John Bonham

Hey everyone -- first post so I hope I don't offend anyone. . .

I tend to think Bonzo was one of the best that ever lived and played the drums, and quite possibly (albeit arguably,) the greatest rock drummer ever. I have seen Carmine live at a clinic (and I own a couple of his videos, ) and he also IS awesome, but I wouldn't compare him to JHB too much; just seem to me they are in different arenas. . . I just listened to John's live cut of Moby Dick that's posted on the site again, and man, that one is KILLER.

I agree with the peacekeepers however; we all have our opinions, there is no such thing as perfect, so let's just keep on keepin' on with what we do best -- ROCK & ROLL!!!
 
A true drumgod in every way of rockdrumming.
My biggest influence by far !

Greets ! :)
 
i used image capture to get a whole load of pics of bonham (12 of them) including these two which show bonham playing heel up and also how he holds his sticks. go here to see the rest
http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/id47.html


bon8.jpg


bon13.jpg
 
Wow - great stuff Jason! Thanks for sharing it.
 
Not quite sure what he had left to acheive.....

Oh, come on. Look at guys like Weckl and Steve Smith... amazing players at a young age and into musical maturity, but they went to a guru to improve to whatever extent they believed they needed.

Of course, Bonzo was... let's just say... very self-confident, but you never know what could have been in his future. He may have gone the jazz route like Baker and Watts. He may have done clinics and, as mentioned, gone to an old jazz guru to sharpen his skills. You never know, he may have switched to traditional grip at some point.

It's a flounder in the impossible to second-guess what could have been, but you can't say that somebody at the age of 40 is done achieving things. Buddy got better with age, so has Vinnie, Smith... blah, blah, blah.

At any rate, he changed the scope of drumming forever.
 
...Of course, Bonzo was... let's just say... very self-confident, but you never know what could have been in his future. ...

At any rate, he changed the scope of drumming forever.

Hey Ian,

I agree that it's a fool's game to predict what "could have happened". John Bonham was both very talented and creative. He probably would have continued to grow and improve.

However, he may not have been as self-confident as you think. According to Robert Plant quoted here: http://www.drummagazine.com/images/bonham/bonham-traps07.pdf, John was not feeling very confident in his abilities. Plant quotes John, on the day before his death, as saying: “I’ve had it with playing drums. Everybody plays better than me. I’ll tell you what, when we get to the rehearsal, you play the drums and I’ll sing."

Apparently, even the very best doubt their abilities.

He is truly missed!
 
Hey Ian,

I agree that it's a fool's game to predict what "could have happened". John Bonham was both very talented and creative. He probably would have continued to grow and improve.

However, he may not have been as self-confident as you think. According to Robert Plant quoted here: http://www.drummagazine.com/images/bonham/bonham-traps07.pdf, John was not feeling very confident in his abilities. Plant quotes John, on the day before his death, as saying: “I’ve had it with playing drums. Everybody plays better than me. I’ll tell you what, when we get to the rehearsal, you play the drums and I’ll sing."

Apparently, even the very best doubt their abilities.

He is truly missed!

Well, it's also quite likely he was drunk off his gourd. That is how he died, remember. I've been really drunk (I don't drink anymore) in the past, and made similar ridiculous statements.

But whatever. His life beyond 1980 was not meant to be. We need to understand the consequences of drug/alcohol abuse as the most important lesson we could ever learn from that man... even more important than his drumming, imo.
 
Without his drumming, that would not be such an effective lesson. There are thousands of people destroying themselves with even more gusto at this very moment, and few will heed their lessons.
 
Without his drumming, that would not be such an effective lesson. There are thousands of people destroying themselves with even more gusto at this very moment, and few will heed their lessons.

That isn't at all my point.

Life is more precious than drumming ability. I'd rather Bonzo have quit drumming AND alcohol, over what happened to him.

Somebody could be a alcoholic drummer with a family and decide (for whatever reason) to quit both. I'm sure the wife and kids would be just fine with dad being a construction worker who's still alive, than a dead drummer.

If Bonzo's life lessons mean anything, it should be that you pick life before partying... and even before drumming.

Do you see what I mean?
 
That isn't at all my point.

Life is more precious than drumming ability. I'd rather Bonzo have quit drumming AND alcohol, over what happened to him.

Somebody could be a alcoholic drummer with a family and decide (for whatever reason) to quit both. I'm sure the wife and kids would be just fine with dad being a construction worker who's still alive, than a dead drummer.

If Bonzo's life lessons mean anything, it should be that you pick life before partying... and even before drumming.

Do you see what I mean?

Yes, of course...

...do you think he would have picked life over drumming?
 
How come nobody on here has the balls to just say he was the greatest drummer of the rock era? Hands down. Not one of, but the. You know it's true. No single human has ever done as much for rock drumming as he has. 30 years later and that is still an indisputable fact.
 
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