cover feature - carmine · pdf file30 traps trapsmagazine.com preface a slow night at the...

COVER FEATURE

28 TRAPS TRAPSMAGAZINE.COM

City

BoyMan

Country

Country

WITH ANDY DOERSCHUK JON COHAN JARED COBB & KAREN STACKPOLE

BY CHRIS WELCH

THE JOHN BONHAMSTORY

City

autum 2007 TRAPS 29


PREFACE A SLOW NIGHT AT THE MARQUEE

As a Melody Makerreporter during the 1960s, Ivividly remember the moment when areview copy of Led Zeppelin’s eponymousdebut album arrived at the office. Mycolleague and fellow scribe Tony Wilsonhad secured the precious black vinyl LPand dropped it onto the turntable,awaiting my reaction. We wereimmediately transfixed by the brash, boldsounds that fought their way out of the lo-fi speakers – Robert Plant’s screamingvocals, the eerie Hammond organ soundsof John Paul Jones, and Jimmy Page’ssupreme guitar mastery. But amid thekaleidoscope of impressions, the drumswere the primary element that set pulsesracing. We marveled at the sheer audacity,the sense of authority, the spatialawareness present on every track. Withinmoments, John Bonham’s cataclysmic bassdrum triplets and roaring snare rolls hadsignaled a new era of rock drumming.

The first time I saw Bonham up close was in December 1968,at The Marquee Club on Soho’s Wardour Street. While TheMarquee has long held a mythical status in the rich history ofthe London rock scene – hosting early appearances by suchlegendary bands as The Who and The Rolling Stones – it wasactually a dark and rather cramped facility with a tiny stagethat fronted an even stuffier dressing room.

The venue wasn’t full on the night of the Zeppelin show, so we couldwander around and chat to other club goers. While Page and Plantdominated the stage, we edged over to the side to check out thedrummer. Among those watching with me was Mark Ashton, curlyhaired stickman with the group Rare Bird. “He’s so fucking heavy!”Ashton shouted in my ear. We stared in disbelief at the aggressive,beefy guy who seemed intent on breaking the heads on his toms.

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John Henry Bonham was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, on May 31, 1948.He started drumming at the age of five by playing around on a bath saltscontainer fitted with strands of wire on the bottom, which gave the effect ofa snare drum as he hammered out rhythms with knives and forks. After headded pots, pans, and a coffee tin to his armory, his mother reclaimed thekitchenware and bought her ten-year-old son a real snare drum. Five yearslater, when it became clear that drumming wasn’t simply a passing phase,his father purchased a complete kit. “It was almost prehistoric,” Bonzorecalled. “Most of it was rust, but I was determined to be a drummer as soonas I left school. I was so keen I would have played for nothing – in fact, I didfor a long time, but my parents stuck by me.”

CHAPTER I BIRTH OF BONZO

JOHN BONHAM

Robert Plant and John Bonham met asteenagers. “We were from the same area,”the singer says. “We grew up around thesame things and dated the same women.He was very colorful to be around, John.We were both proud owners of unbeliev-ably huge egos. I was going to be the greatsinger in the area where I lived, and he wasdefinitely going to be the best drummer.The two of us in the room often made it im-possible for anybody else to get in becauseof our egos, and our personalities, and ourgregarious, aggressive natures. It was veryhard for anybody else to stomach us.”

Family patriarch Jack Bonham ran abuilding company, and employed both ofhis sons, John and Michael. But even as heworked as a builder, John Bonham devel-oped a parallel career as a drummer play-ing with local bands. It was the age ofRingo Starr and The Beatles, but Bonhamhad already developed a taste for jazz

drummers such as Gene Krupa, BuddyRich, and Joe Morello. “Our parents weremore into big band dance music – BennyGoodman, Gene Krupa, that sort of thing,”remembers his sister, Deborah Bonham.“And John really got into drumming by lis-tening to the likes of Gene Krupa and Bud-dy Rich. He really loved Krupa’s style.”

John Bonham began taking lessons tomaster his rudiments, but quickly devel-oped his own hard-hitting sound. Impa-tient, but a fast learner, he often practicedlicks during gigs, to the frustration ofbandleaders when he got things wrong.“Drumming was the only thing I was anygood at, and so I stuck at it,” said Bonham.“I always worked hard all the time. When Iwas 16, I went into full-time music. But I’dhave to go back to the building sites to earnmoney to live. If there were no gigs, therewas no money.” As he gained confidencehe’d go up to a bandleader and say, “Your

drummer is not much good, is he? Let mehave a go and I’ll show you.” Whereuponhe’d climb behind the hapless drummer’skit, pound it to bits, and take over his gig.

One of his first professional opportuni-ties was a stint with Terry Webb & The Spi-ders, a rock and roll band he joined at theage of 16. A year later, in 1965, he marriedhis girlfriend, Pat Phillips. Money wastight, and the family lived in a trailerowned by Bonham’s father. “We really did-n’t have much,” recalls Jason Bonham,John’s now 41-year-old son – himself a suc-cessful and talented professional drummer.“He would say he was going to work, off inthe local factory. But really he was taking atrain to Manchester where he’d hang out ina drum shop and play demonstrations for afew pounds. Then he’d take the train backhome and rub dirt on his face to look likehe’d been at the factory all day.”

The Bonhams moved into a high-riseflat in Dudley (where they still lived whenthe first Led Zeppelin album was re-leased). John joined A Way Of Life thesame year and made some demo record-ings in a Birmingham studio. He played soloudly he was told he was “unrecordable”and that there was no future in playing soloudly. Some years later he sent the studiomanager a Led Zeppelin gold disc with anote that read, “Thanks for your advice.”

Out on the road he’d try to improve hisplaying, often at the expense of some lucklessgroup that had booked him for the night. Afriend, former Warhorse drummer MacPoole, remembers Bonham desperately try-ing out a new lick – a half-time triplet on aslow blues. “He threw it in and went allaround the kit but it didn’t come off. He had-n’t quite mastered this pattern and kept try-ing to get it right. The band was completelypissed off by the time they’d finished the set. Isaid to John, ‘You’ve got a few problems withthe band, right?’ He said, ‘Oh, fuck them!’”

In 1965 he joined Plant in The CrawlingKing Snakes, but left after a few months torejoin A Way Of Life. Plant and Bonhamwould reunite in Plant’s hippie-era Band OfJoy in January 1967, where the two wouldreceive much-deserved recognition. “Wewere getting offers to go off with other peo-ple,” Plant says. “John was getting invita-tions to play with the top bands, and I wastrying to stop him.” Bonham quit again inMay 1968, when he backed Tim Rose on aU.K. tour, performing “Morning Dew” and“Hey Joe,” and earning £50 a week. P

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JOHN BONHAM


eanwhile, Jimmy Page and his manager, Peter Grant, wereputting together Led Zeppelin in London. Bassist John PaulJones saw an ad in a London music paper, recruiting musiciansfor a new band that was being organized by Page, whosereputation as an ace session guitarist was already legendary. “Icalled him up on the prompting of my wife, actually,” Jonesrecalls, “and he said he was going up to Birmingham to see asinger, and the singer knew a drummer.”

