‘We Don’t Need Led Zeppelin,’ Vanilla Fudge Promoter’s Bold Decision Revealed By Carmine Appice

In the third part of a Q&A video series for Artists On Record Starring Adika Live!, Carmine Appice shared how his drumming influenced Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, specifically in the song ‘Good Times Bad Times.’ He recalled the band’s first American tour in 1968-1969:

“The promoter said, ‘Look, we don’t need Led Zeppelin on this. It’s a new band. I know, but we don’t need them. We’re sold out.’ So, I said, ‘Come on! It’s only $1,500.’ Long story short, we ended up paying half of Zeppelin’s fee [with] Vanilla Fudge to put them on the show, their first show in America. And the promoter paid half.”

Talking about Bonham’s skills during the live shows, the drummer went on:

“Then, we did some more shows with them. And I got to know Bonzo and his right foot. I loved his right foot. And when I said to him, ‘Man, I love what you did on ‘Good Times Bad Times.’ Awesome.’ He said, ‘I got it from you.’ I said, ‘I don’t do that.’ He said, ‘You did do that.’ He pointed it somewhere on one of my albums.”

He commented on the late musician’s parts in Zeppelin’s first single:

“Instead of repeating it – I went like [mimicking his beat] with the bass drum, he just kept it going [mimicking Bonham’s beat], you know. So, he got the concept from what I did and did his own thing to it.”

Other Artists Also Noticed Appice’s Influence On Bonham

At the beginning of their North American tour, Led Zeppelin were the opening act for bands like Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, and Country Joe & The Fish. At that time, Vanilla Fudge were on the road to promote their third studio album’ Renaissance.’

Appice’s style in this record was visible in Bonham’s playing, as even Journey’s Steve Smith pointed out. A few years ago, the drummer told The Aftershocks Podcast:

“I got a call from Steve Smith – you know, Steve Smith from Journey – one day, and he said to me, ‘I just listened to Vanilla Fudge’s [1968 album] ‘Renaissance’ album, and what I heard on there was everything John Bonham ever did.'”

He continued to explain:

“I said, ‘Oh, thank you, Steve, and I really appreciate it.’ Drummers are like a different kind of breed – we all take from each other. John Bonham did stuff I did because I was around before him. So, he used to listen to Vanilla Fudge records. I used to listen to Max Roach and Joe Morello; I listened to Ginger Baker. I listened to this one; I listened to that one.”

You can check out Carmine Appice’s full video about John Bonham below.