Bonzo playing two bass drums?

[ZeppMan93]

I know in early 1969 when he got with Ludwig that he got the exact same double bass drum kit that Carmine Appice had, I know I saw a picture of him on stage with the drum kit. Is there any recordings out there that have him playing that kit? Even though he didn't need it. I'm curious.

[Glyn]

I don't believe there are any shows that were recorded when he used it. I could be wrong though.

He did use it for the "Communication Breakdown" promo,

[ZeppMan93]

Oh yeah, that's right. I totally forgot that he had it in that promo. I heard a bootlegs from early concerts in '69 that sound like he is using double bass, but again its probably single bass.

[Melcórë]

Oh yeah, that's right. I totally forgot that he had it in that promo. I heard a bootlegs from early concerts in '69 that sound like he is using double bass, but again its probably single bass.

Isn't that a Pagey quote? That people always thought he was getting that sound out of two, but he was only using one?

[badgeholder]

Check out the photo section here, there are some great shots from Albequerque, New Mexico, showing Bonzo using the double-bass set-up

I would kill to find a boot from one of these double-bass shows. We have San Berdardino, but you can't hear anything but Jimmy on that horrible recording

[Glyn]

^ from what I've read, it's disputed/not 100% if he used a double bass drum at San Bernardino although he definitely had it the next night in Anaheim.

[badgeholder]

^^^ That's right, there is some confusion there, I think some of the Anaheim photos were originally labeled San Berdu. But it's still possible, given the time frame. Possibly Berkeley, Houston, Sacramento, even San Diego, are also strong possibilities.

[ZeppMan93]

I saw those photos and tried to make out any drums in the San Bernardino audio bootleg. The one audio tape that is known to have Bonzo's double bass drums in it, all you can hear is Jimmy's guitar. Although he would have never have needed to bass drums, it would have been cool if he kept it throughout his career to see what types of fills and stuff he could come up with. I'm sure if they didn't tell him that he didn't need it, he might have kept it and the future albums could have been different if he had two bass drums. I would think he would have been the greatest double bass drummer of the 70s if that had been the case. He would have been good with is right AND left foot.

[Glyn]

I saw those photos and tried to make out any drums in the San Bernardino audio bootleg. The one audio tape that is known to have Bonzo's double bass drums in it, all you can hear is Jimmy's guitar. Although he would have never have needed to bass drums, it would have been cool if he kept it throughout his career to see what types of fills and stuff he could come up with. I'm sure if they didn't tell him that he didn't need it, he might have kept it and the future albums could have been different if he had two bass drums. I would think he would have been the greatest double bass drummer of the 70s if that had been the case. He would have been good with is right AND left foot.

I point everyone to this thread over at RO, a discussion on the double bass drum, San Bernardino and Anaheim. The conclusion seems to be that there was no second bass drum at San Bernardino.

[chef free]

Bonzo got such a hot foot that I can't tell if he's playing a double bass anywhere! Are there any studio tracks known to feature Bonzo on double bass?

[ZeppMan93]

I point everyone to this thread over at RO, a discussion on the double bass drum, San Bernardino and Anaheim. The conclusion seems to be that there was no second bass drum at San Bernardino.

Gotta love typos and mistakes when trying to figure out what photograph goes with what concert. If that Anaheim show ever popped up somewhere, I would love to hear it.

Bonzo got such a hot foot that I can't tell if he's playing a double bass anywhere! Are there any studio tracks known to feature Bonzo on double bass?

He never used double bass in the studio to my knowledge. If he were to have double bass in the studio, Led Zeppelin II probably would have had it since they recorded that around May 1969 which would be around the time where he decided to have a double bass kit. Again, I'm 99% certain that he used one bass drum in all of the studio recordings. If there were any additional tracks like Jennings Farm Blues or something like that where he had that, then maybe. But I'm sure he didn't use double bass. Would be cool if he did though, see what he would do with it.

[mikezep61]

A Salt Lake City radio station flyer from January 30, 1970 has a photo of the band in action at the Terrace Ballroom in SLC on July 30, 1969. It shows Bonzo with a double bass drum setup. That makes the third show with definitive photographic proof of Bonzo with a double bass drum setup: 7/30/69 SLC; 8/2/69 Albuquerque; and 8/9/69 Anaheim.

On the official timeline page, a former Boston Tea Party employee who starting working at the club the weekend of Zeppelin's January appearances mentioned that Bonzo had also used a double bass drum setup on the last night - Jan. 26th. In Peter Grant's 1994 interview with Dave Lewis he mentioned that Bonzo had used a double bass drum setup at the Tea Party and it was a disaster. He mentioned bragging to promoter John Law (actually Don Law) about Bonzo and that he proceeded to go out and drop the sticks a few times!

[ledzepfilm]

Based on the pictures shown on its respective Timeline page, Bonham didn't use two bass drums on 1/26/1969.

EDIT: All of the concert photos for that date are dated as January 1969, and not specifically 1/26. So I take that comment back.

[ZeppMan93]

Oh I didn't realize Bonham used the double bass drums on the 7/30 shows, I only thought it was the 8/2 and 8/9 show. Shows you how fast that idea went out the window haha. So I guess he only used it between 7/30 and 8/9. So basically a week he used it. That's funny. Thanks guys for the info.