bonham, anybody?

[hippylove]

so i was thinking about it last night while i was watching the song remains the same, and i have decided i like bonzo's style of playing better in the earlier years of led zeppelin..i think i can't really decide though.. i was wondering what ya'll thought about it before i came to any hasty decisions. haha. I think he played a lot more triplets and all that when the band was younger. And it seems as though with age that powerful driving force has faded a little bit.. NOw don't get me wrong, John Bonham is (in my opinion) possibly the most creative, ingenious, and quick-thinking drummer that has been in a band. And i know no matter what year it was he is still GOD on drums! But i couldn't decide which era i liked better. Early Days, or Later Days??

gimme some input on this one guys.

[SteveAJones]

'69-'73 for sure. He always delivered in the studio but the live performances began to suffer as the 70s dragged on.

[ArmsofAtlas]

I think, as with other great rock drummers(Carey & Peart esp), they get better with age. PG, Presence, and ITTOD have some of his absolute best drummin. But I would imagine Bonzo's live playin struggled later on from the drugs.

[ISIS]

I think, as with other great rock drummers(Carey & Peart esp), they get better with age. PG, Presence, and ITTOD have some of his absolute best drummin. But I would imagine Bonzo's live playin struggled later on from the drugs.

I think the drugs (heroin) had a lot to do with it.

The same can be said about Jimmy, as his performances also deteriorated after 75.

[Cactus]

I think it's an often talked about thing about how poor the '77 tour was because of heroin - but many of the shows in '77 were excellent.......

I think Bonham began to further develop his personal style from PG onwards. Some of his fills and grooves are fantastic - if you havn't already, you need to hear the Bonham Studio tracks. They are listenable entirely on their own, without musical accompaniment.

[Evster2012]

Bonzo had developed a finesse in the latter years that may escape the ears of those who were hypnotized by the sheer power of the early years. The "Purdie shuffle" on Fool in the Rain stands out to any percussionist. The band was maturing and so was Bonzo. Those early statements were made, and perhaps the latter years were more subtle. But ask any drummer to listen closely to In Through the Out Door and their ass would surely pucker! ANY drummer. Just ask em!

[peppermint]

He was at his very best, in 1976.

[IGG]

Youthful power usually does give away to crafty veteran in most performers.

JHB only got more interesting as time went on IMO.

[Bonzo4Eva]

In the early days, it seemed like he was all about attacking the crap out of his drums and was a bit ruthless. As time went on...well, he still destroyed his drums, but he was in a bit more control. However, I do think that his playing slumped a little bit right before he died. The drink just had too much on him. Anyway, I like his playing no matter what time period it was. There won't be anyone else like him.

Of course, this is just my opinion.....

[boylollipop]

Bonham overplays his role in Zeppelin´s live shows in the early days, just like Paice from Deep Purple.

But they play like no one else from around 72 to 75.

And Bonham´s heroin habit? Give me a funny break.

Listen to Knebworth 79! Rock n Roll, anyone?

[B.B. Richman]

He was always great, maybe early days, to mid, were his best...since he was with Zep 4 only 12 years...

[zero]

the earlier stuff (hard blues rock) lent itself to a more wild aggressive driving style. i think he always tried to give each song just what it needed. by the time you get to i.t.t.o.d

there just isn't as much room in the songs to "go all out". even though fool in the rain is pretty impressive, as is what he does in all of my love. the more straight ahead beats

in the other songs still have his touch. and live, i think he maybe scaled back latter on, to match pace with the rest of the band as a whole.

[zep73]

Bonzo had developed a finesse in the latter years that may escape the ears of those who were hypnotized by the sheer power of the early years. The "Purdie shuffle" on Fool in the Rain stands out to any percussionist. The band was maturing and so was Bonzo. Those early statements were made, and perhaps the latter years were more subtle. But ask any drummer to listen closely to In Through the Out Door and their ass would surely pucker! ANY drummer. Just ask em!

Evster's on the money... The early Bonzo was fearless and powerful, I like to describe him and the rest of the band in those days as always being "too big for the room", so to speak. But the maturity level usually comes into play as we get older, you learn to work smarter, not harder.

Later on, Jimmy talked about how proud he was of him, that he had truly become a "musician's musician". High praise indeed. When you listen to those drums only tracks and you hear his speaking voice, it's probable that he had partaken a bit, but the skill level and competency are never in question....

