Carter Beauford Vs John Bonham

[bassdrop]

Not only is such a question meaningless but is irrelevant to an artistic endeavor, even moreso when completely devoid of context. Whoever is inspiring you at the moment wins. Different moment, different inspiration. Music is a time based artform after all.

 

[wkirk08]

Listen to zeppelins entire "how the west was won" cd set, and you get new respect for bonham. He played loud, hard, and in time. Stamina for DAYS. Carter is probably the "better" drummer, but bonham effin' R.O.C.K.E.D. A wild animal on the drums, but in a controlled way.

Again though, apples and oranges.

 

[GregC]

Agree with the "apples and oranges" comments. I'm not really a Zep fan or a DMB fan, but I prefer Bonham's work--love that gigantic backbeat.

 

[bassistjoe93]

I also like the tuning and sound of Bonham's drums more as well. They just sound like thunder (When The Levee Breaks - drumgasm) or Fool in the Rain isolated tracks:

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[6jase5]

Putting Carter in Zep as an example would be so unappealing to me as a thought, so I can't compare. Both amazing artists and very different.

As a sidenote, I like listening to Carter but I loved watching (by video) Bonham. DMB used to play my fraternity and Stefan was younger than us college kids!

 

[two fingers]

Apples & Oranges.

This. And I totally disagree with an earlier post. Although Carter is a bad man, I think he would sound like crap in Zep. As would Bonzo in DMB.

Again, apples and oranges. This is like comparing a double-decker bus with a Lamborghini. The Lambo goes much faster and one could argue that it "performs better." But if I had a bunch of crap and people to get from one place to another, I would want the bus.

 

[jaywa]

Carter's chops are better and some of his fills just leave my jaw on the floor. He's also an unbelievable singer. A true virtuoso musician who happens to play drums. On the negative, he overplays fiercely but that's just kind of part and parcel with his genre too. He has the talent to (musically speaking) take over any band he plays with whenever he wants to... and that's not always a good thing.

Bonzo always struck me as more of a "band" guy who would step out front when needed but never overplayed and was never trying to "top" his bandmates.

If I could jam with either of them it would be Bonzo. I think the end result would be more satisfying.

 

[mellowinman]

Bonzo, simply because he had such great influence. Beauford is obviously the guy with more technical ability, but that doesn't necessarily make him a better drummer. What's he played on?

Bonzo more or less invented a style, and gave his band a distinctive sound. He composed drum parts that defined the songs he played on, much as Ringo did, before him.

There are a lot of very, very technical musicians out there today who can play lots of stuff that neither Bonzo nor Ringo could play, but none of them are Bonzo, and none of them are Ringo. (or Moon.)

These definitive drummers are not to be F'd with. I'm sure Carter, and a bunch of other guys have taken drumming to a whole other level, and that if Bonham were still alive, he'd be a huge fan, but the question was "who is a better drummer?"

For me, it's Bonham by a mile, no question.

 

[DWBass]

Taking the music styles of the bands they play in, out of the equation,......Carter is heads above John!!

 

[Troph]

Zeppelin's music is so much better than DMB that you can't really compare the two drummers.

And yes, I expect that to upset DMB fans, and I don't care. I attended several DMB shows back in the 90s. Carter is very talented, but it doesn't really make their songs better.

 

[fraublugher]

What does pocket mean to you? It's not just being metronomic.
We can't tell because Carter didn't play with Zeppelin.
Bonham's was the full value plus a lil more.

This is all i'm giving you because the question itself is specious.

 

[HolmeBass]

Two great drummers, who is better would depend entirely on the music and the musicians playing it. At this level I don't think better/worse, just different. I think they both would have loved each other's playing and that's a better place to be as a musician. Revel in the diversity of what other players do, it's so cool that everyone's playing is different.

 

[mmbongo]

There's Neal Peart, Carter Beaufort, and Steward Copeland. Then there's everyone else. I would put Chris Adler from Lamb Of God at the top of the list as well though.

 

[BassyBill]

I had to Google Carter Beauford so I'll go with Bonzo

Ding! The correct answer.

Carter is a really great drummer. Bonzo is a legend. Not a useful comparison really as it's a bit of an apples/oranges situation.

 

[thiocyclist]

Copying Carter Beauford ruined my first "good" drummer.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

I enjoy listening to Bonham more. But as a bass player I think I'd rather play with CB. If I was a guitar player I'd rather play with Bonham.

 

[seang15]

Ding! The correct answer.

Carter is a really great drummer. Bonzo is a legend. No contest.

The only thing Carter hasn't done that Bonham had done is die of an overdose. With all Due respect of course.

 

[jdlwareagle]

Two flavors of awesome .

 

[jmercer91]

There aren't many drummers who can do bonham as good as bonham.... but there are plenty more technical drummers than beauford.

 

[BassyBill]

The only thing Carter hasn't done that Bonham had done is die of an overdose. With all Due respect of course.

Yeah, true - Carter's done loads of stuff that Bonham had already done.

Don't get me wrong, I love Carter and think he's a fantastic drummer. Very special and one of the best, without a doubt. But Bonzo is just above and beyond any considerations or comparisons like that.