Editing John Paul Jones (musician) (section)

==Early years==
John Baldwin was born in [[Sidcup]], Kent, on 3 January 1946.<ref name="jpjofficialbio" /> He started playing piano when he was six, learning from his father, Joe Baldwin, a pianist and arranger for [[big band]]s in the 1940s and 1950s, notably with [[Ambrose (bandleader)|Ambrose and his Orchestra]]. His mother was also in the music business, which allowed the family to often perform together touring around England as a vaudeville comedy act.<ref>Andy Fyfe (2003), ''When the Levee Breaks: The Making of Led Zeppelin IV'', Chicago Review Press, {{ISBN|1-55652-508-7}}, p. 22.</ref> His influences ranged from the blues of [[Big Bill Broonzy]] and the jazz of [[Charles Mingus]] to the classical piano of [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ledzeppelin.alexreisner.com/jones.html |title=John Paul Jones Quotes |publisher=Ledzeppelin.alexreisner.com |access-date=1 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126103722/http://ledzeppelin.alexreisner.com/jones.html |archive-date=26 January 2012}}</ref>

Because his parents often toured, Baldwin was sent to boarding school at a young age.<ref name=snow>Snow, Mat. "The Secret Life of a Superstar", ''[[Mojo magazine]]'', December 2007.</ref> He was a student at Christ's College, [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], London where he studied music formally. At the age of 14, Baldwin became choirmaster and organist at a local church. That year, he bought his first bass guitar, a Dallas Tuxedo solid-body electric; later, he bought other basses that he part-exchanged until he bought the 1962 [[Fender Jazz Bass]] that he used until 1976. Jones has said he was inspired to take up the bass by the fluid playing of Chicago musician [[Phil Upchurch]] on his ''You Can't Sit Down'' LP, which includes a memorable bass solo.<ref>''Led Zeppelin in Their Own Words'' compiled by Paul Kendall (1981), London: Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|0-86001-932-2}}, p. 17.</ref>