chef free Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 (edited) We've discussed, to death, Plant's vocal troubles, Page's drug use, and Bonham's temperament and their effects on the band's live playing. I was wondering why I don't listen to 1973 as much as the other years. It didn't make sense, '73 has great set lists with the new HotH songs and the recordings sound very good. Sure Plant's voice is rough for much of the tour But Page and Bonham are ON FIRE! But then it hit me, I'm noticing Page and Bonham, not the band (unit, team, etc.) I think '73 is JPJ's weakest year. It's known that he was burnt out on touring and threatened to quit the band. They HAD played non-stop for the first 4 1/2 years doing about 500 shows! Edited May 3, 2014 by chef free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Historian Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Not quite sure I agree with you...I dont hear anything wrong with Jones' playing on that tour or any other for that matter. But I think it's fair to say that contribution wise, Presence has only one song credited to him. (along with the other three members as a unit) Page has gone on record to say that he wished Jones had given more input/songwriting to the album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 I will add the Alembics bass can sound rather unpleasant at times. 6/20/1980 comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecongo Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Jonesy was the consummate professional he never had a bad year. Maybe you prefer his tone certain years over others, but just LISTEN to what he does,during Dazed or TSRTS in 73, the dude was en fuego! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 (edited) John Paul Jones was the most consistent musician in Led Zeppelin... followed closely by John Bonham. I agree he didn't write enough on Presence. Royal Orleans is his though and is a killer Bass riff.. Presence was a stop gap due to Robert's car accident. Led Zeppelin were supposed to be on tour.. not in the studio. He had nothing ready simply because they're weren't planning on going into the studio. Funny you mention 73 as being potentially weak. I thought he had stepped out quite a bit with No Quarter. The Alembics sound like crap on the bootlegs, but I would imagine sounded great live. I honestly can't think of a weak period for him. Post Zeppelin, he seemed to have disappeared for a while.. but he was tastefully and quietly doing a lot.. Edited May 3, 2014 by the chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlyZeppelinaren Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Yeah I think he did more production and stuff right after Zeppelin, I really want Them crooked vultures to start again, he's so darn good with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyPhantom Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Yeah I think he did more production and stuff right after Zeppelin, I really want Them crooked vultures to start again, he's so darn good with them agreed. I really hope TCV doesn't get lost in the shuffle with how busy they all are. But then again, i imagine Jones writing an opera would keep him extremely busy. Fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah J Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Hi chef free, Jonsey to me, is not capable of a bad year. Class act all the way IMHO not to mention a musical genius. I saw them in 73 and he was perfection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Wasn't he actually contemplating leaving after the 73 US tour to be a choirmaster or something? This is from his Wikipedia entry: However, following exhausting tours and extended periods of time away from his family, by late 1973 Jones was beginning to show signs of disillusionment. He considered quitting Led Zeppelin to spend more time with his family, but was talked into returning by the band's manager, Peter Grant.[33] Jones later explained his reservations: I didn't want to harm the group, but I didn't want my family to fall apart either. We toured a huge amount in those early days. We were all very tired and under pressure and it just came to a head. When I first joined the band, I didn't think it would go on for that long, two or three years perhaps, and then I'd carry on with my career as a musician and doing movie music.[14] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 and this from the 'Physical Graffiti' entry: "It took a long time for this album (Physical Graffiti) mainly because when we originally went in to record it, John Paul Jones wasn't well and we had to cancel the time... everything got messed up. It took three months to sort the situation out."[5] However, according to Led Zeppelin archivist Dave Lewis: "It later emerged that Jones had wanted to quit the band and take up a position as choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral. [Manager] Peter Grant urged caution, suggesting that Jones was overwrought from the incessant touring and should take a rest from Zeppelin for a few weeks. Jones changed his mind and sessions resumed at Headley Grange after the Christmas holidays."[4] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef free Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 I always thought that the choirmaster remark was a bit of a joke on Jones' part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagefan55 Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I think this topic--Jones becoming an Anglican Church music director or choirmaster--has been covered extensively in another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I think this topic--Jones becoming an Anglican Church music director or choirmaster--has been covered extensively in another thread. Since the original poster thinks 73 was JPJs weakest year, I was giving reasons this may be. I personally think JPJ was the most consistent of the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagefan55 Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I totally agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strider Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I will add the Alembics bass can sound rather unpleasant at times. 6/20/1980 comes to mind. He didn't use the Alembics in concert until 1977. In 1973 he had great tone...don't judge by the boots, especially the soundboards. Even the Alembics sounded better at the show than what they sound like on tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef free Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 The best thing about the '80 tour is that JPJ plays more bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amstel Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 John Paul Jones didn't have any bad years with Led Zeppelin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juxtiphi Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) John Paul Jones didn't have any bad years with Led Zeppelin! Of course Jones never had a bad year with Zep! He's a consummate professional. There was only one show where he may have been a bit off and that was 1973.05.18 at the Memorial Auditorium in Dallas because he had fractured ribs. Edited May 5, 2014 by juxtiphi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 JPJ's worst year.....the year before he was born! About the 5/18/73 show, I thought he had "the clap"!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathington Willoughby Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 He didn't use the Alembics in concert until 1977. In 1973 he had great tone...don't judge by the boots, especially the soundboards. Even the Alembics sounded better at the show than what they sound like on tape. Yea. Hard to understand why he made the switch though, the Fender Jazz bass had such good tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo_fan Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Yea. Hard to understand why he made the switch though, the Fender Jazz bass had such good tone. I've often wondered that too, it seems like the Alembic was ideal for Achilles and Nobody's Fault, but it beats me why he wouldn't just use it for those two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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