On which song did John Paul Jones play bass for the first time?

The future Zeppelin bassist demonstrated his mastery of the instrument on various recordings with British folk artist Donovan. He also wrote the string arrangements for one of the Rolling Stones’ greatest achievements in psychedelic rock: “She’s a Rainbow.”

Long before he met these luminaries of the 1960s counterculture, Jones was already an experienced session musician. His own song “Baja” was far from his first studio recording.

What had he done before?

In fact, John Paul Jones’ first known recording was on the instrumental single “Scarlett O’Hara” by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, released in April 1963. Former Shadows members Harris and Meehan had hired Jones, then just 17 years old and known by his birth name John Baldwin, two months after their previous single “Diamonds” reached number one in the UK singles chart.

Ironically, “Diamonds” featured Baldwin’s future Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page on guitar, and was his very first studio recording. Page may have beaten Jones to the punch, but the bassist was much younger than Page when he began recording with Harris and Meehan.

‘Scarlett O’Hara’ is a great surf track that is somehow inspired by Blown by the windperhaps with certain faint musical similarities to the main theme of the film’s soundtrack. The song has a rather incongruous brass accompaniment, alongside Meehan on drums, Joe Moretti filling in for Harris on guitar, and the future John Paul Jones playing his favourite bass. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and was to be the penultimate hit for Harris and Meehan.

Jones stayed with them for two years before moving on to bigger roles as a sought-after bassist and arranger for Decca Records. The connection with Harris and Meehan had nevertheless laid the foundation for something special. It was the beginning of a long-term acquaintance between the session musicians Jones and Page before the two finally formed their own band five and a half years later.

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