John Bonham

by Mick Bonham

  ‘Led Zeppelin 2’, which had been released in America in October, had knocked The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ off the top of the Billboard album chart.’

  After the show it was a few beers in the bar and then back home, via the local fish and chip shop of course. Watching the band that afternoon, one could really notice how that second tour of the States had honed the band into a really sharp outfit oozing confidence. The press declared, ‘Zeppelin’s fiery set in which they played their own individual form of progressive blues devastated most and proved one of the most enjoyable sets of the festival.’

  On 5 July, the onslaught of America resumed, this time playing large stadiums and open-air concerts. The highlight of this tour, for John at least, was to be able to play at the Newport Jazz Festival alongside one of his heroes and major influences, James Brown and his Band. On the 6th, roles were reversed, Zeppelin would take the stage, and The James Brown Band in turn would stand and watch them.

  “I’ve seen all three James Brown drummers stand round him at the Newport Festival in disbelief,” recalls Jonesy. “Wondering how one guy does what all three of them did.”

  After all the times John had played James Brown records on jukeboxes in clubs and cafés, he was finally up there playing the same venue.

  Apart from a short break at home in September, two gigs in France and a one off appearance at London’s Lyceum Ballroom, John and his compatriots spent what was left of 1969 touring the States. The year finished on a high when, just after 16 months together, they were awarded one Gold and two Platinum discs for sales in America, by the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, Mrs Gwyneth Dunwoody. Led Zeppelin had sold 100,000 albums in the UK and over $5million worth in America. After a family Christmas at home, news came through on 27 December that ‘Led Zeppelin 2’, which had been released in America in October, had knocked The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ off the top of the Billboard album chart.

  Above

  Led Zeppelin perform at the Bath Festival

  Chapter 11

  IN PERSON, LED ZEPPELIN INTO THE 70s

  With all the hard work and hard touring of 1969 came the spoils. John had moved out of the flat in Dudley and purchased a nice sized detached house in Hagley, a quiet village some ten miles east of Birmingham, and was busy decorating it when it was time to go back on the road. Not so much a jaunt this time, as they were opening their third UK tour just up the road at Birmingham Odeon on 7 January. Although Debbie was just eight years old, there was no way she was going to be left at home, so Mum decided she could come and Jacko and I met them and Pat at the venue. It would be Mum and Debbie’s first time seeing John playing with Zep and by the end of the show they were both stunned. A couple of old faces also turned up to catch the show, Matt Maloney and Move bassist Ace Kefford. We all got to see John’s full drum solo, then titled ‘Pat’s Delight’ but later renamed ‘Moby Dick’ for the second album. John received three standing ovations that night and the look on Jacko and Mum’s faces was a picture. Eyes filled with tears of pride as they realised, watching their son take the deserved acclaim, that all the arguments, pranged vans and other escapades had all been worth it. The set finished with a Rock’n’Roll medley that got everyone dancing in the aisles and into such fervour that they only let the band finish after four encores.

  ‘It isn’t hard to understand the substantial appeal of Led Zeppelin,’ wrote Nick Logan in the New Musical Express (NME). ‘Their current two hour blitzkrieg of musically perfected hard rock that combines heavy dramatics with lashings of sex into a formula that can’t fail to move senses and limbs. At the pace they’ve been setting on their current seven town British tour there are few groups who could live with them.’

  As the tour carried on around Britain, Jacko and I were doing the carpentry at John’s and he himself, when he wasn’t playing, would do the decorating. Feeling that he had worked very hard he decided to treat himself to a new Rolls Royce and then took Jack and me to the Cross Keys pub nearby. During the break between the UK tour and departing for Scandinavia we sorted out all the other work that needed doing at his new house. I was to put a large panel fence around the garden, which was about 100 yards long, while Jacko replaced the doors. It was decided the work should start while John was away on their first European tour. Although his life was moving at a fast pace, he hadn’t forgotten about his old mate and roadie Matt Maloney, and had asked him to leave his job and start working for him exclusively. Matthew didn’t need asking twice. On 2 March John left for Europe, taking Pat with him for a short holiday and I went to the house to meet Matt so we could sort out the fencing. As a driver and roadie Matt was second to none, but as a manual worker I’d have got more help if I’d phoned the Samaritans, but with a lot of hard graft and the odd sneaky trip out in the Roller we managed to get the job done.

  The beginning of the 70s saw Jacko and I living above a ladies hairdressers in Studley, Warwickshire overlooking the Duke Of Marlborough Pub and a couple of doors down from the Studley Conservative Club. John would get away from the hustle and bustle of the rock scene by coming over for a quiet drink and a game of snooker with us at the club and then crossing over the road for some George Rafters at the Duke. Some years later a film crew would besiege the Con Club to film one of John’s scenes in the film The Song Remains the Same, but it was to the Duke that he came after the American tour, where we all had a drink and listened in awe to his stories. He looked very tired as he told us that the tour had been a tremendous success though there had been a lot of trouble between fans and over-eager riot police. There had also been one occasion where a guy had pulled a gun on them after a run-in at a restaurant, which prompted them to hire several bodyguards to accompany them through the Deep South. On a brighter note though, Led Zeppelin had been made honorary citizens of Memphis, Tennessee.

