Renowned Beatle Paul McCartney is frequently regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, and his bass playing has impacted a great deal of other musicians. However, he is also a proficient player of several other instruments, including the piano, guitar, drums, and keyboards. This ability allowed him to record all the parts for some of his solo albums, including the most recent one, “Paul McCartney III” (2020), on which he performed all the instrumentation.
He shared his thoughts on numerous well-known musicians throughout the years, including drummers. John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, is one of them.
Paul McCartney’s opinion on John Bonham
In an interview with Howard Stern in 2020, he named John Bonham as one of the all-time great drummers. He ranked Keith Moon of The Who in third, Bonham in second, and Ringo Starr in first.
Paul said, “I’d go Ringo [Starr] top, he’s something else. Second, I’d go Bonzo [Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham]. And third, [the Who’s] Keith Moon. That’s mine. I’m going from that generation. Those are pretty good drummers, those boys.”
But, McCartney revealed to the Brazilian daily Estadão back in 2019 that Bonham would be the drummer if he was successful in assembling a “dream band” consisting of musicians who were not members of The Beatles, whether they were living or deceased.
John Bonham played in the studio and live in concert with Paul McCartney
John Bonham had the opportunity to record with musicians other than Led Zeppelin, even though his career was cruelly cut short when he passed away in 1980 at the age of 32. Leading one of the bands was McCartney’s The Wings. In addition to appearing on the 1975 demo “Beware My Love,” Bonham also performed on the 1979 album “Back To The Egg”‘s two tracks, “Rockestra Theme” and “So Glad To See You Here.”
In 2014, during a Twitter Q&A session, McCartney was questioned about her experience playing with Bonham. Next, he answered, stating: “It was fantastic! He was always on my top 5 drummer list. (It was) a great friend and ballsy drummer!“
When he joined The Wings in 1979 when the band was promoting the record at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, he also had the chance to play live in concert with Bonham. Pete Townshend and John Paul Jones were also in the band during the performance.
Bonham saw Paul McCartney with The Beatles live in concert when he was only 14-years-old
The Beatles decided to become a record company after touring for only three years, from 1963 to 1966, following the release of their debut albums. Thus, the opportunity to witness the Fab Four perform live was limited.
However, John Bonham was fortunate enough to see them when he was just 14 years old, as his sister Deborah Bonham recounted in a 2022 Rock Talk interview. “John and Michael, as I was growing up, they went to see The Beatles. Mom took them to see The Beatles when I think John was 14. Michael was 12. They went to see The Beatles and she had somehow managed to get front row seats. But they couldn’t hear anything. It was just girls screaming like mad.”
Deborah Bonham said, “I think that was when John had decided, ‘Yeah, I want to do that.’ And he did, he ended up playing with Paul McCartney many, many years later.”
Led Zeppelin was the first band to be elected the best in the United Kingdom after The Beatles
Oddly enough, Led Zeppelin was the first British band to win the top spot in the polls after The Beatles had been voted number one for eight years running. Annually, Melody Maker magazine conducted such survey in the past. Zeppelin defeated The Beatles in 1970, and Robert Plant was named the greatest male singer of the year.
John Bonham discussed The Beatles with Plant during an interview with British TV that year.
“It’s changing (the music), I think that’s why the awards have changed. Because the kids are changing and so is the music changing.”
“I think these days, the public you know, let’s no just say the kids, because we’ve had all sorts of people at concerts. I think they’re coming to listen to what you’re playing. Not just to look you and see what you are.”
“I remember a few years when I went to see The Beatles, because we’ve mentioned them a few times. It was to look at them. You didn’t really bother what you were listening to. Today is not what you are, is what you’re playing.”