“I was looking for a powerhouse drum-mer,” Page recalls, “and John certainly wasthat style.” Jones continues: “Jimmy calledme when he got back to London and said,‘They’re both great. And the drummer isjust fantastic. You’ve got to hear him.’ Sowe set up a date to play together.”

They recruited Robert Plant, who in turnrecommended Bonham for the gig. Thedrummer took some convincing, but after aflurry of telegrams from Grant he joined theother three musicians in a Soho rehearsalstudio. “It was in this tiny little room,” Jonescontinues. “I got there and it was wall-to-wall amplifiers and a green drum kit.”

The new band proved a magical combi-nation, although Bonham at first played toobusily and ignored warnings from Page tokeep it simple. Grant strode over to thedrummer and said, “Do you like your job inthis band?” Bonham nodded. “Well, do asthis man says. Behave yourself, Bonham, oryou’ll disappear – through different doors.”The four players tried “Train Kept ARolling” – a hit by Page’s former band, TheYardbirds. (The fledgling band would becalled The New Yardbirds for its first fewgigs, in order to fulfill lingering contractualagreements from The Yardbirds.)

“Jimmy showed me how the riff wentbriefly,” Jones says, “and we just kicked off.The whole thing was unbelievable. Andthat was the first time I heard John play.He was a very tight drummer. I immedi-ately fell in love as a bass player.” Feelingswere mutual among the four musicians, asPage describes: “At the end of the first re-hearsal, there was a bit of silence, and we

looked at each other and started laughingbecause we knew it was so good.”

Bonham later told astonished matesback in Birmingham that he had justearned his first advance of £3,000. “[Thefamily still lived in] an apartment that wasbasically government-issued,” Jason re-members. “But outside that meager apart-ment was parked dad’s Jaguar. He boughtit with the first paycheck he got after thefirst Led Zeppelin rehearsal.”

Bonham played his first gig with The NewYardbirds in Copenhagen, on September 14,1968. A quick five months later saw the re-lease of the band’s debut album, Led Zeppelin.Listeners far and wide began scrambling torecord stores the moment they heard theopening guitar riff from “Good Times Bad

Times” on FM radio. Zeppelin began touringto support the record, opening for bands likeVanilla Fudge. “We’d watch Carmine [Ap-pice],” Plant says. “Carmine used to hit thebass drum and crash cymbal at the sametime, and then kill it with his arm. Bonhampicked that up from there.”

Appice was one of the first drummers touse huge drum sizes. “In those days,” Ap-pice remembers, “there was no such thingas a really good P.A., so volume was an im-portant factor. I ran into a Leedy/Ludwig26" bass drum at a pawnshop, and re-cov-ered it in red sparkle and played it onstage. When I went to England, all thedrummers like Mitch Mitchell, KeithMoon, and Jim Capaldi flipped out. Itsounded great because it was so loud.”

When Zeppelin opened for VanillaFudge on the band’s first U.S. tour in late1968 and early ’69, Bonham was bowledover by the appearance and resonance ofAppice’s kit. “At that time I had the bigblonde Ludwig kit with the 26" double bassdrums and the big toms,” explains Appice.“When John saw that kit he kind of flippedout. He said he would love to get a Ludwigendorsement and get a kit like that.

“I ended up calling Ludwig and toldthem that ‘Zeppelin was going to be big andthis kid John Bonham, you’re going to wantto endorse him because he’s really good,and he wants a kit just like mine.’ I sentthem the record and they liked it and theygave him the same kit I had – two bassdrums and everything. We had the twoheads on the drums and they were loud!”

It was the beginning of an important re-lationship between Bonham and the Lud-wig Drum Company. The grandson of thecompany’s founder, Bill Ludwig III, says,“Carmine tipped us off to John and thatwas that. He was one of the easiest andnicest guys to work with. Whenever LedZeppelin would go out on tour, the man-agement would send in a list of things theyneeded and it would take them throughthe whole tour. We’d rarely hear fromthem again once they started.

“I know the drums went out absolutelystock, except for the bass drum, whichwould have been a special order. The cata-log went up to a 24" bass drum, but I thinkhe ordered a marching drum made withregular [drum kit] hardware. From what Iunderstand, he would take them out fromthe box, tune them a little bit, and playthem as is. He played them with no muf-fling, just wide open.”

MCHAPTER II ZEPPELIN EMERGES

“The John Bonham who people watched up on stage every night needed alcohol to have that kind of bravado” – Jason Bonham

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We stayed at the Hilton Hotel and I re-tired to my room to watch TV and fallasleep. The following morning I received atelephone call. “Had the night … gonewell?” My blank reaction drew clear disap-pointment. It transpired that the grouphad kindly sent two hookers armed withporno films and whips to my room, butthey had been spotted en route by the ho-tel detective and arrested.

Then next day, October 17, 1969, some-what dazed by jet lag, skyscrapers, and Man-hattan hubbub, I headed to Carnegie Hall –only to find all the tickets had been sold and

cemented a strange bond known only toZeppelin fans as we stood in awe while thegroup exploded on stage. They played fortwo hours and the young New York audi-ence leapt out of their seats to shake Page’shand and scream their approval. Bonzowore a leather hat as he crouched over hisLudwig kit and delivered the batteringsnare drum intro to “CommunicationBreakdown” with such force it made meblink. When it came to his full-scale work-out, Bonham made good on his promise tobe in top form. He summoned a demonicdrum solo and flew around the kit with aspeed and brute strength that was as-tounding. I saw Bonham play many moresolos over the years but never with quitethe same sustained attack.

The band continued its U.S. tour followingthe historic Carnegie Hall show, and I wentback to London not quite sure if the whole ex-perience hadn’t been a dream. But it was alsoa dream come true for Bonzo, as Zeppelinwas now earning millions of dollars from liveshows and royalties from the first two al-bums. Soon he would leave his flat behind,and by 1970 he had invested in a large housenear Stourbridge, Worcestershire.

CHAPTER III ONE DAY IN NYC

Ifirst met John Bonham and Robert Plant in a taxicab that took us from EustonStation in London to Heathrow Airport. We were due to fly to New York,where Led Zeppelin was scheduled to play at Carnegie Hall. It was October1969, and the new Led Zeppelin II album was eagerly awaited, although asPlant told me en route, its release had been delayed due to problems with theartwork. At the airport we met Page, Jones, and Grant, and boarded the TWABoeing 707, the fastest means of travel in the ’60s. Among our fellowpassengers was Graham Nash, who was eager to chat, but Led Zeppelinremained calm and quiet throughout the seven-hour trip across the Atlanticand into the sunset, as we sipped champagne and dined on caviar.

there were no seats left. Instead I would haveto join the group on stage during the soundcheck and the night’s show. What a hard-ship. So there I was, standing next to Bonzoon the hallowed boards where Benny Good-man’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” was recorded liveback in 1938. “This is it, lads,” said Bonham,adjusting his cymbal stands, as the audiencebegan to file in early and take their seats.“Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich – they’ve allplayed here. So I’d better be good tonight!”

