by Mick Bonham
1969
In 1969 John Bonham buys a house in West Hagley, and Robert Plant buys Jennings Farm at Blakeshall, Wolverley near Kidderminster.
January. Concerts in USA including three nights at the Fillmore West with Country Joe and the Fish.
17 January. ‘Led Zeppelin 1’ released in USA. The album enters the charts at number 98.
January–August. Recording for the second LP at several studios.
31 January and 1 February. Led Zeppelin appear at the Fillmore East with Iron Butterfly headlining.
February. Short tour of Scandinavia.
March. Club tour of the UK billed as The New Yardbirds at some venues.
Also played at the Wood Tavern in Hornsey, with admission priced at seven shillings and sixpence.
21 March. Only UK television appearance on BBC programme How Late It Is
March. A film and sound recording was made at a warehouse in Staines, Middlesex, featuring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Stephen Stills, Roland Kirk, Buddy Guy, Colosseum, MJQ and Buddy Miles. This is now available on DVD but does not include footage of Led Zeppelin who were at the event.
1 April. ‘Led Zeppelin 1’ released in the UK.
1969 cont’d
April. Return to the USA for a tour including two nights at the Fillmore East in New York, supported by Woody Herman and his Orchestra.
June. Start of the first UK tour.
28 June. An afternoon performance at the Bath Festival of Blues held at the Bath Recreation Ground, sharing the bill with John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, The Nice and John Hiseman’s Colosseum, Taste and Chicken Shack.
July. Begin work on ‘Led Zeppelin 2’ at studios in Willesden.
Tour of the USA through until August.
22 October. ‘Led Zeppelin 2’ released.
November. Start of a tour of the USA with support acts including Isaac Hayes and Roland Kirk.
December. Awarded platinum and gold discs for sales of ‘Led Zeppelin 1’ and ‘Led Zeppelin 2’.
Release of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ as a UK single cancelled by Peter Grant.
John Bonham: “There was a bit of a mix-up. We never wanted to put it out in England. It was only for American AM radio stations to promote the LP and that was a full-length version. In England they pressed up an edited version, and we want to release a single that we feel won’t be a con.”
In 1969 all of the members of Led Zeppelin played on the PJ Proby LP ‘Three Week Hero’ on ‘You Shook Me’ and John Paul Jones produced some of the tracks.
1970
January–August. Recording for the third LP at Olympic Sound in London and a studio in Memphis.
January. ‘Led Zeppelin 2’ knocks The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ LP off the number one chart slot in America, and reaches number one in England.
A UK tour starts at Birmingham Town Hall, with a concert at The Royal Albert Hall later in the month.
21 February. Led Zeppelin appear as ‘Nobs’ in Copenhagen, following a complaint from Count Evan von Zeppelin about the use of the family name.
March. Start of the sixth tour of America.
April. A rare TV appearance: Jimmy Page plays ‘White Summer’ and ‘Black Mountain Side’ on the Julie Felix Show on BBC 2.
April and May. Page and Plant go to a cottage in Snowdonia, Wales called Bron-Y-Aur, to begin writing what would become ‘Led Zeppelin 3’.
John Bonham: “We’re slackening off the pressure so we can work more in England.”
June. Concerts in Iceland.
28 June. Perform to 200,000 people at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. Led Zeppelin went on stage at sunset.
This was held at the Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet over two days, and included Fairport Convention, Colosseum, Johnny Winter, Pink Floyd, Santana, Dr John, Mothers of Invention, Jefferson Airplane and Steppenwolf.
1970 cont’d
In 1969 Jimmy Page and John Bonham played on six tracks for the the LP ‘Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends’: Wailing Sounds, Cause I Love You, Flashing Lights, Thumping Beat, Union Jack Car and Baby Come Back. The album also featured Jeff Beck and Noel Redding and was released in 1970.
July. Tour of Germany.
August. Some concerts in America, and mixing of ‘Led Zeppelin 3’.
