Thinkin' About John Bonham and a Few Good Things

My friend Fred Wilson got me thinking about Led Zeppelin.

I was a latecomer to Zep. By the time I was hip enough to pay attention the band already a bloated arena rock self-parody. To the rock stage what Wayne Newton would become to Vegas. Not only did Zeppelin represent everything that was evil and unholy about bloated self-indulgence, but their act was silly, stupid, corny! Page w/ the bow on the Les Paul quoting Holst for half an hour while eveybody toked up. Ridiculous.

I'd heard their albums and songs of course. You couldn't help but hear Zep in the suburbs in the 1970s. The music was everywhere, oozing out of the very pores of the culture. From car windows in summer along the strip malls of Central Avenue to the humid, semi-finished basements where 8th grade guitar players practiced with their bands.

In the end I couldn't help but admire the sheer torrent of riffology that was Jimmy Page. He was the Nelson Riddle of rock ---layering album tracks with guitar parts in a way that opened up a whole new approach to rock arranging.

And the more I practiced the drums the less grudging was my admiration for John Bonham, a guy who played the drums like he was playing a set of anvils w/ hammers. He was a brilliant thinker, with full a compass of swing and funk and rock knowledge to draw on. But damn was he sluggish! always dragging the beat! and a heavy footed motherfucker too. He had to be on 'ludes.

The thing I never got about Led Zeppelin was Robert freakin Plant. What a goof! The preening, falsetto lead singer with the Gorgeous George tresses and leotards! You gotta be kiding! It was the silliest thing I'd ever seen or heard. It was Tiny freakin' Tim's act! And all the references to fairies and that stupid Tolkien shit in the lyrics. Oy yoyoy! (That's why The Darkness are such a hoot. Lead singer Justin Hawkins frolicing around in flared, flame embroidered jump suits and singing in rock's most outrageous falsetto since Little Richard is something you should she if you haven't. Love it.)

Of course Led Zeppelin was a great band. Not because of the excess, nor because of Plant's singing which still makes me laugh (tho' now I think I'm laughing w/ him, not at him). What made Zep great where Page and Bonham, their suppleness, their invention, their power. And nowhere is their combined majesty on better display than on disk two of Atlantic's collection of BBC Sessions. Recorded live for John Peel's BBC Rock Hour radio show on April Fool's Day in 1971 during Zep's "Back to the Clubs" UK tour, the session had been widely bootlegged but was released officially in the late 1990s in typically solid BBC radio audio.

The 64-minute performance captures Zeppelin during a last moment of glory, when they could still spellbind an audience. The material from Led Zeppelin IV had been recorded but was not yet released. Songs here, like "Black Dog" and "Stairway to Heaven" are being heard by the audience for the first time. It's almost as if the BBC engineers captured anticipation in the air. Zeppelin was standing at the edge of their descent into bloated darkness and at the zenith of the band's power as a rhythm section. The group pours out an amazing amount of musical content, sheer noise, and drive for three guys & a singer. Bonham's not sluggish here that's for sure (except maybe at the end where it all falls apart on "Thank You"---Page's guitar is out of tune, Plant's singing is way flat, Bonham sounds appropriately tired.).

I think it's the best stuff Zeppelin ever got on tape.

Comments

[Fred Wilson]

I love Led Zepplin the way i love my old Chevy Vega.

[JayR]

I saw Led Zep in 1977 in Madison Square Garden. Robert Plant couldn't sing and Jimmy Page couldn't walk. It was like watching a live, uncut version of "Behind the Music". Wish I could have seen them earlier.

Fred - I had a Chevy Vega - 1974, green with rust above the tailpipe. And a lighter that didn't work, which dramatically reduced the car's functionality in my college years. In my case, I would compare my Vega to Leo Sayer or Air Supply.

[Ze Patrick Page]

Led Zeppelin is the best band that ever was and ever will be...
get over it...

[Youwillneverknow]

Pity you.

And your musical taste.

when you come up with something better I would like to know. Cheers,

Jimbo.

[Jessica]

"The thing I never got about Led Zeppelin was Robert freakin Plant. What a goof! The preening, falsetto lead singer with the Gorgeous George tresses and leotards! You gotta be kiding! It was the silliest thing I'd ever seen or heard. It was Tiny freakin' Tim's act! And all the references to fairies and that stupid Tolkien shit in the lyrics."

I disagree. You make out like you think you are the be all end all of opinions in music. Obviously you dont know good music. You dont know what your talking about.

*LED ZEPPELIN ROCKS MAN!!*

[kakdaddy]

My, we're the indie snob. All the right references & put downs. Namechecked everything from Tiny Tim to the Darkness. Pity there's not an opening for a writer at CMJ or Melody Maker. You sure now how to bait the "dumb" Zeppelin fan, you "clever" Darkness fan.

