John Paul Jones

[barbarbass]

Yeah, JPJ came with some of the most "cantabile" lines ever. Think of "Ramble On," or "Bring It On Home," where the bass parts suddenly leap up into the treble cleff. But again, it's not for the sake of showiness. It "serves the music", as someone earlier said.

Plus, he was dyn-o-mite on the piano. He was certainly the most musically educated of the Zeppelin quartet.

[Baird6869]

Originally Posted by barbarbass

Yeah, JPJ came with some of the most "cantabile" lines ever. Think of "Ramble On," or "Bring It On Home," where the bass parts suddenly leap up into the treble cleff.

+1. I play Ramble On live and it is such a fun song to play. Good Times, Bad Times is another line that "leaps up into the treble clef". Both songs have "showy" riffs but not over the top.

I just started playing LZ again after about a decade and I forgot how good JPJ really was (still is).

[melt]

Originally Posted by Adam C.T.

the list on this link needs some SERIOUS editing
the Ox was great but Chris Squire and Geddy Lee blow him away.

Chris Squire (who is probably my favourite bassist) openly admits to copying Entwistle in establishing his style and sound, so I think he'd proabably disagree with you there. And I think technically John was every bit as good as Geddy or Chris, particularly having seen all three live numerous times. You may like Chris and Geddy better, but they don't "blow him away".

[Winterpegbass]

Before LZ JPJ was the studio musician and Page was the budding rock star. Bonzo and and Plant were unknowns. As a studio cat, JPJ arranged music on a couple of rolling stones albums and played/arranged on hundreds of other records. JPJ's playing is heavily influenced by James Jamerson. Although the public wasn't aware of Jamerson, british bass players like JPJ and Paul McCartney were quite aware of who he was. The first 3 LZ albums have amazing bass playing on them as JPJ was cooking with fire after his years as a studio cat. My favorites are The Lemon Song and The Crunge.

[zazz]

Originally Posted by D.J

What do you think guys about this legendary bassist?
He is one of my all time favourite players but i read on other forums he is not much appreciated cause some people says he followed most of the times Page's guitar lines.
I even heard he didn't play bass on "the Lemon Song"!!!
How is it possible? Do you know more about the bass on this song?

following the guitarist ???? that was the whole style of the band ....and he played so well live...but he also went off piste and did his own off the wall stuff against jimmy ...the ultimate litmus test......of course we can find as good players today but he was defining what it was to be a truley great player