Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Friday, March 29, 2002

John Paul Jones interview with Lemon Squeezings (in 22 parts)

John Paul Jones sat down with me for an interview on Dec. 10, 2001. Because the interview was scheduled for only one hour of his time, I didn't bother to bring more than 120 minutes' worth of blank cassette tape. Jones and I started on time, but our conversation unexpectedly went on for nearly four full hours!

Over this time, he an interview that is believed to be his longest and most in-depth since 1977. Also, Jones busted out the instruments he himself carried into his hotel upon arrival from a bus traveling from the previous night's gig in Connecticut.

As I mentioned, not enough tape was available to record the full conversation. Even if I had brought enough tape, certain things he told me were off the record and could never be repeated. Other portions that were taped were too inaudible to be transcribed. For these reasons, the full interview will never be published anywhere.

Nevertheless, I have broken the interview transcript portions available to me into 22 sections as outlined below:

  1. John Paul Jones on his early days
  2. John Paul Jones on the Yardbirds
  3. John Paul Jones on the formation of Led Zeppelin
  4. John Paul Jones on touring with Led Zeppelin
  5. John Paul Jones on the Bath Festival 1970
  6. John Paul Jones on blaming the Beatles
  7. John Paul Jones on Phil Carson
  8. John Paul Jones on the "drag queen" story
  9. John Paul Jones on the story that he was considering leaving Zeppelin early
  10. John Paul Jones on touring with John Bonham
  11. John Paul Jones on all the keyboard instruments he plays
  12. John Paul Jones on his Mellotron and Fairlight keyboards
  13. John Paul Jones on "progressive" music
  14. John Paul Jones on the "tight" Zeppelin
  15. John Paul Jones on Led Zeppelin's accusations of plagiarism
  16. John Paul Jones on journalists
  17. John Paul Jones on his daughter Jacinda's music
  18. John Paul Jones on his theatrical and cultural work in Spain
  19. John Paul Jones on the title of "Nosumi Blues" from his solo album Zooma
  20. John Paul Jones on his singing
  21. John Paul Jones on his unreleased and bonus tracks
  22. John Paul Jones on his management and record label
In addition to the above portions, we discussed other topics. Some of these exchanges have also been disseminated in my newsletter, "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History." These include:

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John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?