The dynamic of Led Zeppelin was discussed by John Paul Jones in a recently discovered 2007 interview with Q magazine. He clarified that this was a good thing for the band because they didn’t have any friendships outside of it:
We weren’t exactly a clique that grew up and achieved fame. Led Zeppelin was assembled by Jimmy, not manufactured precisely. The problem is that we have never socialized, not even with Zeppelin. We never saw each other again once we turned off the road, which I’ve always believed added to the band’s longevity and cohesion. We weren’t pals.
The ‘Rule’ Of The Studio Sessions
Long before the band formed, Jones first met Page when they were both session musicians. He recalled that early period in the same interview and said the band members never tried to socialize:
“We never socialized, even though I saw him in the studio every day. In those days of studio sessions, it was customary not to book your friends.
Why It Was Hard To Work With John Paul Jones
Robert Plant never liked working with Jones, even though their relationship remained limited to bandmates.
In the first interview Plant gave after Led Zeppelin broke up, in 1982, he stated that the band would never get back together because they couldn’t function without Bonham. But then the conversation turned to whether this meant that John Paul Jones and Page could no longer work together in the future. Plant then said that because of their disparate upbringings, collaborating with Jones was “always difficult“:
Working with Jonesy was never easy because he never paid attention to the lyrics. When I would mention a song to him, he would ask, “Now, which song would that be?”You know, the one on ‘Presence,” I would reply. “I apologize, I don’t know the titles. What key was it in?” he would reply. I would sigh and say, “Jonesy, I have no idea.”
