John Bonham's favourite Drummers

[IpMan]

1 hour ago, porgie66 said:

Yes, it sounds a lot like it and I can understand why you would say you think its a direct take from Bonham's triplet bit but it's a common lick used by many drummers to create excitement in their solo. 

Paice is doing the same thing in this clip, only with a single bass drum, so triplets just like Bonham did, not quads....around 3:55 and again at around 4:30. I firmly believe this bit is directly inspired by Ginger Baker who did it all the time in his solos (The Toad) , and that Ginger copped this from Elvin Jones. Certainly Bonzo was influenced a lot by Baker's solo. 

Thanks for that info Porgie, I am not a drummer, just a humble guitarist so I do not know all the technical drumming jargon and what something is per se when played on the drums. Knowing what Baker, Bonham, Paice, and Peart were doing was a somewhat standard progression (for want of a better term) in drumming makes sense now. Thank you. 

I really need to talk shop with drummers more often, I love to learn this stuff.

[Mook]

1 hour ago, porgie66 said:

Anyone with me on this? 

Aye, I hear it loud & clear.

[porgie66]

23 minutes ago, Mook said:

Aye, I hear it loud & clear.

I can just hear that Edinburgh accent! ?

[Mook]

9 minutes ago, porgie66 said:

I can just hear that Edinburgh accent! ?

Ha ha.

In a similar vein, I reckon Bonham was a big fan of the drumming on The House That Jack Built by Aretha Franklin. Worth having a listen to anyway.

[the chase]

9 hours ago, porgie66 said:

Anyone with me on this? 

Yep.  Sounds great too. 

[porgie66]

10 hours ago, Mook said:

Ha ha.

In a similar vein, I reckon Bonham was a big fan of the drumming on The House That Jack Built by Aretha Franklin. Worth having a listen to anyway.

Absolutely, that's the same vibe. Roger Hawkins. I've never read any reference that Bonzo made to him, but he sure sounds like he took inspiration from him. 

[porgie66]

11 hours ago, IpMan said:

Thanks for that info Porgie, I am not a drummer, just a humble guitarist so I do not know all the technical drumming jargon and what something is per se when played on the drums. Knowing what Baker, Bonham, Paice, and Peart were doing was a somewhat standard progression (for want of a better term) in drumming makes sense now. Thank you. 

I really need to talk shop with drummers more often, I love to learn this stuff.

Thanks LP Man.  All good. I appreciate the fact that you are open to hearing what I had to say on that subject. There are a lot of people on this forum that know very specific detailed info about Zep, way more than me...but one thing I do feel confident in my knowledge of is Bonzo's drumming.  As much as I like and respect Moon, Paice, Mitchell, Bruford, Peart...all the great rock drummers, no one tops Bonzo for that funky, soulful feel combined with an absolutely glorious , full sound and an uncanny sense of timing and use of space. With Bonzo, I hear elements of Purdie, Hawkins, Zigaboo, Al Jackson Jr., Stubblefield. I don't hear those drummers really at all in the others I mentioned, and that's the biggest distinction. Those cats all were super funky , pocket players...Bonham too. 

[muybein]

Word- therein lies the secret sauce

[blindwillie127]

On August 2, 2017 at 1:43 AM, porgie66 said:

 As much as I like and respect Moon, Paice, Mitchell, Bruford, Peart...all the great rock drummers, no one tops Bonzo for that funky, soulful feel combined with an absolutely glorious , full sound and an uncanny sense of timing and use of space. With Bonzo, I hear elements of Purdie, Hawkins, Zigaboo, Al Jackson Jr., Stubblefield. I don't hear those drummers really at all in the others I mentioned, and that's the biggest distinction. 

So true. Another drummer I think Bonham must have loved was Richie Hayward. I know Little Feat were Page and Plants "favorite american band" and I cant help but think that Bonham would have really dug Richie's playing, he was fucking brilliant. 

[porgie66]

Just now, blindwillie127 said:

So true. Another drummer I think Bonham must have loved was Richie Hayward. I know Little Feat were Page and Plants "favorite american band" and I cant help but think that Bonham would have really dug Richie's playing, he was fucking brilliant. 

Absolutely! 

[MortSahlFan]

On 3/25/2015 at 7:47 AM, Mook said:

Just thinking of all the books I've read over the years & the Drummers we've heard about receiving compliments from John Bonham (& indirectly from other sources):-

 

Ginger Baker

Gene Krupa

Buddy Rich

Barriemore Barlow

Bernard Purdie

Alphonse Mouzon

Max Roach

Joe Morello

Simon Kirke

Keith Moon...

 

are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head, can anyone think of any others or find any anecdotes/quotes attributed to Bonham in this regard?

Could you name some books? The only one I have is John Bonham (Chris Welch)... Had no idea Bonham's favorite band was Supertramp!

