Was John Bonham aware of Neil Peart?

[Walter]

There is always a debate over who is/was the better drummer, but that is obviously opinion based. What I am wondering is, are there any quotes by John Bonham about Neil's playing? Was he even aware of him? I know he loved Stewart Copeland of The Police and voiced that a few times in '79-'80, but I have never read anything where he spoke about Peart.

[fishhead]

There is always a debate over who is/was the better drummer, but that is obviously opinion based. What I am wondering is, are there any quotes by John Bonham about Neil's playing? Was he even aware of him? I know he loved Stewart Copeland of The Police and voiced that a few times in '79-'80, but I have never read anything where he spoke about Peart.

Great question Walter! I have never read anything, but maybe someone around here has.

Too bad Jason wasn't on here (or maybe he is), he may know about what contemporary drummers his dad may have liked or spoke about.

On an aside, I have read he loved to play along with "Carry on My Wayward Son"...great song...ciao Fishy

[zepscoda]

There is always a debate over who is/was the better drummer, but that is obviously opinion based. What I am wondering is, are there any quotes by John Bonham about Neil's playing? Was he even aware of him? I know he loved Stewart Copeland of The Police and voiced that a few times in '79-'80, but I have never read anything where he spoke about Peart.

I have often asked myself that same question. I would think he must have heard Rush at some point.

[Sagittarius Rising]

They were both going in similar directions regarding their evolving technique, though Bonham approached it sooner. You can really notice a change in Bonham's style with Presence, especially in HOFN & RO, the former utilizing a modified Purdie shuffle & jazz beats while the later a New Orleans jazz beat. Once you get to ITTOD he combined the beat patterns of HOFN & RO for Fool in the Rain. Again a modified (but different from HOFN) Purdie shuffle, the samba break, and back to the shuffle pattern. Neil would start using similar patterns in the 90's and move in a more jazz direction.

I truly believe had Bonham lived he would have moved even further into jazz (Copeland's style is very jazz) and the music Zeppelin would have produced could have been very dynamic indeed!

[chef free]

Bonham's drum heroes were jazz drummers.

[Disco Duck]

Great question Walter! I have never read anything, but maybe someone around here has.

Too bad Jason wasn't on here (or maybe he is), he may know about what contemporary drummers his dad may have liked or spoke about.

On an aside, I have read he loved to play along with "Carry on My Wayward Son"...great song...ciao Fishy

I've always liked "Carry on Wayward Son" but I've never paid much attention to the drum parts. I'll have to listen more carefully next time.

[kingzoso]

I do not have any quotes or actual information of John Bonham actually being aware of Neil Peart from back in the day (the 1970's), however, I would assume that Bonzo was probably aware of him.

Rush released their first album in 1973 and most of the songs of Rush were almost variations of different Led Zeppelin songs. Listen to the great Rush song from the first lp titled, "Here Again", a great song and the guitar solo by Alex Lifeson is straight out of the Jimmy Page playbook.

http://youtu.be/b8kI21wR8g8

Neil Peart replaced John Rutsey for their second album, Fly By Night.

I would assume that all the members of Led Zeppelin were fully aware of Rush at some point in mid to late 1970's. If not then here is a (somewhat) answer.

http://youtu.be/upL9LJonoLg

I Love Led Zeppelin and I would have to say that Rush is right behind them.

[Walter]

Bonham's drum heroes were jazz drummers.

I wasn't asking about Bonzo's "heroes" just if he was aware of Peart, who was already being called "the professor" of drumming in the late 70's and if Bonham had made any public comments about him or his drumming. As far as jazz drummers, it is worth noting that Peart went under the tutor-ledge of legendary jazz drummer Freddie Gruber to learn better technique. It's just interesting that the guys who repeatedly are considered the two greatest rock drummers were never really cross referenced by one another. I've searched for some quotes on either side, not much came up from Peart on Bonham and nothing has come up from Bonham on Peart.

[chef free]

I was responding to Sagittarius Rising's prediction that Bonham would have gone in a jazz direction.

[kingzoso]

This does not have anything to do with Neil Peart and John Bonham (as related to the topic), but in the Rush Dvd documentary, "Beyond the Lighted Stage", Neil Peart does say the He was the biggest Keith Moon fan when he was younger.

I Love both Drummers a lot, (Bonzo more) and I wish there was some commentary from either drummer in terms of them saying that They Loved and Respected each other back in the day.

Of course I cannot speak for Neil Peart, but I am sure that John Henry Bonham was and is a major influence on him. Just like Jimmy Page was and is and still a major influence on the great Alex Lifeson.

[bluecongo]

sadly there are just a handful of Bonzo interviews, we hardly know anything about what he liked or thought. Ask Jason maybe he knows.

[phredzeppelin63]

I'm pretty sure Bonham knew who peart and rush were,because other than himself and mooney,peart is the 3rd greatest rock drummer ever and was back then. you are not the best drummer in the world as Bonham was in the 1970s and not know who the competition was in your field!

[zeppy668]

At the very least, look at old reader's polls during the 1970s for best drummer. Didn't Karen Carpenter win best drummer one year and Bonzo threw his hands up in the air after reading it?

[phredzeppelin63]

At the very least, look at old reader's polls during the 1970s for best drummer. Didn't Karen Carpenter win best drummer one year and Bonzo threw his hands up in the air after reading it?

