September 25, 2008

A Tribute to John Bonham

28 years ago today we lost, in my opinion, the best drummer of all time. Some may say others have more defined drumming skills, but no one can deny the power, the passion and the unique style that was his alone. He's inspired so many others over the years, including his own son, Jason who proudly continues his father's legacy.

For me personally, it was a tragic loss because at the time Led Zeppelin was my favorite band, and because John's death day was my birth day. It put a dark cloud over my plans to celebrate my 21st. I shared it here if you're interested - side note, yes, I'm 49, you can do the math but I'll never admit it - I've saying 38 for years and it still works ;)

Here are a few quotes from John and two videos that showcase a bit of his thunderous style. I miss you, Bonzo....

With Zeppelin, I tried to play something different every night in my solos. I'd play for 20 minutes but the longest ever was 30 minutes. It's a long time, but whenI was playing it seemed to fly by.

My nerves before a gig got worse; I had terrible bad nerves all the time. Once we started... I was fine.

I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters.

I dare not drink before a gig because I'll get tired and blow it. So I have to sit drinking tea in a caravan.


Drumming was the only thing I was ever good at.





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10 comments:

music obsessive said...

Such a shame he left us so young. His style is still acknowledged as one of the finest powerhouse backbeats ever, Even Phil Collins replicated it for 'Squonk' on 'A Trick of the Tail'.
And I won't tell anybody you're 49...:)

WeightStaff said...

Truly one of the greats. I'll be listening to "Moby Dick" later in memorium.

DS,
The Weight

WeightStaff said...

P.S. Happy Birthday!

-From The Weight

carlozzi006 said...

I consider Bonham the greatest drummer of all time. I know how it feels to lose a Classic Rocker on your birthday. George Harrison died on my 12th birthday, and I had just discovered the Beatles that February.

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

He was so solid .... a true loss.

Bar L. said...

Thanks, mate, for keeping my age a secret!

Weight guys, thanks! Moby Dick...his classic solo...can never hear it (or watch it) too many times.

Carlozzi, so you know how it feels...thanks for the comment. (my son was born a few hours before December 8th 1990 - the date of John Lennon's murder)

Thank Bondy!!!

RAHM said...

there aren't drummers like Bonham today, I missed those sounds in new songs...

drewzepmeister said...

Oh man,I TOTALLY forgot! I was going post a blog on my blogsite about this.Bonzo was the most intense drummer I've heard. No one could beat the drums as hard as he could...

BTW Barbra,Happy birthday!!

David Amulet said...

You are prompting me to break out some old Zep CDs. Thanks!

Dr. John said...

Good post, Layla. Bonzo was one of the greatest. The one thing that was so great about him was how HUGE and live his drums sounded. The 1970's was very much a dead drum era, and his sound was so opposite that. And you know what? It worked, and still does. Other musicians still sample those drum sounds today...

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