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Was John Bonham aware of Neil Peart?


Walter

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Rush, for their musicianship alone, are one of the best bands ever.

But...

The material they put out throughout the 80's and into the 90's,IMO, is less than desireable.

I see many talk about Neil Peart being the best rock drummer ever. I believe the reasoning for that is Bonham has been dead since 80' and Rush is still an active band.

To this day, I have yet to hear another rock drummer do what Bonham did. I believe John Bonham was faster than Peart. People will debate this one, but just listen to some of the early versions of Pat's Delight, the 73' European tour, the 75' North American tour and 77'. John was incredibly fast. However, speed isn't everything. Bonham's crossovers were on par with Buddy Rich. The bass drum playing? No one could touch Bonham in that regard. Look at the size of Bonham's kit. It's a quarter the size of Peart's, yet Bonham sounded much bigger. He made a small kit sound like he had one the size of Peart's.

1. John Bonham

2. Mitch Mitchell

3. Neil Peart

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I agree. As a drummer, he's much better than Mitch Mitchell, for example.

Much better? I don't know...

Bruford is definitely one of my favorite drummers.

A musician could be the best on the planet from a technical standpoint, but create crap. Keith Moon wasn't technically great, but what he put on those Who records was (great).

I also love the drumming of:

Ian Paice

David Grohl

Jimmy Chamberlain

Matt Cameron

Carl Palmer

Carmine Appice

Billy Cobham

Ginger Baker

Buddy Rich

Gene Krupa

Elvin Jones

Stuart Copeland

Buddy Miles

Bernard Purdie

Ed Shaughnessey

Edited by Amstel
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Too generic playing.

Have you seen any live footage of David Grohl playing with Queens Of The Stone Age? Look for footage on youtube of them playing at The Troubador.

What about his drumming with Them Crooked Vultures?

Too generic? I disagree.

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  • 2 years later...

Old thread and topic , I know . I had the same question though . FYI , the reason Neil Peart was called the Professor is not what I am sure most of us thought . Really not flattering at all .

'' An even earlier nickname given to me, “The Professor,” had an an equally ironic root. It was not, as many strangers assumed, some reflection of admiration from the Guys at Work for my intellect and learning. Oh no. Nor did it reflect an actual university degree, as some rumors held. No, the Guys at Work were simply equating my demeanor with the character on “Gilligan’s Island,” played by Russell Johnson.

Not terribly insulting—but not exactly cool, either.

 

The screwball sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” only aired for three seasons in the mid-’60s, but for decades after it was widely syndicated. During the show’s first season, Professor Roy Hinkley, Ph.D, was not even included in the opening theme song—the five other characters were mentioned by name, but he and Mary Ann were lumped into “and the rest.”

 

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Neil sounds nothing like Keith.. Bonham seems to have been his biggest influence, whether he wants to admit it or not..

Besides Bonzo, Moonie, Buddy, I love John Densmore - great feel. Ginger was a big influence on Bonzo, and I also like him.

Nice to have some fellow drummers around! I should check out the musician page!

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1 hour ago, MortSahlFan said:

Neil sounds nothing like Keith.. Bonham seems to have been his biggest influence, whether he wants to admit it or not..

Besides Bonzo, Moonie, Buddy, I love John Densmore - great feel. Ginger was a big influence on Bonzo, and I also like him.

Nice to have some fellow drummers around! I should check out the musician page!

Keith was one of Neil's personal favorite. (He has spoke of this a few times in interviews.) Moon was so much of an influence that his drum kits for the past few tours (especially Clockwork Angels) were a take-off from Moon's mid 60's Premier kits.

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On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2013 at 7:44 AM, ACrowley said:

 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 was recently reading an article / interview with Bill Ward . Ward said that he heard Bonzo play on Jason's kit. The Drums were much smaller and Bonzo had an innate ability to hit the drum on the sweet spot every time . According to Ward he brought the thunder.

I agree that he was starting to trend to more a complex style using less power and more touch, this is very noticeable on ITTOD. South Bound has some incredibly intricate patterns and time changes, most of that album has some real slick drumming on it.

Neal Peart is not one of my favorites despite his brilliance .  Bonzo was a student of all things regarding drumming. I would bet he heard of Peart especially after 2112.  

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watch?v=QkIwRqJ9XxgPut on a pair of head phones and crank this up. You can hear the power and precision very clearly. These guys have a bunch of interesting "remasters" but I can't say I have ever heard Bonzo so clearly before.

Towards the end he is really slugging away but his strikes are so clean. I found it to be extremely entertaining .

1/15/73 Dedicated To Rizzlers has the drums way up in the mix . It's one of my favorite Dazed and Confused renditions . Bonzo is going completely wild but he is on perfect time. For me 1973 was his best year . The Club Jaunt and Germany are just amazing.

