In a recently surfaced 2007 interview with Q magazine, John Paul Jones discussed the dynamic of Led Zeppelin. He explained that they had no friendships outside of the band and that this was actually a good thing for the band:
“I mean we weren’t like a group who grew up together and made it big. Led Zeppelin wasn’t manufactured exactly but it was put together by Jimmy… Even with Zeppelin, the thing is we have never socialized. As soon as we left the road, we never saw each other, which I always thought contributed to the longevity and harmony of the band. We weren’t friends.”
The ‘Rule’ Of The Studio Sessions
Jones first crossed paths with Page while both were session musicians long before the band formed. He recalled that early period in the same interview and said the band members never tried to socialize:
“Even though I’d see him in the studio every day, we never socialized. The rule with studio sessions in those days was you didn’t book your mates.”
Why It Was Hard To Work With Jones
Even though their companion didn’t go further than just being bandmates, Robert Plant always found it hard to work with Jones.
In a 1982 interview with Classic Rock, his first after Led Zeppelin disbanded, Plant said that the band would never reunite because they couldn’t continue without Bonham. However, the discussion shifted to whether this meant future collaborations with Jones or Page were also off the table. Plant then mentioned 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 used to talk about a song, and he would say: ‘Now, which song would that be?’ And I’d go: ‘You know, the one on ‘Presence.” And he’d say: ‘I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with the titles, what key was it in?’ I’d sigh and say: ‘I haven’t a clue, Jonesy.’”