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Monday, December 10, 2001

John Paul Jones on all the keyboard instruments he plays (interview part 11 of 22)

This is the 11th part of the transcript of my interview with John Paul Jones, conducted Dec. 10, 2001.

SPS: You never toured with keyboards until ’70. Then it was Hammond organ until ’71. Rhodes piano. And then in ’71 you added the mellotron. Clavinet and Steinway grand in ’75. Then, finally, the Yamaha synthesizers after that. So you’re constantly expanding your role on the keyboards... Was that your idea?

JPJ: Well, yeah, I mean. As I said, the very first album was mainly and inherently Yardbirds.

SPS: That’s with "Your Time is Gonna Come." That’s my favorite -- I’m a keyboard player.

JPJ: That’s right. All right.

SPS: Whenever I sit down...

JPJ: Oh, yeah! You’re the chap that plays the organ. Did you write me on my site?

SPS: Yeah, pretty early on.

JPJ: I thought I recognized... Yeah, basically, you can’t do everything at once. I was doing some keyboards in the very early rehearsals. ... Were there keyboards on the first album?

SPS: Yeah, "Your Time is Gonna Come."

JPJ: Oh. That’s on the first album, right?

SPS: Yeah.

JPJ: Right, OK. You have to excuse me. ...

SPS: ...And "You Shook Me" is.

JPJ: All right, OK, so I was already playing Hammond organ. But taking it on tour, you’ve got the logistics of it: hiring the instrument and all that. ...

SPS: But sometimes if you were playing a city hall or something there would be something there for you to play.

JPJ: Well, no, we had to rent it in or we’d have to [inaudible]. And so, yeah, I mean, I played a lot of keyboards. And once you play one keyboard, you can play a lot. I don’t actually play a lot of instruments. I just play a lot of families. ...

SPS: People ask me what all I play, I’m like, "Oh, piano, organ, accordion..."

JPJ: "Harpsichord, clavichord..."

SPS: "...Synthesizers! Keyboards!"

JPJ: Yeah, exactly. It’s very impressive to people who don’t know.

SPS: "Wow, that’s like 12 different things!"

JPJ: There are subtle differences. I mean, I consider myself an organ player as well as pianist. ...

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About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

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