Heart Of Stone wrote on Jan 3
rd, 2009 at 5:22pm:
Happy Birthday J.P.J. a very talented Bassist & Keyboard player, he also was a studio musician before Led Zep, he arranged "She's A Rainbow"
Yep - very prolific pre-Zeppelin.
Taken from his page on Wikipedia:
Jones joined his first band, The Deltas, at 15. He then played bass for jazz-rock London group, Jett Blacks, a collective that included guitarist John McLaughlin.[4] Jones' big break came in 1962 when he was hired by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan of the successful British group the Shadows for a two-year stint. Shortly before hiring Jones, Harris and Meehan had just had a Number 1 hit with "Diamonds" (a track on which Jones' bandmate-to-be Jimmy Page had played.) Jones' collaboration with the Shadows nearly prevented the future formation of Led Zeppelin, when the parties engaged in talks about the possibility of Jones replacing their ex-bassist Brian Locking. This never eventuated as John Rostill was ultimately chosen to fill the position.
In 1964, on the recommendation of Meehan, Jones began studio session work with Decca Records. From then until 1968, he played his 1961 Fender Jazz Bass on hundreds of recording sessions.[5] He soon expanded his studio work by playing keyboards, arranging and undertaking general studio direction, resulting in his services coming under much demand. He worked with numerous artists including the Rolling Stones on Their Satanic Majesties Request (Jones' string arrangement is heard on "She's A Rainbow")[6]; Herman's Hermits; Donovan (on "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow"); Jeff Beck; Cat Stevens; Rod Stewart; Shirley Bassey; Lulu; and numerous others. As well as recording sessions with Dusty Springfield, Jones also played bass for her Talk of the Town series of performances. His arranging and playing on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" resulted in producer Mickie Most using his services as choice arranger for many of his own projects, with Tom Jones, Nico, Wayne Fontana, the Walker Brothers, and many others.
It was during his time as a session player that Jones adopted the stage name "John Paul Jones". The name was suggested to him by a friend, Andrew Loog Oldham, who'd seen a poster for the film of that name in France.[7]
Jones has stated that, as a session musician, he was completing two and three sessions a day, six and seven days a week.[8] However, by 1968 he was quickly feeling burnt out due to the heavy workload: "I was arranging 50 or 60 things a month and it was starting to kill me."[9]
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John Paul Jones is 63 today ! (Read 785 times)
