Which Led Zeppelin member arranged strings on several Automatic for the People tracks?

John Paul Jones arranged the strings on several tracks from R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People.

Jones was the former Led Zeppelin bassist and multi-instrumentalist who supplied orchestral arrangements for four songs: “Drive,” “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite,” “Everybody Hurts,” and “Nightswimming.” The string parts were performed with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and conducted by George Hanson.

The collaboration emerged after producer Scott Litt encountered Jones and learned about his arranging background. R.E.M. sent him the songs, and Jones prepared charts for the recording sessions in Atlanta. His work gave the album’s generally restrained acoustic and electric textures a broader, more dramatic dimension without turning the record into a conventional orchestral production.

Jones’s role is sometimes misunderstood because he did not join R.E.M. as a performing band member and was not simply playing bass on the album. He was credited for orchestral arrangements. The other Led Zeppelin names in the choices—Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Bonham—were not responsible for these string parts.