Dr. John joined me in the wings alongwith Chris Wood of Traffic and, somewhatbizarrely, Screaming Lord Sutch. We threeIM

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BCHAPTER IV ROAD DOGSritish fans may have felt that Zeppelin had decamped to America, but itwasn’t long before the group was back with an appearance at England’sfamed Bath Festival, a massive event in the West Country, where the bandplayed to 200,000 fans. By then they were tackling three-hour sets andBonham had to deliver an even longer version of his solo, now dubbed “MobyDick.” Not long after the festival, I was invited to go on tour with the bandaround Germany. We spent five days on the road, traveling by car, train, andplane. Zeppelin played to audiences of up to 10,000 a night at stadiumswhere the police had to fend off the rioting crowds with clubs and dogs.

We flew from London to Düsseldorfthrough heavy cloud layers. It was a tur-bulent flight, and almost immediately aftertakeoff Bonham, who hated flying evenunder the best conditions, left his seat andlurched to the toilet to be violently sick. Itwas moments like these where I saw a dif-ferent side of Bonzo, the tough hell-raiser.Most of his bravado and drinkingstemmed from nerves, worry, or boredom.“People assumed he was the man they sawon stage, but actually he was very shy andreserved, very introspective,” says Jason.“The John Bonham who people watchedup on stage every night needed alcohol tohave that kind of bravado.”

On our arrival, Bonham stompedaround Germany looking somewhat men-acing in his black moustache and blackleather hat. Yet when we got to the Düssel-

dorf Sportshalle he was clearly nervous, aswas the rest of the group. This was sur-prising. Zeppelin was so big, powerful, andpopular. And yet Bonham sat silent andedgy, as if waiting for the boxing bell toring for round one of the big fight. Youcould hear the fans yelling aggressively inthe distance, and then came the signal. Theband filed toward the stage in the dark,cavernous hall more like condemned menthan cocky rock stars. But as soon as thefirst notes of “Immigrant Song” blasted,they knew the P.A. was working, the fanswere happy, and they might even be atten-tive enough to listen to the acoustic set.

The next night’s concert in Essenproved much noisier, and Page gave uptrying to play “Black Mountain Side.” “Youload of noisy buggers!” scolded a furiousBonham. Once again I was able to watchhis solos from a variety of angles – frombehind, in front, even above the stage, andright beside him – in those happy days be-fore laminates and security teams. Intruth, the only security you needed withLed Zeppelin was Peter Grant and tourmanager Richard Cole.

Our next stop was Frankfurt, where Zep-pelin played to 11,000 fans at the Festhalle,and I was invited to join in on timbales dur-ing “Whole Lotta Love.” I hammered thedrums with a pair of Bonzo’s spare sticksand wondered if anybody could actuallyhear me. We went on to Berlin, wherebarbed wire and The Wall were still inplace. By now the tour was taking its tollwith Page ill and Bonham a nervous wreck.Even so, the last show at the Deutchland-halle was tremendously exciting and thewhole band hit a peak. After the show Iwent with John to a Berlin cabaret full ofpeople who could have been men, women,or both. It was hard to tell. “There’s someweird-looking people about,” he observedsagely. “There’s nowhere for a decent bloketo have a pint of beer!”

That night my sleep at the Berlin Hiltonwas disturbed by hideous howls, which Ifeared might have been Bonzo wreakinghavoc on the floor below. It turned out to bea tiger in the Berlin Zoo, convenientlyplaced next door, no doubt protesting aboutthe noise from the dance band in the hotelballroom. I found just five days on the roadwith Zeppelin thrilling and exhausting, andI’d played on only one number. The early’70s were a blur of events for most rockbands, but especially for Led Zeppelin.

“Once it cameto the point of working on numbers,John’s inputwas sosubstantial”–Jimmy Page

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CHAPTER V THAT HUGE DRUM SOUNDonham’s trademark sound – two generous scoops of Neanderthal, with adash of R&B – became as immediately recognizable as Plant’s piercing wailand Page’s power riffs. “Once it came to the point of working on numbers,John’s input was so substantial,” Page says. “He was constantly working onnew things. For instance, when we were doing Presence, he had this fill thathe wanted to fit into ‘Achilles Last Stand.’ He asked us to give him a secondbetween takes, and he started working on it, and working on it. Finally hesaid, ‘Let’s go,’ and he fit it in, and it was absolute magic.

“One of the numbers that we did, ‘FourSticks’ from the fourth album, was ex-tremely abstract. We tried to record it nor-mally, so to speak, and it hadn’t really hap-pened. So we said, ‘We’ll do it anothernight.’ And John came in the next day, andsaid, ‘I’ve got an idea for this.’ He picked upfour sticks, and away he went. It was donein two takes because it was so exhausting.It couldn’t be done in any more. That’s theway he would attack something.”

Led Zeppelin’s albums sound lush, eventhough their studio techniques were sur-prisingly primitive by today’s standards.At the time, the band would set up muchas they would on stage, with acoustic baf-fles separating the instruments. John PaulJones explains, “We could all walk aroundand stand around the drums. Nobody real-ly cared how much leakage there was onanything, as long as it sounded good. Thatwas part of the sound.”

Engineer/producer Eddie Kramer’swork with Led Zeppelin spanned five al-bums, starting with Led Zeppelin II and in-cluding Houses Of The Holy, Physical Graffiti,and The Song Remains The Same. Kramertook a simple approach to Bonham’sdrums. “The least amount of mikes you in-troduced to him, the better, I thought. Youlisten to the drums, listen to the way theysound in the room, and mike accordingly.And you don’t need that many mikes – orat least we didn’t in those days.”

Kramer wanted quality, not quantity, andchose a selection of mikes to capture Bon-ham’s explosive sound, including at varioustimes Shure SM57s, Neumann U67s andU87s, AKG C12s, and ElectroVoice RE20s.Kramer developed an open drum soundwhile recording Bonham, forgoing com-pression and reverb to let the drums speakfor themselves, even though you can’t es-cape the natural tape compression from themassive signal slamming the tape.

One of Kramer’s best memories is record-ing Bonzo at Stargroves, Mick Jagger’s Eng-

lish estate, in 1972. “We cut a bunch oftracks for Houses Of The Holy and PhysicalGraffiti there,” he remembers. “The roomhad a particularly nice ambience – and Bon-ham was very happy. He would come in andlisten, and he’d go, ‘All right, Eddie, got agood drum sound there.’ He trusted me – heknew that I would give him something hewould feel proud of. He was a very proudchap, you know. He really loved his work.”

“We did use different techniques whenwe used to record in large country houses inthe later years,” remembers Jones. “Some-times the live room was a little too much totake drums and other instruments, in whichcase we would put John out in the hall orsomething like that. In fact, ‘When The Lev-ee Breaks’ was recorded with John in agrand stairwell of this two-story building.There was a microphone about ten feetabove him and one about one foot abovehim, no bass drum mike. I think ‘Rock AndRoll’ was done the same way.”