  Time simply shot by as we listened intently. Not that it particularly mattered, as the landlord of the Duke, Gordon Scutt, one of the most genial men I have ever met, was the partner of our Aunty Mary, which meant licensing laws weren’t really adhered to as far as we were concerned. We didn’t have any of that silly, “Can you drink up now please”. So, some time after the bewitching hour, John decided it would be a really good idea to have a beer-drinking race. The rules were that we would both drink pints of mild and the odds were to be 100/1. Being a heavy gambler, I placed £1 on me to win. Just over four seconds later I was a hundred quid better off and feeling quite pleased with myself, but then John changed the rules. “It’s the best of three,” he said ordering the next round. Again, a few seconds later I was two hundred quid better off. What amazed both of us was that, on the second round, Gordon had joined in with a pint of gin and tonic and had only lost by a couple of seconds. John decided to call a halt to the festivities on account that I was now earning more than he was.

  Two months passed before I saw John again. This time he had arranged to pick me up on his way to the Bath Festival on 28 June. Both John and Matthew had decided to have a night out in Brum prior to driving down to the gig, so I had gone off to a party to get in the right mood for Bath. At 3.00am in the morning the impatient honking of a car horn told me my lift had arrived. This time we would travel in another of John’s acquisitions, a sleek new Jensen Interceptor which Matthew was driving so that John could get some sleep on the back seat, along with a case of Dom Perignon champagne just in case we got thirsty on the trip. Within a couple of minutes John passed round the refreshments, a bottle each to start with, so the music volume was turned up and we roared off into the night.

  This was the life. The purr of a powerful engine with a bottle of champers in your hand whilst reclining in soft cream leather, noticing the speedometer clock top 150mph. Somehow, with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clasping his bottle, Matthew managed to fly us down to Bristol. As dawn was breaking through the night sky, we arrived feeling rough and looking worse. That year’s event had become so big that the show had been moved from Bath to the Showgrou
nds at Shepton Mallet, some 20 miles south of the original venue. After a few wrong turns we finally found the sanctuary of the artiste’s compound with one thing on our mind; getting into the caravan allocated for Led Zep and getting some shut eye. Things didn’t look good when we found the van locked with someone asleep inside. After some serious banging on the door a sleepy voice told us to “Fuck off”. Failing to see the funny side, John instructed us to tip the whole thing over. As the caravan tilted at 45 degrees the door was finally swung open by a rough looking Richard Cole. In the van behind him were some even rougher looking women.

  Above

  John Bonham adding another car to his collection

  Everyone settled down inside and I was sent in search of some breakfast. As I mooched around in search of a burger van, or anything that sold food, I took the opportunity to sneak up on to the stage to be greeted by a sight that made me feel very small. It looked like something from The Alamo, with bodies lying everywhere, wrapped in sleeping bags or huddled together under blankets and sat around camp fires that gave off whisps of smoke, lending the whole scene the feel of a battlefield. The previous year’s festival had been big, but not as big as this. It was simply awe-inspiring. Remembering the job in hand, I carried on with my search until I had mustered four sad looking sandwiches and six bottles of beer, then returned to the van.

  I would spend most of the day ensconced in the caravan meeting all the people who came to chat with the members of Led Zeppelin. As was Peter Grant’s way, the van soon filled up with food and drink so his boys wouldn’t go hungry. There was a party atmosphere all day as the likes of Frank Zappa, Julie Felix, and Donovan and many other musicians, from all the bands lined up for the second day of the festival, popped in for a drink. This line-up included Jefferson Airplane, the Moody Blues, The Byrd’s, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Santana and of course Led Zeppelin. I didn’t get much chance to see many of the bands because I was busy inventing the word ‘liggin’, though I made sure I was on the right side of the stage as one of my heroes took to the stage – Carlos Santana and how good they were, providing a superb set that met with great approval from the crowd.

  “To put an end to all the break up rumours, anyone who goes to Bath will see and hear Led Zeppelin play as they’ve never heard us play before.”

  – John Bonham, June 1970

  Peter had decided he wanted the band to go on stage at about 7.00pm so that during their performance the sun would set behind them, giving the stage a beautiful glow. I found a spot on the side of the stage then along with about 150,000 other people, awaited the emergence of Led Zeppelin. It was obvious when they did appear, that this was what the crowd had been waiting for and a huge roar echoed around the Somerset countryside. A quick clothes change as John came past (I had to give him my sleeveless jumper because he was going to be too hot in what he was wearing).

