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If you know me you know I’m a HUGE Led Zeppelin fan, but it kills me to see Page and Plant talked about incessantly to the exclusion of ever hearing about two of music’s greatest unsung (or at least undersung) heroes: John Bonham and John Paul Jones. JPJ (who is still alive, well, and making music) is a story for another day; today I’m here to tell you about my favorite rock drummer of all time.

Bonham has had a huge and inarguable influence on rock drumming since the 70s and you hear licks and grooves he invented almost wherever you look today. Dave Grohl, one of today’s best drummers, cites Bonham as his biggest influence and writes in this tribute to Zeppelin how he would spend HOURS in his room just trying to emulate Bonzo’s massive sound, intricate technique, and frantic energy. Rather than spending too much time trying wax poetic about his lasting influence, I’m going to tell you a few things I notice in his sound that make it stand out, then I’ve got a few streamers below with some of my favorite Zeppelin drumming tracks and tracks with drum sounds that remind me of Bonzo. Obviously this is subjective as hell, so leave your favorite Zeppelin and Zeppelin inspired drum tracks in the comments, I’ll add good ones to the streamers and credit you.

Bonzo’s sound:

• The first thing that always makes Bonham’s drumming stand out is how well he fills space with the kick drum. He has an unbelievably active right foot and is so fast that before researching this post, I honestly thought he played with two bass drums. He did do that once or twice, but all the major Zeppelin recordings and tours were done with not only one drum, but one fucking pedal. Think about that when you hear kick drum hits spaced so close you can barely tell one from the next in Dazed and Confused and Achilles’ Last Stand
• Bonham also displays incredible range and dynamics. He’s best known for the raw power of tracks like When the Levee Breaks and The Ocean but he knew how to break out the brushes and play light on a panty dropper like The Rain Song. And finally there are the tracks where he is playing so fast he can’t afford to be too heavy, which brings me to my next point…
• Bonzo played with an energy unmatched to this day and the only drummer I can think of that even comes close is Jon Theodore, the original drummer for The Mars Volta. Listening to the speed and energy of his frenzied playing on tracks like The Song Remains the Same and during the solo sections of Dazed and Confused brings to mind the image of a cornered animal. His playing is so on the edge it would be frightening if it weren’t so triumphant.

Alright enough of that shit, here’s what you came for. Check out the tracks and let me know in the comments if you have any additions or think I’m an idiot. I’ll probably be too busy freaking out to some of the fills late in Achilles Last Stand to notice the haters though.

RIP Bonzo. As Hunter S said of Dr. Gonzo, “There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production”

P.S. That more astute drum observers out there will notice that Dave Grohl is involed in A LOT of the tracks in the Son of Bonzo streamer, what can I say, the guy is the man and pops up on a lot of awesome albums.

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