Over The Hills And Far Away - John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones hmmmmmm few of you must have heard of him and some you wouldn't have but i can surely tell you that he was the key man behind Led Zeppelin.Im pretty sure many of you must have heard the signature classic and timless song that still plays in a lotta pubs rock shows and homes "Stairway To Heaven" but if you hear it clearly you hear a bass sound but there aint no bass,how is that you mite wonder.Its none other than Jones playing an overdubbed Bass on Keyboards.Lets not forget this was way back in the late 60's and early 70's no processors.He is undoubtley the hidden talent in the band.Though most of the focus was on Panzy Plant,and Guitar God Page. (Picture-Clockwise from top Jimmy Page,Robert Plant,Jones,Bonham)

John Paul Jones stage name for John Bladwin,son of Joe Baldwin who was a pianist and arranger for many orchestras in the 40's and 50's.His mother was in the music business and the family toured together and which let him perform with his parents.He studied music at Christ College in Kent his birthplace and he plays almost 9 instruments few being the guitars,mandolin,banjo,Koto an ancient Japanese string instrument,cello,mellotron,organ PHEW!!!! and is the primary composer in Led Zeppelin

His first band was The Deltas at the age of 15,the was taken into The New Yardbirds the first band of Jimmy Page which later became Led Zeppelin.His famous works with Zeppelin would be the unforgettable KASHMIR having a very eastern touch to music.The great intro bassline in Dazed And Confused keyboard solo in No Quarter and Stairway To Heaven as i mentioned before.Let me give you a fact bout the song if you have ever noticed the lyrics closely you mite or mite not get the meaning behind it,its a song bout a woman who goes to buy heroin to get high.Again Jones work on the lyrics.

His work was kept undisclosed and kept private so no one would know it as mentioned by Jones in the later years.His diversity for the group also extended to other instruments, which included unusual double and even triple necked mandolins.You can see brilliant work on the Mandolin in Going to California

After the breakup of Led Zeppelin he also collaborated with R.E.M,Heart,Ben E King,a number of video sessions with Paul Mc Cartney and also worked with Foo Fighters on one of their albums.Led Zepp might be be no more but JPJ will never go unoticed again.

TalKinG AbOuT My GeNeRation

Tttttttttalkin bout My Gennnnnaration,most of you must have atleast heard this song in a movie or T.V,radio or must just would have heard bout it,it was none other than The Who who made the song.

If Pete Townshend hadn't beenborn with a big nose he might have never picked up a guitar and also accindentally bashed his fretboard against a low ceiling in a club.These were the early days of The Who when they were called "The Detours" or "The High Numbers".Townshend used to imitate Keith Richards by spinning his arm in a propeller fashion and once knocked his guitar to the ceiling and smashed the fretboard.

From that day The Who was born,being the most voilent ,anti social,debt ridden band of the sixties and went on to become the richest rockstars in future.The band consisted of Roger Daltery(Vocals),Pete Townshend(Guitars),John Enwhistle(Bass),and none other than the eccentric Keith Moon on Drums considered one of the best drummer of all times.

Townshend would ram his Rickenbacker into his cabinet Moon would walk over it and Daltery would snap his fingers and John would stand there doing nothing at all.Townshend was the primary composer for the band including lyrics and music.Their first hit was I Can't Explain,but it was My Generation that became the archetypal who song of the early days.This album was the result of two projected albums one straight Rythym and Blues.The other of autodestruction and the result was their most exciting and spontaneous work.

Townshend even got the most outstanding artist at the Woodstock 69',this made the band elevate to the top along with band like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.Townshend prepared a 90 minute Rock Opera known as "Tommy" containing 'Pinball Wizard' ,See Me Feel Me and many more,this was dedicated to Meher Baba who Townshend used to frequently visit back in India who influenced him greatly.He also named the song Baba O' Riley after Meher Baba and a close friend and composer Terry Riley.Baba O Riley has one of the best Keyboard intros i have ever seen .The other good songs are Behind Blue Eyes,Squeezebox,I Can't See for Miles.

Then in 1971 they came out with "Who's Next", the band were'nt very happy with the album though it went gold in the U.S..This album contained Baba O' Riley and also Won't Get Fooled Again.The band continued touring and Townshend became one of the most know rockstar around,and egoistically came out with his solo album "Who Came First" and again dedicated it to Meher Baba.1976 - The band became inactive and started basically woking on their solo projects.Sept 7th 1976 came the death of Keith Moon due to an overdose of an anti-seizure medication, Heminevrin, taken as part of a programme to wean him off alcohol.He was returning home from the premiere of The Buddy Holly Story and was a guest of Paul Mc Cartney.This sparked off speculation about the future of the band and was replaced by drummer Kenny Jones after almost auditioning 250 drummers.

Let me give u a piece you can boast about,on Dec 3rd The Who performed with new drummer Jones in Cincinatti and 11 people died making their way to the concert which made the band more famous than they haver ever been.Moon had influenced the band greatly and that void couldn't be replaced though they managed with Jones and came out with another album "Face Dances" in 81',and the style of music greatly changed no doubt Jones was great and a conventional drummer but Moon was mad and brilliant,his exclusive styles could just not be replaced and this is stated by a lotta people as the end of the road for The Who.They also then replaced Jones with Zak Starkey son of Moon's close friend whose none other than Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr.

This maybe really shocking but very true The Who has never ever placed a No. 1 album or song ever on the charts but has represented the very spirit of Rock N Roll to a growing mass of fans.The Who have remained the standard bearers of Rock despite the personality clashes within the group.I leave you with a quote by the Roger Daltrey.Hope u njoyd THis!!!!!!

"People tried to put us down
Just because we get around
Things they do rather seem cold
Hope i die before i get old"

- The Who 1965