In a new interview with ‘Uncut,’ Jimmy Page looked back on the ‘70s jam session with Keith Richards, which led to the Rolling Stones song “Scarlet.”
Page said, “Ronnie [Wood] had the Wick [his house in Richmond] and the studio underneath. He said, ‘Do you want to come round? I think Keith wants to do something.’ So that was the time when I really had a chance to play with him, because that was the backing track to ‘Scarlet’, with Keith playing rhythm and me doing a counterpoint riff. I remember thinking, ‘This is great,’ because I just wanted to sort of lay it on top of what he did and not get in the way.”
He continued, “The following day, I put a couple of solo overdubs on it at Island [studios]. The thing I remember the most is that Keith was solid and driving and he didn’t make mistakes. He kept going all the way through. And I realized just what a powerful force he is behind those Rolling Stones records. There was no doubt about it. Of course, I could take it all apart and highlight everybody’s vital contribution, but Keith was really driving it.”