John Bonham’s favourite drummer, according to Robert Plant
Legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham transformed the landscape of rock and heavy metal music with a drumming style that fused together a hard rock edge with great technical proficiency. Through the late 1960s, Bonham rose to prominence along with Led Zeppelin’s stormy arrival, instating himself as a true master of his craft.
Demonstrating Bonham’s superior skill, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant once told a story which detailed the time Jimi Hendrix – a world-class guitarist in his own right – was blown away by Bonham’s talent. According to Plant, Hendrix said: “That drummer of yours has a right foot like a pair of castanets”.
Despite being an absolute drumming warrior, however, Bonham was influenced by many who came before him, citing the likes of Gene Krupa as someone who largely shaped his approach. In 1998, his bandmate Robert Plant also revealed another figure that Bonham looked up to.
In an interview with Ray Gun, Plant said: “I’ll tell you who Bonzo loved. [Legendary funk drummer] Bernard Purdie. Yeah, Pretty Purdie”. In truth, the influence of Purdie’s technique can be heard if you listen closely to Led Zeppelin’s hit 1979 song ‘Fool In The Rain’. During the track, Bonham plays a variant of the half-time ‘Purdie Shuffle’, which gives it its signature forward momentum and bouncy feel.
The ‘Purdie Shuffle’, which has become an iconic line in the world of drummers, was apparently conceived by the drummer when he was younger and wanted to recreate “the way a locomotive kind of pushes and pulls”. The sound emits a blues shuffle variation with the addition of syncopated ghost notes on the snare drum – this can be heard on Steely Dan’s ‘Babylon Sisters’ and ‘Home At Last’.
This approach has influenced many along with Bonham, with variations that can be heard on some of music’s biggest hits, including The Police’s ‘Walking on the Moon’, Toto’s ‘Rosanna’, and, of course – ‘Fool In The Rain’. Bonham’s appreciation for Purdie could be traced back to the times he used to visit a drum shop owned by Mike Evans with Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward – Evans used to show visitors of the shop Purdie’s drumming techniques, an audience which included Bonham himself.
“I’d watch Mike do his ’Purdie’”, Ward said, “I think he turned everyone on to Bernard Purdie, whose hi-hat work was incomparable. Bonham would sit in and funk out. His bass drum playing that language everyone seemed to be speaking. But still not applying as well as he did.”
Bonham’s style was considerably agile, so it’s understandable that he learnt from some of the finest that came before him. Interestingly, although he had a lot of love for Purdie, his favourite drummer of all time – and someone he called “God” – was, in fact, Krupa.
Krupa was one of the original pioneers of drumming and someone whom a lot of musicians continue to look to for inspiration. Rush’s Neil Peart once said: “Gene Krupa was the first rock drummer in very many ways. Without Gene Krupa, there wouldn’t have been a Keith Moon.”
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