John Paul Jones (born John Baldwin; 3 January 1946) is an English musician, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who was the bassist and keyboardist for the English rock band Led Zeppelin between 1968 and 1980. He was a session musician and arranger prior to the point when he formed the band with Jimmy Page in 1968 (having previously collaborated with Page on other recording sessions). Jones developed a solo career after drummer John Bonham died and Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980. He has collaborated with musicians in a variety of genres, including the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and Alain Johannes. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of Led Zeppelin.
Early years
John Baldwin was born in Sidcup, Kent, on 3 January 1946. His influences ranged from the blues of Big Bill Broonzy and the jazz of Charles Mingus to the classical piano of Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Because his parents often toured, Baldwin was sent to boarding school at a young age. He was a student at Christ's College, Blackheath, London where he studied music formally. At the age of 14, Baldwin became choirmaster and organist at a local church. That year, he bought his first bass guitar, a Dallas Tuxedo solid-body electric; later, he bought other basses that he part-exchanged until he bought the 1962 Fender Jazz Bass that he used until 1976. Jones has said he was inspired to take up the bass by the fluid playing of Chicago musician Phil Upchurch on his You Can't Sit Down LP, which includes a memorable bass solo.
Career
Session work
Baldwin joined his first band, The Deltas, at the age of 15. He then played bass for jazz-rock London group, Jett Blacks, a collective that included guitarist John McLaughlin. His big break came in 1962, when he was hired by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan of the successful British group the Shadows for a two-year stint. Shortly before hiring Baldwin, Harris and Meehan had just had a number 1 hit with "Diamonds" (a track on which Jones' bandmate-to-be Jimmy Page had played). Baldwin's collaboration with the Shadows nearly prevented the future formation of Led Zeppelin, when the parties engaged in talks about the possibility of Baldwin replacing their bassist Brian Locking, who left the band in October 1963, but John Rostill was ultimately chosen to fill the position.
In 1964, on the recommendation of Meehan, Baldwin began studio session work with Decca Records. From then until 1968, he played on hundreds of recording sessions. He soon expanded his studio work by playing keyboards, arranging and undertaking general studio direction, resulting in his services coming under much demand. He worked with numerous artists including the Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request (Jones' string arrangement is heard on "She's a Rainbow"); Herman's Hermits; Donovan (on "Sunshine Superman", "Hurdy Gurdy Man", and "Mellow Yellow"); Jeff Beck; Françoise Hardy; Cat Stevens (on "Matthew and Son"); Rod Stewart; Shirley Bassey; Lulu; and numerous others. As well as recording sessions with Dusty Springfield, Jones also played bass for her Talk of the Town series of performances. His arranging and playing on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" resulted in producer Mickie Most using his services as choice arranger for many of his own projects, with Tom Jones, Nico, Wayne Fontana, the Walker Brothers, and many others. In 1967, Most, as music supervisor, also tasked Jones with arranging the music for Herman's Hermits' theatrical film Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, released in January 1968. Such was the extent of Jones' studio work – amounting to hundreds of sessions – that he said years later that "I can't remember three-quarters of the sessions I was on."
It was during his time as a session player that Baldwin adopted the stage name John Paul Jones. This name was suggested to him by a friend, Andrew Loog Oldham, who had seen a poster for the 1959 film John Paul Jones in France. He released his first solo recording as John Paul Jones, "Baja" (written by Lee Hazlewood and produced by Oldham) / "A Foggy Day in Vietnam", as a single on Pye Records in April 1964.
Jones has stated that, as a session musician, he was completing two or three sessions a day, working six or seven days a week. However, by 1968 he was feeling burned out by the heavy workload: "I was arranging 50 or 60 things a month and it was starting to kill me."
Led Zeppelin
Formation
During his time as a session player, Jones often crossed paths with guitarist Jimmy Page, a fellow session veteran. In June 1966, Page joined the Yardbirds, and in 1967 Jones contributed to that band's Little Games album. The following winter, during the sessions for Donovan's The Hurdy Gurdy Man, Jones expressed to Page a desire to be part of any projects the guitarist might be planning. Later that year, the Yardbirds disbanded, leaving Page and bassist Chris Dreja to complete previously booked Yardbirds dates in Scandinavia. Before a new band could be assembled, Dreja left to take up photography. Jones, at the suggestion of his wife,
Vocalist Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham joined the two to form a quartet. Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" for the Scandinavian dates, the band soon became known as Led Zeppelin.
Contributions
thumb|right|150px|Derivative of Jones' [[triquetra sigil used in the untitled album commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV]]
Jones was responsible for the classic bass lines of the group, notably those in "Ramble On" and "The Lemon Song" (Led Zeppelin II), and shifting time signatures, such as those in "Black Dog" (Led Zeppelin IV). As half of Led Zeppelin's rhythm section with drummer John Bonham, Jones shared an appreciation for funk and soul rhythmic grooves which strengthened and enhanced their musical affinity. In an interview he gave to Global Bass magazine, Jones remarked on this common musical interest:
After retiring his Fender Jazz Bass (which he had been using since his days with The Shadows in the early 1960s) from touring in 1975, Jones switched to using custom-designed Alembic basses for touring.
However, he still preferred to use the Jazz Bass in the studio and in a 2010 interview mentioned that he still had that bass at the time.
Jones' keyboard skills added an eclectic dimension that realised Led Zeppelin as more than just a hard rock band. Keyboard highlights include the delicate "The Rain Song" (Houses of the Holy) played on a Mellotron; the funky "Trampled Under Foot", played on a Clavinet (Physical Graffiti); and the eastern scales of "Kashmir", also played on a Mellotron (also on Physical Graffiti). In live performances, Jones' keyboard showpiece was "No Quarter", often lasting for up to half-an-hour and sometimes including snatches of "Amazing Grace", Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez", which had inspired Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain, and variations of classical pieces by composers such as Rachmaninoff.
Jones' diverse contributions to the group extended to the use of other instruments including mandolin, recorder, and an unusual triple-necked acoustic instrument consisting of a six and a twelve string guitar. Jones often used bass pedals to supplement the band's sound while he was playing keyboards and mandolin. On the band's 1977 tour of the United States, Jones would sing lead vocals on "The Battle of Evermore", filling in for Sandy Denny, who had sung on the studio version.
Profile
thumb|upright|Jones on stage with Led Zeppelin in [[Mannheim, 1980]]
While all members of Led Zeppelin had a reputation for off-stage excess (a label that has been claimed was exaggerated), Jones was widely seen as the quietest and most reserved member of the group. For his part, Jones has claimed that he had just as much fun on the road as his bandmates but was more discreet about it, He joked that he was interested in becoming the choirmaster of Winchester Cathedral, which was reported as fact in several sources. Jones later explained his reservations: