Bonzo: Birthday Boy

A week from today would’ve been John Henry Bonham’s 55th birthday had death by misadventure not taken him prematurely at 32. He bore the nickname of Bonzo (after a British comic strip dog) long before he met James Patrick Page. Elvin Jones, Joe Morello and Ginger Baker were among his favorite drummers before joining the notorious Led Zep, as well as the then-anonymous Motown drummers. The hugely insecure Bonham died before getting to see every rock drummer in the world claim him as an influence (in Modern Drummer at least.) No less a personage than Tony Williams copped Bonham’s signature bass drum triplets on the Emergency record. Late in his life Bonzo thought ‘everybody else played better than he did.’ This from the man who had ripped off The Pharaoh of Funk’s Purdie shuffle for Fool In The Rain almost four years before Jeff’s Rosanna, not an easy rhythm to master. For Your Life, with its wicked turned-around beat, the muscular Achilles Last Stand and the airy Carouselaramba were also recorded late in his lifetime. Bozzio and Colaiuta were already on the map then and Bonzo did listen to Zappa and Steely Dan. He was ‘fantastically enthusiastic’ about Stewart Copeland and The Police.

Before he became famous none of the local drummers in Birmingham like Carl Palmer and Bev Bevan thought he was any good. Like teenaged drummers everywhere he overplayed and totally lost the beat while trying sixteen measure fills in unknown bands before he got the gig with American folksinger Tim Rose for $100 a week in 1968, bashing away in a woefully inappropriate manner. Jimmy Page loved this thunderous pounding until he actually had to play with him. “You’re going to have to keep it a bit more simple back there,” he cautioned 20-year-old Bonham at Zeppelin’s first rehearsal. Bonzo nodded and continued to play just as he had been. Page had to have their intimidating manager Peter Grant threaten him physically to get him to settle his playing down. When Bonham’s mates heard acetates of the first Led Zep disc they asked him where ‘all his fill-ins’ were. Personally I think the catches in Communication Breakdown, the bass drum triplets in Good Times Bad Times and the bombastic intro to How Many More Times is the best drumming Bonham ever did. Since he got his first snare at ten and his first kit at 15 he’d essentially only been at it for five years when he recorded those exciting tracks!!

His clever drumming abounded on many tracks: The Lemon Song, Bron Y Aur Stomp, Four Sticks, When The Levee Breaks, No Quarter, The Ocean and In My Time of Dying to cite just a few examples. Bonham was fond of playing on the ands of beats. One of his major contributions to drumming was making it acceptable to play as loudly as humanly possible. Before him drummers with heavy feet and a ham-fisted approach were largely discouraged by other band members, engineers, producers and club owners, not to mention neighbors.

Unfortunately Bonham was among rock’s greatest tragedies. His buddy Keith Moon genuinely should have been committed to an insane asylum but was kept out of a straitjacket by greedy managers, giveashit bandmates and round-the-clock handlers. While nowhere near as boorish as Moon however Bonzo was the very portrait of how NOT to handle success. Too much money, time and fame made him arrogant, alcoholic and not a whole lotta fun to be around. Once he punched a young woman in the face for looking at him in a bar. He threw orange juice on Alvin Lee’s guitar while Ten Years After was performing at an outdoor festival in July '69; this was the same night the drunken drummer stripped naked onstage during Zeppelin’s set and one of the many times Peter Grant fired him from the band. Bonham exposed himself to elderly women on a few occasions while drunk and used his superstar status to browbeat hotel managers in Europe, Japan and the US. The rest of the band used to sneak out to have dinner without him because he embarrassed them so much. Even his son Jason has said he was horrible while drinking: “Mum, he’s having a go.”

On August 4th 1969 a friend of mine saw Bonham have his roadie set his drums up three different times at a soundcheck before walking away saying, “I don’t give a fuck, set ‘em up however you want.” I saw a picture dated two days later of this same roadie in The Photographer’s Led Zeppelin; he looked at Bonham with unconcealed loathing.

Had I known all of this before Bonzo died twenty two and a half years ago he probably would not number among my favorites. Had he lived Zeppelin may have gone downhill like The Stones and more than likely Bonzo would have been in-and-out of rehab. Despite all of that I still think of him as a genius and those gifted few don’t always conform to normal adult behavior. That’s the stuff of legend now and at the end of the day only his musicianship counted. Even though his style has dated and become a clich? he unarguably belongs in the pantheon of the greatest drummers who ever recorded.

Happy birthday, brother.

"Niyeesh," 5/8...thanx 4 that...interesting...some info that i didn't previously know...keep it coming...
[& i think i've finally found some1 that actually has more time on their hands than i] [img]wink.gif[/img] ...

Too bad he was such when he drank; & even tho the best of people have behaved inappropriately while under too much of the influence, i've always said that those types of personality-complexes [prone to outbursts indicative in the personalities of 'mean drunks'] were always there to begin with, under the surface... toss in a bagfull of insecurities, well - that def. doesn't help make the situation any better, either...but so much 4 my armchair psychiatry/-cology degree...

Seriously, tho [& on a drumming note]; i don't know if his style is outdated or cliched; it seems to stand the test of time [timeless] for me, really [unless, of course, u r referring to the endless Bonham influences 1 hears in other drummers, rock & otherwise]....

