John Paul Jones recalled his first rehearsal with the group that would eventually become Led Zeppelin. He said, “We first played together in a small room on Gerrard Street, a basement room, which is now Chinatown.” All that was present were the door and a row of wall-to-wall amplifiers. It was everyone staring at one another and asking, “What should we play?” An old Yardbirds song called “Train Kept a Rollin” was played. The room simply burst into flames.
One of the few bands whose success cannot be attributed to a single member or period is Led Zeppelin. For Led Zeppelin to be successful, a lot of things needed to go right. That first band practice was when they all clicked. Until then, they had encountered various music genres and were eager to establish a boundary-pushing rock band.
Each member earned recognition as one of the greatest in their respective genres and excelled as a musician in their own right. Not only could they perform independently. When their skills came together, the result was a coherent sound. It was dependable and cohesive rather than disarray. Led Zeppelin relied on every member, yet ongoing debates continue over their impacts.
As one of The Who’s main creative forces, Pete Townshend can discern who is contributing to which parts of the band’s music. He does this by listening to them perform. He considers the frequently underappreciated bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin to be one of the band’s essential members. Additionally, he has a soft spot for him.
“Since John Bonham passed away, John Paul Jones has been on my mind a lot,” Pete Townshend remarked. He’s a gorgeous man with a beautiful musical voice. He’s been sort of sitting there, but he’s a fantastic experimenter in modern electronic music and other things. Given that no one else in the band played the keyboard, I believe he was far more at the forefront of Led Zeppelin’s musical output.
Many share Townshend’s belief that Jones was essential to the band’s success. In addition to being a talented bassist, Geddy Lee, the well-known Rush bassist, thinks that John Paul Jones was one of the band’s most crucial players. He gave the otherwise disorganized and chaotic sound some rhythmic structure.
He stated, “John Paul Jones’ bass playing was the thing that held it all down. If you listen to ‘How Many More Times,’ I mean, no matter how wild that song gets at times, John Paul Jones’s playing holds it all down in such a fluid way.”
