For millions, the late former Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was the best in the world at his craft. However, songwriting was a completely different occupation, and it was a skill that never came naturally to Bonham, who preferred to sit behind his drum kit while leaving the writing duties to his talented bandmates.
Bonham was not a born songwriter, but he was credited with writing a selection of tracks for Led Zeppelin. However, it wasn’t because he was staving away with pen and paper. Instead, it was largely his inspirational presence in the studio, and without the drummer even trying, he provided the nucleus of an idea for a song which his bandmates ran with.
The first time Bonham received a writing credit for Led Zeppelin was on the opening track of their eponymous debut album. ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ is credited to every member of the band apart from frontman Robert Plant.
Page told the BBC of the song’s genesis: “‘Good Times, Bad Times,’ as usual, came out of a riff with a great deal of John Paul Jones on bass, and it really knocked everybody sideways when they heard the bass drum pattern, because I think everyone was laying bets that Bonzo was using two bass drums, but he only had one.”
Another songwriting contribution to the band was ‘Out on the Tiles’ from the band’s third album. The phrase in the track’s title references a night out, and when Bonham discussed his plan to go “out on the tiles”, it ignited an idea in Page’s mind. As a thank you, the drummer was listed as one of the writers.
Bonham was also listed as one of the architects of ‘Moby Dick’ from 1969’s Led Zeppelin II, his signature song. The track is built around his mighty drum solo, and during concerts, it allowed him to show off his brilliance to the paying audience. Once, during a performance at the Royal Albert Hall, Bonham played an extended 15-minute version of the monstrous rock hit.
Lastly, Bonham was named as one of the writers of ‘Kashmir’, the track Plant considers his favourite Led Zeppelin creation. Meanwhile, Page said of the song’s creation: “The intensity of ‘Kashmir’ was such that when we had it completed, we knew there was something really hypnotic to it, we couldn’t even describe such a quality.”
He added: “At the beginning, there was only Bonzo [drummer John Bonham] and me in Headley Grange. He played the rhythm on drums, and I found the riff as well as the overdubs which were thereafter duplicated by an orchestra, to bring more life to the track. It sounded so frightening at first”.
Bonham’s four songwriting contributions to Led Zeppelin’s discography wouldn’t fit the traditional description of a lyricist, he was crucial to the creation of each of the tracks mentioned above, and without him, they wouldn’t exist in their current form.
The songs John Bonham wrote for Led Zeppelin:
‘Moby Dick’
‘Kashmir’
‘Good Times, Bad Times’
‘Out on the Tiles’
