John Bonham: Difference between revisions

John Henry "Bonzo" Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English drummer and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin.

He was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the

Bonham was born on 31 May 1948, in Redditch, Worcestershire, England, to Joan and Jack Bonham. He first learned how to play drums at the age of five, making a drum kit out of containers and coffee tins, imitating his idols Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. His mother gave him a snare drum at the age of ten. He received his first proper drum kit from his father at the age of fifteen, a Premier Percussion kit. Bonham never took any formal drum lessons, though as a teen he would get advice from other Redditch drummers. While still at school, Bonham would occasionally perform as a stand-in drummer for bands such as the Blue Star Trio between 1962-63,^[5] and Gerry Levene & the Avengers in 1963.^[6]

Bonham attended Lodge Farm Secondary Modern School, where his headmaster once wrote in his school report card that "He will either end up a dustman or a millionaire".^[7][8] After leaving school in 1964, he worked for his father as an apprentice carpenter^[9] in between drumming for different local bands. In 1964, Bonham joined his first semi-professional band, Terry Webb and the Spiders, and met his future wife Pat Phillips around the same time. He also played in other Birmingham bands such as The Nicky James Movement, and The Senators, who released a moderately successful single "She's a Mod," in 1964. Bonham then took up drumming full-time. Two years later, he joined A Way of Life, but the band soon became inactive. In desperation for a regular income, he joined a blues group called Crawling King Snakes whose lead singer was a young Robert Plant.

In 1967, A Way of Life asked Bonham to return to the group, and he agreed—though throughout this period, Plant kept in constant contact with Bonham. When Plant decided to form Band of Joy, Bonham was first choice as drummer. The band recorded a number of demos but no album. In 1968 American singer Tim Rose toured Britain and invited Band of Joy to open his concerts. When Rose returned for another tour months later, Bonham was formally invited by the singer to drum for his band, which gave him a regular income.

Led Zeppelin

After the break-up of

In 1974, Bonham appeared in the film Son of Dracula, playing drums in Count Downe's (Harry Nilsson) backing band. This was an Apple film directed by Freddie Francis. Bonham appeared in an overcrowded drum line-up including Keith Moon and Starr on the soundtrack album. Bonham's action sequence for the film The Song Remains the Same featured him in a drag race at Santa Pod Raceway to the sound of his signature drum solo, "Moby Dick".

During his time with Led Zeppelin, Bonham was also an avid collector of antique sports cars and motorcycles, which he kept on his family's farm called The Old Hyde. He even bought The Plough pub in the nearby village of Shenstone, which shows signs of conversion work to allow him to drive his bikes or cars right behind the bar. This was not, however, the pub featured in the film The Song Remains the Same. It was in fact the New Inn which is currently boarded up, the only clue to its famous past being a picture hanging close to the bar.^{[citation needed]}

As well as recording with Led Zeppelin, Bonham also found time to play on sessions for other artists. In 1969 Bonham appeared on

Weeks later at the coroner's inquest, it emerged that in the 24 hours before he died, John Bonham had consumed forty shots of vodka which resulted in him vomiting and subsequent aspiration (inhaling) of his vomit, causing asphyxiation. A verdict of accidental death was returned at an inquest held on 27 October.[14] An autopsy had found no other drugs in Bonham's body.^[15] John Bonham was cremated and, on 12 October 1980, interred at Rushock Parish Church, Worcestershire. His headstone reads:

CHERISHED MEMORIES OF A LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER

JOHN HENRY BONHAM WHO DIED SEPT. 25th 1980 AGED 32 YEARS He will always be Remembered in our hearts.

Goodnight my Love, God Bless.

Despite media rumors that drummers including Cozy Powell, Phil Collins, Carmine Appice, Barriemore Barlow, Roger Taylor, Simon Kirke or Bev Bevan, among others, would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members decided to disband Led Zeppelin after Bonham's death. They issued a press statement on 4 December 1980, confirming that the band would not continue without its drummer. "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were." It was simply signed "Led Zeppelin".^[16]

Family

John Bonham had two siblings; his younger brother, Mick Bonham (1951–2000), was a disc jockey, author and photographer and his younger sister, Deborah Bonham (born in 1962), who is a singer-songwriter.