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 25, 2003 12:52 AM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

Well written. Gotta love the passion! I also heard about his insecurities before he passed. Maybe the reason for all the drinking??? You don't hear too much from his son, Jason. I liked the group, Bonham, and Jason's style--he sort of fused his dad and Jeff Porcaro, and maybe a little Richie Hayward into one. His video is limited, but it works well for that style of music. And, Fool in the Rain is a killer shuffle. Jeff said that tune, as well as Sir Duke from Stevie W...and maybe King Solomon's Mines from 3 Dog Night for the bass drum's New Orlean stomp influenced Rosanna.
Fool in the Rain also had a killer snare sound. Killer! Bonham's snare solo was equally tasty in that tune. His open hat on the upbeat is as tasty as it gets. When your girlfriend says it's her favorite song PERIOD...then it communicates across the board.
As great as Bonham was...I do sometimes wonder what comes first, the great band or the great drummer. If Bonzo played for Cheap Trick and Bun E. Carlos for Zep...would the magic of Page & Plant compensate with those great songs???
Obviously, time and fate has had it another way...the best way, but I do wonder.
I also think of Deep Purple. Ian was the ultimate balance of a jazz/rock feel...Machine Head is so unlike other rock recordings. His fills are classic on that masterpiece. They never reached the peak as Zep did (I mean, out here in CA, KLOS makes it sound like the band just came out with their devotion to them almost daily--bringin' out the LED).
In reflection on Bonzo's life, there's something very cool about seeing our Mr Holmes jammin' with smile on face at a little Coffee house w/some buddies. There was no insecurity...I'm too big or too good to play in this place. Did it pay big $$? NO. Was there a lot of hoop-la? No. Was it good music? Yes. Did it have impact? Yes. A girl friend of mine said she just sat for hours and listened to the band in the back of the coffee house until it closed. Steve will never know that, and maybe we aren't supposed to know...it makes us walk by faith!
In closing, I used to workout at a local gym here in the LA area. A rather VERY BIG name drummer just happened to be sitting in front of me in the sauna. This guy is considered to be a rock legend by all accounts. I found him very nice...but walked away thinking he is still waiting for the recognition he deserved. He didn't seem free to me, but still in the chains of, "When is Modern Drummer going to give me the credit I really deserve."
I call this the "success trap"...give me a jazz gig in a little coffee house anyday!

For me, it was definitely Bonzo's ballsy playing and licks, coupled with John Paul Jones' funky, R&B influenced bass lines that drew me to Zep. I still think that John Paul Jones is one of the most underrated rock bass players in history..........

Thank you Jason on posting on your father.
Good drummer ther!!!!!!!!!

"I still think that John Paul Jones is one of the most underrated rock bass players in history.........."

Totally agree! Almost as though it was John, Paul, George and....Ringo.

Plant, Page, Bonham and....Jones.
Not quite right.

WELL put, Pocket, m' man [your 1st post] - esp the part about the success trap...
...& i agree wholeheartedly - Bonzo's style helped MAKE LZ what they were/are... it was an INTEGRAL part of their overall sound... his fill ideas were VERY tasty, & his grooves were up-yo-rumpus-PHAT... & certain beats he came up w were indeed very interestg in a rock context, or ANY context, 4 that matter... i tend to put JBon, Jeff, Kelt, Gordon, & last-but-def-NOT-least - Gadd [& maybe Purdie] in the same group of "Pocket's 2 strive 4"...

5/8 - just what exactly was JB's BDate?

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 26, 2003 02:18 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

John was born May 31st 1948 and died on September 25th 1980. John Paul Jones 'was disgusted by the waste of him.'

Speaking of the illustrious Mr. Jones (real name Johnny Baldwin) he is very underrated. The last time I saw Zeppelin in 1977 he played nine different instruments onstage, his most amazing feat playing organ or that triple-necked guitar while playing the bass parts with his feet on Moog pedals. He suggested the fun bass part on Donovan's Mellow Yellow after the session floundered due to a half-baked chart. Jones was an arranger and he was Page's boss in the studio. Jimmy is often quoted as saying, "Jones didn't need ME for a job."

One last thing: in a recent MD engineer Eddie Kramer said, "As great as Bonham was, you don't only listen to the drumming. It's the whole package. It's what he's doing to support what's going on in the music. But, of course, you couldn't imagine that music without John. He was an integral part of that band."

The same could be said of John Paul Jones.

2nd all of that...
Kinda bummin', cuz these posts r bringing back the memories... i remember like it was yesterday when i was in school & heard the news about JB... BUM-MER... the next day every1 wore black arm bands[!] in tribute/memoriam [hey, we were melancholy 'kids' that gloomy day]... we've lost such talent over the yrs., due to tragedy or otherwise ... Bonzo, Jeff, Carlos, JGordon [to 'insanity'], Tony; ntm other instrument players like Kirkland, Jaco, Hendrix, etc.... THANK GOD Vinnie, Dave, Virg, Den, Novak, Gadd, Erskine, Dennard, Cobham, TBoz, Bruford, Collins, Lenny, Elvin, DeJohnette, Alias, Airto, Simon [& the countless others i couldn't even BEGIN to list] are still around to enjoy & share in the blessing of musical wealth [without trying to come across as being too maudlin]....

On the new DVD it's fun to hear Bonham's voice at the Australian press conference. He's got a soft spoken accent much like Page's ultra-mild Surrey accent. This almost boyish voice coming from a man whose drums sounded so huge is incongruous. Also on the new DVD watch him sing the intro "We done four already and now we're steady and then they went" as well as some of the la la las in the middle while Mick Hinton moves one of his overhead drum mikes down to accommodate his 'singing.'

In the presence of greatness.

regards, Five
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Keith Moon: What do I know? I'm just a fucking drummer.