"So calm and so brilliant
". Very often, this is how his fans characterize the personality of an outstanding musician of our time. Yes, they are right. Better about John Paul Jones - a famous British musician, composer, music producer, arranger and you can not say.
The early years of the musician and the beginning of his musical activity
The full name of the musician is John Richard Baldwin. He hails from the county of Kent, which is located in the extreme south-east of England. Kent is a wonderful corner of England, which has repeatedly inspired many writers and artists. It was there, on January 3, 1946, that John was born.
His father - Joe Baldwin at that time was already a well-known musician in his country - an arranger. He, as a saxophonist, participated in many then-big big bands, for example Ambrose Orchestra. John's mother was also associated with music, or rather, with the music business. It was this family passion for music that allowed them in the future to engage in the fact that they arranged musical family concerts, even went on tour with them.
Born into such a creative family, the child simply had to become a musician, which happened to him. Already at the age of 6, thanks to his father, John began to study and play the piano.
But the future celebrity received her professional musical education at London Christ College. At the age of 14, a young man passionate about music became an organist and choirmaster in his local church.
At this time, the young musician, his musical thinking was greatly influenced by classical music (he loved Rachmaninov very much), as well as jazz and blues music. Then he acquires the first electric guitar with which he has not parted for many years.
Creation of the Led Zeppelin Group
As a young man, he was only 15 years old, he begins to play in the group The Deltas. But soon he transferred to a jazz band called Jett Blacks. It was in this group that he met and worked with virtuoso - guitarist John McLaughlin. John McLaughlin becomes the leader of the famous Mahavishnu Orchestra. But at the age of 18, John goes into the group of Jet Harris and Tony Mian.
As the musician himself later recalled, at the same time he began to do a lot of session work, which did not bring him satisfaction because they were exhausting him and “started to kill him”. This work was associated with a heavy load on the musician. He could do 60 arrangements a month. In just 2 years (1966-1963), he took part in more than one hundred studio sessions.
The year 1964 in the musician’s work is significant because in this year he finally decides to try himself as an author. Concludes a contract with Andrew Meadow Oldham, who subsequently becomes the manager of the familiar to everyone and outstanding at the time Rolling Stones. It is Meadow who offers John Baldwin to take the pseudonym "John Paul Jones" and he agrees. Since then, the world has known Baldwin as John Paul Jones. This year, he recorded his first solo single entitled "A Foggy Day In Vietnam" ("Foggy Day in Vietnam"). This single was produced by the same Andrew Meadow Oldham.
No matter how hard the studio work at Jones was, but thanks to it, the famous group Led Zeppelin (The New Yardbirds) was created, which opened a new era in rock music. At certain times in his work (1968-1980), the musician meets his music colleague Jimmy Page, and then with John Bonham (drummer) and Robert Plant (vocalist). All of them then joined the Led Zeppelin (The New Yardbirds) group.
John Paul Jones is a musician of high class and professionalism. Acting as the band’s bass player, he often rose at the concerts for keyboards, and in some cases picked up a flute.
During the existence of the group Led Zeppelin (13 years old), John Paul Jones was always distinguished by his modesty and invisibility among his team, but this was only on stage. He was considered the leader in the group, and their strong creative duet with Bonham is still considered one of the most significant in rock history.