It’s almost hard to believe, consideringthe gigantic drum sounds Bonham capturedon tape throughout his career. However, allthree of his former bandmates attest to hisexacting ear for tuning, and to his then-un-fashionable (now commonplace) tuningphilosophies. Page says, “One of the mostimportant things to remember about John isthat he really knew how to tune his drumsand get the most tone out of them. This issomething that I appreciated, havingworked in the studio where drummers


would sound on the playback like they werehitting a piece of cardboard or something.”

“He liked to hear his drums sound likedrums,” Jones agrees, “rather than todampen everything down, which was thecommon practice of those days. That wasthe sound he liked, and that was the soundthat immediately worked. He couldn’t seethe point of buying a good quality drum kit,and then plastering it down so that it hadno resonance and no sonic quality whatso-ever. He always thought it sounded like youmight as well play the cases.”

At the dawn of the ’70s, Bonham moth-balled his natural maple drums in favor ofa Ludwig Sparkle Green (catalog #2004),which he used on stage for a couple ofyears and in the studio as late as 1975. Hewas introduced to Paiste cymbals throughLudwig, which was the American distribu-tor of the Swiss cymbal brand at the time.

Appice remembers, “In those days, whenyou got a Ludwig endorsement, the cymbalendorsement came with it.”

Swiss drummer Fredy Studer worked inPaiste drummer services in 1970 and re-members when Bonham made a surprisevisit to the company’s factory in Nottwil,Switzerland. “That was when he signedthe agreement as an endorsee,” he says.“We went through the factory and checkedsome cymbals. It had to sound big to him.He was looking for a big sound that waspitched and would blend with his drumsound. The main thing was that they werecutting through, but not in a sharp way.”

After the visit, Bonham walked awaywith a set of Paiste’s recently developed Gi-ant Beat cymbals. “The company tried outdifferent alloys because the music changed,”says Studer. “When rock music came out,Paiste developed Giant Beat because theywere looking for a sound that could cutthrough the amplified guitars more.”

In 1973, Ludwig shipped some Vistalitedrums to Bonham as part of a push to pro-

B“Oh God, he was funny. He was afunny man with one heck of a sense of humor. There was always a lot oflaughter in our home.”–Deborah Bonham

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mote its new product line. Acrylic drumswere a fairly big gamble for Ludwig. “Fibeswas making clear plastic drums,” Bill Lud-wig III recalls. “We saw that and thoughtwe should look into it. The supplier said hecould get us other colors and we knew thatwould separate us in the market.”

Bonham, who was at the time enamoredwith the playing of Billy Cobham and hisclear Fibes drums, saw the showy potentialof the kit, which also had the benefit of beingmuch louder than the wood-shell drums hehad previously played. As a result, with therelease of the movie The Song Remains TheSame, thousands of would-be drummers sawBonham’s amber-colored Vistalites (catalog#302) with Bonham’s three-ring insignia onthe bass drumhead. This eventually becamethe archetypal Zeppelin drum set.

When Paiste introduced the 2002 linein 1973, Bonham shifted back and forth be-tween the Giant Beats and the 2002s for alittle while. As with his drums, he chose toplay cymbals that were larger than con-ventional sizes, including 15" Sound Edgehi-hats, a 24" ride, and a 38" symphonicgong that was known to catch fire in lateryears. He also used an 18" or 20" mediumride as his right-side crash cymbal, and a16" or sometimes 18" crash on his left.

Bonham played the Vistalites untilaround 1975, when he returned to wood-shell drums with a Ludwig Sparkle Silverkit (catalog #2003). He eventually replacedthose with a Ludwig Stainless Steel kit (cat-alog #900) around 1977, which is the setuphe played at the 1979 Knebworth Festival,on the Led Zeppelin DVD, and throughoutthe final European tour in 1980.

Over the years, Bonham tinkered with hissetup. For his very last kit – the stainless steelmodel – a 15" x 12" tom replaced his 14" x 10"(although other tom sizes occasionally madetheir way into his setup over the years). Thehigh tom on his first Ludwig kit was original-ly mounted on a snare stand, but he latermounted it on the bass drum using a RogersSwiv-O-Matic tom mount (every subsequentkit featured a Ludwig mount). An historicalfootnote: for some unknown reason, he usedboth a snare stand and tom mount on the ex-cellent Royal Albert Hall performance fromthe Led Zeppelin DVD. For a while he kept apair of congas to his left, which were replacedin 1970 by a pair of Ludwig timpani. He wasknown to throw a Ching-Ring on his hi-hat,mount a cowbell on his bass drum, or switchup crash sizes, depending on his mood. P

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J ohn Bonham played only a few drum sets during his celebrated tenure with LedZeppelin. Since his death, these kits have taken on a mythical quality – and why not?To this very day, drummers ask recording engineers to help them achieve a “Bonham

sound” in the studio. As a result, these kits have become some of the most sought-afterprizes in the collectible vintage market. Here’s a quick glance at the makeup of each.

From BlondeTo Steel

CIRCA 1969-’70Ludwig Drums In Natural Maple (Blonde) Finish26" x 14" Bass Drum14" x 12" or 14" x 10" Tom either mounted on snare stand orRogers Swiv-O-Matic tom mount (or both)16" x 16" Floor Tom18" x 16" Floor Tom14" x 6.5" Supraphonic 402 Alloy Snare Drum

Paiste Giant Beat Cymbals15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats16" Medium Crash on left18" or 20" Ride (on right, used as a crash)24" Ride mounted on bass drum cymbal arm38" Symphonic Gong

Bonham also mounted a cowbell on the bass drum hoop, useda Ludwig Speed King pedal, Ludwig heads, and in 1970, addedtwo conga drums to the left of his hi-hat.

CIRCA 1975Ludwig Drums In Sparkle Silver Finish26" x 14" Bass Drum15" x 12" Tom 16" x 16" Floor Tom18" x 16" Floor Tom14" x 6.5" Supraphonic 402 Alloy Snare Drum

Paiste 2002 Cymbals15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats16" Medium Crash on left18" Ride on right (used as a crash)24" Ride mounted on bass drum cymbal arm38" Symphonic Gong

Bonham’s timpani, pedals, and head choices remainedidentical to the ’73 Vistalite kit.

CIRCA 1977Ludwig Drums In Stainless Steel Finish26" x 14" Bass Drum15" x 12" Tom16" x 16" Floor Tom18" x 16" Floor Tom14" x 6.5" Supraphonic 402 Alloy Snare Drum

Paiste 2002 Cymbals15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats16" Medium Crash on left18" Ride on right (used as a crash)24" Ride mounted on bass drum cymbal arm38" Symphonic Gong

Once again, Bonham kept the same timpani, pedals, and head choices that he used with the ’73 Vistalite kit.

