An Ommadawn Chorus: Mike Oldfield's Favourite Albums | Page 8 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

I loved Led Zeppelin. Of course, this album is such a very good example of British rock & roll of the era but I could, really, have chosen several others. The second album, for example. There was a red electric guitar in the Exchange and Mart in Reading and, after having played acoustic guitar quite a while, I really wanted to play electric. So I persuaded my dad to buy it for me. And I only had this tiny little amplifier so I bought a fuzzbox and learned to play using distortion, which is a totally different thing from playing folk guitar. And I would marvel at the sound Led Zeppelin made – how were they doing that? Such incredible guitar playing. Jimmy Page had this really deep talent. Look at a song like ‘Stairway To Heaven’, where he plays such beautiful acoustic folk guitar and then switches to very accomplished electric playing. I never did get to see Led Zeppelin play. I always wanted to but I was just never in the right place at the right time.

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