John Bonham

John Henry “Bonzo” Bonham (31 May 1948 - 25 September 1980) was an English drummer and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin.

Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and “feel” for the groove. He is considered to be one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators in the industry. Bonham was born on 31 May 1948, in Redditch, Worcestershire, England, to Joan and Jack Bonham. He first learned to play drums at the age of five, making a drum kit out of containers and coffee tins, imitating his idols Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. His mother gave him a snare drum at the age of ten. He received his first proper drum kit from his father at fifteen, a Trixon kit. Bonham never took any formal drum lessons, though as a teen he would get advice from other Redditch drummers. Between 1962-63, while still at school, Bonham joined the Blue Star Trio, and Gerry Levene & the Avengers.

Bonham attended Lodge Farm Secondary Modern School, where his headmaster once wrote in his school report card that “He will either end up a dustman or a millionaire”. After leaving school in 1964, he worked for his father as an apprentice carpenter[9] in between drumming for different local bands. In 1964, Bonham joined his first semi-professional band, Terry Webb and the Spiders, and met his future wife Pat Phillips around the same time. He also played in other Birmingham bands such as The Nicky James Movement, and The Senators, who released a moderately successful single “She’s a Mod,” in 1964. Bonham then took up drumming full-time. Two years later, he joined A Way of Life, but the band soon became inactive. In desperation for a regular income, he joined a blues group called Crawling King Snakes whose lead singer was a young Robert Plant.

In 1967, A Way of Life asked Bonham to return to the group, and he agreed-though throughout this period, Plant kept in constant contact with Bonham. When Plant decided to form Band of Joy, Bonham was first choice as drummer. The band recorded a number of demos but no album. In 1968 American singer Tim Rose toured Britain and invited Band of Joy to open his concerts. When Rose returned for another tour months later, Bonham was formally invited by the singer to drum for his band, which gave him a regular income.

Joe Morello

Joe Morello (born July 17, 1928 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is a jazz drummer perhaps best known for his twelve and a half-year stint with The Dave Brubeck Quartet. He is frequently noted for playing in the unusual time signatures employed by that group in such pieces as “Take Five” and “Blue Rondo à la Turk.”

Morello suffered from impaired vision since he was born, and devoted himself to indoor activities. At six years old he began studying the violin, to feature three years later as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and again three years later.

At the of age 15 Morello met the violinist Jascha Heifetz and decided that he would never be able to equal Heifetz’s “sound”, so switched to drumming, first studying with a show drummer named Joe Sefcik and then George Lawrence Stone, author of the noted drum textbook Stick Control for the Snare Drummer. Stone was so impressed with Morello’s ideas that he incorporated them into his next book, Accents & Rebounds, which is dedicated to Morello. Later, Morello studied with Radio City Music Hall percussionist Billy Gladstone.

After moving to New York City, Morello worked with numerous notable jazz musicians including Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow, Stan Kenton, Phil Woods, Sal Salvador, Marian McPartland, Jay McShann, Art Pepper, Howard McGhee, and others. After a period playing in McPartland’s trio, Morello declined invitations to join both Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey’s band, favoring a temporary two-month tour with the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1955. However, Morello remained to play with Brubeck for well over a decade, only departing in 1968. Morello later became an in-demand clinician, teacher and bandleader whose former students include Danny Gottlieb, Max Weinberg, Gary Feldman, Patrick Wante and Rich Galichon.

Bill Berg

Bill Berg is a noted drummer in jazz and fusion music, best known for his work with the group Flim & the BB’s, as well as guitarist Wayne Johnson. He also served as the drummer for fellow Hibbing, Minnesota native Bob Dylan’s notable record Blood on the Tracks. Berg has also recorded and worked with Leo Kottke, Gary Brunotte, Bill Perkins, and others. When not playing music, Berg has worked as an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He has also worked with the Marc Yaxley Trio, a local jazz band in Transylvania County, North Carolina, starring Marc Yaxley, Cameron Austin and Bill Berg.

Cozy Powell

Cozy Powell was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England, and started playing drums at age 12 in the school orchestra, thereafter playing along in his spare time to popular singles of the day. The first band he was in, called the Corals, played each week at the Youth Club in Cirencester. At age 15 he had already worked out an impressive drum solo. The nickname ‘Cozy’ was borrowed from the jazz drummer Cozy Cole. The semi-professional circuit was next, with semi-pro outfit The Sorcerers, a vocal harmony pop band. The late nights and usual on-the-road exploits began to affect his education, and Powell left to take an office job in order to finance the purchase of his first set of Premier drums. The Sorcerers performed in the German club scene of the 1960s. By 1968 the band had returned to England, basing themselves around Birmingham. Powell struck up friendships with fellow musicians like Robert Plant and John Bonham (both at the time unknowns in Listen), future Slade vocalist Noddy Holder, bassist Dave Pegg and a young guitarist called Tony Iommi. The Sorcerers now became Youngblood, and a series of singles were released in late 1968-69. The group then linked up with the Move bassist/singer Ace Kefford to form The Ace Kefford Stand. Powell also began session work. Powell with fellow Sorcerers Dave and Dennis Ball formed Big Bertha.

In 1975 he joined Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Powell, together with Blackmore, were the only constants in the band’s line-up over the next five years, as Blackmore evolved the sound of the band from a neo-classical hard rock to a more commercial AOR sound. Rainbow’s 1979 Down to Earth LP (from which singles “Since You Been Gone” and “All Night Long” are taken) proved to be the band’s most successful album thus far, although Powell was concerned over the overtly commercial sound. Powell decided to leave Rainbow, although not before they headlined the first ever Monsters of Rock show at Castle Donington, England on August 16, 1980. The festival was Powell’s last show with the band. During 1980, when Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died, Powell was considered as a possible replacement for Bonham, but this possibility faded when Zeppelin disbanded.