John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones (born John Baldwin; 3 January 1946) is an English musician, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who was the bassist and keyboardist for the English rock band Led Zeppelin between 1968 and 1980. He was a session musician and arranger prior to the point when he formed the band with Jimmy Page in 1968 (having previously collaborated with Page on other recording sessions). Jones developed a solo career after drummer John Bonham died and Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980. He has collaborated with musicians in a variety of genres, including the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and Alain Johannes. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of Led Zeppelin.

John Baldwin was born in Sidcup, then a part of Kent, on 3 January 1946. He started playing piano when he was six, learning from his father, Joe Baldwin, a pianist and arranger for big bands in the 1940s and 1950s, notably with Ambrose and his Orchestra. His mother was also in the music business, which allowed the family to often perform together touring around England as a vaudeville comedy act. His influences ranged from the blues of Big Bill Broonzy and the jazz of Charles Mingus to the classical piano of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Because his parents often toured, Baldwin was sent to boarding school at a young age. He was a student at Christ's College, Blackheath, London where he studied music formally. At the age of 14, Baldwin became choirmaster and organist at a local church. That year, he bought his first bass guitar, a Dallas Tuxedo solid-body electric; later, he bought other basses that he part-exchanged until he bought the 1962 Fender Jazz Bass that he used until 1976. Jones has said he was inspired to take up the bass by the fluid playing of Chicago musician Phil Upchurch on his "You Can't Sit Down" song, which includes a memorable bass solo.

Baldwin joined his first band, The Deltas, at the age of 15. He then played bass for jazz-rock London group, Jett Blacks, a collective that included guitarist John McLaughlin. His 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 Baldwin, Harris and Meehan had just had a number 1 hit with "Diamonds" (a track on which Jones' bandmate-to-be Jimmy Page had played). Baldwin's collaboration with the Shadows nearly prevented the future formation of Led Zeppelin, when the parties engaged in talks about the possibility of Baldwin replacing their bassist Brian Locking, who left the band in October 1963, but John Rostill was ultimately chosen to fill the position.

In 1964, on the recommendation of Meehan, Baldwin began studio session work with Decca Records. From then until 1968, he played on hundreds of recording sessions. 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"); Herman's Hermits; Donovan (on "Sunshine Superman", "Hurdy Gurdy Man", and "Mellow Yellow"); Jeff Beck; Françoise Hardy; Cat Stevens (on "Matthew and Son"); 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. In 1967, Most, as music supervisor, also tasked Jones with arranging the music for Herman's Hermits' theatrical film Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, released in January 1968. Such was the extent of Jones' studio work – amounting to hundreds of sessions – that he said years later that "I can't remember three-quarters of the sessions I was on."

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.