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John Paul Jones interview with Lemon Squeezings (in 22 parts)

Friday, March 29, 2002

John Paul Jones sat down with me for an interview on Dec. 10, 2001. Because the interview was scheduled for only one hour of his time, I didn't bother to bring more than 120 minutes' worth of blank cassette tape. Jones and I started on time, but our conversation unexpectedly went on for nearly four full hours!

Over this time, he an interview that is believed to be his longest and most in-depth since 1977. Also, Jones busted out the instruments he himself carried into his hotel upon arrival from a bus traveling from the previous night's gig in Connecticut.

As I mentioned, not enough tape was available to record the full conversation. Even if I had brought enough tape, certain things he told me were off the record and could never be repeated. Other portions that were taped were too inaudible to be transcribed. For these reasons, the full interview will never be published anywhere.

Nevertheless, I have broken the interview transcript portions available to me into 22 sections as outlined below:

  1. John Paul Jones on his early days
  2. John Paul Jones on the Yardbirds
  3. John Paul Jones on the formation of Led Zeppelin
  4. John Paul Jones on touring with Led Zeppelin
  5. John Paul Jones on the Bath Festival 1970
  6. John Paul Jones on blaming the Beatles
  7. John Paul Jones on Phil Carson
  8. John Paul Jones on the "drag queen" story
  9. John Paul Jones on the story that he was considering leaving Zeppelin early
  10. John Paul Jones on touring with John Bonham
  11. John Paul Jones on all the keyboard instruments he plays
  12. John Paul Jones on his Mellotron and Fairlight keyboards
  13. John Paul Jones on "progressive" music
  14. John Paul Jones on the "tight" Zeppelin
  15. John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin's accusations of plagiarism
  16. John Paul Jones on journalists
  17. John Paul Jones on his daughter Jacinda's music
  18. John Paul Jones on his theatrical and cultural work in Spain
  19. John Paul Jones on the title of "Nosumi Blues" from his solo album Zooma
  20. John Paul Jones on his singing
  21. John Paul Jones on his unreleased and bonus tracks
  22. John Paul Jones on his management and record label
In addition to the above portions, we discussed other topics. Some of these exchanges have also been disseminated in my newsletter, "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History." These include:

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Led Zeppelin Reunion


Photo courtesy of Simon Keeping

The surviving members of Led Zeppelin regrouped in 2007, with Jason Bonham on drums, to perform a year-end tribute to Ahmet Ertegun. Their widely praised concert was witnessed in person by fewer than 20,000 people. It is likely never to be repeated, and there are no announced plans to release the concert for home viewing. However, clicking the image above will bring up multi-cam footage of the entire Led Zeppelin performance as it happened on Dec. 10, 2007, at the O2 arena in London.

Many posts on LedZeppelinNews.com have centered on the possibility of a full-scale Led Zeppelin reunion, noting particularly the inaccuracies reported by the popular press.

Page


Jimmy Page stars with fellow guitarists Jack White and The Edge in this guitar documentary, directed by Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), which had widespread theatrical showings beginning in August.

LedZeppelinNews.com provided a review of "It Might Get Loud" at that time.

"It Might Get Loud" will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on Dec. 22 in the United States. Click here to pre-order on DVD or Blu-Ray. Prior to this, "It Might Get Loud" will be available on iTunes for two weeks beginning Dec. 8.

- What else should I know about "It Might Get Loud"?

- What else is Jimmy Page up to?

Plant


Just prior to the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, Robert Plant released the album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss. Their partnership has been the subject of much critical and commercial success, including victories at the Grammy awards two years in a row.

A follow-up to that album has been in pre-production, but Krauss's current priorities are new recordings and eventual touring with her signature band, Union Station. Progress on the second Plant/Krauss album is anticipated following the completion of the Union Station tour.

More recently, Plant entered the studio with famed U2 producer Daniel Lanois for some recording sessions, the nature of which has not been disclosed.

Following the breakup of Led Zeppelin, Plant went on to a rewarding career as a solo artist. He released six albums of his own between 1982 and 1993, two collaborative albums with Jimmy Page between 1994 and 1998, and two more solo albums since that time. Yet until Raising Sand, his biggest commercial success came in releasing an EP of classic cover material under the name The Honeydrippers.

- What else is Robert Plant up to?

Jones


John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?

Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

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