Bonham had a very rare gift indeed, my piano teacher once said to me to play Chopin to an extremely high level is 25% accuracy and rhythm,25% technique,25% expression and 25% of a very special thing that very few humans are born with, the closest thing to it she said, is being able to literally transfer your emotions through your body and in to your instrument. I believe this is what made Bonham to this day stand out from others. It’s not about technical ability or how fast you can play,it’s something that can’t be learned you either have it or you don’t.
How Robert Plant met John Bonham: John was at a club that Robert was singing at, Robert walked by and John told him "your a good singer you would be better if I was your Drummer."
I thought he said "... the best drummer in the world." Plant asked who's that then?" Bonzo said, "Me." Long time ago so I'm just paraphrasing but it stuck with me.
Achilles Last Stand is Jimmy's magnum opus and it isn't surprising that it may also be Bonham's best drum performance. This song is nothing short of a masterpiece.
He is probably the most 'in the pocket' player ever. It's like he is more perfect then drum machine, and yet, still milion times more musical. Accents, power, timing, slight delays in perfect moments, groove, musicality. It's insane and impossible to actually explain, you have to hear it to understand it.
There's this Keith Richards interview where he sort of disses on Bonham a bit, basically slagging his "heavy handed"/less-than-subtle style, etc. But this too easily overlooks how subtle & tricky Bonham could be...he could really swing; it's not all crashing & bashing, a la "When the Levee Breaks." Besides, Page's overall style and the riffs he wrote--it's hard to see how that would work with a Charlie Watts type drummer--Page knew what he needed and recognized it in Bonham. Watts was perfect for Keef riffage, and Bonham was exactly what Page's flavor of hard rock required...no need to diss on Charlie for that!
Old bands had the time & money to rehearse & record enough good takes for a timeless song/album. In cities like NY in the 70s & 80s, you only needed a part time job to cover rent/food, plenty of Americans had fun money to buy records, attend shows & sustain an economy around art. Add in a drinking age of 18 & the cultural zeitgeist of Rock N Roll rebellion amongst the then-young that had never been paralleled in history… Yeah, music was better. Almost everything was, compared to 2024. I’d trade the access to knowledge & hyper-awareness the internet brought & plastic in my body for the blissful ignorance of a superstitious, authoritarian world that at least gave a generation & a half the best material time to exist
What makes Bonham so special is no other drummer can pull off what he achieves. It'a the same with Keith Moon, both drummers who stitched their personality into their instruments
Jimmy Page, after hearing Bonham play: "That's exactly the sound I want for my band!" Thanks for your great musical sense Jimmy. The same Jimmy, some time later: "Bonzo is the backbone of Zeppelin" There never was nor will be another like him. Bonzo is different. There is something about its beat that awakens strong, transcendental, almost wild sensations. Anyone who doesn't feel anything listening to him playing is dead inside
There's a heartbeat-like quality to his approach, very organic, that few drummers can capture. It's never so precise that it can be adequately duplicated by humans or machines, hence, why the band folded once the heartbeat gave out. A subtle irony, I suppose. They might've been able to record with someone else but live shows couldn't have worked. Wouldn't have been a Zeppelin show.
@@lovewinsall77 I can say that Bonham keeps me in good shape. My daily hiking is to the Zeppelin’s sound e John. I made a playlist with his isolated drum tracks and it’s so stimulating! It’s like the heartbeat, something organic, it has a life of its own, as you said. And I also agree, Zeppelin would never be the same if they had continued without Bonzo. I don’t think any drummer could escape John’s monumental shadow. Jimmy, Plant and Jones were right to stop, a sad but correct decision I think.
I thoroughly agree and I love both those quotes from Jimmy and am forever thankful he put LZ together so perfectly...however if I have one teeny JP gripe, it is that in live shows, he just always seemed to put himself *right* in front of Bonzo. I know we have the solos, but I still watch some stuff and crane my neck trying to see him behind Jimmy!
This is one of the best drums beats for a song but the power of it is amplified by page but the most overlooked part of the song is how much Jones’s bassline influences the power of the drums during the song. That’s the hidden gem in this song I believe.
He was just so dynamic the way he stretched the beat, the ghost notes, his awesome use of the hi hat. He also does something that a machine can’t do - he subtly speeds up and slows down and also hits the drums harder on crescendos to give the Zep sound that runaway train feeling when they take off. Examples are the second solo on Heartbreaker, Stairway and Ramble On at the end. Lots of examples actually. He either drives or matches Jimmy’s guitar intensity to make the song explode. Really the secret sauce to Zep I think.
