I'd say there is a Mr Buddy Rich, although obviously not in the Rock and Roll category, who would have something to say about your statement. Don't get me wrong, Bonham is beyond phenomenal and a VERY heavy influence on 50+ years worth of drummers! The Buddy Rich drum solos here on RU-vid are beyond believe!
A lot of great drummers out there but Bonham was a pioneer for rock drumming and easily top 5 in history. Who's on top is arguable...Love Bonham but Peart is my choice. You could easily flip a coin to decide on this. Both are amazing in their own right.
Yes - Bonham said he picked his style up from the drummers in the great "Big Band Jazz" bands - because this music featured the drummers who drove the music, to a degree, drummers like Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Gene Croupa & Count Basie's Orchetra's drummer Jo Jones and other New Orleans / Island style drumming, where it was a swinging riff rhythm. He did an excellent job "disguising" if he was in 2/4, 3/3, 4/4, etc.. so, sometimes a buddy of mine who's a drummer said he had thought some of the songs he thought were in say 2/4 time you know 1,2 1,2 and so on, when it was really in a 3/4 swing or something.. The guy was / is a "Master" Drummer, one, if not the best to ever puck up the instrument. What also enhances Bonham is how well he melded to Jimmy Page's style, which is self taught, like me-self! But, that really lends credence to their chemistry along with Jonh Paul Jones & Robert Plant still, all these years later is in-matched. They happened at exactly the right moment in time.
@@tdunph4250 There's a few more drummers in the category besides Buddy Rich. Gene Krupa and Joe Morello spring to mind. not to mention also in the Rock category. Ian Pace, Chad Smith, a few others.
4 supernatural musicians who came together in time and space. We will never see this again. Led Zeppelin wasn’t a band, they were a spiritual experience.
This video shows how John Bonham was the power behind Led Zeppelin... that was why Zeppelin split up after he passed away in 1980. It was impossible to replicate his skills or musical input into their recordings to create that sound & groove which made Led Zeppelin a massive band.
John played from a different place inside himself. You can see how every fiber of his being is locked into his craft. You can feel his soul in this piece. Great reaction! Thanks for checking this out!
BONZO the greatest of all time with the sticks! His undisputed talent gave Zeppelin that sound we haven't heard since his passing! He's still loved and missed to this day!
Even as he is thrashing around that drum kit only one word comes to mind and that is fluid. As heavy as that sound is he just makes it look so easy but he is working hard. Every member of Led Zeppelin brings something amazing to the music. There have been and will be many rock and roll bands but Led Zeppelin will always be at or near the top. Finely tuned musical machine.
Glad you watched this. yes, he was/is the BEST rock drummer of them all. (He of course admired and learned from the greats before him--like Buddy rich.)
He even holds the drum sticks like Buddy Rich but Bonzo is the Best Drummer ever! Neil Peart from Rush is also great but he would use alot more drums then Bonzo! Bonzo made this great music with a mostly a regular drum set with a few other things hear and there! ZEPPELIN IS THE GOATS!! They have the best Guitarist of all time in Jimmy Page and then Robert Plant is one of the GOATS singer and JPJ was also a great bassist and keyboards but always got over looked because of the other ones but Collectively they are the GOATS!!
Yes, he would play this with his hands and the drum rims would sometimes cut his fingers. In later years of touring, this solo could last 30 minutes. It got to the point where the rest of the guys would be lounging back in the dressing room and they'd have a roadie run back and forth to the stage to keep them updated on where he was with it. In Chicago, Jimmy had enough time to go back to the hotel and come back and Bonzo was still playing. I don't know if you've reacted to Black Mountain Side from their first album yet; it's an instrumental with Jimmy playing guitar and a session person playing tabla. At this same concert, Jimmy would perform Black Mountain Side merged with a Yardbirds instrumental called White Summer with Bonzo adding occasional percussion. Here it is from RU-vid: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kJQ_rJR3yCs.html
Another famous name that goes with this song is John Paul Jones ... on bass. This type of "song" is one he'll never play exactly the same two times in-a-row; every version unique. I've heard stories that Bonham broke so many sticks in his career, some people say his record will never be equaled! Dynamite alternative to the studio/album version. Plus the visual -- a knock-out! Many thanx for posting this one, PÔPE!
royal albert hall 1970, it was jimmys 26th birthday and hes wearing a sweater his mum knitted him for it lol, how rock n roll is thatr!! this whole gig is FANTASTIC btw
I keep hearing people talk about Neil Peart being the greatest drummer ever and John Henry Bonham did this at age 21 or 22. John Henry Bonham is the goat 🐐 of drummers Hands down
"Moby Dick" is an instrumental drum solo by English rock band Led Zeppelin, featured on the band's 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. Named after the 1851 novel of the same name by Herman Melville, it was also known by the alternative titles "Pat's Delight" (early 1968-1969 version with completely different guitar riff) and "Over the Top" (with "Out on the Tiles" intro section and original closing reprise) during various points of the band's career.
