John Paul Jones

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Geddy Lee Edition

I could sit here and write paragraphs about my appreciation of Geddy Lee. He was the first true influence I had as a bass player when I was in high school. For years after, I admired not just his talent as a musician, but his ability to improve and grow. He is also underrated for how great a "rock" ... More >>

Old News: Paul McCartney Could Have Been In Them Crooked Vultures

If you have seen and heard Paul McCartney's collaboration with the surviving members of Nirvana this past week, then you no doubt have entertained the thought of a tour or at least an album by the super group. As of now of course, they have only publicly released one track, "Cut Me Some Slack", whic ... More >>

Squeezing the Lemon: Led Zeppelin & the 10 Most Shocking Rock and Roll Reunions

Five years ago this week, Led Zeppelin fans young and old squeezed their pants full of lemon juice when the band's three surviving golden gods -- Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - announced that they'd be reuniting for a one-off concert in London. John Bonham's son Jason would man the s ... More >>

Sex Expert Rachel Khona's Steamy Road-Sex Soundtrack

Nevermind the bushes, the parking garage, the vacant tollbooth, the Wendy's bathroom, the Walmart gardening center. I guess we've all been there, when the urge and vapors and blood flow gets to be so troublesome that we just gotta have sex in the car. It has to happen in the car. No exceptions. Th ... More >>

Robert Plant: Former Honeydrippers Front Man, Current Texan Is 64 Today

Today is Robert Plant's 64th birthday, and hopefully the adopted Texan -- he lives near Austin with maybe-sorta-"wife" Patty Griffin -- is spending it the way a good Texan should, covered in barbecue sauce, listening to Lightnin' Hopkins on his turntable and wearing nothing but a pair of cowboy boot ... More >>

Top 5 Singular Musical Forces

Great bands are a dime a dozen. How often has a great band broken up, only to have the individual efforts of the ex-members lambasted by critics and public alike? Sometimes the chemistry of a band, collectively, makes them great, but sometimes it's "The Talent," a singular musical force. When I sp ... More >>

Low Down: Do Bands Need Bass Players Any More?

Growing up in the '80s, there was a concern on the part of drummers that they would be replaced by drum machines. No one thought that every drummer in every band would be swapped out with a box, but spots in all sorts of projects normally reserved for a guy with sticks were being handed over to prog ... More >>

John Paul Jones' Six Coolest Led Zeppelin Bass Lines on His 66th Birthday

Growing up listening to rock music and being a bass players wasn't always a super exciting proposition. Most of the great bassists of all time are jazz musicians. Being a rock bass player means holding down the low end and keeping the groove intact. While this can still be challenging -- I've seen s ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists of All Time

Me (right), God help me, and Billy Sheehan circa 1990.​Last week, Neph Basedow wrote her list of the 11 greatest female rock bass players and she took a little heat for it, including some from me. But, she also got a lot right. At the very least, she highlighted the most under-appreciated musi ... More >>

Father Figures: 100 Famous Musicians' Paternal Professions

If you're a Texan of a certain age, this week you've probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children's TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes' show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the '60s to the '90s and was widely syndicated across the state, incl ... More >>

10 Semi-Obscure Facts About Led Zeppelin

​On this date in 1968, former Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, and session musicians John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time, rehearsing in a West End studio space in London, England. The first song they played together was a version of "Train Kep ... More >>

SXSW Last Night: Queens Of The Stone Age At La Zona Rosa

Craig Hlavaty​Rolling Stone magazine surely knows how to throw a showcase, bringing forth Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis, Mini Mansions, and Black Angels to open for a reinvigorated Queens Of The Stone Age on Wednesday night. Every band on the bill coalesced with each other beautifully and succinctl ... More >>

Last Night: Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience At Verizon

Photos by Groovehouse​Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience Verizon Wireless Theater November 16, 2010 Some family businesses involve cleaning out septic tanks, others have you pulling teeth and filling cavities all day. Some have you selling used cars, while others mean slaving in a bakery ... More >>

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience

Five Reasons Your Bass Player Hates You

​John Entwistle. Paul McCartney. Cliff Burton. Flea. John Paul Jones. Geddy Lee. Les Claypool. Geezer Butler. Lemmy. Lemmy! These are just some of the best bassists that rock and roll has ever seen. But not all is bright for these folks, thumping or picking away on their rumbling four-string ... More >>

ACL Day Two: Deadheads Rejoice!

Photos by Mark C. Austin​An unexpected guest showed up yesterday afternoon at the Austin Ventures Stage with Austin-by-way-of-Louisiana slide guitar hotshot Papa Mali. The Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzman was backing up the dreadlocked Mali on drums.

ACL 2009 Day One: Them Crooked Vultures. Duh.

Photos by Mark C. Austin​Rocks Off saw Them Crooked Vultures a little less than twenty-four hours after their pulverizing set at Stubb's on Thursday night. It was the same setlist, just harder and Grohlier. Meaning that Dave Grohl was seemingly taking out his demons on his drum set. John Paul Jone ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day Two: Phoenix, Robyn Hitchcock and Them Crooked Vultures

Photo by Matthew Taplinger​The quality of the grass at ACL on Charles Attal's apparent birthday blow out (if projections for "Feliz Cumpleanos" were to be believed) was nothing to sniff at. The great lawn of Zilker Park was emerald and ready to absorb the dance steps of a sold-out crowd with h ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: John Paul Jones Sitting In With Sara Watkins

Craig Hlavaty​Here is former Led Zeppelin bassist and current Them Crooked Vultures member John Paul Jones sitting in with Sara Watkins on the Austin Ventures stage. With his masterful set last night with TCV at Stubb's, is Mr. Jones making a comeback of sorts? If you played on "Kashmir" you can d ... More >>

Live from ACL: Blitzen Trapper, Hopelessly (and Happily) Stuck In the '70s

Photo by Mark C. Austin​ACL was barely three hours old, and we already have a winner in the "New(ish) Band That Totally Sounds Like 1972" contest. It's our new Portland friends Blitzen Trapper, whose heavy folk-rock harmonies, atmospheric Led Zep slow blues (we half expected John Paul Jones to joi ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: Aftermath

Photo by Mark C. AustinSchool of Seven Bells​Before we start discussing the great music we heard yesterday, we would like to take time to thank the Gods Of Rock for blessing Day One of the Austin City Limits Festival (ACL) 2009 with an amazing afternoon and evening of weather. Anyone who has ... More >>

Led Zeppelin Pulls a Van Hagar

The Night Diamond Dave Rejoined Van Halen

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Drenched In Blog: Just Can’t Quit You Baby

“Thunderstruck” on I-45

Been a Long Time

But the Houston Symphony Wants to "Rock and Roll"

Zipping Up Mary's

A local landmark for gay sex and social activism closes after 32 years

Mount Coy

South Park Mexican carves out his place in history with the 2001 Music Awards

Shut Your Mouth

Where is instrumental rock? Los Straitjackets and John Paul Jones might know.

Rotation

Trish Sans Darin

All America mourns as Houston's winsome sibling duo calls it quits