What if John Paul Jones Had Left Led Zeppelin in 1973/74

Every LZ fan worth his/her weight in salt knows this story. Most likely battling a case of burn out due to a heavy tour schedule and facing around round of recording sessions at Headley Grange, JPJ approaches Peter Grant and says he's thinking about leaving the band. In what was also most likely a cheeky aside, he tells G he's been offered the Choirmaster position at Winchester Cathedral. G tells him to take some time off, think about and get back to him. The boys carry on at Headley and record a number of 50s R&R numbers with Ron Nevison at the controls. JPJ ultimately comes back to the band provided some concessions are made i.e., no more touring during the summer months when his children are off from school. Work on Physical Graffiti continues merrily on...

but...

What if JPJ had jacked it in? I've talked about this with a number of LZ fans and so far the consensus is that he was the single most irreplaceable member of the band. And if he did leave and they were forced to replace him, it would take two musicians to do it - and two multi-instrumentalists at that, including one that could specialize on bass, and one dedicated mostly to keyboards. (JPJ's work on acoustic guitar and mandolin would also have to be compensated for, too).

The usual suspects have been tossed around in discussions i.e., Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, and a few more, some more far fetched and frankly kinda dumb (John Entwistle?) than others.

It would be a tough gig, to say the least. Here's the criteria:

- Can you rock?
- Are you funky?
- Can you swing?
- Do you welcome copious opportunities to improvise?
- Do you enjoy rock, blues, funk, soul, pop, folk and world music?
- Are you more than proficient on any instruments other than bass and/or keyboards?

I tried to toss a few wild cards in the mix for discussion's sake. On bass, Bob Babbitt, Roy Estrada, Duck Dunn. On keyboards, Billy Preston, Garth Hudson, Bill Payne. I know none of them is a perfect fit, but believe they have/had the chops to hang with Bonzo and Jimmy during jams, and serve the songs as needed.

What do you think?

Love,
Billy

 

(Let's get this out of the way early.)

"Hey, Percy, I heard you needed a bassist and a keyboard player!"

 

I think I don't weigh much because i do not recall that story. He should have stayed with the group.
ps: Looking at your shirt makes me want to listen to that Bad Co album.

 

I appreciate JPJ's musical contributions to Led Zeppelin, but to me LZ is Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. In that order. BOnzo as the heart of the band plays an important role to. Would JPJ have left the band they would have continued with two or three capable studio cats replacing him without any damage to the image of the band. And image plays a big role when talking about LZ... just my humble opinion of course

 

So if Jimmy was replaceable in HIS own BAND, who would have replaced him, Jeff Beck?

 

If he was the most irreplaceable member then why did Zeppelin disband after Bonzo's death?

 

I would have called Geezer Butler, to see if he would have been willing to do double duty.

 

Led Zeppelin would have disbanded.

 

I know JPJ is a super talented guy, but in my estimation he was the most replaceable member of LZ. If worse came to worse, and the band could not replace his multi-instrumentalist capabilities with a single individual, they could have hired both a new bassist and a touring keyboardist.

 

Hmmmm, well, I won’t say most irreplaceable but he was definitely important not only as far as instrumentation went but also a key player in arrangements. I’m not quite sure who could have replaced him really.

 

I reckon they would have asked Jack Casady to play bass, and dropped the keyboards live.

 

I honestly don't think it would have mattered and Zep would have soldiered on, as popular as ever in the 70s. Why? Because I feel JPJ's huge contribution was criminally overlooked in the 70s and only fully appreciated post- mortem.

JQ

@BillyMacQ - don't I know you from somewhere?

 

JPJ = working studio musician like Page, creative musician like Page, mulit-intrumentalist, arranger, great sounding player, a good fit not on a noticeable or significant ego-trip. Irreplaceable.

Maybe Doug Yule

Nah, irreplaceable...

 

Derek Smalls to the rescue!...

 

And that would have been the only appropriate thing to do (just as it was when Bonzo passed).

That being said, I think I've concluded that JPJ may have been the best overall "total package" musician in the band; the other three get more attention, but I see him as a sort of bookish genius working slightly behind the scenes and quietly making much more significant contributions than may be recognized at first blush. Yeah, he is a great bass and keys player (not too shabby on acoustic either), but his importance went far beyond these roles.

 

He didn't though did he.

 

Todd Rundgren would've joined the group, he and Page would've argued constantly over the production of Physical Graffiti, Todd would've tried to wipe Robert's vocals from the album, Bonzo would've threatened him if he touched his drum kit, and the group would've busted up after the 1976 tour.

 

Don't have a source handy, but I've heard in more recent times that the JPJ leaving rumor was a cover/ruse for Plant's confirmed vocal chord surgery around this time. His voice on some of the '74 recordings (Sick Again, Ten Years Gone), is sub-par.

 

Eh, it would've made sense to leave at that point. Once you've contributed No Quarter to society what's left to accomplish?

That said, you've gotta be off your rocker to consider JPJ to be the most irreplaceable member of Led Zeppelin. Maybe a bit of hyperbole on display? Even amongst four titans of greatness the animals are not quite all equal. Along with being the main songwriters, Robert and Jimmy were the visual face of the band.

And had JPJ left at this time I don't think there's any doubt that the band would have continued. They were in a WAY different place in almost every respect in 1974 than they were while limping into the 80's.

 

He'd have loved the underage girls!

You really think Linda would have left Wings for Zep?

 

OHHH IN THE JAAAIIILLL

OOOOOHHHHH IN THE JAIL!!!!

 

That definitely would have been a possibility. Grant likely would have tried to persuade the band to continue, but even he knew JPJ's value, and massaged the situation in hopes of persuading Jones to reconsider.

Just imagine "Physical Graffiti" without Jones' contributions; "Trampled Under Foot" maybe does not come together, "Kashmir" does not benefit from Jones' arrangements, "In The Light" likely does not emerge. The band could have found a replacement bassist, just like the band could have brought in someone like Cozy Powell after Bonham's death, but under either scenario, it never would have been the same.

 

One wonders what happened to those long-rumored "oldies" recordings. Were they scrapped/erased? Did Page lose them at some point when the archives were disorganized? Why did none of them find their way to the "Physical Graffiti"/"Coda" companion discs?

 

The single most irreplaceable member of the band?

Ok, I’m a fan of JPJ, and all, but he was easily the most replaceable member. No Jimmy Page? No band. No Plant? Your done. No Bonzo? Well, we know what happened...