Keith Richards was lucky enough to have been in a band for almost 60 years with the late Charlie Watts, one of the greatest drummers of all time. Alongside Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones, they became one of the most important bands of the 60s and with the help of other guitarists like Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood, continued to leave their mark on Rock and Roll over the past six decades.
Richards had the chance to see the evolution of the genre up close and to watch many incredible drummers perform. He has shared his opinion on some of them, including the Led Zeppelin legend John Bonham.
What is Keith Richards’ opinion on John Bonham
Keith Richards wasn’t a big fan of Led Zeppelin and John Bonham, but recognized he had a really heavy hand when playing the drums. “I love Jimmy Page, but as a band, no, with John Bonham thundering down the highway in an uncontrolled 18-wheeler. He had cornered the market there. Jimmy is a brilliant player. But I always felt there was something a little hollow about it, you know?” he told Rolling Stone magazine back in 2015.
When talking about Led Zeppelin when answering fan questions in 2004, he described him as a “powerhouse drummer”. “As a band I thought they never took off musically, at the same time Jimmy Page is one of the best guitar players ever known and a hell of a powerhouse drummer, I think is kind of heavy-handed, myself, but that’s where the “Led” comes in. But at the same time Plant is exuberant, Robert is exuberant.”
“Absolutely an LV (Lead singer), although I think he is very much in that English mood of Elvis, Roger Daltrey, there was the fringes and blah, blah, blah, and the microphone. (He also recalls) Rod Stewart and even Mick Jagger. (There were) there were scenes that copied each other a bit, but to me Led Zeppelin is Jimmy Page. You know, you wanna cut the story short: Jimmy Page, shy boy,” he said on his website.
Keith Richards went to a Led Zeppelin concert
Keith Richards went to a Led Zeppelin concert at least once, in 1977, as told by C.M. Kushins on his book “John Bonham and the Rise of Led Zeppelin. “The second wing of the long tour began again in Alabama on May 18 as the band trampled through the American South. The first week of June, they returned to New York for nearly a week’s worth of sold-out shows. Trusted media ally Lisa Robinson covered the series extensively, writing, ‘When Led Zeppelin performed six sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden, Mick Jagger, Faye Dunaway, and Keith Richards were backstage and Carol Channing was in the audience.…,'” he said.
At those shows the band performed some of their biggest songs like “Kashmir”, “Stairway to Heaven”, “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock and Roll”. But they were also promoting their 1976 album “Presence”. So many tracks of that record were also played.
Unlike Keith Richards Charlie Watts did like Led Zeppelin and John Bonham a lot
Keith Richards’ late bandmate Charlie Watts did like Led Zeppelin and Bonham, in his opinion John was the best at what he did. He also praised the band saying they were amazing. “John Bonham is the best at being John Bonham and doing what he does or did, unfortunately. He was the best, there wasn’t anyone better than John at that. Thank goodness we got some records where we really can hear (him). But a lot of other people, Ginger Baker, was a much better drummer than John Bonham. If you really want to know about drumming, Ginger Baker is the best drummer,” Charlie Watts said in an interview with Jas Obrecht (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
“A lot of white bands to me are vastly overrated. I say white bands because most of the music I love to play on record is by black American musicians, 40s and 50s stuff. When white musicians did get hold of the blues, they seemed compelled to expand it in all directions: Led Zeppelin, Cream, 15-minute versions of Crossroads. The Stones never did. Zeppelin were amazing. Just the sound of Bonham and Jimmy Page was an amazing sound in itself, without anything else. And then you had the fact that they were bloody good players,” he told Classic Rock in 2012.
The funny story of when Ringo, Charlie Watts and John Bonham were hanging out
Charlie was a good friend of Bonham, and Ringo Starr once recalled a funny story involving the three of them. He had a drum kit in his attic in the 70s and was there with Bonham and Charlie. When Led Zeppelin’s drummer started to play, the drums began to move because of how hard he played.
“I had a drum kit up in the attic. It was like a cinema attic, music, whatever you want to do up there. Charlie came, and so did John Bonham. We’ve got three drummers, just hanging out. Bonham got on the kit. But because it was just like … you know, it’s not like onstage, where you nail them down, so they’re steady. It was just, like, there. So as he was playing, the bass drum was hopping away from him.”
“You think, ‘Ah, man! ‘That would have been a great little video, a TikTok or a photo [that] would have gone worldwide! But in the ‘70s, I had parties, and you’ll never find any photos. Because I wouldn’t let you take photos, you know, in my house. But I always think that would have been a great shot to have,” Ringo Starr said during a press conference in 2021.