The greatest drummer in rock, John Bonham, was born on May 31, 1948.
(Photo: Chris Walter)
Bonham is ranked No. 1 on "Rolling Stone" Magazine's 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.
With his first drum beat in the song "Good Times Bad Times", Bonham forever changed the world of rock and the whole perception of drumming.
There is no drummer in the rock and metal world who has not been influenced by this legendary drummer, who started playing on tin boxes at the age of five and never took music lessons.
In 2010 Dave Grohl wrote an article about "Led Zeppelin" for the "Rolling Stone" magazine. he said the trick was not just to learn and memorize everything Bonham did on the band's albums, but to put himself in a position where he would have the same instincts that Bonham had in drumming. Grohl went on to point out the things that sum up Bonham's greatness:
"John Bonham played the drums like someone who didn't know what was going to happen next—like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. No one has come close to that since, and I don't think anybody ever will. I think he will forever be the greatest drummer of all time"
(Photo: Quora.com)
And now we've filtered out for you 10 interesting facts about the drummer whose every stroke of the snare drum equals the blow of Thor's hammer:
1. He was Tony Iommi's best man during his wedding in 1973.
2. He played with Keith Moon on the same stage at "Led Zeppelin's" performanceת on July 23, 1973.
3. He was one of the first drummers to use the Triplet technique in which he compressed 3 consecutive bass blows with the foot, where in a normal rhythm there was room for only one bass beat. He did this already in the first song from "Led Zeppelin's" first album - "Good Times Bad Times".
4. The song "Four Sticks" from the album "Led Zeppelin IV" got its name since Bonham plays with four sticks. Bonham did not like the way the song sounded and in frustration just hit the drums with 4 sticks.
5. Bonham's drumming in the song "When The Levee Breaks" follows the guitar riff and is not traditionally in sync with John Paul Jones' bass rhythm.
6. The instrumental section "Moby Dick" shows the great abilities of John Bonham on drums. The track during Zeppelin's live performances lasts for over 20 minutes, during which Bonham also drums with his bare hands up to bloodshed. The piece was called "Moby Dick" since his son Jason Bonham would ask him to play "The Long Song" and when Bonham asked him why, the son replied that he was as long as "Moby Dick".
7. He plays drums in some of the songs on Wings' (Paul McCartney's band), "Back to the Egg" album.
8. He also almost appeared on another Paul McCartney & Wings album called "Wings at the Speed of Sound" from 1976. A demo version of the song "Beware My Love" which was released in the deluxe version of the album from 2014.
9. He took to the stage at one of "Damned" shows in the 1970s and was contempt by punk fans who did not like his complex drumming.
10. He appeared in the film "Son of Dracula" from 1974. The film also starred Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Peter Frampton, Harry Nilsson, and more.
Bonus fact: On August 5, 1970, he was a guest at a "Skid Row" show (that of Gary Moore) at the famous Whiskey a-Gogo Club in Los Angeles. They performed the song "Whole Lotta Love" together.
John Bonham passed away on September 25, 1980, he was only 32 years old!