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All About Bonzo...

#3
awww man, I click on this thread thinking it would be about this:

PF_979711.jpg


oh well...too bad....
 
#4
Excellent article! Thanks for posting that, Rugaar. I was in high school when Zep first appeared. Let me assure you young guys, they seriously blew everybody away. I loved the first five albums, kind of got away from them after that. Their music has really stood the test of time.
 
#5
Honestly, I could never decide if I liked his tone. The band as a whole was incredible and I think he was a great drummer (just like the other 200 million Zep fans), but that weird tone he got, especially on his high hat....I don't even know HOW he got it.
 
#6
Skel said:
Honestly, I could never decide if I liked his tone. The band as a whole was incredible and I think he was a great drummer (just like the other 200 million Zep fans), but that weird tone he got, especially on his high hat....I don't even know HOW he got it.
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He often had tambourine jingles attached to his hi-hat. This gave it more bite.

As for his drums... I think he had the resonant heads looser than the batter heads. Always used double ply coated batter heads, single ply clear resonants, and the biggest sticks he could get his mitts on.

edit: he did use clear heads with the black dots on them when he used his vistalite drums.

He also had a preference for metal snare drums. Aluminum I think.
 
#7
Lost Drummer said:
He often had tambourine jingles attached to his hi-hat. This gave it more bite.

As for his drums... I think he had the resonant heads looser than the batter heads. Always used double ply coated heads and the biggest sticks he could get his mitts on.
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Ok, well he had a unique undeniable tone that was simply HIS sound and anybody could tell it was him in about 3 seconds. I wonder if his son will sound like him in the upcoming reunion?
 
#8
Skel said:
Ok, well he had a unique undeniable tone that was simply HIS sound and anybody could tell it was him in about 3 seconds. I wonder if his son will sound like him in the upcoming reunion?
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Obviously the person behind the drums has a lot to do with tone, I could sit behind his kit and not sound a damn thing like him.

I haven't heard his son play... but if anyone can sound like John it should be his son, right?
 
#10
Bonzo had a fairly over sized kit, notably a 26" kick drum, a huge snare and huge hi hats. there is a great story about how they recorded the kit on the untitled album, it was mostly recorded at Headly Grange in Hampshire, which is a huge house, they had the kit at the bottom of a stone stairwell, and a microphone at the top, i dare say there might have been a couple other mics on it as well to assist in the sound, but thats where the classic when the levee breaks sound comes from, which has been sampled so many times. Truely a great drummer, however a lot of his stuff was copied from buddy rich, famously the rock and roll fill he used to do was a buddy rich fill.
 
#12
Skel said:
You mean as in the song "Rock & Roll" - that intro? And if that is what you're referring to, I'm not sure to this day I understand the timing of that, although I have no problem playing guitar to it...I just come in strong and scared to death that it's right.
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yes i was refering to the song rock and roll, but i meant the fill at the end, goes something like dat dada dom dat dada dom dat ... at the end of most live versions of the song, can't remember if its on the original cause its been ages since i've listened to it.
 
#13
God I love Bonham's drumming.

Oh and thanks to Rugaar for that link. When I get a chance I'm going to record all of those drumbeats into my 8 track and write some basslines to them. Nothing like having an all-time great as your drum machine. . .
 
#15
Blonde Bassist said:
yes i was refering to the song rock and roll, but i meant the fill at the end, goes something like dat dada dom dat dada dom dat ... at the end of most live versions of the song, can't remember if its on the original cause its been ages since i've listened to it.
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The intro drum lick is also something that a jazz drummer (can't remember who) did before Bonzo.

All the the Zepplin guys were big on the blues and to a lesser extent, jazz.

It's amazing how they put their twist on blues and became the greatest rock and roll band of all time.
 
#16
MakiSupaStar said:
Bonham is humbling. So is John Paul Jones.
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My God. Best rhythm section ever. Have you seen the DVD? I'm sitting there at times with my mouth open thinking, "So Jones just flails as hard as he can and the right notes come out? HTH does that work?!"

The way Jones and Bonham could anchor a couple of (truly talented) show-off flakes like Page and Plant and make it all sound right is just awe inspiring to me.
 
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#19
Lost Drummer said:
Obviously the person behind the drums has a lot to do with tone, I could sit behind his kit and not sound a damn thing like him.

I haven't heard his son play... but if anyone can sound like John it should be his son, right?
Click to expand...

You managed to get through life without having to see that VH-1 "reality" show with Bonham, the Nuge, Scott Ian, Sebastian Bach and that one dude who's married to Tera Patrick?

Lucky you.
 

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