CIRCA 1970-’73Ludwig Drums In Sparkle Green Finish26" x 14" Bass Drum14" x 10" Tom 16" x 16" Floor Tom18" x 16" Floor Tom14" x 6.5" Supraphonic 402 Alloy Snare Drum

Paiste Giant Beat Cymbals15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats16" Medium Crash on left18" Ride on right (used as a crash)24" Ride mounted on bass drum cymbal arm38" Symphonic Gong

At this stage Bonham also added a pair of Ludwig timpani andbegan combining Ludwig and Remo drumheads.

CIRCA 1973Ludwig Amber Vistalite Drums26" x 14" Bass Drum14" x 10" Tom16" x 16" Floor Tom18" x 16" Floor Tom14" x 6.5" Supraphonic 402 Alloy Snare Drum

Paiste Giant Beat And 2002 Cymbals15" Sound Edge Hi-Hats16" Medium Crash on left18" Ride on right (used as a crash)24" Ride mounted on bass drum cymbal arm38" Symphonic Gong

Bonham continued to use the timpani and Speed Kingpedal, and began to experiment with a Ching-Ring on hishi-hat. He also further refined his head choices to LudwigClear Silver Dot or Remo Clear CS Batter heads.

JOHN BONHAM’S DRUM SET S 1969–’80

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JOHN BONHAM

The Old Hyde farm – the family property that John Bonham purchased in 1972and helped restore to a working cattle ranch with his father and youngerbrother, Michael – nestles quietly among the lush, rolling pastures of England’sunassuming Midlands. On a breezeless, damp evening the property seemsfrozen in time, motionless against its backdrop of green solitude. Then, cuttingthe silence like a chainsaw at dawn, the ferocious thunder of a careeningLamborghini echoes up the long drive, through the valleys beyond, turning thehead of every heifer and steer as a rooster tail of leaves and gravel marks thewake of its explosive horsepower. And as the engine’s sprawling roar reachesthe Old Hyde and its neighboring farms, one by one each member of this quietcountry town knows one unmistakable thing: John Bonham is home.

But once this latest exotic sports car findsthe garage and its ignition settles to a warmsilence, John Bonham himself also warmsquickly to his surprisingly quiet home life.Known first for his incredible, expansivetalents on his instrument and second for hisoften-excessive “Bonzo” lifestyle, Bonham athome is a much different man than his fanswitnessed every night on stage. John PaulJones remembers Bonham being “a lot oflaughs” on the road, but adds, “I don’t knowif he was altogether happy touring all thetime. He was a bit of a homebody.”

Jason Bonham recalls, “It was alwaysvery quiet when he’d be home duringbreaks. People generally think it was allprivate jets and wild parties and peoplestaggering drunk all over the place, but itwasn’t like that. If anyone was at thehouse, it was usually family.”

“John was just a regular guy with an im-mense talent, an incredible God-given tal-ent,” explains his younger sister Deborah,another established musician. “He bred hisown Hereford cattle and he was justthrilled when one of his calves from hisbull Bruno won best prize at a show. He

would be there with his farmer’s coat on,posing not to be a rock star. He liked hislife like that. His home life must’ve been amillion miles away from the lifestyle thatsurrounded Led Zeppelin on tour.”

“He was very supportive of all sorts of lo-cal events and charities,” Plant says. “Youknow, he comes from Worcestershire, thecountryside. It created a different mentality,so that one’s reaction to one’s own thingswas a lot different than if you were living inNew York, London, or San Francisco. Yougo back to a country town – which goesthrough its depressions, materially and stuff– riding high, landing in a starship at the lo-cal airport. It’s coming straight from Ameri-ca with Led Zeppelin painted on the side ofyour jet, and you have to be ready to handlepeople. John did his utmost to make peoplefeel okay around him. Powerful guy.”

Bonham kept his work and home lives sodetached that he never even set up a drumkit at the Old Hyde. Apparently it was arare occasion when he played any drums atall during a break in Zeppelin’s schedule.“My drums were the only drums set up atthe house,” says Jason. “Dad never playeddrums at home, really. If he did, it was be-cause there was a party and he was drink-ing and people would coax him into playingmine. But that was rather rare.”

Deborah carries vivid memories of John’sextensive music collection and its impact onthe household. “The house was always fullof music: James Brown, The Everly Broth-ers, a lot of Motown. John’s record collectionhad everything. And it was all great music:Little Feat, The Police, Kansas, Hendrix.”

“What breaks in Led Zeppelin’s schedulemeant to me,” recalls Jason, “was that Dadwould be coming along to my motocrossevents that weekend, which was always ex-citing, and my earliest musical memorywith my dad was driving with him to those

events. He had a terrific 8-track system inhis car and he absolutely blared FleetwoodMac’s Rumours … the entire way … on repeat… for three hours … each way. And to thisday that album is so ingrained in my head.

“One time at the end of one of Zeppelin’stours Jimmy Page called the house andasked for John. My mom was confused andsaid, ‘He’s not back from the tour yet. Howare you home?’ And before Jimmy could an-swer, we all heard the roar of a sports carengine and sure enough, here comes Dad.He had gone straight from the airport to thedealership and picked up a Lamborghini.”

“Oh God, he was funny,” laughs Deborah.“He was a funny man with one heck of asense of humor. There was always a lot oflaughter in our home, a lot of silly joking.”

Inevitably, Bonzo/John/Brother/Dadwould eventually have to pack his bagsand leave his beloved family farm for an-other whirlwind adventure aboard thechaotic Zeppelin rocket ship. It’s said thathe, understandably, despised leaving OldHyde to go on tour, and many speculatethat the pain of homesickness led him toempty so many bottles on so many nights.

“It’s well publicized that he found touringvery difficult, but I think everybody does,”admits Deborah. “It’s a very lonely time go-ing out on the road. And I’ve heard a lot ofstories about John that simply aren’t true.One time it was reported that he was arrest-ed for beating somebody up in an airport inAmerica, but we were together in the Southof France at the time. Some of the books onJohn are complete nonsense.”

One aspect of John Bonham’s life that hasbeen accurately documented is his supremereign as the greatest rock drummer of alltime. “I think it’s just now that I’m begin-ning to realize [how important and influen-tial] John was as a drummer,” reflects Deb-orah. “When he was alive I thought my bigbrother was the best thing ever anyway.But now I listen to his music and hearthings in his drumming that were so subtlebut so fantastic. A lot of it was from thosebig band influences. Brilliant stuff.”

Similarly, John’s cultural significance ar-rived later in the eyes of his son Jason. “Itdidn’t occur to me how big Led Zeppelinwas and how famous my dad was until af-ter he passed and I came to America,” heremembers. “It’s different in America. Zep-pelin was big in England, but not ‘house-hold name’ big. In America, everyoneknows Led Zeppelin.”

CHAPTER VI JUST A FAMILY MAN

A family portrait(left to right):brother Michael,sister Deborah,father John II, and Bonzo share a drink

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suffering from panic attacks before everyconcert. “I’ve got worse. I have terribly badnerves all the time. Once we start into ‘RockAnd Roll,’ I’m fine. I just can’t stand sittingaround, and I worry about playing badly.It’s worse at festivals. You might have to sitaround for a whole day and you daren’tdrink because you’ll get tired and blow thegig. So you sit drinking tea in a trailer witheverybody saying, ‘Far out, man.’”

