Dave Grohl Names John Bonham’s Drum Fill That’s ‘Not Human’

“John Bonham is the greatest rock drummer of all time,” Grohl proclaimed in Mojo. “Bonham played straight from the heart. His drumming was by no means perfect, but when he hit a groove it was so deep it was like a heartbeat. It had this manic feeling of cacophony, but it also had the ultimate feeling. He could swing, he could go to the top or he could go backwards.

Bonham is best known for his power and a little less for his precision, but as Grohl notes, having the rhythm of a heartbeat means exactly that: reliability with an undercurrent of vulnerability, prone to react to emotional stimuli external while keeping the blood moving. .

On Led Zeppelin’s classic track “When the Levee Breaks,” for example, which begins with arguably the hardest, coolest drum beat in rock history, Bonham’s playing is “purely human,” according to Grohl. “So sweet, man!” It’s pure chocolate sex. It’s the best groove ever, better than any James Brown song. »

Moments before discussing “When the Levee Breaks,” Grohl shared his thoughts on Bonham’s playing on a later track, 1976’s “Achilles Last Stand.” Presence LP. And this time, rather than equating Bonzo with something “human” in its purest form, he turns that idea on its head, almost questioning whether a real human could even make that kind of sound.

“This song has fireworks, and it’s a good example of Bonham’s reckless side,” Grohl said of Achilles. “You can tell he’s taking risks as the tape goes on. There is an incredible bass drum pattern that propels the track. There’s a filler right after the first verse that just doesn’t seem humanly possible.

And so we have the cymbal-crashing paradox of John Bonham laid out in its clearest terms: he is the personified heartbeat of a flesh-and-blood man, and yet also something akin to to a Bladerunner android, more human than human– too good to be a realistic aspirational figure for the young world-beaters.

The argument has often been made that the magic of the Bonham Sound owes less to John Bonham himself than to a secret blend of clever studio techniques: microphone placement, mixing tricks, and so on. Dave Grohl, who knows all these production tactics well, doesn’t understand. For him, it is clear that Bonham’s genius comes from the man himself. “Every producer and drummer in the world has tried to recapture John Bonham’s sound, but it’s impossible,” he said. “The drum is an acoustic instrument and its sound depends on how you touch it.”

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