“Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin
You can't spell Drum God without John Bonham.
Programming note: It’s Drum Gods Week! I'm spotlighting some of my favorite records that serve as showcases for some of my favorite drummers (and drum performances) of all time. From rock to prog to some experimental crossover hits, I cover a bit of everything. All killer, no filler, as they say.
Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Best Music of All Time newsletter!
Drums Gods Week continues with a shout-out to arguably the best who ever sat behind a kit, John Bonham.
Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
Label: Atlantic
Release Date: March 10, 1969
Vibe: 💥💥💥
With two monstrous opening notes, John Bonham introduced the world to the Led Zeppelin sound.
“Good Times Bad Times,” the opening track on the group’s eponymous debut LP, was their first single released in the US—one that Cash Box called a “blistering single debut.” Though it’s not the band’s best-known song nor their most complex rhythmically, it’s arguably their most important, as it set a sonic template for hard rock that’s been frequently imitated but never fully equaled.
With all due respect to Jimmy Page’s guitar playing and Robert Plant’s vocals, Bonham is the straw that stirs the drink here, as he is on many other Zeppelin tunes. The feel, precision, and sheer force of his playing are unparalleled, forming an iconic style that, according to his son Jason, was all in the technique. Contrary to popular belief, Bonham didn’t necessarily hit the drums harder than anyone else—the way he held his sticks, tuned his kit, and struck the drumheads all contributed to a sound that could literally blow your head off if you weren’t careful.
There’s also the bass drum playing on “Good Times Bad Times.” Those incredibly fast triplets that Bonham uses to enhance the groove throughout are played on a single bass drum pedal, a feat that supposedly impressed Jimi Hendrix, among many others. It’s such a common add-on to a lot of hard rock and metal tracks now that we take it for granted, but it’s the kind of stylistic flourish that, more than half a century after its release, can make a listener sit up in their chair and go, “What was that?”
I remember trying to play this track and several other Zeppelin cuts after I got my first drum kit, and let me tell you, I’ve never felt so out of my depth physically. It’s not simply that my chops as an amateur weren’t (and still aren’t) anywhere close to Bonzo’s, but, after hours spent attempting the groove over and over again, I concluded it was physically impossible to move one’s leg or foot that quickly. Try and play a straight ahead groove with your arms while going nuts on the bass pedal. No thanks.
As it turns out, you have eight-year-olds who can play this drum track seamlessly. Maybe I’m in the minority, in the end. Regardless, Bonham irreversibly changed drumming as much as Led Zeppelin changed rock music. Who knows what might have been had he lived past the age of 32 …
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