Five classic songs that feature John Paul Jones’ string arrangements
Led Zeppelin formed in 1968 as a phoenix from the dying embers of The Yardbirds. What was a promising blues rock collective in the mid-1960s would take on a heavier guise under Jimmy Page’s leadership. With the guitarist’s innovative compositions, Robert Plant’s unrivalled projection, and the dynamic rhythms of John Paul Jones and John Bonham, Led Zeppelin took no time in soaring to the top of rock ‘n’ roll prestige with two seminal albums in 1969.
Throughout the 1970s, Led Zeppelin established themselves as titans alongside The Rolling Stones and The Who and became associated with both the heavy metal and prog rock movements while being a party to neither. Their knack for marrying progressive sonic structures and popular appeal was admirable but not commended by all, including the band’s friendly rival, Keith Richards.
Speaking in a late 1970s television interview, the Rolling Stones’ guitarist discussed the punk movement as somewhat contrived and labelled Sex Pistols as a group carefully engineered for “mass-media consumption”. Expanding upon his point, he tarred Led Zeppelin with the same brush. “I’m not going to say Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath,” he said. “I’d only be lying, they’re not my favourites.” His issue with the acts all came down to a matter of origin and organisation.
He added, “They’re thrown together, and you always feel it. You can always see the join.”
It is difficult to understand precisely what Richards meant when he called Led Zeppelin “manufactured”. While the four members didn’t meet at the pub during a romantic impromptu jam session, their convergence was nothing out of the ordinary. Page teamed up with fellow session musician Jones and sourced Plant and Bonham from the recent disbandment of a West Bromwich group called Band of Joy.
In a 2007 interview with Q, Jones reflected on his time with Led Zeppelin, revealing that, despite their on-stage chemistry, the group wasn’t particularly cohesive off-stage. “We get along fine,” he offered, regarding surviving members Plant and Page. “The thing is, we have never socialised. As soon as we left the road, we never saw each other, which I always thought contributed to the longevity and harmony of the band. We weren’t friends.”
For most of their time together, Led Zeppelin got on just fine. However, Jones seemed to liken his relationship with his bandmates as more akin to workmates than close friends. “We weren’t like a group that grew up together and made it big,” he said. “Led Zeppelin wasn’t manufactured exactly, but it was put together by Jimmy.”
Jones first met Page during their time working as session musicians long before forming Led Zeppelin. “Even though I’d see him in the studio every day, we never socialised,” Jones added, reflecting on this formative period. “The rule with studio sessions in those days was you didn’t book your mates.”
For his part, Page gained a lofty reputation by contributing guitar work to some classic songs, including Shirley Bassey’s ‘Goldfinger’, The Rolling Stones’ ‘Heart of Stone’, ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ by Them, The Kinks’ ‘I’m a Lover, Not a Fighter’, Donovan’s ‘Sunshine Superman’, The Who’s ‘Bald Headed Woman’ and Joe Cocker’s ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’.
Though he didn’t quite match Page’s prolific brush with the stars before his rise to prominence with Led Zeppelin, Jones racked up an impressive catalogue in the 1960s. He performed in sessions for Jeff Beck, Lulu, Dusty Springfield and more. Notably, he arranged string sections for Cat Stevens’ ‘The First Cut is the Deepest, Françoise Hardy’s ‘Mais il y a des soirs’, and The Rolling Stones’ psychedelic hit ‘She’s a Rainbow’ in 1967.
The following year, when Jones joined Donovan to record bass parts on ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’, he bumped into Page, who made a life-changing proposition. “I was working at the sessions for Donovan’s Hurdy Gurdy Man, and John Paul Jones was looking after the musical arrangements,” Page recalled in a 1985 interview with Rolling Stone. “During a break, he asked me if I could use a bass player in the new group I was forming. He had proper music training, and he had quite brilliant ideas. I jumped at the chance of getting him.”
Below, we list the five most famous non-Led Zeppelin songs to which John Paul Jones contributed string and bass arrangements. Indeed, over a decade after the disbandment of Led Zeppelin, the bassist joined R.E.M. in the studio to arrange the poignant string progression in the popular Automatic for the People single ‘Everybody Hurts’. During the sessions, Jones supervised the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.