Jimmy Page's Influences on "White Summer"?

[rjames1973]

I've been watching the 2003 "Led Zeppelin" DVD set -- an amazing collection, if you haven't seen it. I was particularly awe-struck by Jimmy Page's solo performance of "White Summer" on disc one. Can anyone who is a Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin scholar (and fellow musician) tell me who influenced him to write that song, as well as "Black Mountain Side"? I would like to listen to some of the musicians who inspired him to write such amazing songs. Thanks for the help!

- Jim

[rlouie]

White Summer

In 1963, Davey Graham recorded "She Moved Thru the Bizarre," a unique guitar arrangement of the traditional Irish song "She Moved Through the Fair." Graham's version was a complex instrumental piece based loosely on the original that incorporated Indian influences. Page's version, titled "White Summer," is nearly identical to Graham's. The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin releases do not credit the piece's original authorship and history. Apparently irked at the lack of acknowledgement to song and arrangement, Davy Graham approached Jimmy Page at an English music awards ceremony and greeted him with, "Hello Robert".

Black Mountain Side

Although originally credited on Led Zeppelin's first album as a Jimmy Page composition, it is actually an instrumental version of a traditional folk song called "Blackwaterside". The song's guitar arrangement is virtually identical to the version previously recorded by singer-songwriter Bert Jansch. One important difference, however, is that Page plays in DADGAD tuning (Which Page called the "CIA" tuning, an acronym for Celtic, Indian and Arabic), whereas Jansch used a simpler 'drop D' tuning. In the actual recording Page's guitar is tuned a half step down from DADGAD tuning.

Folk singer Anne Briggs, a friend of Jansch, taught him the song. She, in turn, learnt it from the folk music historian A. L. Lloyd. She also recorded her own version, though this was not until the early 1970s — a few years after the Jansch and Page interpretations. Page later claimed that he, like Jansch, also learnt the song directly from Briggs, though given the strong resemblance between his and Jansch's versions this seems unlikely.

[rjames1973]

Thanks for the information. I just looked up these songs on Wikipedia, so I guess I ended up answering my own question.