Re: ...as I was pumping Irony.

[Tabitha Williams <tabbiew@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Food for thought from the much-maligned Billy McCue: 

 
> With each passing day, I'm more convinced that the decision to exclude John
> Paul Jones from the Page/Plant project was simply a matter of aesthetics
> and nepotism.
> 
> Aesthetics: P & P wanted a couple of young good looking dudes on stage to
> offset the weathered looks of the two old farts up front.


Good one. :o)


> Nepotism: Charlie Jones is Plant's son-in-law. End of story.


Interesting...I always had that feeling, but I thought that Jones and
Lee (and perhaps Shearmur, I'm not completely sure) were there because
they were already in Plant's backup band.
 

> I'm not knocking Ed Shearmur or Charlie Jones, by the way. Both sounded
> very competent to my ears. I just think John Paul Jones is a very special
> talent. It's a shame he was left out. And I like the way he's handled this
> whole thing. He comes off as a sensitive, dignified man with a great deal
> of pride. It'll never happen, but oh the irony if his solo album winds up
> getting better reviews and more sales than the new P/P....


My immature, vengeful side agrees whole-heartedly with you. I love the
way Jones handled the--may I say this?--ignominious way he'd been
treated. I wonder, though, if he would have done the whole "UnLEDded"
shabang if he were invited to do so. I say he would have said no--for
the simple reason that he chooses to get on with his life. What I like
about him, whether this may or not actually be true, is that he doesn't
feel he absolutely had to be in the spotlight, or that he still has to
prove himself. He's a damn good musician, and he knows it, and that's
enough for him.  I hope the album (and the ensuing tour) does better
than P/P, just as a tribute to the dignity of JPJ. Speaking personally,
I'm looking VERY forward to it! :o)


> One other thing. If my point about "aesthetics" is true, the irony is even
> thicker when you consider that at least to my eyes, JPJ seems to have aged
> the most gracefully in terms of appearance.


Yes--he looks "well-preserved". :o) But then again, he truly was "the
Sane One". :o)

 
Tabitha