Bonham gave a great guffaw that couldprobably be heard halfway around the100 acres of pasture that surrounded thehouse. We set off for a walk through thefields and ended up inside one of the cat-tle barns that had been converted into agarage. “This is the hot car shop,” he saidwith a chuckle, leading the way toward atrio of highly improbable vehicles. Onewas an elaborately painted taxicab,mounted on wheels a yard wide. Thiswas, he explained, “A show car. I boughther in L.A. She can do 150 mph. And thatone is a ’67 Corvette with a seven-liter en-gine. This one is a 1954 two-door Ford

Away from Zeppelin, Bonham would re-turn to normality, looking after his wifePat, son Jason, and daughter Zoë. In fact,Zoë was born the night before I visitedJohn at his country abode in June 1975, notlong after the band had played a series ofsuperb concerts at London’s Earls Courtvenue following the release of PhysicalGraffiti. I didn’t realize it at the time, butthis would be our last interview before aseries of catastrophic events conspired toalter the course of Zeppelin’s history.

I drove from London to Bonham’s

Worcestershire farmhouse, where – assomeone who preferred bricklaying, deco-rating, and gardening to the itinerant life ofa rock star – Bonham busied himself run-ning the farm and breeding cattle in thepeace of the countryside. “I was never intofarming at all,” he would later tell me. “Iwasn’t even looking for a farm, just a housewith some land. But when I saw this place,something clicked, and I bought it in 1972.”

We sat in his lounge in front of a big juke-box loaded with his favorite Supertramptracks, and Bonham confided that he was

CHAPTER VII OUR FINAL INTERVIEWn October 1970 Led Zeppelin III was released and the band took time off theroad to record the next album, the fabled untitled work that became knownas Four Symbols. In March 1971, the band set off on the road again for anexciting trip to Ireland, where they played two concerts in Belfast andDublin. Here Zeppelin unveiled a remarkable new song that seemed toepitomize all that was best about the band. “What was that new numbercalled?” I asked Plant as we boarded a plane back to London.

“Did you like it?” he asked. “It’s called ‘Stairway To Heaven.’”I

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with an eight-liter engine. You get guyscoming past in a sports car who think it’san old banger, until I put my foot down.It’s an amazing car – look at all thechrome inside. She’d only done 10,000miles when I bought her.”

Bonham once purchased a white RollsRoyce, but thugs in Birmingham attacked itwhen he drove the car to a wedding recep-tion. “When I came out it looked like abomb had hit it. All these skinheads hadjumped on it. They kicked in the wind-screen, smashed everything. If it had beenany other car, they would have left it alone.”

Back in the house we talked about hisearly days and the start of his drumming ca-reer. “I never had many drum lessons. I justplayed the way I wanted and got blacklistedin Birmingham. ‘You’re too loud!’ they usedto say. ‘There’s no future in it.’ But nowa-days you can’t play loud enough. I just wishthere was a way of wiring a drum kit to getthe natural sound through the P.A. I’ve tried

so many different ways, but when you’replaying with a band like ours you get somany problems with sound. With Jimmyand John Paul on either side playing lead,they can leak into the drum mikes, and ifyou have too many monitors you start to getfeedback. I never get it the way I want.”

And yet Bonham’s drum sound was fan-tastic at the Earls Court shows not long be-fore our interview. “I enjoyed those con-certs,” he said. “I thought they were thebest shows that we’ve ever put on in Eng-land. I always get tense before a show, andwe were expecting trouble with such ahuge audience. But everything went reallywell. Did we rehearse? Nah, just threedays. Mind you, it was only a few weeksafter we got back from the States. We justneeded a bit of rust remover.

“We like to change the show each year.There’s nothing worse than playing the oldnumbers over and over again. You’ve got tokeep in some of the old songs, of course. Idon’t know what would happen if we didn’tplay ‘Stairway To Heaven,’ because it’s be-

come one of the biggest things we’ve everdone. When Jimmy plays the first chord, it’sinstant bedlam, until Robert comes in withthe first line. And we always play ‘WholeLotta Love’ because people want to hear it,and I still get a great kick out of ‘Dazed AndConfused.’ I always enjoy the number be-cause we never play it the same.

“With the other stuff, we’ll put one in ortake one out. On the last night at EarlsCourt we played ‘Heartbreaker,’ ‘Black Dog,’and a bit from ‘Out On The Tiles.’ With thesongs from Physical Graffiti we’ve got such awide range of material. It wasn’t done onpurpose. It’s just that we went through astage where we were very conscious ofeverything we played. We felt it had to be acertain kind of thing for Zeppelin.

“In the States they play ‘Trampled UnderFoot’ on the radio all day. When we first ranthrough it, John Paul and Jimmy started offthe riff, but then we thought it was a bitsoulful for us. We changed it around a bit.

It’s a great rhythm for a drummer. It’s justthe right pace and you can do a lot of fills.But compare that to ‘Dazed And Confused.’The speed of the thing! While we’re play-ing, I think ‘Christ, if I drop one [beat] –that’s it.’ You’ve got to be fit to play ‘Tram-pled Under Foot,’ and if I don’t feel toogood, it’s very hard. We keep tapes of everyshow, and it’s very useful afterwards, espe-cially for my drum solo, because then I canhear what works best.”

Bonham’s solo during the Earls Courtconcerts featured some sort of special ef-fects during the timpani segment. I won-dered if he had been using a synthesizer.“No, it was just phasing on the pedaltimps. I was using them in ’73. It’s just adifferent sound. Not everybody likes orunderstands a drum solo, so I like to bringin effects and sounds to keep their interest.

“I’ve been doing the hand-drum solo fora long time – before I joined Zeppelin. I re-member playing a solo on ‘Caravan’ when Iwas 16. Sometimes I take a chunk out of myknuckles on the hi-hat or catch my hand on

the tension rods. I try to play somethingdifferent every night on the solo, but thebasic plan is the same, from sticks to handsand then the timps, and the final buildup.

“It would be really boring to playstraight kit all the time. On our last Statestour I was really chuffed when I had somegood reviews from people who don’t evenlike drum solos. I usually play for 20 min-utes, and the longest I’ve ever done wasunder 30. It’s a long time, but when I’mplaying it seems to fly by. Sometimes youcome up against a brick wall and youthink, ‘How am I going to get out of thisone?’ Or sometimes you go into a fill andyou know halfway through it’s going to bedisastrous. There have been times whenI’ve blundered and got the dreaded lookfrom the lads. But that’s a good sign. Itshows you’re attempting something you’venot tried before.”

Was there any danger of Bonham losingpower after so many years on the road?“I’m not losing strength. I’m less tired aftera solo than I used to get in the early days.Of course we didn’t have a break for theacoustic numbers then. But it was so cold atEarls Court, we had to have an electric firein the dressing room. The unions wouldn’tlet us use blow heaters. I had a run-through on the Friday night before the firstshow, and I was playing in an overcoat.”

