"It was because we were paying attention"

I have been immensely enjoying KEITH SHADWICK's book, "Led Zeppelin 1968-1980: The Story of a Band and Their Music."
In my reading, I have reached early 1970, just as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are about to withdraw into the Welsh countryside to concoct "Led Zeppelin III."
I have often equated Led Zeppelin in particular, and Page in particular, with Miles Davis. Both musical entities never felt comfortable with the status quo -- instead, they always tried for something different as their music progressed. Page and Davis were also incorrigible perfectionists, apparently.
Both Davis and the MIGHTY ZEP shared another trait, according to Shadwick: Both found their greatest musical expression in improvisational creation.
Shadwick quotes John Paul Jones (Zep's unsung hero), on the improvisational experiments the band engaged in nightly on stage:
"You had to be on the ball in those days, especially in the improvised parts, because stuff would change all the time. You'd have to watch each other for cues. There was a lot of eye contact. Page always looked as though he was looking at the floor, but we'd watch each other's hand movements all the time. There would often be seemingly amazing unrehearsed stops and starts. We'd all go BANG -- straight into it. The audience would think, 'How did they do that?' It was because we were paying attention."
I love bands that pay attention!