Jeff Beck Recalls Bizarre First Meeting with Jimmy Page — From Epsom Art School Tea and Tape Sessions to Rock Rivalry and Zeppelin Inspiration: ‘Truth’ vs. ‘Led Zep I,’ the Untold Origins of Two Guitar Legends, Forgotten Recordings, and Rod Stewart’s Wild Card Role in the Girly Frontman Race**
Before the thunder of Led Zeppelin and the raw power of the Jeff Beck Group changed rock history, there was a quiet knock at the door and a kettle on the boil. In a story that now feels like rock ‘n’ roll folklore, Jeff Beck recently opened up about the strange and fateful day he first met Jimmy Page—thanks to his sister and a bit of sibling sass.
“My sister knew Jimmy from Epsom Art School,” Beck recalled. “She came to my room and said, ‘There’s a weirdo at school with a guitar like yours,’ then slammed the door. I ran after her asking, ‘Where is he?’”
Curious, Beck followed her to Page’s home. There, instead of rock star egos, the two future guitar gods bonded over tea, cake, and tape machines. Page’s mother had gifted him a top-quality recorder, and the pair quickly began experimenting. “We’d record there regularly. I don’t know where those tapes are now, but there’s some rare stuff on them,” Beck said.
But that friendship would soon find itself framed by a quiet rivalry. When Led Zeppelin’s debut album dropped, Beck couldn’t help but hear echoes of his own groundbreaking 1968 release, *Truth*. “When I first heard what he’d done with Zeppelin, I thought, ‘That’s a little more than inspired by *Truth,*’” Beck admitted with a grin.
Though momentarily stung, Beck also saw the brilliance in what Page had crafted—and what it lacked that *Truth* didn’t. “I realized I needed more than I had. I needed a frontman with girly appeal. Plant had that in abundance—bare chest, golden locks, and all that,” he laughed. “We had Rod Stewart. But Rod didn’t exactly do the shirtless-god-of-rock thing.”
That cheeky jab aside, Beck clearly respected both the artistry and the image-making that helped propel Led Zeppelin to superstardom. Still, one can’t help but wonder: if those early Page-Beck jam tapes ever resurface, would they rewrite the origin story of British blues-rock?
Two guitar legends, one casual meeting, and a few lost reels of tape—this is the kind of tale that reminds us rock history wasn’t always forged on stages, but sometimes in quiet kitchens, between sips of tea and the hum of possibility.
