Re: what JPJ thinks of Clarksdale, and his website

["James Bonal" <bonal71@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great JPJ Site, Vinod!  For those of you who haven't yet checked it out, I 
urge you to do so.  Vinod doesn't lie ... the numerous articles on his 
website contain many fascinating quotes and stories.

And now, a few musings ...

As I read the JPJ articles, I couldn't help but notice a dislike and/or 
disdain for Robert and Jimmy.  It would not be surprising, and definitely 
understandable, if this negative tone came from JPJ, but the disparaging 
remarks about Plant and Page came from the interviewers!  I wonder ... did 
all the interviewers make cuts at P&P in hopes of getting on JPJ's "good 
side?"  Maybe P&P aren't well-liked by the English media?  I don't know, but 
believe me, the "voice and guitar" were not treated kindly by the 
interviewers.

For example, in one article, the interviewer describes JPJ's fit and trim 
appearance to the reader and contrasts it with that of his former bandmates. 
  "... in contrast to his former bandmates who still wear their thinning 
hair long and stuff their expanding waistlines into leather pants ..." 
(paraphrasing).  To begin with, the quote's not even accurate, since Robert 
(he of the leather pants) has been on a physical fitness kick since the 95 
tour and Jimmy's hair (albeit thinning) appeared on the cover of MOJO 
magazine around November of 97 sporting his new 'do.  However, my defense of 
P&P aside, why does that belong in an article about JPJ's new album?  P&P 
could be mentioned in a less than positive light in several ways which would 
appropriately fit in an article about JPJ (such as their "snubbing" of him 
with the No Quarter project or Robert's refusal to do a reunion tour, etc.).

Additionally, most of these articles pan Walking Into Clarksdale.  It 
doesn't matter to me whether the reviewers liked the album or not, but it 
doesn't make sense to praise JPJ for creating musical moods and themes in 
Zooma but belittle P&P's album - if ever there was an album that centered 
around moods and themes, WIC is it.  Apparently, for most of these 
interviewers, Zooma's moods are brilliant because JPJ creates them with 
intense, feverish and exploding music.  It doesn't make sense, then, for the 
same reviewers to criticize WIC, unless they're saying that intense moods 
can only be created in non-subtle and up-front ways.  (Anybody who listens 
to "Heart in Your Hand" or "Blue Train" would find it difficult to say that 
those songs didn't create a mood that dripped right out of the CD player.) 
Again, rather than true musical criticism, it seems to me that these 
interviewers have a (not so subtle) P&P bias and went out of their way to 
include it in their articles.

Finally, if you've heard Zooma and you heard Jimmy's playing on the WIC live 
performances, I'm sure you're dreaming, like I am, about what the two of 
them could come up with.  JPJ and JPP ... two musicians who could (if they 
ever decided to get together) make amazing, spectacular and current (if not 
futuristic) music in the next century.  Who needs a Zeppelin reunion ... 
let's just get Page, Plant and Jones together, call it something generic and 
see what new stuff they could come up with.



>
>I'm adding articles to my JPJ website
>(www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/1509/jpjsite.html).  There's been quite a 
>few
>fascinating quotes.
>
>Other stuff I've pulled out of all these interviews (where he gets asked 
>the
>same things and gives the same answers) are:  the Page/Plant mess basically
>showed him that he should do a solo album;  he thinks Led Zeppelin was the 
>best
>band ever and why would he want to ever be in another one?;  "B. Fingers" 
>is
>darned near impossible to play, even for him; and during "ZOOMA" recording, 
>he
>kept asking himself 'what would Bonzo have done?"
>
>I'm also confused as to who the drummer on the tour will be - either Geoff
>Dugmore, Terl Bryant, or as yet to be determined.
>
>I'm surprised he's even heard "Clarksdale", but that's nice of him to have
>given it a listen.  His website sounds like it will be pretty awesome, no?
>
>Vinod
>
>
>QUOTES
>
>What did you think of Walking into Clarksdale?
>
>JPJ:  Walking into Clarksdale didn't really get me going. I'd have 
>preferred
>to hear much more Page, to be honest. I was looking forward to hearing him 
>do
>some good stuff, and he just didn't seem to do very much, that's all.
>
>...
>
>JPJ: I'm going to have a Web site coming up [www.johnpauljones.com], and
>I want to experiment with that. It's going to be a non-commercial Web site,
>just some fun for somebody out there who wants to poke around. Hopefully it
>will be up in time to coincide with the album release.
>
>Can you give us a preview of what will be on the site?
>
>JPJ: It's still in the planning stages, but stay tuned to this station. It 
>will
>probably start with the informative stuff, tour dates, bios, things like 
>that.
>But I want to experiment a little, maybe end up with webcasting one day, 
>have
>my own radio station, or whatever comes. Again, get in the flow and see 
>where
>it goes.
>
>
>