5 October. Release of ‘Led Zeppelin 3’.
December. First recording sessions for ‘Led Zeppelin 4’. Work continued until August 1971 at Island Studios in London, Headley Grange and Los Angeles.
1971
January. Recording continues at Headley Grange in Hampshire.
March. UK tour begins and songs which will appear on ‘Led Zeppelin 4’ are premiered.
April. Live broadcast on John Peel’s Radio One Sunday show.
May. Tour of France. There was a riot at a show in Milan when fans fought with riot police.
October. Tour of Japan, including a charity concert for victims of the atombomb attack of 1945.
November. UK tour including two nights at the Empire Pool Wembley on 20th and 21st with Bronco (featuring Kevyn Gammond), Stone the Crows and some circus acts.
8 November. Led Zeppelin 4/ Four Symbols released.
In 1971 there were also concerts at The Ulster Hall Belfast and The Boxing Stadium in Dublin. In Dublin, Phil Carson, the head of Atlantic Records in London, sat in with the band on bass guitar.
John Bonham: “We had a lot of time at home to think, and we grew a lot closer together. We kept seeing stories about us breaking up, but in reality we had never been closer together. We did so much in such a short space of time we got drained. We needed a break before we got stale.”
1972
In 1972 John Bonham bought The Old Hyde Farm at Cutnall Green in Worcestershire. It was to be his home for the rest of his life.
January–July. Recording of Houses of the Holy at Electric Lady Studios in New York and Olympic in London.
February. Led Zeppelin refused entry to Singapore because of the length of their hair.
Tour of Australia. On the return journey, Page and Plant record with The Bombay Symphony Orchestra.
May/June. Tour of America playing to an audience of 16,000 people at The Nassau Colliseum, Long Island.
September/October. Tour of Japan, Denmark, Holland and Switzerland.
November. Twenty-four city tour of the UK, including five in Scotland, plus a concert in Montreaux, Switzerland.
1973
January. UK tour.
March/April Tour of Europe and Scandinavia.
28 March 28th. Houses of the Holy released, entering the UK charts at number one.
May. Tour of the USA.
At 56,800 people, the concert at Tampa Florida breaks the record for largest audience attendance, held by The Beatles for their Shea Stadium concert.
July. Return to America for concerts, and to film shows at Madison Square Gardens for The Song Remains the Same.
August. Tour of America including two sell-out shows at Madison Square Gardens.
November. Jimmy Page records the soundtrack to the Kenneth Anger film Lucifer Rising.
Work starts on Physical Graffiti and continues until December 1974. (Recorded at Headley Grange, Olympic, Island and Electric Lady)
1974
January. Recording at Headley Grange.
February. Concerts in America including Madison Square Gardens.
14 February. Jimmy Page joins Roy Harper on stage at The Rainbow in London around the time of the release of Harper’s album ‘Valentine’. Also in the band that night were Keith Moon, Ronnie Lane and Max Middleton.
Robert Plant and John Bonham (on guitar and looning) joined in at the end of the concert.
May. Swan Song Records – Led Zeppelin’s own record label launched in New York.
(There were plans to release albums by Roy Harper, Bad Company, and Maggie Bell as well as Zeppelin themselves.)
The UK launch came in November with a much publicised party at Chislehurst Caves, attended by many of the l
abel musicians. ‘Silk Torpedo’ by The Pretty Things released that month.
August. John Paul Jones plays with Roy Harper at a free concert in Hyde Park London.
In 1974 John Bonham appears in a film called Son of Dracula produced by Ringo Starr for Apple. It was directed by Freddie Francis with Bonham playing the part of a musician, alongside Keith Moon and Peter Frampton. The film starred Harry Nilsson.
Bonham plays drums on a song called ‘At My Front Door’.
14 September. John Bonham and Jimmy Page jam with Neil Young at Quaglilino’s Restaurant in London after a show at Wembley Stadium featuring Joni Mitchell, C. S.N. & Y and The Band.
1975
January. Concerts in Belgium and Holland.