I grew up with the sound of those monster Ludwig kits he played in my head, and it's haunted me ever since.... From the incredible studio work, to the thunder of those 20 minute plus versions of Moby Dick at the old Chicago Stadium. Fortunately, the breadth and scope of his power, creative talent, and boudless imagination from both the early and latter days has been captured and preserved for all of us to marvel at.... When I want to hear those amazing triplets, I just grab my copy of the BBC sessions, and there it is. When I want to sample one of those creative grooves and technical brilliance he never seemed to get enough credit for, I can pick up Presence, ITTOD, or even CODA.

I still listen and marvel at what he did, every day. And how's this for inspiration? After banging on everything in sight with my hands for almost 40 years, I finally picked up the drums at the age of 50. I'll never play like Bonzo, but I'll ALWAYS have something to shoot for.

I'll take him front to back, early on and later, he was always my guy and always will be. Damn, I really, really miss him, he was the best. :'(

[toleressea]

I also prefer his earlier work. He was so good that he was still great even on the drugs towards the end. He just seemed to have more fun pre 77. The joy that he showed when he played was spine tingling. After 77 it seemed to me that he played like he was having no fun. I know most like ACLS on the DVD, but to me, and I might add speaking from experience, the drug look in his beady eyes was kind of disgusting. It said to me "What the fuck am I doing here? Have I not already done this? Why does Pagey drag me on these tours that last forever? I dont want to be here nor do I want to tour no more." Take this Jimmy and bam! he shows Jimmy something new - but that something new was bereft of any joy, bereft of any passion. I could see the beginning of Bonzos end there in that song.

[jsj]

I also prefer his earlier work. He was so good that he was still great even on the drugs towards the end. He just seemed to have more fun pre 77. The joy that he showed when he played was spine tingling. After 77 it seemed to me that he played like he was having no fun. I know most like ACLS on the DVD, but to me, and I might add speaking from experience, the drug look in his beady eyes was kind of disgusting. It said to me "What the fuck am I doing here? Have I not already done this? Why does Pagey drag me on these tours that last forever? I dont want to be here nor do I want to tour no more." Take this Jimmy and bam! he shows Jimmy something new - but that something new was bereft of any joy, bereft of any passion. I could see the beginning of Bonzos end there in that song.

bonham's appearance on the knebworth dvd is something thats puzzled me for a long time also. to watch him and his general reserved body language suggests that at times he's not enjoying it, certainly when compared to the joyous look on his face in the earlier days. however, when it's played back on headphones or a good system its clear that he's still in full form and the sound is more important than the look

same with jimmy; in the earlier shots like 73 he plays with style and grace, the occassional grimace and contortions, when he's playing the same tunes at knebworth six years later he appears to be being sprayed with a water hose and being given electric shock treatment at the same time.

[Jimmy's A Legend]

'69-'73 for sure. He always delivered in the studio but the live performances began to suffer as the 70s dragged on.

agreed.

[Dirigible]

This is my first day posting and I love the site.

To lend some small credibility to my post (and not wanting to sound like a know-it-all) I wanted to mention I play drums. I drummed with a guitarist nicknamed Semi Page who recently passed away. In the 28 years we played together I'd estimate we learned 40 or 50 Zep numbers from start to finish, no half songs that stop when the hard part begins; if you hear a bar band play a Zep medley that's what they're doing 9 times out of 10. I categorically state that just because a drummer can copy Bonham's licks doesn't mean he's as good as John Henry, there's a vast difference between copying licks AND inventing licks that every other drummer wants to copy.

IMHO Bonham kept improving right through ITTOD with an overundersidewaysdown version of the Purdie shuffle on Fool In The Rain; Southbound Saurez showed new stylistic tendencies; and I liked the way Bonzo led with his bass drum on the chorus of All My Love. If he wanted Bonham could rely on Bonham cliches because he invented them, they're fun as hell to play, but he seldom relied on them. PRESENCE is my favorite album because the drums are complexly orchestrated (like seamlessly alternating the downbeat with the upbeat in For Your Life). All the drum parts are smokin'! Like every drum track he did with Zeppelin. In the early days he played with great abandon and I loved that era too. The Beatles had an early/late era as did Zep and I'd hate to live in a world that didn't have both eras of both bands.

That's about it, thanks for reading.