The 1976 Drum Solo That Changed Rock History Forever

Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page knows a thing or two about releasing classic songs after they've been placed in the vault for a while. That's because in the fall of 1976, between studio sessions for the Led Zeppelin albums "Presence" and "In Through the Out Door," Page and drummer John Bonham — who died in 1980 — laid down "Bonzo's Montreux" in Montreux, Switzerland's Mountain Studio, and it was reworked by Page for Led Zeppelin's "Coda" album years later. The cut would become one of the drum solos that forever changed rock history.

But the other members had no idea about "Bonzo's Montreux" recording, because Page and Bonham went into the studio alone together. Page once explained that the song wouldn't fit a Led Zeppelin album, which was probably another reason why the recording was done stealthily. Page told Rolling Stone: "For me, 'Bonzo's Montreux' was the backbone of Coda." There are many who would agree.

The epic drum solo came to be because John Bonham was spending an extended time in Montreux and Page went to visit him. While there, they worked on "Bonzo's Montreux" with the idea of creating an orchestral sound through the drums. Page used newly invented electronics, like the Eventide Clock Works Harmonizer for the session, and found a setting that would give a steel drum sound to Bonham's playing, which the late, great percussionist liked, as Page explained in an Instagram Post. 

Then in 1981, he began crafting "Coda" and reworked that 1976 drum recording by adding an additional harmonizer keyboard, making the cut even more symphonic. "I had the multi-tracks of it and started working on the mixing, making sense of what was originally laid down," Page told Rolling Stone in 2015. "I also had this other mix of John's drums without the top-line steel-drum effect, which I got through a harmonizer at the time."

Engineer Stuart Epps also worked on "Coda," and "Bonzo's Montreux" was the first track he ever did  with Page. In 2024 Epps told Florida radio station, WFIT 89.5 FM, that there were 24 drum tracks to mix, as well as four drum takes. But despite the huge challenge, the men created one of most celebrated drum songs ever, which is just one of the solos that sill gives us goosebumps on every listen. 

One good way to measure how "Bonzo's Montreux" influenced rock is to hear what some of the genre's highly respected drummers had to say, like the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, who once spoke of the sheer musicality of the song, and how it molded his drumming. More specifically, he told the now-defunct magazine, Melody Maker (via Far Out Magazine), that he would often stay up late into the night trying to mimic "Bonzo's Montreux." Meanwhile, another Dave, drummer and Slayer co-founder Dave Lombardo, told AllMusic in 2023 that "Bonzo's Montreux" lived in his head for so long, that it inspired him to create his solo album, the drum driven "Rites of Percussion." 

Then there's Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave drummer Brad Wilk, who like Grohl, connected to the drum's orchestration. "I didn't really get into John Bonham until after I hit puberty,"  Wilk told journalist Scott K Fish. "Led Zeppelin made so much more sense to me after that. John Bonham may be my favorite drummer of all time. My favorite drum solo of his is not 'Moby Dick.' It's 'Bonzo's Montreux' from 'Coda.' I absolutely love that, because it's so musical."  

Whitesnake's Brian Tichy praised Bonham and "Bonzo's Montreux" as well, telling Classic Rock Revisited that it inspired him to put together "The Groove Remains The Same," where he brought together 18 drummers at the Key Club in Hollywood to honor Bonham on the 30th anniversary of his death.