February. Tour of USA. There were riots at the concert at Greensboro, North Carolina.
25 February. ‘Physical Graffiti’, the first double album and the sixth from the band, is released. (It took 18 months to make.)
March. Concerts in America.
May. Led Zeppelin play three nights at Earls Court in London. (The most expensive tickets were £2.50.)
August. Robert Plant and his wife Maureen are injured in a car crash on the island of Rhodes.
The band members become tax exiles in Jersey.
November. Recording for the next album (Prescence) commences in Munich with Robert Plant in a wheelchair.
In 1975 Jimmy Page and John Bonham contributed to the Maggie Bell album ‘Suicide Sal’
1976
31 March. ‘Prescence’ released, and goes to number one in the second week.
May. Plant and Page join Bad Company on stage in America.
September. John Bonham records an entirely percussive track in Switzerland with additional synthesised effects produced by Jimmy Page.
October. The film premiere of The Song Remains the Same in New York, and release of the soundtrack album.
4 November. UK film premiere, and the soundtrack goes to number one in the album charts.
In 1976 in the NME Readers’ Poll, Robert Plant was voted best male singer, Led Zeppelin best group and Bonham was voted number two drummer behind Keith Moon. Jimmy Page was voted best guitarist and producer, and ‘Physical Graffiti’ best album (ahead of ‘Queens’ Night at the Opera’).
1977
January. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant go to see The Damned at The Roxy in London’s Covent Garden, and return the following week with John Bonham.
April. Concerts in America.
July. Tour of USA
23 July. John Bonham, Richard Cole and John Bindon are charged with assault against an employee of Bill Graham in California. They are released on bail and then given suspended sentences in February 1978.
The remaining dates of the tour are cancelled when Robert Plant’s son Karac dies from a virus infection.
In the readers’ poll of a popular UK weekly music magazine ‘The Song Remains the Same’ wins best album award and Jimmy page is voted best guitarist.
1978
May. Rehearsals at Clearwell Castle in The Forest of Dean follow a period of more than six months inactivity for the band.
July. Robert Plant plays a small gig at the Wolverly Memorial Hall near his home. The band name was Melvin Giganticus and the Turd Burglers and the set largely comprised of rock and roll standards.
August. Robert Plant jams with Dr Feelgood at a club in Ibiza.
December. ‘In Through the Out Door’ recorded at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm.
1979
John Bonham plays drums on the Roy Wood LP ‘On the Road Again’ on the track called ‘Keep Your Hands on the Wheel’.
4 August. Led Zeppelin play at Knebworth.
15 August. ‘In Through the Out Door’ released.
John Bonham’s last live UK appearance was possibly with Paul McCartney, at the concert for Kampuchea at Hammersmith Odeon London, in December 1979. Bonzo joined John Paul Jones and Pete Townsend as a member of the Rockestra.
He also played on two tracks of the last ever Wings album ‘Back to the Egg’ with John Paul Jones.
The following was taken from the Atlantic Records press release 4 December 1980,
‘We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we are’.
– Led Zeppelin
1979 cont’d
In the 1979 Melody Maker readers’ poll, Led Zeppelin are voted Band of the Year, Best Live Act, and ‘In through the Out Door’ is voted best album. Plant is voted as best singer, Page as best guitarist, producer and arranger. Bonham is second best drummer, and Jones second best bass player and keyboard player.
In the NME of the same year Zeppelin are voted best group, Plant as best male singer and Bonham as best drummer.
1980
25 September. Death of John Bonham, aged 32, at Jimmy Page’s house in Windsor.
4 December. Led Zeppelin disbanded.
1982
19 November. Coda released.
DEBORAH BONHAM
It’s not difficult to put into words what John and Michael meant to me, one word suffices – everything. I guess you could say that I’ve been blessed, because unlike some people, I have these incredible, beautiful memories, many of which are captured in this book. I’ve got that to hold on to. Still, I can’t help feeling I’ve been short changed. There is such a void. I miss the humour, the music – we were all so like-minded in our love for all styles of music, I miss the discussions and the banter – the companionship. I miss them.