I agree with the Plant comments... to a point. He's never been my favorite part of Zep. I could care less what he's actually singing about, it's just how he sings that adds to what the other 3 are playing.

Anyway you don't have to try that hard prove your own hipness. Liking music simply because it's good is good enough rather than living up to the Lester Bangs doctrine of "I know ( enter band name ) are stupid, but they're kinda cool sounding & the fact that I can admit & recognize both makes ME even cooler". CREEM magazine went out of publication some time ago. Apparently it's smug legacy in you hasn't.

[Spelling Bea]

Robert Plant never wore leotards, and I'd love it if you could tell us all exactly where in Led Zeppelin's catalogue there is any reference to fairies.
Your spelling is very poor and your grammar not much better. C minus

[Richard]

You missed the point of what it is like to be a Zeppelin fan. We WANTED self-indulgence. We wanted to hear Jimmy Page play a violin bow..weaving his own rock orchestra..changing Dazed and Confused every show. We wanted to hear John Bonham play Moby Dick. We wanted Plant to hit the high notes and watch the interplay between he and Page taking rock and roll to new territory...We wanted 3 to 4 hour concerts..to take us on a musical journey..and shout for joy because our music heroes have arrived in our city to entertain us.
Led Zeppelin is a secret society...to be enjoyed by fans who love the sheer power and yet subtleness of it's music...to be explored with each listen...and to be talked about for decades to come.

[JanePMurphey]

....how about just enjoying it instead of picking it apart. It must suck to have to analyze shit so much. If you sit back and just go with it, you'll have a lot more fun than being like "oh man, Bonham's dragging!"
"Oh shit, there's a string out of tune." Have you ever seen a live band? Stuff like that happens all the time, it's part of the experience of a live show. You've got way too much time.

[bcb]

You acknowledge Jimmy's mastery, Bonzo's ability, and band's overall greatness, but there are a few problems or in accuracies with your "analysis."

First, there are generalization problems with this analysis. It's hard to take some lackluster performances and some lesser efforts and then generalize that Zeppelin in their entirety were no better than those performances or efforts.

Second, incorporating a bow into the routine, thus using your instrument in new, interesting, and musical ways, all the while introducing non-rock melodies to an all-rock audience, is something that should be praised, not called ridiculous. What precisely about Jimmy's bowing is ridiculous?

Third, Plant rarely converted to falsetto. The screaming highs he was known for where not achieved by falsetto. But I will acknowledge that there is a twitchiness to some of his performances I don't particularly care for, but I must say that there simply is no better rock voice than Plant during the early to middle Zeppelin years, regardless of what he looked like on stage.

Fourth, Tolkien was extremely widely-read and well-accepted at the time, and if you've been paying attention lo these last few years, you should have noticed there has been a Tolkien resurgence attributable to Peter Jackson and New Line's production of the Lord of the Rings. Lyricism is part imagery, and that's ostensibly what Plant was trying to do, to compliment the musical elements with imagery he thought appropriate. What's wrong with Tolkien? Is it too long a read for you?

[Tom]

You, sir, are a moron. How was Bonham sluggish? Listen to any version of Moby Dick and see if you still compare him to anything relatively slow. You're one of those idiots who criticizes Zep on everything they do. You say the violin bow act was a bit hokey? If he didn't do it, you would say it is too boring because he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. So why don't you get off your ass and go learn a thing or two about the history of rock and roll, because it appears as if you flunked Rock 101.

[the chosen one]

though your entire deal here completely lacked any signs of thought, i did like a few things about it:
-i liked how you BOTH praised AND knocked zep at the same time
-i liked how the ONLY songs you showed any interest for were the songs from the oh-so-cliche fourth album
-i liked how the name "john paul jones" was not mentioned anywhere in your deal. he and bonham, not page and bonham, were actually the foundation, the rhthym section, of the band. he was also quite possibly the most musically talented person of the time. he played guitar, bass guitar, any kind of keyboards, and mandolin, all exceptionally well, and could solo like no other. he also arranged nearly all of zeppelin's work and wrote a good chunk of their songs.
-i liked how you said "thank you" from bbc sessions "fell apart". please pinpoint for me where it did because i thought it was brilliant. but i would love it if you could prove me wrong.
-i liked how you talked about robert's lyrics: "And all the references to fairies and that stupid Tolkien shit in the lyrics". sorry to burst your bubble, but only one of their songs out of about 80 or so was tolkien influenced, and that was "the battle of evermore". "misty mountain hop" and "stairway to heaven" also have some debateable references. ok, so that's THREE WHOLE SONGS out of 9 studio albums plus outtakes that had tolkien references. there were zero songs out of 80 or so that had references to fairies. they were primarily a blues band, and it showed in page's and plant's lyrics(but im guessing you didn't know page wrote some of their lyrics too).

you're an idiot, and you don't know what you're talking about. but it doesn't matter because i'm guessing you're a fat loser nerd who lives with his mom and likes any attention he can get. if you haven't, go buy "the song remains the same", "how the west was won", and "led zeppelin dvd" and tell me if you still feel that way. because if you do afterwards, then i pity you. you're missing out on one of the greatest bands ever all because you're not sure whether or not it's cool to like them so you praise and bash them at the same time.