I prefer the "sluggers" like Bill Ward , Vinny Appice, Cozy Powell and Keith Moon. I was surprised to read that Moon was an idol of Neal Peart, they are like polar opposites. 

I would have thought Carl Palmer, Bruford and White or even Ginger Baker.

I would love to hear Geddy Lee playing with Bonham or Moon that would be an amazing rhythm section.   

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On 6/3/2013 at 10:49 AM, Walter said:

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. ...

La Villa Strangiato is on Hemispheres (as I'm sure you know) so that shows Page at least was aware of Rush beyond Fly By Night, the first record Peart plays on.   Wonder what he thought when he and Halfin got to "Rivendell" on side two?   

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Interesting question! 

I would hazard a guess that Bonham did not know of Peart's playing, due to Rush's lack of popularity in England in the 1970s.

Rush didn't get really famous in England (Bonham's home) until their 1980 album release, "Permanent Waves," (Spirt of Radio, Freewill) as the album charted in the U.K. charts to the #3 position.  [Previously, I believe, only 1977's "A Farewell to Kings" charted in the U.K. to #22, probably because of the "Closer to the Heart" track.]  Rush's 1981 "Moving Pictures" (Tom Sawyer, Limelight) help them to become even more famous, but by then, sadly Bonham had departed us.

Was Bonham a fan of (what we now call) "classic rock" back in late 1970s, 1980?  It was somewhat uncool to be during that period in England -- and maybe one of the reasons why Zeppelin steered "In Through the Out Door" to a more "pop," less hard rock sound overall.

If John did hear Peart's playing, it may have been on the 1977 tour in the U.S.? I don't know.  Like other posters here have commented, probably the only person who might know is his son, Jason.

Edited by dpat
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On June 9, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Mercurious said:

La Villa Strangiato is on Hemispheres (as I'm sure you know) so that shows Page at least was aware of Rush beyond Fly By Night, the first record Peart plays on.   Wonder what he thought when he and Halfin got to "Rivendell" on side two?   

No idea.  I do hope we are able to finally get a definitive answer to the question posed, someday....

Edited by Walter
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It would be a question for Jason & his mom to answer. I don't think they were on anyone's "radar" until Permanent Waves, even though 2112, Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres did well - but they were playing theaters. I don't think John listened to bands for drummers, he liked groove. I'm sure he couldn't stand disco but probably loved P-Funk. He probably heard Prince and Rick James. Bands that were being compared to LZ, I'm sure Jimmy and Robert had a snobby attitude about "wannabe Zep bands" at first. Over time they'd cross paths, see the shows, make small talk and have laughs. I know Geddy talked about staying in the same hotel with Robert and they wound up hanging out. 

Neil also worked in a Kings Row shop and did some gigs in London before he joined Rush. 

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On June 9, 2016 at 10:22 AM, Mercurious said:

La Villa Strangiato is on Hemispheres (as I'm sure you know) so that shows Page at least was aware of Rush beyond Fly By Night, the first record Peart plays on.   Wonder what he thought when he and Halfin got to "Rivendell" on side two?   

I remember an interview with Page pre-1980 and was asked what he thought of Rush, all he said was (and I quote), "fucking brilliant". It was probably in Creem Magazine around 1978. Im sure Bonham was very aware of Neil Peart as well.

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10 hours ago, blindwillie127 said:

I remember an interview with Page pre-1980 and was asked what he thought of Rush, all he said was (and I quote), "fucking brilliant". It was probably in Creem Magazine around 1978. Im sure Bonham was very aware of Neil Peart as well.

That fits.  Hemispheres was recorded at Rockfield Studios in SE Wales during summer of 1978, and released in October, so Page would have likely owned a copy by winter 1978-79 and heard "La Villa Strangiato" -  just "fucking brilliant"  but not a radio-friendly piece like "Closer to the Heart." 

To add more to the likelihood that Bonham was aware of Rush is that Rush played 7 UK dates in 1977 (their first British shows), sold out London, Birmingham and Manchester and then went off to Rockfied to record Farewell to Kings. (Source: 2112.net)   The major British music press gave Rush a very positive reception, and they then returned on a broader European in early 1978 -- including more UK dates -- and back to Rockfield in the summer for Hemispheres

The possibility that Bonham was NOT aware of Rush and Neil Peart does seem pretty remote.

Edited by Mercurious
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Bonham is my favourite drummer ever, who the best is is always hard to say. Peart certainly is a fantastic drummer, but personally I love Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins because he plays jazzy beats but in a thunderous style. For Bonham-esque playing, check out Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes live at the Greek with Steve Gorman on drums. You can see how much Page rates him because of how close he stays to him during the performance. 

 

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