Artea

Hit Parader: It’s been six years since the end of Led Zeppelin. Looking back, have you begun to get some perspective on the important role the band played in rock history?

John Paul Jones: Not really. The only way I can do that is by hearing what those around me say. Sometimes I’m taken aback a little by the reverence shown the group. I’m not saying we weren’t a very special band, but I’ve never pictured us the way many fans today seem to see us - as some sort of patron saints of rock and roll.

HP: How did it feel at Live Aid to get back onstage with Plant and Page after such a long hiatus?

JPJ: Actually, it felt quite natural. When I looked around and saw the same faces as always, it seemed like it was the day after our last gig at Knebworth, not six years later. There was always a very strong feeling between all of us onstage, and that’s the sort of thing that doesn’t disappear.

HP: Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is if there will be more Zeppelin reunions in the future?

JPJ: We have thought about getting together every once in a while to do something special, and I’m sure if the proper occasion arose, we would do it. But it really hasn’t been formally discussed. After all, everyone is very involved in his own projects at the moment. Jimmy and Robert have successful solo careers, and I’m involved with writing contemporary classical music with computers. We don’t want to compromise what we’ve worked the last six years to create.

HP: But like that James Bond movie, you’ll Never Say Never Again when it comes to Led Zeppelin.

JPJ: That’s exactly it. But it would be a bit of a sham for us to hire another dummer, and set off on some Led Zeppelin’s Greatest Hits tour. That would be awful. If we were to do something together, it would have to be like Live Aid, where there was a special environment and a special reason to get together as Led Zeppelin.

HP: It seems like so many legendary bands from a decade ago - Deep Purple, ELP - have gotten back together again. What do you miss most about the Zeppelin days that might inspire you to get back together?

JPJ: I guess it would be the camaraderie between musicians. Sometimes I miss the opportunity to bounce new musical ideas off people I respect as musicians, even though working alone has its benefits. One thing I certainly don’t miss is touring for half the year or more. It’s incredibly time-consuming to be on the road. You may only play for two or three hours a night, but the rest of your time is taken up with traveling or waiting for the show to begin.

HP: Speaking of the road, was there a single highlight, and lowlight, you recall from the Zeppelin days?

JPJ: Well, there were so many highlights, it’s hard to pick one. But I do remember this one show we played - I don’t even remember where - when, at the very end of the set, after we had finished Stairway, people suddenly started lighting matches and holding them in the air. First there was one, then a couple and, before long, the whole arena was being lit up by matches held aloft. It sent chills up and down my spine.

HP: And a low point?

JPJ: Thankfully there weren’t many. There was one night in Pittsburgh, when all these fans dressed in hardhats literally stormed the stage minutes after we went on. I think they came to the arena to have a rumble - they didn’t care about the music at all. Another night I’d prefer to forget was in the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. There we were, in front of 60,000 fans, and the barricades had been set up so far from the stage that we literally couldn’t even see the front row. I kept thinking to myself, “These poor people. They should have just stayed home and listened to the albums.”

HP: Recently, a book came out called Hammer Of The Gods which portrays Led Zeppelin as a rather depraved lot with sexual and drug debauchery going on constantly. How accurate is that representation of the band?

JPJ: That’s a very nasty little book. There are snippets of truth mixed in with a lot of other things. What emerges is a very cloudy and very somber view of what Led Zeppelin was like. The thing that bothered me most was that there was no humor in the book, and if there was anything that Led Zeppelin had plenty of, it was humor. We were having the time of our lives.

HP: Was there any friction between band members? With all the attention paid to Page and Plant, did you and Bonham get upset at times?

JPJ: Not really. I’m very content to play my role in the background. In fact, I prefer it that way. Perhaps the only time it bothered me was when I’d see photo essays done on the band and only two members were featured. I once asked a photographer why there weren’t any pictures of me, and he said it was because I never had any spotlights on me. That was one thing I did change. It wasn’t so much for my ego. I figured might as well see me onstage.

HP: You just released the soundtrack album for a movie called Scream For Help. Jimmy Page appears on it while Robert Plant does not. Was there a reason for that?