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The Son Remains The Same

Jason Bonham grows up Zeppelin and carries on the tradition

By Jasen T. Davis

Led Zeppelin epitomizes the very concept of “legendary rock band.” Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience is more than just the closest t

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Jason Bonham grows up Zeppelin and carries on the tradition

By Jasen T. Davis

Led Zeppelin epitomizes the very concept of “legendary rock band.” Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience is more than just the closest thing you’ll ever get to seeing one of the greatest rock acts of the 20th century; it is also a guided tour of what it was like to grow up Zeppelin as told by Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham, the original drummer for the iconic group. CULTURE caught up with the skinsman for an interview on—420.

 

On a couple of gigs over the years you performed in your father’s place during Led Zeppelin reunions. What do you take away musically and personally from those performances?

What I managed to take away from the last one was the element of “wow” because I was at an age where I was just honored and humbled to be up there. I was such a fan at this point in my life that I always felt that early on I’d taken things for granted. When I got the chance to go up there and have a go at it, it was a very special time—being in the rehearsals and hanging with them and getting to know them as adults. You know, I always knew them when I was a young kid, so to relate to them on another level now, in another element was phenomenal.

 

There are so many iconic drum parts in your songs. One of the best moments in music has always been when the drums finally launch in “Stairway to Heaven” and immediately kick things to another level. How fun is it for you to play those parts every night? How much of your own spin and interpretation do you kind of allow yourself to put on these songs?

To go out and play these songs on a nightly basis on a tour like this is a big task to take in, and I try and stay as true as I can to what I grew up on. Like my version of “Kashmir” is more from the version of how dad would play it.

It’s been a wonderful learning experience to actually go back and study the music again. I really do feel like sometimes I’m hearing it for the first time; it’s been that much of a learning curve.

In just the very first rehearsal for the spring shows, I said to the guys, “If we get it that good on the first, I’ll be happy.” We did “The Rain Song” first and it sent the hairs on the back of my neck up. It’s such a beautiful piece of music I can’t wait to perform it live.

 

You were really young when Led Zeppelin was first really breaking through. As a kid growing up, how aware were you of just how popular the band was? Did that register with you?

Yes and no. It was normal that dad played in the band. That was normal. So for me when the real thought process came about, it was much later after he died and much later still, not till I was about 30, that I suddenly appreciated it as well and understood what dad had done in his life.

 

www.jasonbonham.net.

 

 

Buzzkill

 

Robert Plant, frontman for the legendary Led Zeppelin, a few years ago deflated fans’ expectations of the iconic rock group’s mind-bending indulgences during the ’70s. Plant readily admitted, in a 2005 interview with ContactMusic.com, to smoking marijuana but said his intake of hallucinogenic drugs weren’t quite what you’d think. He did, however, admit to popping a few pills now and then. “I have three Quaaludes from 1977 still in a jar somewhere, but I know they’ll be poison now. I call them Tom, Dick and Harry.”

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