Rhythm & Drum Magazine Reprints 2003 Series Of John Bonham’s Biography In Four Parts – Part 3

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This is an interesting series of articles on John Bonham, this is a reprint of an article published in the June 2003 issue of Rhythm & Drum Magazine, Rhythm & Drum Magazine is no longer in publication – sadly the world lost another drum magazine. We have translated it to the best of our ability, but it’s still great reading and validation that the impact of John Bonham was global.

We will be posting each part weekly over the next four weeks.  You can follow the link below if you would like to read them all at once.

PART 03:

John Bonham [Led Zeppelin] Perfect Biography Vol.03 / By: Satoshi Kishida

More than 40 years after his death, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham continues to influence performers around the world. In order to hand down his achievements, a reprint project of “Perfect Biography” published in the June/July 2003 issue started on the anniversary of his death (September 25). In Vol.03, we trace the dense two years from debut to success.

In June 1968, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty left the Yardbirds, and after a while Chris Dreya also left the Yardbirds, but Jimmy Page took over the band name. , thought to reorganize the band by gathering new members. This was Led Zeppelin, a band originally called the New Yardbirds. Jimmy initially approached Terry Reid as vocalist, but was turned down and was introduced to Plant instead. After talking to Plant and hitting it off, he moved on to picking a drummer, thinking BJ Wilson, formerly of Procol Harum, was a candidate. However, Plant has a drummer he strongly recommends, and he has come all the way to the club to see Bonham. John’s play fascinated Jimmy at once. John, on the other hand, was already making a decent income, and although he was initially reluctant to join the new band, he saw the potential and agreed. The fourth, John Paul Jones, was already a career session man arranging Rolling Stones, unlike the Midwest rednecks. He also knew Jimmy, heard about Jimmy’s new band, and offered to join Jimmy before joining Plant. In this way, four members were decided.

Next, it’s finally time to make a sound together. The location is a small basement studio in Chinatown, London. Jimmy started riffing “Train Kept a Rollin'” and the three of them followed along. Then something started. It was something that even they themselves could only say was a surprise, and by the time they finished playing it had turned into a solid response. The New Yardbirds have already decided on a tour schedule due to the circumstances of their establishment, and the four will go on a tour around Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from September 7 to 24, 1968, with some rehearsals. Upon returning from the tour, all four realized they no longer needed the Yardbirds name. The performance surpassed the name. Starting on the UK club circuit at the end of October of the same year, they changed their band name to Led Zeppelin, credited to Keith Moon.

Around the same time (for two weeks in October), the quartet began recording their first album at Olympic Studios in Parnes, outside London, all in 30 hours. The song had already been completed to the details of the arrangement through the live performance. With this tape, Peter Grant, the manager, immediately flew to Atlantic Records in NY and got a contract. The album “Led Zeppelin” was first released in the United States on January 12, 1969 (the UK release was at the end of March of the same year) and climbed to the top 10 of the charts for a long time. While radio broadcasts and press articles barely covered them, the number of fans who were astounded at their live performances increased little by little. The first American tour, which began on December 26, 1968, was famous for four performances at the Fillmore West in San Francisco from January 9 to 12, 1969, evokes the longest playing time and enthusiasm to date. However, in his own country, England, he appeared on BBC radio (March of the same year), but the response from both the media and the audience at live venues was slow. On the other hand, the 27 performances of the second American tour from April were almost sold out. In June, a full-fledged tour in the UK was organized for the first time, and the popularity in the country gradually began to rise. Their three appearances on the radio program “BBC Sessions” also boosted their reputation. In the same month, the production of the second album was started as early as possible, and it was produced in stages in between tour schedules. Rhythms recorded at Morgan Studios in Willesden, London, vocals and mixed in New York. The style is even rougher than the first, and the atmosphere of the live stage was brought into the studio as it is.

On October 22, 1969, “Led Zeppelin II” was released. Pre-orders alone reached 500,000 copies, surpassing the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and leaping to number one on the Billboard charts. On January 9, 1970, the stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which was also Jimmy’s birthday, was filmed but was put into storage due to poor video quality. Legendary for his performance. Bonham’s 15-minute drum solo completely knocked the crowd out. It was a moment when Zeppelin put his hands on the top in both the UK and the US.

Original Article: HERE