John Paul Jones Is… Competent
John Paul Jones was known as the “quiet one” in Led Zeppelin. While everyone does their “GODLY” thing in front of the stage, the legendary bass player hung himself at the back closely enough besides John “Bonzo” Bonham’s drumset.
We all know that each of Led Zeppelin’s members are rock gods, but Jones was the least godly of them all, — least extravagantly dressed, the least drugs intoxicated and the least chased by girls and groupies — and yet he turned out to be the most important and crucial part of the band.
Jones is often not celebrated as much as the other three rock gods. — Well, of course, he was never a big ego or attention seeker, he doesn’t even like any kind of hard partying or womanizing, or whatever you can imagine what a “Rockstar” does. But nevertheless, Jones was the backbone of Led Zeppelin, a terrific bass player, and keyboardist (despite being stoic and not flashy on stage). John Paul Jones was the musician that set the tone for Led Zeppelin’s music — just like any other bass players of the day (including Jack Bruce). We can’t blame him for not wanting to be in the spotlight.
Imagine the Led Zeppelin without Jones – exactly! John Paul Jones was like the glue that sticks the group altogether. Everything he did – keyboard and bass playing – were essential to Led Zeppelin’s success.
The fact that JPJ is the least godly of the three god rocks, it was better that way. He was the “MAN” who cared about his family than the rest and did more of a professional relationship with the rest.
As far as respect goes, the admiration of most people for Jones is quite tremendous — after all, he was the first one that Jimmy Page asked to play with him in the first place and had always given the freedom to improvise and arrange things for their music.