Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones Had 1 Major Criticism of John Bonham’s Drumming

Led Zeppelin sold millions of albums during their heyday, but the band earned a legendary reputation for their epic live performances. Even consummate showman Mick Jagger was impressed with Zeppelin’s live shows, which often lasted hours. Amazingly, the albums actually came close to matching the essence of the live shows, including John Bonham’s monster drum sound. They made for a stellar rhythm section, but Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones had a criticism of Bonham’s drumming that manifested itself on a Led Zeppelin IV song.

John Paul Jones (left) and John Bonham during an early Led Zeppelin concert | Jorgen Angel/Getty Images John Bonham’s drums gave Led Zeppelin a thunderous and dominating beat

Bonham remains one of the most revered rock drummers even years after his death. One could argue Led Zeppelin would have been a completely different band without Bonham’s heft, and they’d be right.

He didn’t worry about drumming technique so much as playing by feel and emotion, which worked out perfectly for Zeppelin. He possessed impressive chops, but Bonham played within the constraints of what the songs needed. When he cut loose with his solos, though, it was clear very few drummers could match him.

John Paul Jones, Led Zeppelin’s bassist, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, knew he and Bonham had something special when they first played together. Still, that didn’t stop Jones from criticizing one aspect of Bonham’s drumming skills, which became apparent when they recorded Led Zeppelin IV deep cut “Four Sticks.” 

John Paul Jones had one big criticism of John Bonham’s drumming skills

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Bonham seemed like Superman behind the kit, but the Led Zeppelin IV track “Four Sticks” was his kryptonite.

The song switches between an odd 5/4 beat and a more standard 6/8 cadence, but Bonham had trouble nailing the drum part in the studio. To be fair, switching between the two tempos would confound scores of lesser drummers. Still, it didn’t stop Jones from calling out one aspect of Bonham’s drumming skills, per Far Out magazine.

“It took him ages to get ‘Four Sticks.’ I seemed to be the only one who could actually count things in. Page would play something and [John would] say, ‘That’s great. Where’s the first beat? You know it, but you gotta tell us…’ He couldn’t actually count what he was playing. It would be a great phrase, but you couldn’t relate it to a count. If you think of ‘one’ being in the wrong place, you are completely screwed.”

John Bonham criticizes one aspect of John Bonham’s drumming

Bonham struggled to nail the “Four Sticks” (so named because he reportedly played with two drumsticks in each hand) initially. Still, he rose to the occasion when it mattered. Because he played the grueling song with four sticks, he could only manage two takes in the studio, and he nailed it on one of those two. Yet the band rarely played it live because of Bonham’s struggles.

Bonham shined on ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ despite his ‘Four Sticks’ struggles

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Jones had one major criticism of Bonham’s drumming skills on “Four Sticks,” but Bonzo’s frustration with the song had a silver lining. He launched into a Little Richard beat just to burn off some steam between takes. The rest of the band was so inspired that they put “Four Sticks” on hold and recorded the rollicking “Rock and Roll,” which turned out to be a highlight of the album.

Page coaxed a powerful, rage-fueled performance from Bonham on “Stairway to Heaven” by claiming a stellar first take wasn’t good enough. He delivered the definitive take on the next attempt.

Bonham went through the wringer on Led Zeppelin IV, but the album contained some of his best performances. Perhaps to make up for punishing him, Jimmy Page gave Bonzo an epic drum part on album closer “When the Levee Breaks.”

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