After a trip to John’s local, The Che-quers, where most of the patrons seemed tothink that he owned the pub, we returnedto the farmhouse to sample brandy and thedelights of a quad sound system thatthreatened to stampede the sleeping herd ofcattle. “I wish there were some more livebands around here I could have a blowwith,” he sighed, tossing back a brandy.“There’s nowhere for them to play, now it’sall discos. God, I hate those places – allthose flashing lights. It’s all right if you’reout for a night on the tiles. But I like to heara good live group. You’ve got to remember –they’re the backbone of the business.”

As if to prove his faith in live music,John had set up nine-year-old Jason’s jun-ior drum kit in the lounge, where hepounded away to Gary Glitter hits. ThenJason clad in his Boy Scouts uniform sud-denly appeared in the lounge, and glaredat us somewhat suspiciously as he inspect-ed his drum kit to see if we had beenmucking about with it. “You can’t teachhim anything,” warned John. “He’s got aterrible temper.”

“I never had many drum lessons. I just played the way I wanted and gotblacklisted in Birmingham.” –John Bonham

JOHN BONHAM

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Released in January of 1969, Led Zep-pelin was a lesson to the rock set inblending power with subtlety and so-

phistication. Even thehardest songs containeda level of emotionalpunch beyond anythingthat had come before.From the opening fewbars of “Good Times Bad Times,” the worldwas introduced to the fluttering agility ofBonham’s now-infamous right foot, whilethe operatic drama of “Babe I’m GonnaLeave You” set up what would become adominant Zeppelin aesthetic: delicate,bluesy acoustic segments – punctuated byPlant’s hypnotic, tortured wailing – sud-denly rocketed to dizzying heights by mas-sive, electrified choruses. And while the ’60spsychedelia-inspired “Dazed And Confused”seemed to nod in the direction of Cream andHendrix, the straight-ahead, blistering en-ergy of “Communication Breakdown” madeit clear Zeppelin intended to take this styleinto a new and heavier direction.

Riding the crest of the wave the debutcreated, the band set off on extended Ameri-can tours, recording a follow-up albumalong the way and releasing it as quickly aspossible. The touringmind-set is obvious here,with songs like “WholeLotta Love” and “Heart-breaker” serving as hard-charging examples of thelive sound, complete with extended solos.The most significant of these is the four-and-a-half minute version of “Moby Dick,” a sim-ple blues/rock number that in time wouldevolve into a concert staple and a showcasefor Bonham’s 20- to 30-minute drum solos.On “Ramble On” Robert Plant’s long-runningpreoccupation with themes of mysticism andthe occult surfaces for the first time in lyricsthat include Lord Of The Rings references. Butwith its clear tributes to American blues mas-ters (including a couple of songs that drewlawsuits from Sonny Boy Williamson andWillie Dixon over artistic infringements), LedZeppelin II remains the most strictly bluesy ofall the band’s offerings.

If II is the soundtrack of a band grindingout nonstop rock on a busy touring sched-ule, then Led Zeppelin III is the sound of aband in repose. Record-ed at an estate cottage inWales known as Bron-Yr-Aur, III saw the bandbalancing heavier ten-dencies with earthier,contemplative sounds pulled from the pas-toral surroundings of Bron-Yr-Aur. Even thealbum artwork is more playful, more whim-sical. Gone is the flaming Hindenburg motifthat graced the other two albums. In itsplace, a colorful butterfly theme. The estate’snamesake anthem, the Celtic and bluegrass-

inspired “Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp,” is actually aremake of Bert Jansch’s “The Waggoner’sLad.” But this, as well as the mandolin-driven “Gallows Pole,” showcases Bonham’sability to adapt his heavy-hitting techniqueto different styles. The dynamic snare rollsand bouncing, four-on-the-floor kick pat-terns in these two songs still come across asintensely powerful, while the drumming inthe elegant “Tangerine,” though command-ing, melts into the melody until it’s more feltthan heard.

Despite leading off the fourth album with“Black Dog” and “Rock & Roll,” whichpromise a return to II’s straightforward,blues-rock roots, LedZeppelin IV was anotherattempt at image rejuve-nation. Zeppelin releasedthe album untitled andunattributed, reportedlyin response to a media intent on labeling theband as “over-hyped,” even though theZeppelin sound by this time was so recogniz-able that the album’s credits were never inquestion. Commonly referred to as Four Sym-bols, Zoso, or simply Led Zeppelin IV, the al-bum sees the expansion of Robert Plant’sdark mystical bent in the sweeping “BattleFor Evermore,” the strongest acoustic contri-bution yet with “Going To California,” andthe instant classic “Stairway To Heaven,”which, despite its debut on this “stealth” al-bum, becomes arguably the most recogniza-ble song in the Zeppelin repertoire. IV hassince become one of the top four best-sellingalbums in U.S. history.

Having pumped out four wildly successfulalbums in just under three years, the bandtook some time recording Houses Of The Holy,

finally releasing it in 1973. The album makes itclear Zeppelin was both maturing as a band,and reflecting elements of the changing mu-sical landscape, with“D’Yer Mak’er” and “OverThe Hills And Far Away”hinting at a funkier, moreswing-oriented feel. Thealbum was also referen-tial for the band down the road. “The SongRemains The Same,” would pop up threeyears later to become the title track on thepsychedelic film of the same name, while“The Ocean” features a guitar riff in the mid-dle that’s a clear precursor to the weirder andmore completely realized “Kashmir,” whichshows up on the next album.

After a two-year break – an eternity forfans – the band released a generous two-disc compilation in 1975 titled PhysicalGraffiti. In retrospect,the album stands as aperfect stylistic bridge atthe center of the band’scareer, referencing earli-er offerings, as on theacoustic folk ballad “Bron-Yr-Aur” and theaforementioned “Kashmir,” while throwingout some evocative experimental pieces like“In The Light,” with its long, haunting in-tro, and the epic “In My Time Of Dying” thatrequire a certain amount of patience fromthe listener. But Zeppelin had earned lis-teners’ trust, and with the nearly 90 min-utes of music on Physical Graffiti, fans hadenough to be thankful for.

1976’s Presence sees the band returningto a straight-ahead rock sensibility, albeitwith a looser, almost funkier feel, as exem-plified by “Royal Orleans” and “Hots On For

Nowhere.” A slew of interesting drum breaksin “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” establishesBonham’s evolving musicianship, even as therest of the bandmembersappear to be settling backinto what they knowbest. All told, Presencelacks the creative focus ofthe other albums, andthe result is that it’s arguably the least mem-orable offering in the Zeppelin catalog. Theonly song that made a real impact from thestandpoint of posterity is the epic opener,“Achilles Last Stand,” a reference to the bro-ken ankle Plant suffered in a car accident andnursed throughout the album’s recording.