[Whatever]

I think you love Zep but you don't want to admit it because you're afraid what other people would think. And that may be the sadest thing in the world.

[barkoder]

What's with everyone knocking what the guy thinks about Zeppelin? At least he likes them, and has some culture.
Of course there were some bad things about Zep, and pointing them out doesn't make you less of a fan, no way.

[Spelling Bea]

The point is Barkoder - his facts are wrong. Unless you saw Robert in a leotard or heard him singing about fairies. Someone airing their opinions about Zeppelin is just fine if they know what they are talking about. However, this guy has clearly mistaken them for Jethro Tull.

[Lord]

Mate, you are a TURD.

Zeppelin were/are one of the best bands PERIOD.

Lord

[Ledheadforlife]

There was nothing bad about led zeppelin. They are the beginning and the end of rock and roll. Noone else even comes close, cept maybe the stones. Anybody who does'nt worship zeppelin is a lost soul, and I feel sorry for them.

[GraphiteBlimp]

Dude, you are one huge fag. I think your secretly into rap. Led Zeppelin's live footage is way better than any studio version. You can't say that about many bands, back then and now. And when they played live, every version of a song was different and improvised.

[jackson]

Wow, I see what you mean. 'Zeplin Rulz!' What's that stupid line from 'Dancing Days', the one about the tadploe in a jar or something, Plant has got to be the worst lyricist ever. More Tolkien references please....And live? Well c'mon the proof is in the pudding is it not, I couldn't sit through two songs from 'How The West Was Won', and believe me, I'm usually plenty stoned.

[Philboid Studge]

Well, "Ramble On" has the most blatant Tolkien reference of all:

"Was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair,
But Gollum, and the evil one
Crept up And slipped away with her."

And there ain't nothing I can do about it.

[Tom K]

""I know ( enter band name ) are stupid, but they're kinda cool sounding & the fact that I can admit & recognize both makes ME even cooler"."

Where Zep is concerned, what's the alternative? Do I really have to either say they are utterly worthless or else pretend that I don't think they're stupid?

Fact is, I KNOW they're stupid, and I still like listening to a lot of their stuff. (Tho' nothing after Houses of the Holy, 'cept Fool in the Rain). Does that make me cool? More likely, it just makes me stupid for liking something stupid. Who gives a damn, its Rock and Roll.

Tom K

[djangone]

The 'bowed guitar' idea grew some legs and ran off in strange directions. The Icelandic band Sigur Ros does it to ear-splitting effect live, as does Yo La Tengo.

[chervokas]

Haven't heard that stuff. But I was wrong to say it was a bad idea, poorly executed. It was an okay idea executed w/ mediocrity.

I always liked the sound and drama of the Plasmatics chainsawing a guitar better tho'.

[Michael.J.Hefferon]

I am, & always will be Led Zeppelins' (yes the correct spelling of 'Zeppelin') biggest fan. Shit though, some of their post 72' theatrics were rubbish, but name any band of that era who were not overblown & egotistical (The stones are still like that!). Fact of the matter is this however, their 1st 4 albums are better than anything released by any artist since recording began. Oh yeah, Bonham sluggish? Have you had a stroke? He was the 1st drummer inducted into 'Rhythm' magazines hall of fame for drummers, before even the great jazz drummer Buddy Rich, & its readers voted him the 2nd most important drummer of all time after the aforementioned Rich. If he appears sluggish your stereo is broken or you actually have had a stroke or suffer from some other neurological disorder. Fuck it, no ones perfect, but zeppelin were so close it did'nt matter!

[DNO]

I'm a long time Zep fan, after overhearing Whole Lotta Love for the 1st time when I was about 11 years old it blew me away and then later hearing Dazed and Confused, etc.. I was hooked. I've owned every album since high school and although there are crappy lyrics here and there and some mistakes in Jimmy's guitar playing and a squeeky bass pedal on Bonhams drum kit, those things make Zeppelins music that much more entertaining and interesting. I hated the eighties and the invention of the stupid drum machine that took the "feel" out of the music. There's nothing like the raw feel of Zep's music and even though Bonham may not have been the fastests drummer, there's no denying he had a extraordinary feel for timing and an incredible natural rhythm in his playing. Plants vocals were very unique and John Paul Jones bass was simply great. All around, Led Zeppelin was the greatest rock/blues band ever!