Quote Of The Day By John Bonham: 'There Have Been Times When I've Blundered And ...'

John Bonham was the legendary drummer for Led Zeppelin, whose hard-hitting rhythms helped make them the most epic hard rock act of the 1970s. Born in Redditch, England, on May 31, 1948, and raised in the city of Birmingham, Bonham was immediately drawn to the British rock scene after leaving school, accompanying future Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant in the bands the Crawling Kingsnakes and Band of Joy before joining the band that made him famous in 1968.

As drummer for Led Zeppelin, he played throughout the band's entire studio discography and became known as a boundary-pushing soloist on tracks such as the legendary "Moby Dick," which became a concert staple for the band. His raw power, bass-heavy style of playing, and infectious grooves made him a favorite among rock fans and his fellow drummers.

Bonham's tragic death in 1980 at the age of just 32 brought the band to an end. His death, along with the deaths of several other young rock stars around the same time tarnished the idea of rock 'n' roll hedonism, which had once been a facet of Led Zeppelin's mythos. However, in interviews, he also came across as a thoughtful and reflective figure, as shown in our Quote of the Day.

"There have been times when I've blundered and got the dreaded look from the lads. But that's a good sign. It shows you're attempting something you've not tried before."

Today's Quote of the Day comes from a 1975 interview John Bonham gave to music journalist Chris Welsh, later featured in Traps Magazine. Welsh had gone to visit the famous drummer after the release of Led Zeppelin's classic double album "Physical Graffiti" and their celebrated residency at London's Earls Court. It comes in the context of a discussion about drum solos, of which Bonham was a master. As he tells Welsh, rather than simply sticking to the kit and the same rehearsed fills and patterns, he would move between the kit, hand drums, and timpani, improvising toward a conclusion, and occasionally painting himself into a corner. "Sometimes you come up against a brick wall and you think, 'How am I going to get out of this one?'" he explained.

Led Zeppelin were an ambitious band. Alongside Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, Bonham pushed hard rock to new levels, creating a succession of albums that demonstrated a high degree of artistic development. Live, he was spellbinding. But as Bonham acknowledges here, even on stage he would make mistakes as he attempted to show audiences something remarkable.

John Bonham's drumming was a high-wire act that required him to take risks and expose himself to potential failure onstage. It is a reminder that though rock gods may look utterly omnipotent when they are at their best — such as during Led Zeppelin's Earls Court dates, which are considered some of the finest performances of the classic rock era — the most acclaimed musicians of the day were thrusting themselves into the spotlight and challenging themselves in the full glare of the public eye. It takes a huge amount of confidence, but could also be anxiety-inducing.

Even at the height of his powers, when rock fans the world over considered him one of the finest drummers of his generation, Bonham struggled with nervousness before going onstage. As he confided to Chris Welsh during the Traps interview: "I've got worse. I have terribly bad nerves all the time. Once we start into 'Rock And Roll,' I'm fine. I just can't stand sitting around, and I worry about playing badly. It's worse at festivals. You might have to sit around for a whole day, and you daren't drink because you'll get tired and blow the gig. So you sit drinking tea in a trailer with everybody saying, 'Far out, man.'"

• "When I left school I went into the trade with my Dad. He had a building business, and I used to like it. But, drumming was the only thing I was any good at, and I stuck at that for three or four years. If things got bad, I could always go back to building."
• "The band just goes from strength to strength. I keep thinking we're going to wake up one morning and find it's all over. Sure, we've had criticism. When we first came up we were called a second Cream, but now you see they call some new groups a second Zeppelin." 
• "The whole group gets on well. To me, some groups get too close, and the slightest thing can upset the whole band. In this group we're just close enough. It's never a case of somebody saying something and the whole band being on the verge of breaking up."
• "We enjoy playing. Every gig is important to us. In this business, it doesn't matter how big you are, you can't afford to become complacent. If you adopt that attitude, you're dead. That'll never happen to us."