John Bonham Quotes

I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters.

Not everybody likes or understands a drum solo, so I like to bring in effects and sounds to keep their interest.

There were times when I blundered and got the dreaded look from the lads. But that was a good sign. It showed I'd attempted something I'd not tried before.

Drumming was the only thing I was ever good at.

I've always been obsessed with drums. They fascinate me. Any other instrument - nothing. I play acoustic guitar a bit. But it's always been drums first and foremost. I don't reckon on this Jack-of-all-trades thing. I thing that felling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts.

I dare not drink before a gig because I'll get tired and blow it. So I have to sit drinking tea in a caravan.

Brushes..? Nah. Hit 'em as hard as you can.

Mistreating your drum set is just one step below child abuse

I never had any lessons. When I first started playing I used to read music. I was very interested in music. But when I started playing in groups I did a silly thing and dropped it. It's great if you can write things down.

I'm the Best Keith Moon-type drummer in the world.

I've wanted to be a drummer since I was about five years old. I used to play on a bath salt container with wires on the bottom, and on a round coffee tin with a loose wire fixed to it to give a snare drum effect. Plus there were always my Mum's pots and pans. When I was ten, my Mum bought me a snare drum. My Dad bought me my first full drum kit when I was 15. It was almost prehistoric. Most of it was rust.

My names John Bonham, I'm a drummer and I'm potty about cars.

Most of it was nuts, but I was determined to be a drummer as soon as I left school.

People who don't take care of their drums really annoy me.

Nowadays you can't be loud enough!

Sometimes you'd come up against a brick wall... or sometimes you go into a fill and you'd know halfway through it was going to be disastrous.

I don't consider that I'm particularly influenced by anyone or anything. But when I started playing, I was influenced by early soul. It was just that feel, that sound.

My nerves before a gig got worse; I had terrible bad nerves all the time. Once we started... I was fine.

With Zeppelin, I tried to play something different every night in my solos. I'd play for 20 minutes but the longest ever was 30 minutes. It's a long time, but whenI was playing it seemed to fly by.

I have no qualm about the quality of the contemporary repertory.

I think the marketing needs work.