Dave's Music & Memories: John Henry Bonham “Bonzo”

As I write this, it is Saturday September 25th 2010. Drummers everywhere are aware of this day as the thirtieth anniversary of the day that Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham passed from this earth. In the past 30 years, Bonzo has become revered by many as perhaps the greatest rock drummer ever. I’m sure some will dispute it. I won’t be one of them. I personally put Bonzo at the top of my list of favorite drummers all the time. How did I find out about John Bonham and the work of Led Zeppelin? That is what I’d like to write about tonight.

Of course, I’ve written a blog on the first two Led Zeppelin albums. How I got to that point is yet another story. When I first picked up the drums as my instrument of choice, I just liked the primal pounding sound and feel it made. But, I also became familiar with a certain celebrity drummer that I shared a birthday with. That would be Richard Starkey AKA Ringo Starr. I became increasingly serious about drums and I was able to buy my first set of drums. A friend of the family named Jerry L was about 3 years older than me and happened to give drum lessons. Jerry had helped me with a few rudimentary things for my audition for the “Varsity” band at North Platte High School. Once I got my own drumset, Jerry got me started on some technique books. One of the first books he had me study out of was Carmine Appice’s Realistic Rock book. I don’t know what it was about Carmine. But, I found him and his book to be really cool. He had pictures of himself behind his big Ludwig double bass kit. He included a sound sheet of himself playing the various parts. Lastly, he had a list of his recording credits and discography. On the last page of the 1981 edition was an ad for his solo album called Rockers. At this point, I had begun frequenting local record stores in North Platte. There was a store called Daley(or Daily) Records and I found Carmine’s album, I just thought it was the greatest thing. The drums were big in the mix and he had 3 drum instrumentals on the album. In the liner notes, Carmine dedicated this solo album to “Loving Memory of my dear friend..John Bonham”.
I also started reading more articles on drummers and the one name that kept coming up was John Bonham. Two that I remember reading articles in Musician magazine were with the band Foreigner and drummer Dennis Elliot mentioned one of his influences was Bonham. That’s rather coincidental because (in 2005) John Bonham’s son (and drummer)Jason Bonham was instrumental in resurrecting Foreigner with leader/guitarist Mick Jones. The other was Go-Go’s drummer Gina Schock as she mentioned Bonzo as an influence. In the early 80’s, I would read practically every rock magazine I could get my hands on. I would read articles in Rolling Stone, Hit Parader, Circus, Musician, and Modern Drummer. Obviously, in circles of Rock drummers in the 80’s, Bonzo’s name was highly regarded as greatness. In the July 1984 issue, Modern Drummer did a tribute issue for John Bonham. For the article, the magazine talked to drummers like Dave Mattacks from the Fairport Convention and Carmine Appice too. At the time, I was still wrapped up in everything involving Carmine Appice. In the article, he talks about the first Zeppelin tour where the band opened up for Carmine’s band Vanilla Fudge. Carmine was very impressed with the first Zeppelin album and Bonzo’s drumming, that he was able to secure a Ludwig sponsorship for him. Carmine’s other quote was that “I was Bonzo’s hero!” Well, for many, that was a bit far for Carmine to take credit for Bonham’s style. But, I have read over the past 30 years from various sources including the 3 surviving members of Zeppelin that…yes John did listen to Carmine and yes..he was one of Bonzo’s drumming influences. He was also a fan of Motown and James Brown and others.
I even remember that someone in my high school newspaper wrote a quick review of Zeppelin’s album CODA that was released a few years after they had disbanded. She basically said…”if you like the drums, you’ll like this song especially the song 'Bonzo’s Montreux” I ended up buying it on a cassette and enjoyed the drumming on it. I found a lot of Carmine’s bass drum techniques similar to the ones on the album. I also remember (during my senior year) that a friend of mine I had known for years saying “Have you ever heard the end of the song Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin?” I hadn’t and we promptly cued it up on somebody’s walkman. WOW!! …this just seemed like the ultimate in a drumming outro. One that I would always try to imitate and play in cover bands for years to come. It wasn’t until later that I bought the fourth album that song appeared on. I bought Led Zeppelin II a few days before my high school graduation and thought that the solo piece Moby Dick was fantastic. The toms rang out as he played with his bare hands and then struck them with such a powerful force with sticks. I