Drummers mostly tend to stay away from the spotlight and let the frontperson do their job by being most of the face of the band. At least, this was evident to Billy Idol, who dreamed of being a drummer, but upon seeing that John Lennon and Paul McCartney would always steal the spotlight from Ringo Starr, he decided to be a vocalist.
Well then, maybe, it would also be safe to say that along with bassist John Paul Jones, drummer John Bonham was the quieter part of Led Zeppelin as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page mostly took all the spotlight to themselves. This was also evident since when Bonham died after excessive drinking, his death would only get little coverage from the news.
However, John’s drumming had always been essential to Led Zeppelin’s sound and stage shows, and apparently, drumming wasn’t the only talent Bonham had. He also liked to rap, and one of his rapping sessions would eventually inspire Jimmy Page to compose and write a song.
So, Page sat down with Guitar World in 1993 to talk and recall his time with Led Zeppelin and gave insight into what it was like to be in a legendary rock band and the creative processes of some major hits. You know, the usual stuff. So, as Jimmy mentioned a few songs they had written, the topic came to the origins of ‘Out on the Tiles’ and if Bonham’s rapping inspired it.
“Yeah,” answered Page when he was asked if John’s rapping inspired the song. “John Bonham used to do a lot of, sort of, rap stuff. He would just get drunk and start singing things like what you hear at the beginning of ‘The Ocean.’ He would stomp his feet, and his fingers would get going. I think he originally had some lyrics about drinking pints of bitter, you know, ‘Now, I’m feeling better because I’m out on the tiles.”
So, when Bonham would get a bit drunk, he would start to babble and rap. Page was lucky enough to witness all of this and eventually got inspired enough to write a song and immortalize John’s fun memories forever. With this song, John and his fun rapping sessions live on with melodies.
