John Bonham

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John Bonham with Led Zeppelin (1975)

John Henry "Bonzo" Bonham (born May 31, 1948 in Redditch , Worcestershire , † September 25, 1980 in Windsor , Berkshire ) was the drummer of the British rock band Led Zeppelin . He is still considered one of the most influential rock drummers to this day . In a 2011 Rolling Stone poll , Bonham was voted “Best Drummer of All Time” by readers. On March 31, 2016, Rolling Stone's editorial team published a list of the 100 best drummers of all time , in which he ranks first.

Childhood and youth

As a child, Bonham wanted to be a drummer and practiced on old tin cans from an early age. His mother bought ten year old John a snare drum . He got his first drum kit, an old, rusty Premier kit, at the age of 15. By his own account, he had never received drum lessons. Bonham named Ginger Baker and Gene Krupa as influences in early interviews . He admired Gene Krupa primarily because he put the position of the drummer in the band in a completely different light and not only allowed the drummer to act as a background musician. Since Bonham's game was very loud, he had a bad reputation in some clubs around Birmingham when he was young. It was considered impossible to take him in. In 1964, at the age of 16, he joined the first professional band, Terry Webb & The Spiders. Other bands he played with in the following years were "A Way of Life" and "The Crawling King Snakes", whose members included the later Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant . The success of these bands was limited. In order to earn additional money, he worked in his father's construction company. At times he allegedly gave up smoking due to lack of money. At the age of 17 he married his wife Pat Philips, whom he met after a performance.

In front of Led Zeppelin

In 1967 Robert Plant founded the "Band of Joy". Since he had known Bonham since childhood, he chose him as a drummer. The band went on tour in England in 1968 as the opening act for American singer Tim Rose . After the tour, Tim asked Rose Bonham if he wanted to join his band. Bonham accepted the offer as he was finally getting a steady income. The "Band of Joy" then disbanded. Bonham received in mid-1968 on the recommendation of Robert Plant a request from Jimmy Page to play in The New Yardbirds, which had emerged from the band Yardbirds . He agreed after persuading Peter Grant, Page's manager, to accept. At that time Bonham also had lucrative offers from Joe Cocker and Chris Farlowe . He justified his choice by saying that he liked the music of the Yardbirds more than that of Cocker and Farlowe. The New Yardbirds soon became Led Zeppelin .

Led Zeppelin

→ Main article: Led Zeppelin

Bonham was a member of Led Zeppelin from 1968 until his death in 1980.

death

Grave of john bonham

John Bonham died on the night of September 24th to 25th, 1980, heavily drunk, by suffocating on his own vomit in Jimmy Page's house , where the rehearsals for the next Led Zeppelin tour were to take place. He was 32 years old. Led Zeppelin broke up after his death despite threats from the record company. The remaining band members appeared on Live Aid in 1985 with Phil Collins , in May 1988 with Bonham's son Jason on drums at the 40th anniversary of their former record company Atlantic Records , in 1995 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and again together in December 2007 on.

John Bonham was buried on October 10, 1980 in Rushock Cemetery near his family farm, The Old Hyde . Fans often leave drumsticks or bottles of alcohol at his grave .

Equipment and style

Bonham enlarged his bass drum with a round sheet metal to create more force. Bonham played drums made by Ludwig in the unusual sizes of 26 "(bass drum), 14" ( tom ) and 16 ", 18" (floor tom). He also used a Ludwig Supraphonic metal snare 14 X 6.5 ". It is renown Ludwig Vistalite appointed by him from 1973 was (amber) was reissued in transparent Plexiglas, from 2003, a replica of his time original specifications. Pool of his Drums were made available to him by the Paiste company . He also added congas and later also kettledrum to the left of the hi-hat machine. His sometimes excessive, extended drum solos also became famous the piece "Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin, where he sometimes put down the drumsticks to play on the skins with the flat of his hands. He also became known for the Led Zeppelin pieces "Good Times Bad Times" with his bass drum Triplets and “Fool in the Rain” with its shuffle groove. For a short period of time John Bonham played double bass drums - but Jimmy Page couldn't ask for them eunden.

influence

Bonham is considered one of the most influential rock drummers. Already during his lifetime he had a great influence on the next generation of drummers. Phil Collins , Nicko McBrain and Cozy Powell († 1998) , among others , state that they were very impressed by Bonham and the way he played. The late drummer Jeff Porcaro († 1992) mentions Bonham as the main influence (alongside Bernard Purdie ) for his shuffle groove in the piece "Rosanna" by the band Toto on his instructional video . Drummers also name Mike Portnoy (ex- Dream Theater ), Scott Columbus († 2011) ( Manowar ), Eric Singer ( Kiss ), Eric Carr († 1991) (Kiss) and Tommy Aldridge Bonham as role models and influences.

His influence is still great today. Among other things, the Foo Fighters singer and ex- Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl declares himself a big fan of Bonham.

Discography

Guest appearances

  • The Family Dogg - A way of life (1969)
  • PJ Proby - Three Week Hero (1969)
  • Screaming Lord Sutch - Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends (1970)
  • Lulu - Everybody's Got to Clap Single (1971)
  • Roy Harper - Flashes from the archives of oblivion (live) (1974)
  • Wings ( Paul McCartney ) - Back to the Egg (1979)
  • Roy Wood - On the Road (1979)
  • Various Artists - Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (released 1981)

Led Zeppelin

Web links

Commons : John Bonham  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

literature

  • Ritchie Yorke: Led Zeppelin - biography of a band. vgs verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-8025-2287-7 .
  • Stephen Davis: Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga. Harper Entertainment, New York 2008 (English), ISBN 978-0-06-147308-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rolling Stone magazine reader's poll. Jann Wenner / Wenner Media Websites: Rolling Stone. 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ The 100 Best Drummers of All Time, Rolling Stone March 31, 2016
  3. ↑ Iron Maiden DVD "Rock in Rio"
  4. ↑ VHS instructional video "Master Session"
  5. ↑ Manowar DVD "Hell on Earth III"
  6. ↑ fooarchive.com
personal data
SURNAME Bonham, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bonham, John Henry (full name); Bonham, Bonzo (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British drummer
DATE OF BIRTH May 31, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Redditch , Worcestershire
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1980
Place of death Windsor , Berkshire