The final installment before Bonham’stragic death in September 1980 was 1979’s InThrough The Out Door. The album is notwithout its strong points,most notably the “Kash-mir”-esque “All MyLove,” and the brilliantlyfunky “Fool In The Rain.”But as much as any al-bum could, it signaled the end of an era,both for Bonham and for the organic ’70srock sound that Zeppelin had pioneered.Ironically, this is the only album on whichBonham received no writing credits, as hewas unhappy with the band’s softer, morepop-oriented direction. Indeed, “In TheEvening” feels like a precursor to the early’80s contributions of David Bowie or The Cars,while the jarring synthesizer experiment in“Carouselambra” suggests what might havebeen had Zeppelin been forced to weatherthe soul-sucking transition into the ’80s thatembarrassed so many other great bands.

By DAVE CONSTANTIN

THE ZEPPELIN CORE CATALOG

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fter the mid ’70s, Led Zeppelin moved abroad to become taxexiles, followed by a series of mishaps that dogged the groupand further undermined Bonham’s confidence. His formerboisterous good humor gave way to dark brooding and fits ofanger. He became involved in an assault on an Americansecurity guard backstage at the Oakland Coliseum inCalifornia in July 1977. Grant, Richard Cole, and Bonham werearrested after beating the hapless guard, who had offendedGrant. It led to fines and suspended sentences. Zeppelin neverreturned to America.

CHAPTER VIII WHEN THE TIDE TURNS

It was all turning sour. Following thedeath of Robert Plant’s son in England, itseemed the group was close to breakingup. Bonham was left with more time onhis hands and his behavior became un-predictable. Said his friend, drummerBev Bevan of ELO: “He was an extrovertcharacter, a friendly, huggable bloke. Butunfortunately the drink just got too muchfor him. He overdid it and could becomequite aggressive. He was similar to KeithMoon. They felt they had to live up totheir reputations.”

Robert Plant elaborates, “He was a big,warm softy who often got swamped by theabsolute remoteness inside the goldfishbowl. Often that was very sad for all of us,but I think he felt it most of all, whichkind of accented his vulnerability. Heloathed touring in America. He loathedthe whole rock and roll circus. The thinghe loved most of all was just [to] get onthose drums and show everybody how itshould be done. Drumming is what hecould do best of all, and that’s what youhear on ‘When The Levee Breaks,’ ‘Black

Dog,’ and ‘Rock And Roll,’ where his fillsare very sparing. The essence of Bonhamis what he didn’t play rather than what hedid play – what he left out.”

The last time I saw John drummingwith Led Zeppelin was at the outdoor con-certs at Knebworth, England, in 1979. Johnwas well enough on the two U.K. shows,but showed signs of fatigue on a subse-quent German tour. After three numbersin Nuremberg he was taken ill and ap-peared unwell for the rest of the tour.

Rehearsals for a North American tourtook place at Jimmy Page’s home in Wind-sor in September 1980. Bonham starteddrinking at lunchtime and carried on untilmidnight. On the way in a car with RobertPlant on the morning of the 24th, John

suddenly said: “I’ve had it with playingdrums. Everybody plays better than me.I’ll tell you what, when we get to the re-hearsal, you play the drums and I’ll sing.”

After falling asleep on a sofa, he wasput to bed by an assistant and laid on pil-lows for support. The following morningJohn Paul Jones and road manager BenjeLeFevre found him unconscious. After try-ing to wake him they realized he was dead,at the age of 32, from asphyxiation of vom-it. John Bonham’s funeral took place atRushock Parish Church in Worcestershireon October 10, 1980, attended by crowds ofmourners that included family, friends,and his bandmates. Tributes came fromPaul McCartney, Phil Collins, Cozy Powell,and Carl Palmer.

“I do very much remember that day, and Idon’t think any of us have ever really dealtwith his loss,” says Deborah, who still easilybecomes upset with the sad memory. “I thinkwe just live with it. We were a close familyand when something like that happens, youtry to make some sense of it but you justcan’t. What else can you do other than justlive with it? So that’s what we do.” �

A“I don’t think anyof us have everreally dealt withhis loss”– Deborah Bonham

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Dazed And Confused

BONHAMISMS

Hard rock drumming with blues roots, an un-deniably deep pocket, and a gargantuansound. These are all unmistakable John

Bonham trademarks that, sadly, don’t easily trans-late onto the printed page. Our advice is to spendtime with the Led Zeppelin catalog to digest thesubtleties of Bonham’s feel and sound, but here wewill study the nuts and bolts Bonham used to con-struct his masterpieces.

BASS DRUM DOUBLES. Bonham had a powerfulright foot, which he used to not only drive hismassive bass drums but also to play rapid multiplestrokes. One of his most famous examples of thiscomes in “Good Times Bad Times,” the first tune offLed Zeppelin’s debut album. In measure 10 of theaccompanying transcription you’ll see quick bassdrum double strokes played as sixteenth-notetriplets. This subsequently became a staple formany rock drummers, often preceding a backbeat,which makes for a much grander statement. As youcan see in the following transcriptions, Bonhamoften employed this device, including measure 5 of“Out On The Tiles,” measures 4, 9, 24, and 28 in“Black Dog,” and measure 10 in “The Ocean.”

THE VALUE OF THREE. Slightly slower but no lessimpressive, Bonham’s busy right foot was alsoknown for laying down triple strokes. Check outmeasures 6–8 in “Good Times Bad Times.” Here histriple strokes drive the groove forward under hiscowbell ride pattern, which is another Bonhamsignature. Other three-stroke bass drum groupingscan be found in measures 9, 11, and 13 of“Communication Breakdown.”

SIXTEENTH KICKS. Bonham often used sixteenth-note double strokes on the bass drum as a season-ing. Notable examples appear throughout his driv-ing beat on “Immigrant Song,” as well as on theodd-metered funk of “The Crunge.” A casual scanthrough all of these transcriptions will reveal plentyof other examples.

HAND PATTERNS. Bonham also had some favoredmoves around the top of the kit. Check out the lastmeasure of this transcription of “Stairway ToHeaven” – the “big fill” from the middle of thetune. Beat 4 contains a sextuplet comprised of twothree-note phrases of right hand, left hand, rightfoot. While this three-note pattern is not aBonham original, he certainly knew how to use it,and made it a powerful component of his soloingarsenal. However, the first three beats contain oneof his signature licks: a phrase that consists of thefirst four notes repeated four times. The result is apolyrhythm of four over three, or four evenlyspaced accents over the space of three beats. You’llalso find a slight variation of the same four-noteconcept in measure 31 of “Black Dog.”

SLOW BLUES. Bonham’s ability to groove wasindisputable, especially when he was playing aslow 12/8 blues. He had some favorite licks in thattime signature, such as the sixteenth-note fill inmeasure three of “Dazed And Confused,” whichshows up often in his drumming vocabulary. Scanahead to measures 10, 11, and 13 to find it again. Iteven crops up in measure 10 of “I Can’t Quit You.”

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BONHAMISMS

JOHN BONHAM

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Out On The Tiles


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Black Dog (At:00)


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cover feature - carmine · pdf file30 traps trapsmagazine.com preface a slow night at the...

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