was well on my way to becoming a fan. During my freshman year of college, I had been driving home on every other weekend when the marching band wasn’t required to play for the fall football home games. One weekend, some friends decided to go across campus to a place called VTO(or Video Take Out) and rent some movies. In the 1984 MD article, they had mentioned the Led Zeppelin concert film The Song Remains the Same. So, we rented a copy of the concert film. We rented some other stuff that night. But, this is about Bonzo. I knew a lot of the songs in the movie. Most of them were from the first 4 albums. There was also stuff from the album Houses of the Holy which was one of the albums I didn’t own….yet. It was late when we got around to watching TSRS. But, we were young and we had to see how Bonzo performed that drum solo in Moby Dick. It truly was awesome to watch and I still like to try a little bare handed soloing myself.
As the decades changed from the 80’s to the 90’s, I was still enraptured with everything Led Zeppelin. In the early 90’s, My brother Mike and I were in Lincoln and I bought a Led Zeppelin/John Bonham shirt and he bought a Led Zeppelin/John Paul Jones t-shirt. As I became more of a fan of Zeppelin, I had influenced my brother and he had become a fan too. By the end of the 90’s, I actually owned up to 3 shirts that were John “Bonzo” Bonham t-shirts. I met a few drummers through the years that were envious of my shirt. I actually bought it from Joe Voda’s Drum City in Omaha Nebraska.
I am still a big fan of John Bonham and his playing. In recent interviews, Carmine Appice still tells the story of getting Bonzo his Ludwig endorsement. His quote to Ludwig was “I think this band (Led Zeppelin) is going to be big”…Carmine then says “that’s the understatement of four decades”
In 2003, Jimmy Page and producer Kevin Shirley remastered old live bootleg tapes(both audio and video) and released two packages. One was How the West was Won on CD and a two DVD package simply titled Led Zeppelin. I wrote a review on Amazon.com in which my basic wrap-up of the DVD is that…for years, Zeppelin fans have always wanted more…Well…This is MORE! Even as I watched the DVD, there was something to just amazing to hear and see from the power that Bonzo had behind the kit. Even my ex-wife thought his playing was incredible and couldn’t believe he was doing all those things with only one bass drum. It’s an intangible thing that I can’t describe. It’s something that gets me revved up when I hear it and inspires me to play too.
At the time of these special releases, the surviving members did interviews with the mainstream press. I recall Jimmy Page telling the Today show that this was music made by four different individuals. This band was made of four different guys with four distinct personalities and when John Bonham died, that didn’t want to continue without him. That’s what many people in today’s music world don’t understand. Some say “Why didn’t they just get another drummer?” Because, they respected the memory of their friend first and didn’t want to do it without him. Yes, they have reunited since then with different drummers including John’s son Jason. Jason is a favorite drummer of mine. He’s a very solid drummer and he and I are very close in age. But, he’s still a different person (and drummer) than his dad. I completely respect the integrity of the band for not regrouping with another drummer(even if it is Jason Bonham). It’s not about just replacing a drummer. Drummers (and musicians alike) are humans and our own individual talents are what we bring to the table and the collective of a band.
In 2007, a special issue by DRUM! magazine called Traps..the Art of Drumming did an issue on John Bonham. They talked about the drummer and his rise to fame and a special bit on his personal life as a man who struggled with being a world renowned drummer and suffered from a bit of stage fright. According to the article and his son Jason,

People assumed he was the man they saw onstage, but actually he was very shy and reserved, very introspective,
The John Bonham who people watched up on stage every night needed alcohol to have that kind of bravado.

Robert Plant says,

He was a big, warm softy who often got swamped by the absolute remoteness inside the goldfish bowl. Often that was very sad for all of us, but I think he felt it most of all, which kind of accented his vulnerability. He loathed the whole rock and roll circus. The thing he loved most of all was just (to) get on those drums and show everybody how it should be done……
…..The essence of Bonham is what he didn’t play rather than what he did play – what he left out.”

This article was an insight that (for me) showed that he was a man..only a man. He played the drums, loved his friends and family. His friends and family remember him as a man. But, for John Bonham…his influence as a drummer will be known for a long time to come for future stick wielding rhythmatists and musicians alike.