RIP John Bonham

"Good to great drummer but from what I have read ; a real A hole."

By most accounts of his a-holeness, it was driven by his missing being away from home. 
Its no big secret that the hardships of incessant, lengthy tours often drives people to the easily accessible escapist use of alcohol and drugs. 
Hardly excusable, but an underlying reason why bad things can happen to otherwise good people/great drummers. 

If one wants to gain perspective on a bonafide, card carrying a-hole who also happened to be a great drummer, seek out a documentary on Ginger Baker entitled "Beware Of Mr. Baker."  I believe it was aired on Showtime. Mr. Baker's son does not have the same fond memories of his father that Jason Bonham has.  I have everything that Mr. Baker has put out post-Cream. The issue of his questionable humanity doesn't matter. Talent doesn't prejudice on whom it's delivered. 

Bonham's influence is incontestable regardless of what anyone thinks about his skills as a drummer and/or lack of them. Most of the sh*t that has been written about Zep, and virtually every other rock band is poorly written, high school level drivel. Robbie Robertson's book was a tough read, best taken in short bursts because, while interesting and fun to read, he ain't no author. 

On point...

Zeppelin was an incredible band. Hard to believe that 37 years have passed since Bonham died. I saw them 5 times at Madison Square during their 1977 tour, same seats every night. Wow.  I got chills. 

garebear...

Zep's manager Peter Grant was a HUGE a-hole but he was also responsible for getting Zep their fair shake of the revenues. (Whether or not that was good for fans is another thing.)

Ginger Baker's career has been jazz - lasting far longer than the-blink-of-one's-eye that his gig with Cream/Blind Faith did. It would no doubt irk him immensely to read his own obituary which will cite Cream/Blind Faith as his most notable efforts. Personality aside, he remains an impressive musician. 

In that documentary about Baker I've mentioned, when asked his opinion on Bonham's playing he said, "He couldn't swing a sack."  Eric Clapton, who pretty much loathed Baker from day one and was appalled when Steve Winwood asked him to join Blind Faith,
(without Clapton's knowledge) remarked that Baker was the most melodic drummer he ever played with. That's pretty high praise from a guy most people respect as a great musician, particularly regarding a guy he couldn't stand to be in the same room with. 

No, Bonham didn't necessarily "swing" like a jazz drummer because, well, he wasn't a jazz drummer. He was a ROCK drummer, one with a style that many drummers cite as their inspiration for getting behind a kit in the first place. I've seen The Who with and without Keith Moon a few times each. Zep's decision to disband after Bonham's death was the absolute right course to take. With four they were one, alone they are zero - which is not by any means a slight on the remaining members. Mick Taylor's brief stint with the Stones made them a better band, with Keith noting that having another great musician onstage made everyone better. 

tooblue...

Read the news about Charles Bradley as well. Fortunately,  thanks to iTunes, of which I'm hardly a fan, I downloaded two albums just the other day.  Damn good singer. 

The first time I heard anything by Chris Whitley he was two years dead already. Blame the lack of good FM radio, nonetheless I set about getting everything he recorded just from one song.  

I kind of wish that Bonham's son could have his own career and not one that has him paying endless tribute to his father, but he genuinely seems to enjoy doing so, and people seem genuinely appreciative of it, so what the hell. 

bdp24...

Hahahaha!  Man, I hope that's true. To this day I still can't watch The Song Remains The Same - makes my skin crawl. One of the worst rock films possible and not the band's finest effort at all. For their best live effort it's How The West Was Won. Kickass great stuff. 

I wish I kept all my Rolling Stone magazines to review how poorly it and the American press in general treated the band. I read EVERY music magazine in those days, Melody Maker, Creem, Crawdaddy, and maybe a few others I can't recall now.  

I was recuperating from my first of two knee operations when WNEW FM debuted Zep IV one early afternoon.  No cell phone. No email. No social media.  My friends were still in school and there I was sticking a ruler inside my leg cast to ease the itching, listening to Led Zep IV on a transistor radio in the hospital. 
I called my friends IMMEDIATELY, most of the time getting their mothers, telling them to call me as soon as they got home. I remember thinking, listening to Stairway for the first time ever, that it must have been 30 minutes long. (Had that same impression the first time I heard We Won't Get Fooled Again). ALL of my friends came to the hospital that afternoon. 

That, and the time my second oldest brother came home and tossed Zep 1 on our family's console stereo (it was a Magnavox, tubed!) represent my best two personal Zep stories. Being reminded that Bonham died 37 years ago not only serves to mark some pivotal moments in my life, it made me think about all the times that Zep was the soundtrack to them. The Stones, The Who, Zep,  Joni Mitchell, Zappa, The Mothers, The Band, and so many more...

Almost makes me feel like Martin Scorcese shoulda been filming me and my friends. 

Clapton is certainly entitled to his opinion about what was "wrong" about where music was heading, after all, he is "god."

I continue to be amazed at how utterly good The Band was. "Life Is A Carnival" is in my will, to be played at my wake.  LOUDLY.  Even whilst dead I'll probably hear something new in it. I do every time. (Wow, wotta cool idea for another thread.)

Threads have a way of meandering off-point that sometimes take on new lives and subjects. 

For me personally Bonham was the guy that made me acknowledge drums as an instrument. I didn't possess a bias against drummers or anything, after all I was about 12 when Zep broke. I recognized that something was DIFFERENT the moment one of my brothers played Zep 1 on our Magnavox console stereo for the first time. Before that I pretty much paid attention to any other instrument/player, but this was remarkably different. He, perhaps more than any other player made me LISTEN more carefully to music in general. To bands and how the members synced/contributed/and made what is truly magic together. 

That's Bonham's contribution to me.