Led Zeppelin is a moment in time, not a band. For the world to be blessed with their music, all the necessary conditions had to be met. Had the members been substituted, the band’s approach to music altered, or the timing miscalculated, the band’s influence would have been diminished. They altered the public’s perception of rock music, but everything had to be flawless for audiences to accept these changes. It was fortunate for them.
From their first practice, the band knew they were onto something. Page knew what kind of sound they wanted to achieve going into the session. He declared, “I wanted Zeppelin to be a never-before-seen marriage of blues, hard rock, and acoustic music topped with heavy choruses.” There is a lot of light and shade in the song.
After working as a session musician and with The Yardbirds, Page had developed a desire to make this kind of music. This desire was all well and good, but he needed the right people on board to realize this vision. John Paul Jones is one of Led Zeppelin’s most significant band members—and also one of the most often forgotten.
Chaos was Led Zeppelin’s bread and butter. Robert Plant was a master vocalist, Jimmy Page was a wizard with a guitar, and John Bonham tore apart the drumming bible before writing his own. Even though each of them was a superb musician in their own right. Their distinct sounds needed to blend together to create something that everyone could enjoy. They located John Paul Jones, who could keep the whole sound cohesive by providing a strong rhythm section amidst the mayhem.
The details surrounding his entrance into the band are still a little unclear. Though he supposedly doesn’t think much of it. After all, the music Led Zeppelin went on to create was what made the band famous. Fans still find it interesting to know. The most plausible explanation is that he called Jimmy Page, a well-known musician at the time, after learning about the opening from his partner. However, he gave different accounts to reporters, making it difficult to determine the exact sequence of events.
His partner grew tired of him moping around the house after he had stopped listening to music for a while. “How about you get in a band? “There are no bands I want to join, what are you talking about?” I responded. When questioned about how he ended up in Led Zeppelin, Jones responded. “Well, look, I think it was in Disc, Jimmy Page is starting a group,” she remarked. Would you please give him a ring? I called him as a result.
Jones claimed that during that talk with Page, he was informed that no one was yet in the band. He was going to meet Robert Plant, who had a drummer in his network. Stephen Davies, a biographer, concurs in his book “Hammer of the Gods.” He says that it all seems a bit too simple to be the foundation for one of the most inventive rock bands ever.
He writes, “Consider that the dry-humoured Jones told another interviewer he got the job as bassist in Led Zeppelin after he answered an ad in Melody Maker. If this account seems somewhat fey and tongue in cheek.”
It doesn’t matter if we never obtain all of the information. It matters that the band came together and realized their potential as a unit. They released some of the greatest music the world has ever heard. It also helps that when Jones recalls that first Led Zeppelin band practice, “the whole room just exploded,” he doesn’t hold back.