The song was named Moby Dick simply because, the name itself brings to your mind the image of the biggest, most furious creature ever unleashed. That was what John Henry Bonham was on the drums. Hence, the title...because of the drum solo, as most of the song. He studied ancient drumming by the Druids, and other ritual, tribal art forms of drumming.
The spirit force behind all drumming s is African , the superlative genius is John Bonham was that in the fact that he being a white Anglo Saxon man , this spirit force of playing the drums like no one else was very much heavily settled upon him , an undeniable gift from the one and only true God, hence its easy to see that he was impossible to be replaced. There will never be another led zeppelin on this side of armageddon.
The Royal Albert Hall concert - some of which is on the official Led Zeppelin DVD. I can't Quit You Baby and How Many More Times from this gig is the greatest thing ever captured on film.
It was recorded on January 9th, 1970 at Royal Albert Hall - he was only 21 yrs old. It was the band's chance to go back stage and relax for 10 to 30 mins - depending on the night - LOL
They had been playing together about 14 months at this point, formed late September 1968, 1st album took 20-30 hours of studio time, and is one of the best / if not the best debut album in the history of rock & music, for that matter. It's amazing. This was recorded at The Royal Albert Hall 1/9/70. Jimmy's birthday, 26th
I was waiting for your reaction for the bit at @14:35, I said to myself ``He`s gonna react in some way to that bit``. If I had a penny for all the times I rewound that bit, I`d be a rich man. Absolutely incredible drumming. RIP Bonzo.
SPOT ON MATE! His Nickname was Bonzo (The Beast!) His Friends/Peers, who became Great Legendary Drummers in their own right, said Bonham was The Best of them! The Man was Born To Play Drums!
Just found your page, only thing better than watching the vid was being able to experience it live. Mesmerizing! Many (many) years later I was able to tell his widow how beautiful it was.
His son Jason Bonham is also a great drummer. In fact he played with Heart on their cover of Stairway to Heaven at the Kennedy Center Honors program also played drums with the rest of Zeppelin during their Celebration Day reunion concert. And I'm sure he made his dad proud on both.
I love the fact there was times where during the drum solo at the end, the rest of band would just leave the stage for like a good 5 minutes while the solo was going. Then come back once he was finishing off the solo to finish the song.
My biggest influence. Overlooked is his finesse and technique. He's playing double stroke rolls and using great dynamics. His favorites were drummers like Gene Krupa and Art Blakey, check them old timers out, they rip!
The story of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones hiding a second bass drum from John Bonham at Headley Grange. It's hard to match a single bass drum and a single pedal even comes close to what he was doing breathe deep and listen hard
@popenyco - 2 things a) have you ever watched Sesame Street? If so, the character "Animal" is based upon Mr. Bonham, for reasons you verbalized - he's like an animal back there on the drums. B) the song was named "Moby Dick" due to John's son Jason Bonham, only 3 or 4 years old at the time, would like it when he would request his daddy to "play long song, play long song like Moby (Dick)".. that's how the name originated. This has been my favorite band since I heard the first few roffs off the 4th album when I was 11 or 12. So, for the last 30+ years, I've sought out live performances far and wide. And found a great many of them.. but with RU-vid, it's another level. I think you'd really like some of the Whole Lotta Love Medleys.. also - not much video exists of the band outside what the members have. So, also check out a live Trampled Underfoot 5/24/75 from Earl's Court. Jimmy's a whole nother beast by this point, then heavy drug use affected his playing and the bands especially in 1977.. 1979 has some good shows inckuding Knebworth, which has an amazing "Achilles Last Stand". Have fun fishing in the Zeppelin pond, it's beautiful and un-matched.
Every time I watch one of your reviews I see myself rocking out the first time I heard so many of the songs you reviewed. Love seeing you loving all these great songs. So real.
It is said that the song is named Moby Dick because his young son would ask him to play "the long song." When John asked why, the boy answered, "It's big like Moby" (from the book by Herman Melville about the captain of a whaling ship and his quest to kill the giant whale dubbed Moby Dick). Bonham would sometimes play up to 30 minutes while the rest of the band would leave the stage to kick back and grab a smoke. Bonham sometimes drew blood performing this solo when using his hands. That son, Jason, grew up to be a professional drummer.
