John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonhamwas an English drummer, musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast bass-drumming, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove. He is considered one of the greatest rock drummers...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth31 May 1948
absolutely remember scenery
The scenery there, I just remember that being absolutely stunning,
likes sound solo
Not everybody likes or understands a drum solo, so I like to bring in effects and sounds to keep their interest.
drinking tired blow
I dare not drink before a gig because I'll get tired and blow it. So I have to sit drinking tea in a caravan.
guitar play important
I've always been obsessed with drums. They fascinate me. Any other instrument - nothing. I play acoustic guitar a bit. But it's always been drums first and foremost. I don't reckon on this Jack-of-all-trades thing. I thing that felling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts.
moon world keith
I'm the Best Keith Moon-type drummer in the world.
silly writing lessons
I never had any lessons. When I first started playing I used to read music. I was very interested in music. But when I started playing in groups I did a silly thing and dropped it. It's great if you can write things down.
ems brushes hard
Brushes..? Nah. Hit 'em as hard as you can.
night hands long
I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters.
soul sound feels
I don't consider that I'm particularly influenced by anyone or anything. But when I started playing, I was influenced by early soul. It was just that feel, that sound.
dad coffee years
I've wanted to be a drummer since I was about five years old. I used to play on a bath salt container with wires on the bottom, and on a round coffee tin with a loose wire fixed to it to give a snare drum effect. Plus there were always my Mum's pots and pans. When I was ten, my Mum bought me a snare drum. My Dad bought me my first full drum kit when I was 15. It was almost prehistoric. Most of it was rust.
children abuse steps
Mistreating your drum set is just one step below child abuse
names car drummer
My names John Bonham, I'm a drummer and I'm potty about cars.
night play long
With Zeppelin, I tried to play something different every night in my solos. I'd play for 20 minutes but the longest ever was 30 minutes. It's a long time, but whenI was playing it seemed to fly by.
wall bricks sometimes
Sometimes you'd come up against a brick wall... or sometimes you go into a fill and you'd know halfway through it was going to be disastrous.