Respect for Bonzo

["Michael O. Shannon" <ms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings FBO,

I think it goes without saying that most fans of Led Zeppelin consider John 
Henry Bonham to be not only their favorite drummer but also the greatest 
drummer of all time.  On and off through the years I have heard Zep fans put 
down other groups like the Stones or the Who because they are out there touring 
without the original lineups etc...but the mighty Led Zeppelin have never 
truely reunited because of the great respect for Bonzo and the band...

I've never really bought the whole thing about the amazing amount of respect 
the ex members of Zeppelin and their fans had for Bonham and so they can never 
tour under the Led Zeppelin name again.  It all comes down to Plant.  Plant and 
Bonham were buddies or "childhood friends" as Robert could be heard to say.  
Plant and Bonzo had a tight bond on and off stage and laughed and gave each 
other crap on stage as can be heard on so many bootlegs.  That relationship 
grew from being a couple of kids struggling hard to make it to becoming a 
massive success in Led Zeppelin.  And then Bonzo passed away (RIP) how could 
Plant ever replace that bond(?), he couldn't and so it was the end of an era.

But still it all comes down to Plant.  If Plant had wanted to work with Jimmy 
and Jonesy again with another drummer and/or additional musicians I think 
everyone would have gone along with Plant on that (whether they called 
themselves Led Zeppelin or something else).  And I don't think we as fans would 
have been saying that's bullshit where's the respect for Bonzo?  I think we'd 
be rocking out to all the new music and concerts that they might have made 
together throughout the 80's, 90's to present time.

Yes I have huge respect for Led Zeppelin and Bonzo but I think that anytime 
between 1980/09/25 to the present if Robert had said let's get together as Led 
Zeppelin for a tour or to make new music it would have come to pass.  It always 
seemed like it came down to Plant saying yes or no.  It pretty much goes 
without saying that we all have a huge respec fort Bonzo but I think most of us 
would not have complained if the boys had got back together as Zeppelin or 
whatever. 

Back to the Stones or the Who out there touring without the original lineups 
and how Zeppelin would never do that because of respect for Bonzo and the band. 
 I just don't buy it.  I think if Plant had ever gave it the thumbs up Jimmy 
and Jonesy and the fans would have been there in a heartbeat.  In a way us Zep 
fans are probably jealous of the Stones/Who fans because they get to see and 
hear their favorite bands/artists still working together making music or 
playing live.

To try and wind this post up: Do you see what I'm attempting to say?  We can 
say our favorite band never reunited their surviving members out of respect 
which is true because of the Plant/Bonzo Bond.  But it's not that complicated 
and it never really mattered what we as fans thought or really even what Jimmy 
or Jonesy thought.  Plant could have just snapped his fingers at any point and 
a reunion would have been on and they would have been in the studio or on the 
road and we the fans would have been there at the shows.  We would have been 
missing Bonzo terribly but we would have been there.

Michael O. Shannon
Seatte, Wa









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