John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin: “We weren't friends”

In a 2007 interview recently reprinted by the British magazine Q, the bassist and keyboardist of the legendary British band John Paul Jones spoke about the dynamics that existed within the Led Zeppelin Jones explained that they were not friends outside of the band and this, in his opinion, was a good thing for the health of the group: “We were not a group that grew up together and then became big.

Led Zeppelin was put together by Jimmy. The thing is, we never socialized. As soon as we moved away we never saw each other again, I always thought this contributed to the longevity and harmony of the band. We weren't friends.”

John Paul Jones met the guitarist Jimmy Page when the two were recording studio session musicians in London, long before the Led Zeppelin. In the same interview, the now 78-year-old Jones recalled that period and explained that the two never tried to socialize: “Even though I saw him in the studio every day, we never socialized. In those days the rule of studio recording sessions was that you didn't choose your own partners.”

Although their relationship didn't go beyond just being bandmates, Robert Plant he always found it difficult to work with Jones. In a 1982 interview with Classic Rock, the first after the breakup of Led ZeppelinPlant said that the band would never reunite because they couldn't continue without it John Bonham. He was then asked if this meant that possible future collaborations with Jones or Page were also out of the question. Plant responded that working with Jones was “always difficult” due to their different backgrounds: “It was always difficult to collaborate with Jonesy because he never listened to the lyrics. I'd talk about a song and he'd say, 'What would that song be?' And I said, 'You know, the one from “Presence.”' And he said, 'Sorry, I'm not familiar with the titles, what key was it in?' I would sigh and say, 'I don't have a clue, Jonesy.'”