I’ve always thought that John Paul Jones did well to stay sane while playing bass for Led Zeppelin but I think he was probably just that kind of guy. And it seems that his eating habits are equally undestructive.
In Friday’s Guardian there was an interview with Gillian Welch who did a tour with JPJ in the States. She says, “He travelled in the Cadillac. I’d say: ‘John would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?’ He’d say he would. I’d make one and we’d roll on down the road." Pretty wild eh?
Well you might say, he’s probably calmed down over the years, but my researches led me to an article in the Times magazine dated 2nd October 1991, admittedly not the year of peak Zeppelin madness, titled “Our First Meal” one of a series of articles with a self-explanatory title – this one about when John Paul Jones met Robert Fripp.
JPJ talks about being a pescatarian, about finding good places to eat in Chicago and New Orleans “for the blackened cat fish and shrimp’ and Japan for the sushi. He says, “I’m not a great restaurant person” but then says “We go to Ravi Shankar in Drummond Street," which is in London, and it so happens that I’ve been to the Ravi Shankar in Drummond Street. It’s still there as far as I know. JPJ implies that it was a vegetarian restaurant when he went but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t when I was there. And I’ve never known whether there was any connection between the restaurant and the Ravi Shankar.
JPJ also says, “You can’t live on drugs and alcohol alone.” Words to live by.
Robert Fripp, when he was in King Crimson, did record the album Cat Food,
and he also appears to be a pescatarian. In the Times article he says, “When I go to Nashville to visit Adrian Belew, my friend from King Crimson, we go to a vegetarian Mexican restaurant called Loco Lupe. They have a Margarita called ‘the monster’ that comes in a 52 ounce glass."
There are a few Loco Lupes still in business but as far I can tell the one in Nashville isn’t among them. It appears to have closed down in 2002.
A 52 ounce margarita glass is impressive but I think it all comes down to how much ice and how little tequila they put in there.
This is Adrian Belew:
This is from Adrian Belew’s Facebook – posted on Sandwich Day 2018:
And I decided to have a deep dig through the archive because I reckoned I’d taken one or two pics when I was at Ravi Shankar.
I found them in the end, and yes, if the sign on the front to be believed it was indeed a vegetarian restauarant – this was in 2018.
I don’t remember exactly what we ate but there are pictures. This:
And also this – top photographer Jason Oddy included for scale.
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