Bonzo

33 years ago today, John Henry Bonham gave up the ghost. Some say he's one of the best, while others think otherwise. He had a mastery of triplets that was amazing and his footwork is what set him apart from other drummers of the time (IMHDO)
His greatest talent was in his timing and 4 limb syncopation, a drummer that did very difficult things but made it appear to be easy. The mark of pure genius as far as I'm concerned

RIP

R.I.P. John Bonham and long live the legacy of the great Zeppelin.

One of the greatest drummers in rock history, R.I.P.

Killer drummer and a huge influence on many of today's drummers..

A shame that people nowadays seem to have a hard time appreciating the art of John's drumming. With all the human metronomes running around with their endless blast beats and machine gun double bass it's hard to appreciate the art of a truly good groove, of effortless swing and the taste and restraint not to overplay at every opportunity.

John had that taste and his playing was as HEAVY as anyone that ever played the instrument.

...and he could do things with that single bass that a lot of others couldn't do with two.

Two of my favorite drumming songs from him are:

Communication Breakdown
Nobody's Fault But Mine

Played along to those all the time!!!!!

S.D. wrote:

A shame that people nowadays seem to have a hard time appreciating the art of John's drumming.  

and those people would be.... ?  

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

S.D. wrote:

A shame that people nowadays seem to have a hard time appreciating the art of John's drumming.  

and those people would be.... ?  

Anyone that values technical precision over feel.

'Feel' is an entirely subjective term, 'personality' however is something else altogether, in any case I'm just really not sure I've ever seen John Bonham downrated, even by people would typically enjoy more rigid playing I was pretty sure the consensus was that he's one of THE drummers in rock, objectively........I think even if they don't know how to name different aspects of his style by name, it's totally recognized and influential.

"Feel" is a personal thing, so I would say it's part of the "personality" of the player.

It has been mentioned here on this board and also by alot of "youngsters" I've given lessons to that Bonham is over-rated and the stuff he played is very simplistic. Thus why, I tossed that out there in my original post. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. All I have to say is try to play it and try to play it correctly in the proper time and groove. I charted out Bonham's playing for some students and even with that much "help", they missed it completely. Mr "D" naild my sentiments as well. Groove, swing. fell, taste, and restraint. All those attributes set Bonzo apart from contemporaies of his time (IMHDO) Carmine=hard hitter, overplays, Moon=sloppy, overplays, Mitch=great hands but average footwork Ginger=super talnted but not really a heavy rock player. All this just my opinion and by no means downplaying any players talent or abiliities. Just a side by side comparison to Bonham.

John Bonham is the first drummer that made me (and I think allot of people) take notice of drums as an instrument in general. Before that, drummers just sat in the back and kept the beat. Keith Moon might have come first, but he was more known for his antics over his drumming.

My 2 favorite Bonham drum tracks are 'When the Levee Breaks' and 'Houses of the Holy'. The drums on 'Levee' are just thunderous. And I always liked hearing the squeak of the bass pedal on 'Houses'.

They probably refer to him as overrated because they're not coming to the music on its own terms, same usually holds true of a lot of criticism in music. When listening to Bonham you gotta expect the kit to be a major moving gear in the music which may not stay in the same place the whole song. It depends on the song but I always thought his best work was in those kind of circumstances e.g. 'Dazed and Confused', where that personality gets to really permeate the song.

When as a kid I first saw The Song Remains The Same his whole section with the racing made him the baddest man alive. To say nothing of his great drumming.

Love, love, LOVE, Bonham's drumming. It is always hard for me to explain what it is I love so much, but I would have to say it is the feel to his drumming. I've heard technical drummers that could blow him out of the water with their sheer power, but they totally lack any feel. And substance and style. Now I am going to go play some Zep.

Another thing I want to add, is that I think one of the things that also helps with Bonham's drumming, is the production and mixing as well.

deathisgain wrote:

Another thing I want to add, is that I think one of the things that also helps with Bonham's drumming, is the production and mixing as well.

Good point. Modern production techniques usually involve putting a mic on every drum of the kit but that really isn't necessary to get a good drum sound. The actual sound of the room you are recording in is the most important part. The first few Zeppelin albums were recorded using 1 or 2 microphones for the drums, placed in the room where the overall sound was best (or in a stairwell as was the case for Zep IV). That gives you an excellent sense of space and you can hear the drums pushing the air around in the room, it's a very immersive sound and makes you feel like you are standing in the same room with the drummer.

I'm a big fan of a big room for the drums no matter where/how the mics are, the air and tone just pushes so much better..