Bonham was married to Pat Phillips, and the couple had two children; his daughter Zoë Bonham (born 1975), who is a

Bonham's cousin Billy Bonham (born 1950), also played keyboards for Terry Reid and Ace Kefford.^[19]

Tributes and accolades

Bonham is widely considered to be one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators in the industry. In 2007

Many rock drummers were heavily influenced by John Bonham's work with Led Zeppelin, including Neil Peart,^[23] Tony Thompson,^[24] Dave Grohl,^[25] Tommy Lee,^[26] and Chad Smith.^[27]

Musicians other than drummers have also paid tribute to Bonham. John Paul Jones, who formed a very tight musical partnership with him as Led Zeppelin's power rhythm section, stated that Bonham was a "bass player's dream".^[28]

Equipment

Drums

Bonham initially used Premier drums, but in the late 1960s was introduced to Ludwig drums by Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge. Throughout the remainder of his career, Bonham was a major endorser of

• Drums — Ludwig Green Sparkle
  • 14x10" Tom (mounted on a rail consolette mount)
  • 16x16" Floor Tom
  • 18x16" Floor Tom
  • 26x14" Bass Drum
  • 14x6.5" Ludwig Chrome Supraphonic 402 Snare
  • 29" Machine Timpani (1972+)
  • 29" 32" Universal Timpani (1972+)
  • Ludwig Speed King Bass pedal
• John was known for telling the band that the Green Sparkle kit was his favourite and best sounding kit, and it was used on all recordings from IV onwards, excluding Presence where he used the Silver Sparkle kit.

"The Song Remains The Same" Kit (1973–1975) ^[29]

• Drums — Ludwig Amber Vistalite
  • 14"x10" Tom
  • 16x16" Floor Tom
  • 18x16" Floor Tom
  • 20x16" Floor Tom
  • 26x14" Bass Drum
  • 14x6.5" Ludwig Chrome Supraphonic 402 Snare
  • 29" Machine Timpani
  • 29" 32" Universal Timpani
  • Ludwig speed king bass pedal
• A spare bass drum was kept, as these drums were renowned for cracking

Cymbals

Bonham used Paiste Cymbals exclusively. His cymbal setup included Paiste Giant Beat cymbals until 1970. The Paiste Endorsement Agreement shows he experimented with cymbals including the 602 series before changing to a complete set of what is now the 2002 series in '71, which he used for the rest of his career. His setup:

• 15" 2002 Sound Edge Hi-Hat
• 24" 2002 Ride
• 20" 2002 Medium Crash
• 18" 2002 Crash (Switched to 18" 2002 Medium Crash in 1973)
• 16" 2002 Medium Crash
• 36-38" Symphonic Gong

Drum Heads

Bonham played Remo drum heads throughout his career. For his wood drums, he always used Remo Coated Emperors (or Ludwig equivalent) on his batter sides, while using coated ambassadors on the resonant side of his toms, and a diplomat or clear ambassador on the resonant side of his snare drum. The bass drums front head was always a medium weight head, for instance a Remo Coated Ambassador. The batter head was always tuned medium-tight, (almost jazz-like) and the resonate head was always tuned way up, for a full, round sound. He never put anything inside his bass drum (although his band members have said that he would sometimes fill it with crumpled tin foil, so that it would project). He only used a felt strip on the batter side occasionally. The bass drum heads were also tuned a lot higher than one would think. Some have claimed he used to make "Ritchie Rings" cut out of old drum heads for his front bass drum head, but this anomaly is simply the surrounding light producing a shadow from the hoop on the white drum head producing the ring effect (you can produce the same effect with a front bass drum head, as long as the head is coated). ^{[citation needed]}

On the Vistalites he used Remo CS black dots on the batter side of the toms and the bass drum and clear ambassadors on the resonate side. The snare always had a coated emperor on the batter side and an ambassador or a diplomat on the snare side. He sometimes used a Gretsch 42-strand snare wires to fatten the snare sound.

Bass Drum Pedal

Bonham used

The only real problem I can remember encountering was when we were putting the first

boxed set together. There was an awfully squeaky bass drum pedal on "Since I've Been Loving You". It sounds louder and louder every time I hear it! [laughs]. That was something that was obviously sadly overlooked at the time.^[30]

In 2005, Ludwig began issuing Bonham reissue kits in green sparkle maple and amber Vistalite. Ludwig currently offers "Zep Kits" in their Vistalite and Classic lines, with a 26" bass drum, a 13" or 14" tom mounted on a snare stand, and 16" and 18" floor toms. In 2007 they issued a limited edition stainless steel kit similar to the ones Bonham used on the last Led Zeppelin tours in the 1970s. The stainless steel shells were manufactured by Ronn Dunnett of Dunnett Classic Drums.

References