The album John Paul Jones made with a knife-wielding diva
When Led Zeppelin started making music and steadily became one of the most famous bands on the planet, people all over the world believed that the band had sold their souls to the devil. The reason was simple: They were too good. It was inconceivable to the average listener that people could rock this hard without possessing some superhuman quality.
When people thought of Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and Robert Plant, they thought of the devil. The world at large was becoming convinced that the three of them had to have made some kind of deal with Satan to possess their guitar, drum, and vocal abilities, which seemed completely astronomical compared to other musicians at the time.
“Led Zeppelin… the greatest rock and roll band of all time,” said Jack Black, once echoing the sentiments of millions. “Better than The Beatles, better than The Stones. And if you don’t agree with me, that’s because you haven’t done the Zeppelin marathon. It’s when you sit your ass down and listen to all nine Zeppelin albums in a row. The jams of Led Zeppelin are second to none.”
But where did John Paul Jones fit into this equation? While the other three members of Led Zeppelin were creating face-melting music that pushed the boundaries of rock as people knew it, John Paul Jones was attempting to hold down a rhythm section. His seeming reluctance to go in the same direction as the other three further affirmed people’s ideas that they had sold their souls to the devil. John Paul Jones was the only one who had refused and was subject to a life of mediocrity as a result.
Anyone who believes this doesn’t have a full understanding of a band’s workings. John Paul Jones wasn’t a mediocre bass player; he was arguably the greatest bass player in the world, as he managed to act as the glue that kept Led Zeppelin’s sound together.
“The thing that held the whole thing down was John Paul Jones’s bass playing,” said Geddy Lee, putting it best. “So if you listen to ‘How Many More Times’, I mean, no matter how wild that song gets at times, there’s John Paul Jones just holding it all down in such a fluid way.”
John Paul Jones had an exceptional musical mind. Not only did he hold Led Zeppelin together, but he was also responsible for some of their most ambitious songs. For instance, the track ‘Black Dog’ he wrote on a train was dubbed so complex that it was uncoverable.
Subsequently, when Led Zeppelin split up following the passing of John Bonham, John Paul Jones decided to start making some of his own music that was more out there. This led to him collaborating on the record The Sporting Life by Diamanda Galás. She is an experimental, vibrant singer with an extreme vibrato. On the cover, she holds a knife while leaning over a car, which is a pretty good image that represents the chaos that ensues throughout this record.
It’s fun hearing other artists use John Paul Jones’s upbeat and tight rhythm. He and Galás team up perfectly on this record. While it might be far removed from any of Led Zeppelin’s music, it’s still worth a listen for any Led Zeppelin fans out there.
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