Rock Bottom: Dark Moments In Music Babylon by Pamela Des Barres

the comfort zone of his family, but when he was cut loose on the road for endless months, boredom and loneliness set in and his pranks became legend—TV sets tossed out of hotel windows, cars driven into pools, frightening things perpetrated on suspecting young girls all over the world. The only other musician who measured up to the level of Bonham’s mayhem was fellow drummer and close friend Keith Moon of the Who. They both debauched themselves to death within two years of each other—Keith made it to thirty; Bonzo, the ripe old age of thirty-two.
    John Henry Bonham, the sturdy son of a carpenter, grew up in the Worcestershire
countryside, beating his mother’s pots and pans, creating drum sets with coffee tins and other household doodads, making loads of unruly noise until his mother bought him a real live drum for his tenth birthday. A few years later his father brought home a complete set of drums, and even though the kit was a bit used and rusty, it was John’s greatest prize. Every day John Bonham’s crashing and bashing was heard throughout the quiet town of Kidderminster. At sixteen he left school to work at building sites with his father, which built up his stocky frame—all the better to beat the drums. His first band, Terry Webb and the Spiders, played locally, featuring a cheeky John wearing a purple jacket with velveteen lapels and a string tie. His family wasn’t keen about their son trying to eke out a living as a musician, so John dutifully worked as a builder during the day while spending nights playing drums with neighborhood bands like the Nicky James Movement, A Way of Life, and Steve Brett and the Mavericks.
    Led Zeppelin’s John “Bonzo” Bonham—unnatural grace behind the drums. (MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/VENICE, CALIF.)
    At barely eighteen, when John made the decision to become a full-time musician, he also met his future wife, Pat, at a dance in Kidderminster. John knew right away that he needed Pat as much as he needed his music, and went about convincing her that one day he would be a hugely successful drummer and take care of her in grand style. After all the lofty promises, he moved his new bride into a fifteen-foot trailer where the newlyweds could barely afford to eat. John even had to give up cigarettes to pay the rent.
    Some of the local bands wouldn’t hire the brash John Bonham because he played too hard, too loud. He idolized Keith Moon and was awestruck by Ginger Baker, intent on imitating and outdoing the masters. His far-reaching goal was to be an equal member of an important rock band, not to be hidden away behind the front men. His reputation as a drummer to be reckoned with had begun.
    John played a brief stint with Crawling King Snakes, featuring Robert Plant on vocals, but couldn’t afford to keep making the trip to Birmingham. For a while he went back to playing with A Way of Life, closer to Kidderminster, but when Robert formed the Band of Joy, the young singer convinced John
to join. It didn’t last long. Early in 1968 John was offered a tour with singer Tim Rose and gratefully accepted the forty pounds a week it provided.
    While John blissfully brought home the bacon, his friend Robert Plant was dancing on heady ground, being wooed by guitarist Jimmy Page. The former Yardbird and session man supreme was forming a new band, and after seeing Robert perform with his latest group, Hobbstweedle, had asked him to be the lead singer for this very important new project. Did Robert know any good drummers?
    John hadn’t heard from Robert in three months, and when his old friend excitedly told him about the “New Yardbirds,” John wasn’t interested. He was finally being well paid for playing the drums and had even gotten a mention in the music press for his most recent Tim Rose gig. He thought the New Yardbirds sounded like a rehash, and besides, there were other possibilities. He had been offered jobs with Chris Farlowe and Joe Cocker. Why get involved with something