John Paul Jones Quotes

"He used to hit hard and he was loud, but he was actually a very subtle drummer in a lot of ways. He never played the same thing twice and there was always a lot going on in his playing. There was light and shade, colour and groove."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"He only used a small kit, but he used to play large drums. He never played a large kit in terms of the number of drums - he only ever used four drums most of the time, and never had racks of stuff, like people did in the beginning of the 1970's. He could do most of what he wanted on a small amount of equipment. It didn't matter what drums they were: I'd hear him sit down on all sorts of strange drum kits and he'd immediately sound like him. It was just the way he hit them, plus an impeccable sense of timing."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

“Bonzo had very broad listening tastes. When we weren't listening to James Brown or Otis Redding, he might be listening to Joni Mitchell or Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Bonzo was a great lover of songs.”
Source: From the liner notes to Led Zeppelin’s Box Set.

"We could do anything we wanted, as we were good enough musicians."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"He was loud from the bottom up, if you know what I mean. Which is how I like it, being a bass player."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"When I was doing sessions I played with three different drummers everyday. You'd get to know the ones you'd have a nice time with and the ones who were going to be hard bloody work. As soon as I heard John Bonham play I knew this was going to be great - somebody who knows what he's doing and swings like a bastard. We locked together as a team immediately."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"We had a mutual respect when we both realised we knew what we were doing. I listened to his bass drum foot and he listened to what I was doing. It was one of those rhythm-section marriages. John was musically loud. He was a strong drummer, and we were playing rock'n'roll - you don't want somebody tapping about."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"He loved playing drums, but he hated being on tour. I remember in the early days he wouldn't go to bed until it was light. I used to sit up with him, just talking or listening to the radio. He really hated being away, and he hated flying. So that was another thing that made him drink. We'd send cars to drive him to the airport. He'd been known to order the driver to turn round and take him back to Birmingham. Unbelievable."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"His fear of flying actually got better when we had our own plane. They let him sit at the controls of a Lear jet, and because he loved fast driving he suddenly realised flying was a bit like driving his car. They let him do a few moves, and... I can remember somebody coming out of the loo at the back saying, "What the hello was that!" as the plane lurched. John came out of the cockpit with a big smile on his face and he said, "That's the fastest thing I've ever driven.""
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"Not many understood and loved music as much as he did."
Source: Thunder Of Drums

"John Bonham was a great musician. That's the way I really feel about him, and that's what I miss."
Source: Thunder Of Drums