son House's "Death Letter" for the second White Stripes disc, White said: "We recorded that song in our living room, and when we finished, Meg had this scary look on her face. I went, 'What?' I was just waiting for the hiss to die down. And when I turned around, there was this drunk man standing behind me who had wandered into the house! (laughs) It took me about a half an hour to get him to leave. (more laughter) Always lock the door when you're recording."
(c)Hearst Communications, Inc., 2009.
Bet he left a trail of distruction behind him 