[MortSahlFan]

RY: Which drummers have influenced you?

JB: Loads of drummers. I dig listening to drummers I know aren’t half as good as perhaps I am. I can still

enjoy listening to them and they still do things that I don’t do, so therefore I can learn something. I like Vanilla Fudge’s drummer, I like Frosty with Lee Michaels.

I walked into that club last night (Toronto’s Penny Farthing) and there was a group (Milkwood) whose drummer was great. He had such a great feel to the numbers. You know things like this happen all the time. You go somewhere and see a really knockout drummer.

RY: How about [Ginger] Baker?

JB: I was very influenced by him in the early days because when I first started Baker had a big image in England. He was the first rock guy, like Gene Krupa. In the big band era a drummer was a backing musician and nothing else. And in the early American bands, the drummer played with only brushes in the background. Krupa was the first drummer to be in a big band that was noticed.

You know, he came right out into the front and he played the drums much louder than they were ever played before and much better. Nobody took much interest in drums really up until that thing and Baker did the same thing with rock.

Rock had been going for a while but Baker was the first to come out with that … a drummer could be a forward thing in a rock band and not a thing who was stuck in the back and forgotten about. I don’t think anyone can put Baker down.

I don’t think he’s quite as good as he was, to be honest. He used to be fantastic, but it’s a pity Americans couldn’t have seen the Graham Bond Organization, because they were such a good group—Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, and Graham Bond—a fantastic group.

Baker was more into jazz I think. He still is—he plays with a jazz influence. He does a lot of things in 5/4, 3/4. He’s always been a very weird sort of bloke. You can’t really get to know him. He won’t allow it.

RY: What did you think of Ringo [Starr]’s drumming on Abbey Road?

JB: Firstly, I wouldn’t really guarantee that it’s Ringo playing because Paul McCartney has been doing a lot of drumming with the Beatles, I hear. Let’s just say I think the drumming on Abbey Road is really good. The drumming on all the Beatles’ records is great. The actual patterns are just right for what they’re doing. Some of the rhythms on the new album are really far out.

 

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[porgie66]

There are a few short interviews that exist but I always thought it was a pity that Bonzo never really did a full scale interview feature, like a Modern Drummer story, that went really in depth on his influences, equipment , etc. I think MD started up around '78 and it's a shame they didn't get one before he passed. 

[Mook]

20 hours ago, MortSahlFan said:

Could you name some books? The only one I have is John Bonham (Chris Welch)... Had no idea Bonham's favorite band was Supertramp!

The two books I have specifically about John Bonham are:-

A Thunder of Drums - Chris Welch

John Bonham, the Powerhouse behind Led Zeppelin - Mick Bonham

Was his favourite band Supertramp? I don't recall seeing that anywhere.

[porgie66]

2 hours ago, Mook said:

The two books I have specifically about John Bonham are:-

A Thunder of Drums - Chris Welch

John Bonham, the Powerhouse behind Led Zeppelin - Mick Bonham

Was his favourite band Supertramp? I don't recall seeing that anywhere.

I recall reading he liked Supertramp a lot, and played along to their records. He also liked to play along to Alphonse Mouzon's Mind Transplanet and Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark. Supposedly he even had drums set up in a hotel room suite , and speakers , and was blasting away , to the chagrin of other guests and hotel staff. Can't remember where I read that , but it's in print.  I so wish there was a detailed interview with him about drumming. 

[Mook]

1 hour ago, porgie66 said:

I recall reading he liked Supertramp a lot, and played along to their records. He also liked to play along to Alphonse Mouzon's Mind Transplanet and Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark. Supposedly he even had drums set up in a hotel room suite , and speakers , and was blasting away , to the chagrin of other guests and hotel staff. Can't remember where I read that , but it's in print.  I so wish there was a detailed interview with him about drumming. 

Me too, Porgie.

I know he loved Crime of the Century by Supertramp but I don't know where this thing about them being his 'favourite band' has come from.

[drowan]

Here's some fascinating insight on the Bonham childhood connection at age 15 with Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman and historic Carnegie Hall -  In the LZ book by Chris Welch, Bonzo recalls to him his first LP bought at age 15 featuring Benny Goodman and drummer Gene Krupa recorded live at Carnegie Hall in 1938 as he stands on the side of the stage gazing out at the house audience just before the start of the 8:30 pm Carnegie Hall show on October 17, 1969.  Here is the backstory on that Benny Goodman 1938 show and LP vinyl recording that inspired Bonham to put together the performance of his career that night in 1969:

 Benny Goodman was at the absolute height of his legendary career when his publicist first suggested they book Carnegie Hall. He was a star on radio, on stage and on film, and the label “King of Swing” was already attached permanently to his name. So outlandish was the suggestion that a jazz band might play inside the citadel of American high culture, however, that Goodman is said to have laughed the idea off at first. Once he warmed to the notion, however, Goodman threw himself into the task with characteristic passion. In addition to numbers from the regular repertoire of his own band—which included the legendary Harry James on trumpet, Lionel Hampton on vibraphone and Gene Krupa on drums—Goodman planned a program featuring a brand-new “Twenty Years of Jazz” piece and an extended jam session featuring stars of the Duke Ellington and Count Basie orchestras. The concert sold out weeks in advance, with the best seats fetching $2.75.

