Fwd: Respect for Bonzo

["Oner Ozaylak" <oner.ozaylak@xxxxxxxxx>]

<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.>

i don't think plant is such an emotional/sentimental person. i know he
and bonham are buddies from teenage but whatever it is, so far it just
didn't stop/prevent plant; to come together with jimmy/others and play
zeppelin songs ;play zeppelin songs on almost every his solo concert
with any band (is there any complete/full length live gig where he
DIDN'T perform a zeppelin song?) and more...

with my all respect for michael and his opinions i felt a discomfort
because i just didn't like the term BUYING. i'm not SELLING anything,
i'm just talking about my thoughts. sorry for sourness.

öner

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael O. Shannon <ms@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Nov 23, 2006 3:01 PM
Subject: Respect for Bonzo
To: zeppelin@xxxxxxxx

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