The one criticism Robert Plant had of John Bonham’s drumming
Perfection is impossible to achieve as a musician. No matter how technically gifted a person is at playing their instrument or using their voice, there will always be certain people who don’t appreciate it. However, as a drummer, nobody is as widely revered as the late Led Zeppelin icon John Bonham.
He was the heartbeat of Led Zeppelin’s sound, adding steel and bundles of technical prowess. Although Led Zeppelin have performed live on three occasions since his death, including with his son, Jason, on the drums, nobody could replace Bonham. Without him, there was a gaping hole in the band, which only heightened his importance.
Bonham possessed a masterful eye for precision, and he seldom missed the mark. Nobody was more aware of his brilliance than Robert Plant. They had been friends for many years before the formation of Led Zeppelin and enjoyed the ride of their lives together. They first came into contact as part of the Midlands rock scene when Plant was fronting The Crawling Kingsnakes. In 1965, he was playing a show at Birmingham’s The Old Hill Plaza and spotted the drummer in the crowd. The pair didn’t immediately hit it off, but Bonham impacted him despite his forthright comments.
Plant later remembered, “So I was playing at the Plaza and saw this guy in the crowd looking up, sort of scowling, he said to me, ‘You’re alright, but you’d be a lot better if you had the best drummer in the world behind you'”.
Bonham talked a strong game, and Plant was persuaded to propose an audition, which he, of course, passed with flying colours. That chance meeting at the Plaza would begin a legendary creative partnership. However, it took a while for the wheels to get in motion. Although Bonham did join The Kingsnakes, the group split not long after. The duo briefly parted ways, with Plant joining the Walsall-based group Listen, who were another short-lived outfit. Following their demise, he moved on to the Band of Joy and recruited Bonham as their drummer in 1966.
By Plant’s admission, he and Bonham were yet to refine their talents at this stage. Reflecting on the group during an episode of his podcast, Digging Deep, the singer referred to their sound as “very muscular” and discussed why it didn’t work out for them. Although Bonham appeared to be a drumming god when he emerged with Led Zeppelin, it wasn’t always that way. “I was really over-singing nonstop,” he said. “And ‘Bonzo’ was overplaying like crazy, trying to get a gig with anybody else. [He was] trying to escape from me if he could, to go anywhere, at any time.”
The Band of Joy didn’t take over the world, but it was an invaluable experience for Plant and Bonham, who improved exponentially at their craft. It would also lead to the creation of Led Zeppelin. Word had spread to Jimmy Page about Plant’s abilities, and after The Yardbirds fell apart, he recruited the singer for his next venture, who came as a package with Bonham.
Despite Plant saying that Bonham “overplayed” while they were in The Band Of Joy, he also highlighted the imperfections in his own artistry. They were still learning their trade and ironing out their less-desired musical traits. However, by the time they arrived at Led Zeppelin, they had overcome these tendencies to become fully formed musicians ready for worldwide dominance.
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