It would be another decade before anyone who was not in the audience or listening on the radio that night would hear the famed concert. All recordings of the show were presumed lost until Goodman’s sister-in-law came across a set of acetates in 1950. By then, the performance had already become the stuff of legend—particularly the stunning, unplanned piano solo by Jess Stacy on “Sing, Sing, Sing,” the evening’s final number. The album made from the recovered acetates became one of the first 33 1/3 LPs to sell over a million copies. The eventual discovery of the aluminum studio master recordings led to high-quality CD reissues in 1998, 2002 and 2006 of the legendary Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert.

 

Also, here is the link to a great You Tube video featuring the groundbreaking 1938 Carnegie Hall performance and the tremendous buzz it generated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8aEVY9lONk

After watching this video, you can't help but imagine the impact Bonham's first Benny Goodman album (with renown drummer Gene Krupa) had on his own desire and burning ambitions to become an accomplished drummer.  There are even some impressive Krupa drum solos on this You Tube clip.  This could well have propelled Bonzo to greatness that night at Carnegie Hall in 1969!!  The parallels between the 1938 Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert and the Led Zeppelin concert are remarkable!  Now all we need to do is to discover a long lost recording from that incredible night at Carnegie Hall in 1969!!!

 

 

Here is the cover of the first vinyl LP album that John Bonham bought when he was 15 years old.  He mentioned this Benny Goodman album (featuring drummer Gene Krupa) nostalgically to Chris Welch and others assembled on the Carnegie Hall stage while he set up his drums before the concert:

 

The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert by Benny Goodman, Columbia Records catalogue item SL-160, is a two-disc LP of swing and jazzmusic, first issued in 1950. The concert has been described as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's "coming out" party to the world of "respectable" music."^[2]

The first ever double album, it was one of the first records of Benny Goodman music issued on the new long-playing format, and one of the first to sell over a million copies. A landmark recording, it was the premiere performance given by a jazz orchestra in the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City. This album was also sold in a set of nine 45 rpm records in the same year by Columbia.

The reception to the original 1950 long-playing double-album was exceptional, as had been the band's appearance at Carnegie Hall. Over time as technology improved the material was re-released, with digital versions produced both in the 1980s and 1990s.

For more detail, go to:

 

 

[Sultan of Swing]

On 3/25/2015 at 9:06 AM, Mook said:

I'm a huge Ringo fan just as an aside.

Same, Ringo is in my opinion, the reason the Beatles didn't break apart after Sgt. Pepper's. He has amazing beat, and if you watch him play in concert, his drumsticks move in a curving motion instead of the usual straight up and down as most drummers. And on most albums, his drumming was the only part of the song, besides the vocals, that was prominent and distinguishable. He is probably the most underappreciated Beatle and drummer ever

[Sultan of Swing]

On 3/26/2015 at 3:12 PM, Mothership Drummer said:

've always been curious what Bonzo thought of Peart as well. Anytime I hear Peart talk about his influences, he never so much as mentions Bonham.

That's weird, because he is heavily Bohnam and Moon based. But I think Bohnam was responding to Peart's 2112 from 1976 in Prescence's Achilles Last Stand, which is heavily like Rush. If Rush had done a cover of Achilles last stand, it would have been their style and no one would have known it was a cover, especially Peart doing that triple-cymbal thing that Bohnam adopted during ALS.

[MortSahlFan]

On 3/27/2019 at 9:42 AM, Mook said:

The two books I have specifically about John Bonham are:-

A Thunder of Drums - Chris Welch

John Bonham, the Powerhouse behind Led Zeppelin - Mick Bonham

Was his favourite band Supertramp? I don't recall seeing that anywhere.

I've read it a few times, and its mentioned in "A Thunder of Drums".. I think there is a mention of Joni Mitchell, too.

 

[John M]

On 3/27/2019 at 8:01 PM, Sultan of Swing said:

But I think Bonham was responding to Peart's 2112 from 1976 in Prescence's Achilles Last Stand, which is heavily like Rush. If Rush had done a cover of Achilles last stand,

I looked up the release dates.  What I see is that Presence was released on March 31, 1976 and amazingly 2112 was released on the very next day April 1, 1976.