Welcome to the blog! I have a lot of things to share on my site, and I’ll kick things off with sheet music for the classic Led Zeppelin tune “Good Times Bad Times.” Most of the really famous licks from this song are already pretty well-known, but since it’s such a revered tune, I got motivated back in college to take a detailed look.* I don’t have a lot of full-length transcriptions, but with songs like this that are under three minutes, it’s not too difficult of a project.
The legendary bass drum triplets have been widely dissected, but “Good Times Bad Times” has a lot of other details that are commonly missed. For example, despite what everyone seems to hear, the hi-hat pedal doesn’t drop out when the first verse starts. Rather, Bonham stomps out 8th notes throughout most of the song, only stopping during those one-measure breaks after each chorus.
Most interesting to me is the cowbell playing in the first verse. Listen very closely — it may seem like Bonham is playing steady 8ths, but he actually throws in these 16th note licks, played as triple and quintuple strokes. Check out what's happening at measure 7:
I can’t think of any other Zeppelin tune where Bonham takes this approach with the right hand; the closest that comes to mind is perhaps “Ten Years Gone,” shortly after the guitar solo. Even more curious is how Bonham only really does this during the first verse of the song, as he dials it back during the rest of the tune.
All things considered, this is some of Bonham’s busiest playing on a Led Zeppelin song. I guess with “Good Times Bad Times” picked to be the album opener, Bonham was keen on making quite a first impression. Aside from the bass drum doubles, the playing that really stands out to me involves the jagged, syncopated tom stuff. A pretty hip lick is heard during the guitar solo, at measure 40:
Some other highlights are heard during the outro, such as this cool 3‑beat pattern starting at bar 58 that moves from the snare down to the toms. Notice how he starts it on beat 2 so it sounds like it’s built off of a backbeat:
I’m also a fan of this fun lick right after the fade-out starts:
A lot of these licks are variously recognized by rock drummers to be “Afro-Cuban”; I use that term in quotes because “Afro-Cuban” usually describes a white drummer’s interpretation of what a Latin groove should sound like, typically with flashy names like Mambo, Cha-Cha, Songo, Mozambique, Guaguancó, etc…
Erm… anyway, as I was saying, Bonham’s playing on this track is pretty adventurous not only for late-60s rock but also for being the first Led Zeppelin tune many people ever heard. Funny enough, there’s an obscure story about Bonham having a little too much fun during the early Zeppelin rehearsals. Here’s an excerpt from the short-lived Traps: The Art Of Drumming:
The new band proved a magical combination, although Bonham at first played too busily and ignored warnings from Page to keep it simple. [Band Manager] Grant strode over to the drummer and said, “Do you like your job in this band?” Bonham nodded. “Well, do as this man says. Behave yourself, Bonham, or you’ll disappear — through different doors.”
While Bonham is undoubtedly the star of “Good Times Bad Times,” the playing from the entire band is pretty bold. It’s a fascinating way to start both an album and a catalogue, not to mention how the track is by far and away the most original tune on the debut (heh).
It’s a bummer Traps only made it for ~3 years because it did really good cover stories. The Bonham piece is really great, and you can still get it at DRUM! Magazine’s store. Bootleg PDFs are out there, but since it seems that Traps fell apart because of money, I would encourage you to buy a copy; it’s only eight bucks.
* ^ I say “back in college” as if I didn’t get my degree a couple of months ago.
