Led Zeppelin wouldn’t have been the same band without drummer John Bonham. You could say that about any member of the band, but Bonham’s imposing beats — inspired by an early rock ‘n’ roll song that mesmerized him — were irreplaceable. That’s why the band decided to break up when he died in 1980 instead of soldiering on. For all the praise, Bonham remained modest about his drumming skills, and it’s almost hilarious how unassuming he was.
John Bonham once modestly said he was ‘a simple, straight-ahead drummer’
Even though he once lost to Karen Carpenter in a best drummer poll, Bonham routinely appears at or near the top of the list when talking about the greatest classic rock drummers. The self-taught Bonham became one of the best of his generation even though he never wanted or tried to be.
As C.M. Kushins writes in the biography Beast, Bonham told Melody Maker writer Chris Welch his drumming approach was simple:
“I’ve never consciously tried to be one of the best drummers, and I don’t want to be. A lot of kids come up to me and say, ‘There’s a lot better drummers than you,’ or something. But I enjoy playing to the best of my ability, and that’s why I’m here doing it. I don’t claim to be more exciting than Buddy Rich, but I don’t play what I don’t like. I’m a simple, straight-ahead drummer, and I don’t try to pretend to be anything better than I am.”
He said he was just a straight-ahead drummer who only played to the best of his ability. Bonham’s modesty about his drumming skills is both honest and hilarious. Bonzo had to know he was one of the best around while he was still alive.
Bonham’s description of his drumming skills was almost hilarious in its understatement
We know Led Zeppelin wouldn’t have been nearly as powerful a band without Bonham’s timekeeping talents. That’s why his description of his drumming skills is almost hilarious. We have to believe Bonham knew it, too.
Bonham revolutionized drumming by using a bicycle chain instead of a leather strap to drive his bass drum pedal. Drum kit technology changed little between the dawn of the 20th century and the mid-1960s, but chain-driven bass drum pedals represented a major shift, per Drum Magazine. Bonzo was an early adopter, and he made the most of it.
Bonham copied his triplets on Led Zeppelin I opener from Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice. At least, he thought he did. Bonham blew away Appice when he described how he played his triplets — all on the bass drum. The Fudge drummer used bass and a floor tom to play his.
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We’re only up to the early Zep days, by the way. Bonham’s secret tricks helped him achieve a larger-than-life sound. Every album included several Bonzo highlights. His best Led Zeppelin beats — from “Black Dog” to “Fool in the Rain” to “Achilles Last Stand” — stand out so much you don’t need the accompanying music to know they’re Bonham’s grooves.
So he was a drum kit revolutionary who blew away one of the best in the business at the time. Throw in the fact that Bonham’s “Moby Dick” drum solos were crowd-pleasing favorites starting with Led Zeppelin’s first U.S. tour in 1969, and his modesty — “I’m a simple, straight-ahead drummer” — is almost hilarious in its understatement.
Bonzo influenced and inspired other drummers after he died
Bonham’s drumming skills won over Led Zeppelin fans throughout the band’s career. His influence continued even after he died and the band broke up.
Zep guitarist Jimmy Page pieced together one final album, 1982’s Coda, to fulfill their recording contract. Bonham’s enhanced solo, “Bonzo’s Montreux,” is one of the album’s best songs. The secret song, which Page and Bonham worked on in secret in 1976, was so impactful that Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl once named Coda his favorite Led Zeppelin album because of “Bonzo’s Montreux.”
He revolutionized drumming before he found fame with Led Zeppelin, and his skills make him one of the best classic rock timekeepers to pick up the sticks. John Bonham’s drumming skills were second to none, but he remained comically modest about his immense talent.
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