No musician is infallible. No matter how legendary an artist is, there are inevitably going to be some slipups in their track record. But if you’re a big enough fan, all of those lackluster moments are quickly forgotten. John Paul Jones had that uncompromising admiration for one of his peers. Find out who below.
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The Musician John Paul Jones Thought Could Do No Wrong
Many people consider the Beatles to be the greatest band of all time. Though “who is the greatest band of all time” isn’t exactly an objective question, the Fab Four’s many timeless hits provide evidence to that claim.
Jones is among the people who believe that the Beatles had no equal. By the time Led Zeppelin came around, the Beatles were nearing the end of their tenure and had become the bar with which every other band was measured.
Notably, Jones found Paul McCartney to be “perfect,” both with the Beatles and in his solo career. That’s another bold claim to make, but it’s one many agree with. The Led Zeppelin bassist once spoke about McCartney’s discography and how influential he has been since the onset of his career.
“I think [McCartney’s] perfect,” Jones once said. “He’s always been good. Everything he’s done has always been right. He’s improved so much since the early Beatles days, and everything is still right.”
Jones looked up to McCartney’s bass playing throughout his time with Zeppelin. He’s one of the many instrumentalists who adopted some of his techniques.
Mutual Admiration
The admiration between McCartney and Jones is mutual. McCartney once spoke about admiring Led Zeppelin’s “confidence in each other.” The Beatles had stopped playing live before they called it quits as a band. Watching Zeppelin on stage likely made him wish for his time on the road back, especially given his fracturing relationships with his bandmates. McCartney once spoke about Zeppelin’s shows, nodding to their relationship with one another.
“Zeppelin goes on and they do a good show because they have the thing together as a band,” McCartney once said. “They’ve got absolute confidence in each other.”
It’s always fun for fans to hear which musicians admired each other. When the praise is mutual, fans can’t help but feel vindicated in their listening habits.
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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