  They opened the show with ‘The Immigrant Song’ and went straight into ‘Heartbreaker’ and then enjoyed the sunset during ‘Dazed And Confused’, by which time they had the entire crowd on their side. ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ stunned the crowd into silence, ready for the acoustic set. As the band upped a few gears for ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’, John’s ‘Moby Dick’ followed to thunderous applause. ‘How Many More Times’ proved to be the pinnacle, littered with many rock classics, after which the audience made it clear there was no way they were going to let the band leave the stage. So, tambourines were thrown into the sea of fans and the band proceeded with about five encores. Whilst this rock melee continued, I became aware of a very attractive girl standing next to me and after a quick introduction it was decided that we should have a glass of wine back at the caravan. As we were acquainting ourselves, Ricardo burst in saying he had a bottle of gin and I should nip out and get a few tonics from the beer tent. Despite my ears still ringing from Zep’s set, I still managed to hear the door lock behind me. What a putz! That bloody Cole’s got the girl again! When John arrived on the scene, having noticed me disappear with the girl from the stage, he asked where she’d gone. I told him the story to which he promptly kicked my arse then told me who she was. I can’t mention names as to avoid embarrassment to her and her family, but as the song goes, ‘her daddy’s rich and her momma’s good looking’.

  “The atmosphere was fantastic, when you consider it was cold and windy. And even when it rained they sat through it and could still be happy. I didn’t think you could get an atmosphere like that at a concert.”

  – John Bonham after the Bath Festival

  Long after the band had left the stage the crowd were still chanting for them, which meant nobody wanted to go on next and follow them. In the end it was the newly formed Hot Tuna, featuring ex-Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen, who did the honours and they did it well. Back at the van, the after-show party was drawing to a close and John asked if I’d mind sleeping in the car and looking after his wage packet. I duly obliged, and as I sat there behind the wheel of the Jensen, with a few readies stashed away under the soft leather seats, a young girl tapped on the window and asked if she could shelter from the rain. Of course, being a gentleman, what else could I say? “Too bloody right you can.” As she sat there trying to get dry, I can remember thinking, ‘this is the life, this really is the li… ZZzzzzzzzzzz.’ Doh!

  Some two weeks after the Bath festival, according to many books, the band played a short tour of Germany and it has been widely reported that on 11 July, at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, they broke the record for the largest audience for a single rock group in Germany, by playing to 11,000 fans. Wrong! On that particular date John was helping break another attendance record at St. Mary’s Parish Church’s annual summer fayre in Studley, Warwickshire. The Rev David Acheson had recruited John’s help after they’d met several times at the Duke of Marlborough. It was John’s job to help raise money by signing autographs and judging the Queen of the Fayre contest. An added bonus was that John had got Atlantic Records to send some 100 assorted albums so that they could sell at knock down prices to help raise more money for charity. After the event, we joined the Vicar of Studley for a spot of refreshments back at the ‘Duke’, emerging in the early hours of the following day.

  Less than one month later, Led Zeppelin started their sixth American tour in Cincinnati on 5 August. This time, however, a minimum fee of $25,000 per show was the going rate, but 35 performances later, when they played at New York’s Madison Square Garden, they would receive over $100,000 for their performance. It was during this tour that the fans back home in England would vote them the most popular rock band, knocking The Beatles off the top spot in the Melody Maker Reader’s National Poll. Then, on 5 October ‘Led Zeppelin 3’ was released. With over 700,00 advanced orders in the States alone, it topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Within two months the band were back at work on their next album at Island Studios in London, but after a short Christmas break, all rehearsals and recording were moved to Headley Grange, a rambling country house in Hampshire.

  Chapter 12

  1971 – A RETURN TO THE CLUBS

  “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.”

  – John Bonham

  Interview with Chris Welch at time of Zep IV release.

  “I can’t say what we are going to sound like in the future, and I don’t really want to know. If I could tell you what we’re going to sound like in two years time it would ruin it anyway. We might be on top next year, or I might be back on the buildings.” – John Bonham

  With the basic recording of the fourth album completed, Led Zeppelin kicked off their British tour on 5 March at the Ulster Hall in Belfast. John had driven over to Northern Ireland, aided by Mathew, who would choose this night to make his first major fuck up! After a mem
orable gig, both for the band as it was their first visit to Northern Ireland, and the audience, who rarely got to see any British bands due to the troubles, it was Mathew’s job to drive John to Dublin. However, he took a wrong turn and ended up in the Falls Road – a total no-go area. The road was littered with glass and any other object deemed worthy to be thrown at the armoured cars.

  “Hey mate, what do you think I should do?” Mathew asked calmly.

  “Get us the fuck out of here!” John replied, not so calmly.

  And so, Mathew drove straight through and eventually arrived safely at Dublin’s Intercontinental Hotel.

  It was to be reported by Richard Cole, at a later date, that on this particular night, Mathew assaulted the hotel’s chef and Richard had broken John’s nose with a single punch. Knowing both John and Mathew like I do, I have to admit that I find these claims a trifle hard to swallow. But, as we have learnt over the decades, if it’s been written about Led Zeppelin then of course it must be true!

  During the break between the UK tour and flying off to Europe for their second tour, John and Pat came over to the flat to see me and Jacko. With that usual grin plastered across his face he told me he’d brought my birthday present a couple of months early as he would be in Europe on my 21st. He then proceeded to hand me an envelope which I assumed was my birthday card, but which to my surprise contained the log book for a brand new MGB sports car which he had parked round the corner. After flying around town a dozen times or so, I picked up Lin and we all went to the Duke for a premature birthday party.