400 Words on “Mr. Jimmy”
Since first hearing Led Zeppelin thirty years ago while working as a salaryman in his family’s kimono shop, Akio Sakurai studied their music, particularly the playing of lead guitarist Jimmy Page. For decades he learned to play each song note-by-note, not just the hits but their deep cuts and live performances. After mastering their album output, he turned to bootlegs, learning the differences in their play styles from year to year like an evolutionary taxonomist piecing together when mankind first developed thumbs and started walking upright. Moving to Tokyo, he became “Mr. Jimmy” and spent further decades touring the club scene recreating classic concerts. After a miraculous evening where the real Jimmy Page walked into one of his shows, Sakurai’s passion turned to obsession, leading him to move to the US and join Led Zeppelin cover band Led Zeppegain, determined not so much to play their music as to “revive” it. His Sisyphean struggle is captured in Peter Michael Dowd’s new documentary Mr. Jimmy, a captivating, frightening glimpse into Sakurai’s neuroticism.
