“Completely screwed”: The one thing John Bonham couldn’t do as a drummer
English rockers Led Zeppelin were arguably the most blessed band of all time, as each of its members, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones, were all geniuses in their own right.
A true collaborative force that brought together four of the most luminous musical talents of their generation, it is no real surprise that it took the band no time to rise and become the most prominent act on earth, suitably dethroning The Beatles, whose reign had been unchallenged for the best part of a decade.
The band arrived on the airwaves as one of the most comprehensive rock outfits of all time. Robust at every angle of their impressive outlay, Led Zeppelin rarely disappointed when it came to musicality. While there are many stellar aspects of Led Zeppelin, one of the finest is the late John Bonham.
A drumming genius who remains as influential today as he was at the height of his fame, Bonham blended the jazz of older players such as Gene Krupa with a modern hard rock fire, creating a sound that is unmistakable, delivering many iconic moments that range from ‘Moby Dick’ to ‘Black Dog’. Arguably, his finest moment is the drum solo ‘Bonzo’s Montreux’, in what can only be described as a masterclass.
Bonham was the engine of the band, helping to push the juggernaut of Led Zeppelin toward the horizon of musical legacy. Despite Bonham being unmatched, even by the likes of Neil Peart, he was not without his technical faults, and notoriously, there was one song on which he came unstuck. This was ‘Four Sticks’ from 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV.
The track is noted for the strange switches in time signature from the 5/4 beat to the 6/8 cadence, however, when it came to recording his part, Bonham really struggled, which is understandable as 5/4 and 6/8 are rhythmically very different.
John Paul Jones recalled Bonham’s struggles on ‘Four Sticks’, and went as far as to outline his only problem with his late friend’s drumming. Bonham was rightly considered by everybody to be near-faultless, but Jones clearly saw an area of improvement for the percussive god.
He said: “It took him ages to get ‘Four Sticks.’ I seemed to be the only one who could actually count things in. Page would play something and [John would] say, ‘That’s great. Where’s the first beat? You know it, but you gotta tell us…’ He couldn’t actually count what he was playing. It would be a great phrase, but you couldn’t relate it to a count. If you think of ‘one’ being in the wrong place, you are completely screwed.”
Interestingly, the song became known as ‘Four Sticks’ because he played with two drumsticks in each hand. Due to him using four sticks, he could only manage two studio takes, but as a testament to his brilliance, Bonham did lay down the track in one of them. However, because it was so technically testing, Led Zeppelin rarely played it live. Even the greats have faults.
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