The rock legend Geddy Lee considered a “complete musician”
Most musicians can only dream of reaching the kind of heights that Rush did during their prime. Despite their reputation as being the almighty band for nerds all around the world, it takes a superhuman level of strength to get through any of their songs on a good day, let alone the length of an entire concert. While Geddy Lee has certainly upgraded to the level of musicianship that is reserved for the legends of the world, he knew that John Paul Jones had everything one should look for in a bandmate.
Looking through Lee’s own discography, though, he seemed to worship at the altar of the likes of Chris Squire and Jack Bruce rather than Jonesy. Whereas most people aimed to fill out the sound of a group whenever playing bass, Lee just considered his four-string, another lead instrument in the group, which led to many songs that went in different directions based on what the hell he was doing.
If anything, though, that might have just been a way for him to keep up with Neil Peart. The drummer and bassist need to be locked in together in any group, so when there’s the greatest percussionist to ever live in the back, it’s not exactly easy trying to stick to root notes when it comes time to perform.
However, John Paul Jones was far from being a rudimentary player, either. While he had been immersed in the session scene well before Led Zeppelin, he had one of the most eclectic styles of any other bassist before him, playing the equivalent of a Motown bassline in ‘Ramble On’ while also knowing when to hunker down with the guitars when performing tracks like ‘Immigrant Song’ or ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
Like all good musicians, though, Jones knew that there was a lot more to explore beyond just the four-string. In fact, his arrangements might be far more beautiful than anything he laid down on his own, like when he put together sublime arrangements for ‘Kashmir’ or lent his skills out to other artists like Foo Fighters and REM.
Even though Rush had ascended well above the playing techniques of Zeppelin, Lee always had a soft spot for what Jones could do on whatever instrument was in front of him, saying, “What a complete musician. He began as a keyboard player before picking up the bass. Even before Led Zep, he was one of the most popular studio musicians in London at that time. His role in Zeppelin was a lot more profound than people credit him with.”
While Lee ended up working in reverse by switching to keyboards in the 1980s, he never forgot the values that Jones instilled in him. After all, no one was going to sacrifice the basslines in Rush, and by playing the bass and the keyboards at the same time, Lee turned into a glorified musical machine whenever he took the show on the road with Rush.
But it was never by means of showing off. Like Jones, Lee knew that everything was about serving the song and letting the instrument by your guide, and no matter how many moving parts they put into a track, Rush made sure that it worked together as a coherent whole by the time they were finished in the studio.
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