“Amazing”: How Carmine Appice helped to launch Led Zeppelin
We can often praise the greats of yesteryear and hold them at pedestal heights, cementing them as pioneers of their craft. But nobody becomes a virtuoso without a little help along the way. In fact, it’s quite easy to see that the best of the best are those who look to others for guidance, keeping an open mind at every turn – those who genuinely believe they can continually improve. Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham was no exception.
Bonham is widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers of all time—a sentiment shared by drummers across generations, from Mike Portnoy, Dave Grohl, and Chad Smith to Brad Wilk and Joey Jordison. While Bonham has inspired countless musicians honing their craft since the 1970s, he too drew influence from an impressive roster, often citing jazz giants like Elvin Jones, Buddy Rich, and Gene Krupa as key inspirations. There’s a sense of serendipity, then, when Carmine Appice of psych group Vanilla Fudge recalls a poignant early encounter with Bonham and Led Zeppelin, referencing Joe Morello—best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet—as a shared point of influence.
In 1968, having just changed their band name from The New Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin were added as support to Vanilla Fudge at their sold-out, 8,000-capacity show in Denver, Colorado. Without any album releases under their belt at this point and next to nothing in terms of an audience, the English band were booed off the stage.
Carmine Appice, however, was a big fan and fondly recounted his admiration for Bonham and “the foot”. Upon meeting, Appice was stunned when Bonham declared, “I got that from you.” He went on to explain how Appice’s use of triplets between eighth notes influenced his playing and foot technique. It was then that Appice bashfully referenced Morello who had said, “nobody has it all, we all take from each other”.
Bonham’s desire to learn more from Appice didn’t end there. Mesmerised by his setup, featuring a pair of Ludwig bass drums – the first oversized drums in the rock business – Bonham wanted the same kit. Where did Appice take his inspiration from to make this move? “I pioneered the use of big drum sets and played with the butt end of the sticks early on. I did that because there were no P.A. systems,” he told Drum in 2011.
So, Appice made a call to Ludwig, encouraging them to endorse Bonham – during the conversation, Appice insisted that this band was “going to be big”, laughing as he admits that was “the understatement of six decades”.
Mere months later, Led Zeppelin – Bonham, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones – kicked off 1969 with the release of their self-titled debut album, which in July of that year skyrocketed to gold status – next to unheard of in today’s charts. With Bonham’s shiny new Ludwig kit in tow – identical to Appice’s – the two bands set out on a co-headline tour, following which Jimmy Page and Robert Plant actually asked Bonham to remove one of the two bass drums. They felt it was too busy. And at this point, Led Zeppelin’s now iconic drum sound was born.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.