That was in playboy. bonzo knew of peart because buddy rich was bonhams fave drummer and pearts as well. without question,bonham,moon and peart have been the best rock drummers to ever play rock and roll since they all came on the scenes in the late 1960s/early 1970s in peart's case,so i'm confident they borrowed or stole from one another riff wise! pretty sure they were well aware of one another.i know that alex lifeson did not meet jimmy page and Robert plant until the 1998 page plant tour stopped in Toronto.he says he borrowed riffs from page,and wanted to thank him!

[Melcórë]

An interesting question, particularly in light on Bonham's increasing self-deprecation during the latter years.

[ZeppMan93]

I'm sure Bonzo knew who Neil Peart was. Unless his drumming prowess didn't gain recognition until later, I'm not sure, I wasn't around in the 70s.

[phredzeppelin63]

Bonzo did not die until 1980,and peart joined rush in 1972 taking john rutsey's place,so I am sure they knew of one another,but not sure if they ever got to meet in person.

[Wolfman]

I know Bonzo was a huge fan of Stewart Copeland of the Police.

[phredzeppelin63]

I know from reading peart's books that keith moon was his fave rock drummer,but buddy rich was his fave ever drummer! when he does his solos at rush shows,he does it to big band music with rich on drums piped in!

he also liked bonzo a lot.

[Honeydrip79]

In my younger years, I really hated Rush. However; as I have aged, I have really grown to love Rush. In my opinion, 2112 is one of the most epic rock albums of all time. Rush is a very talented band and I respect them a lot. They seem like very down to earth genuinely nice guys as well, who truly appreciate their fans. I met a guy once who saw their tour bus driving down the road and followed them until they parked. Then, he got out and knocked on the door. Getty Lee answered and the guy said he almost started crying he was so excited! He said they were all really nice to him.

[phredzeppelin63]

In my younger years, I really hated Rush. However; as I have aged, I have really grown to love Rush. In my opinion, 2112 is one of the most epic rock albums of all time. Rush is a very talented band and I respect them a lot. They seem like very down to earth genuinely nice guys as well, who truly appreciate their fans. I met a guy once who saw their tour bus driving down the road and followed them until they parked. Then, he got out and knocked on the door. Getty Lee answered and the guy said he almost started crying he was so excited! He said they were all really nice to him.

Getty and alex are really good with fans,but peart avoids them like the plague!

[Sagittarius Rising]

^ Yep, Peart respects and likes the fans but is a very private person. He just cannot understand why a person connects appreciation of musical talent with the individual on an intimate level. I kind of agree, to a point. I love the Zeppelin chaps but if I saw them in person I would be very reticent to approach, I would feel that I was invading their privacy. The most I could do is possibly amble over, say hi and that I appreciate their talent and contribution, wish them well and walk away. Now if they engaged me at that point, well, you have just opened the flood gates...game on!!!

[Walter]

Here is a post from the Rush thread where Ross Halfin speaks of playing "Fly By Night" for Jimmy....

British rock photographer Ross Halfin's online diary entry for this past Monday, May 27th describes how he went to a record fair with Jimmy Page and played him Rush's Fly By Night in the car:

May 27th: A very nice and sunny - and hot - Bank Holiday Monday. Did I sit in the garden and enjoy it? No, I drove to Jimmy Page's, picked him up and headed to Reading to the record fair. As I had Rush's Fly By Night in the car it was time for Jimmy to experience Anthem and Beneath, Between and Behind on the motorway. He liked the drumming and I did catch him listening to Alex Lifeson. Jimmy told me he liked La Villa Strangiato. ...

Based on that experience, I'm not so sure that Bonham had heard Peart play. I was mainly asking in case SAJ (or others) had quotes he had come across in his vast collection of Zeppelin publications. I think bluecongo put it best, guess I need to ask Jason if he ever had a conversation with his dad about Peart, or if he remembers Bonzo listening to any Rush and commenting on the drumming. Thanks.

Bonzo did not die until 1980,and peart joined rush in 1972 taking john rutsey's place,so I am sure they knew of one another,but not sure if they ever got to meet in person.

[ACrowley]

I used to love Rush up until the Moving Pictures album but from that point they seemed to be employing more and more keyboards and lost their rock edge. I believe some of the recent albums have seen them returning to their roots - they were heavily influenced by Zeppelin (particularly when they started out). I love Bonzo and Peart as drummers although their styles were completely different. Peart used a massive kit and also percussion such as timbales, glockenspiels etc and his playing was technically very tight - his timing was near perfect. Bonzo used a smaller kit but he was a power house - his bass drum sound was monstrous and the overall effect was really impressive.

I'm sure Bonzo would have known about Peart and I would be surprised if he didn't respect his technical ability - virtually every drummer I come across puts him in their top 10 drummers

[yerboguy]

I'm sure Bonzo knew who Neil Peart was. Unless his drumming prowess didn't gain recognition until later, I'm not sure, I wasn't around in the 70s.

This is a good point. Yes Paert is aknowledged as an all time great but I have my doubts whether or not that was the case by the time Bonham passed away. I was in my rock 'n roll prime at that time and a huge fan of both bands but I do not recall Paert being lauded as a great drummer at the time, whereas bonham was considered the pinnacle. Which is not to say Bonham hadn't noticed him, just that he may not have been considered as nearly on the same level at the time of Bonham's passing.