How do you feel about the military drum parts? I'm not sure if that was the best choice. They were pressed for time. It does help to divide up such a long song. Sometimes I think it was the right choice. Sometimes I think it sounds too simple and perhaps a little obvious. (Not corny quite, but just....I don't know).
@@Frip36 Zep did that a lot but it’s intended to sound powerful with the guitar rather than be analyzed stand alone. The military style rhythn with guitar shows up in In My Time of Dying and live versions of Bring it on Home.
The intelligence of the bass parts and the subtle dynamic sensitivity and feel for instinctive "human" tempo (like you mentioned) in the drums and how the two combine are really what make this band great. It's the cement between the stones.. if you didn't have it the wall would fall apart and you'd be left with a an out of time guitar and a guy in tight jeans shouting.. "Baby, baby..." etc Lol!
I think hes the only drummer you notice in a song. Most people like a riff or tune but that machine behind is pushing thru. And once you are aware you cant ignore his magic. Truely unique. Since then weve all been loving you. 🇬🇧
Yeah a lot of drummers that never really created their own iconic sound like to take shots at bonzo these days… they didn’t call the man the hammer of the gods for nothin’..
I mean, I admired Ginger's playing but Bonham's sound just captured my ear more. Plus Ginger always came across as a snob who thought he was better than everyone else.
@@David-lb5ot i recall ginger really pissed off jimmy when in an interview jimmy page complained that ginger said the problem with bonham was that he didn't have any "swing" to his drumming. jimmy was like "are u effing kiding me, ginger?? that's what he had the MOST of! God!" Totally agree with Jimmy!
No other drummer has impacted music like Bonham. His parts were brilliant, he always laid down the perfect groove for each tune, and is still the most influential. That includes Rich and T Williams
@@MarkanVaran7 perfect swing within the context of that band. That’s pretty well all you need. Very few have it, except EVERY great band’s drummer. Without that they may have the world’s most technical drummer, but it’s just noise & doesn’t count for diddly for me…
@@68Bards nobody hits the hi hat better than Phil Rudd. Like someone said, he basically opens up the hi hat on every hit with a stick so instead of 4/4 its basically 8/8 beat. The way he hits it I have never heard a drummer do it.
Yep, brilliant performance and a real statement of purpose from him. There's also a video with him and Jones isolated in this song (on the Mirko Visi channel) that shows - if anyone needed proof - how tight they were.
I did this one too a few years back.. the only Zep song we did. You could always tell who the decent musicians in the room were because it would get their attention and it was the song they always approached you to talk about after the show.
Bonham got me started back in 1980 or so. I started playing drums with marching band in 5th grade at prep academy back in the early 70s. I moved to Saxophone in 7-8 grade. I went back to drums because they were cooler for a teenager to play I was more interested in the drums. When I discovered Zep with my friends I would play his parts on tables and on my legs I played everywhere I went. when I finally got a set I could play a lot of his stuff like whole lotta love and black dog. His playing is so inspiring when you start out. He's still just amazing to listen to at 59.
I'm a life long zep fan since 71 hearing just Mr Bonhams drum tracks really blows me away of the level of his drum skills I became a drummer solely because I wanted to play these amazing drum rifs triplets of course I'm no John Bonham but I owe my love and passion for drumming to the greatest rock drummer of all time !!
Achilles last stand is the zeppelin best song. Reason being its a ten minute marathon, where all 4 have there foot hard down for the duration of the song. And I mean hard down. Bonzo going mad on the drums as per, page and jpj playing as if there lives depended on it and plant excels as usual. Zeppelin where lightning in a bottle. Just unreal how good they are.
Right, so the Knebworth live version is all the more impressive, Plant's cracking voice at the end notwithstanding. My feeling is that a GOD was listening and got a bit jealous, as these mere mortals were storming heaven.