I had such an introduction into music at such an early age – ‘Led Zeppelin 1’. I used to make my friends come round and play ‘Dazed and Confused’ and say, “Right, start dancing when the fast bit comes in.” We were only 7! John’s drumming always astounded me and the only drummer I can say has come close to him is his son Jason, who I had the pleasure of working with on my album ‘The Old Hyde’ that I wrote for John, Dad and Michael.
Without a doubt, Led Zeppelin’s music has been incredibly influential to me. How could it not – I lived with it and I love it. I love the fact that you can’t pigeonhole it. There is such an array of blues, rock, folk and soul – each track different in style and each album different – something lacking in a lot of new bands today. If only record companies would let bands be a little more inventive instead of thinking ‘radio formula’. Led Zeppelin didn’t give a toss about that – it was always about the music and that’s why it worked. To this day, I am one of their biggest fans. I’ve moved houses three times to find new people to play ‘The Song Remains the Same’ video to! It became a standing joke at our old house – we’d go down to the pub, have a few beers (as you do) then back to the house for a party. My husband Pete would watch me from a distance thinking “any moment now” and sure enough I’d utter those fateful words, “Where’s me video – lets watch Led Zeppelin”. For all of you who know the film well – the bit where Jonesy and John look at each other during ‘Dazed and Confused’. I think Jonesy wants to come in too early on an accent and John looks at him and shakes his head – I just love that. It just shows how close those two were. I’ve worn out three videos but now I have the DVD!! So I’ve moved house again and I’ve got a load of new friends at our local pub who haven’t seen it. Joy!
John had such a great respect for many styles of music, especially Motown. Him and Michael regularly played James Brown, Otis Reading, Sam and Dave, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin (to name a few). This had a big influence on me. They were also both into Joni Mitchel, CSNY and Fleetwood Mac. When Mick Fleetwood played on my album, all I could think about was when I used to listen to them with John and Michael, it had such a huge affect on me.
They say all music holds a memory for someone somewhere – and Joni Mitchel’s ‘Court and Spark’ do it for me. I find it difficult to listen to that album without a tear or two. It reminds me of being wit
h John in the south of France whilst John was on tax exile. We used to play that album all the time – John used to say to me, “Listen to the piano in that, what d’yer think – beautiful init.” It reminds me of being in the car with Michael playing ‘Help Me’ at full blast.
I remember one night Pat was away at a Health Farm and John had asked me and Mum to baby-sit Zoe while he had a beer down the pub. Mum eventually went to bed, but for me, I was like a kid in a candy shop. John had every record you could think of. No way was I going to bed – I was only on the A section – I had the rest of the alphabet to do. Eventually he came home and said, “Oh, you’re listening to Hendrix?” I hadn’t really heard much of him but had heard a lot about him. John suddenly disappeared and came back with a load of videos. We sat up till the early hours watching Hendrix and the Isle of White festival and talking about every bit of music you could think of. It was one of the loveliest moments I have shared with my big brother and an evening I’ll always treasure.
Buying my horse is another treasured moment for me. It’s the only time I can remember where there was just the three of us, John, Michael and me. We had such a wonderful day together. The fact that the whole day was about buying ‘Achilles’ is now immaterial. OK, it wasn’t at the time, but now I look back and think what a special moment that was. When ‘Roxanne’ by the Police came on, John turned it up full blast and said, “They’re going to be the next big band.” He was so right – he just knew a great song when he heard it. Needless to say, I became a huge Police fan, that was until John took me to see them.
The Police were playing the Birmingham Odeon. Don’t ask me when, unlike Michael, I never kept a diary. I just remember John and Matthew coming to pick me up with Jason and we all went off to the show. It must have been late 70s I guess, cos I remember thinking how great it was that John still wanted to see up and coming bands even though Zeppelin were so huge and the Police certainly weren’t.