Being able to keep that double kick in the pocket as long as he does is no easy feat. I can probably do it on my electric kit with a DW5000 but he was playing a wide open 26” kick with an old school pedal. A right foot kissed by god if there ever was one. Rest in power Bonzo ❤️
Something like a miracle, this percussive hold-down to this song. I think Zep's greatest secret weapon - they had several of them - was the musical simpatico between old friends Plant and Bonham. And I don't mean only in the sonic way (voice/drum interplay), but in Bonham's unusually pronounced ability to find the apt, exciting groove and rhythm to match Bob's poetry. Drummers mostly aren't given to such subtleties. Another who had this exceptional skill was Roxy's Paul Thompson. And of course, Bruford. But very, very few others.
He was Phenomenal in person, the Moby Dick of Drummers, Fleetwood was Good, he was ahead of his time, but I saw Keith Moon once at a Warehouse, and he Blew me away, if they lived, We would be the recipient s of some kind of Great Music, RAMBLIN, I am too Stoned, jűs sāyīn !😎✌️😎!
I remember buying "Presence" when I was ten years old. I'd been learning how to play, training my ear without really even realizing it, by just, say, if I wanted to learn "S.O.S. Too Bad & Train Kept a Rollin' " from Aerosmith's "Get Your Wings" vinyl LP; I knew I had to be in tune with the album - so I'd find a piece of a song where Joe or Brad just left an A or E string ringing open long enough for me to tune to it... Blah blah blah... All Led Zeppelin LPs up to "Presence/Song Remains The Same," all Queen LPs up to "The Game." But especially "Queen 1, Queen 2, Sheer Heart Attack, Night At The Opera/Day At Races, News Of The World, Jazz, The Game," and I just couldn't do "Hot Space" etc... Theodore Nugent's first LP only. "Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush - Live." All Blue Oyster Cult up to and including "Cultosaurus Erectus." I learned Rick Derringer stuff especially "All American Boy" and "Derringer - Live." But I fckn especially loved "Presence" and still do.
In the late 70's I was in HS, I used to come home put this song on and jam to it on the drums, I actually had it down real well for a HS kid, this song along with many other Zepp songs really schooled my rock drumming. I would chart things out if needed, what I'm trying to say is Bonham taught me a lot, ie: when to keep it real basic, when to not hit the crash on the down beat, when to lay back and at the right time; and then add the killer fill and be fancy at the appropriate time, but to me most importantly as a single bass freak that I am, is that there's a certain art to single bass with a band what I mean is the bass drum and snare really push the band, and if you tap in to that artistry with those two things you can really move people. Of coarse the Hi Hat and everything else, but the way Bonzo played between the Sn & BD really taught me a lot. Thee other important thing is (and it wasn't hard being full Italian) is that you play from you're soul with passion, like it's your last day on earth. There are other progressive drummers out there that are contrive and great at what they do, but it's a pre meditated thought out thorough composition, and I get it, but Bonham could improvise like a Genius, and if ya listen to Page after Johns death that was one of the main reason's Page said they can't go on... This video is pure Gold! It shows the Genius of that BD & SN artistry (and proper fill placement) pushing the band. Sorry long winded, Peace
I can remember seeing Jason Bonham play at the Fforde Green venue in Leeds in the 80s but his band were too loud? Always liked his father's drumming and had every album Zep did. He was the ultimate power drummer. I was quite upset when he died he was to me power drums 🥁 God bless John Bonham.
When Jason inquired Robert about a Led Zeppelin reunion, Robert emphatically stated his love for Jason in memory of his father can't and won't take the place only Robert personally knew Bonzo fulfilled as it was unnamiously decided by Jimmy in the band's inception.
Really cool! Thanks. There’s another video I like as well where Jim Gordon’s drums are isolated on Layla but the other instruments can be heard at a low level.
this is epic,talk about the hammer of the gods man........like many have said,he played the riff him jonesy and pagey were locked on like no other there will NEVER be another led Zeppelin
Incredible drumming from the greatest of all time. 🤘🏽🤘🏽 The sad thing is that you can't get a studio performance like this these days. A producer would want everything to fit on a grid, which would completely kill the energy and force of a performance like this.
John had so much feel and pocket!! And that right foot was something special too!!! He was my favorite without a doubt. I would rather have great feel like him any day than some chop monster. John had more than plenty of Chops though. Like fool in the rain. He came up with that half time shuffle. A lot of the greatest drummers learned that one off of him. Like Jeff Parcaro used it on Rosanna.
I've seen one where it is just John Bonham and John Paul Jones playing this. No vocals, no guitar. Its really amazing to think about how Zeppelin could have taken this song in so many different directions.
