Martin Hudson
In Conversation with
Deborah Bonham

So Deborah Bonham is about to release 'The Old Hyde', an excellent album if I might say so, and that would normally be a good enough reason to do an interview with a lady with a stunning bluesy voice, but even without the album launch there would still be much to talk about with Debbie. She has lived a life that many of us would maybe dream about, rubbing shoulders with the classic rock superstars, but as has been well documented, there is the sad side too. September 1980 was not a happy time for the Bonham family. The mega success achieved by Led Zeppelin was put aside as, not only the Bonhams but many thousands of Zep fans world wide mourned her older brothers death at the young age of 32. These were tough times for the young Debbie but she had already decided that the music industry was where she wanted to be and, maybe even as a tribute to John, she was determined to succeed. However the road to rock stardom was going to have one of those big musical administrative obstacles dropped in her way as she found herself stuck within the grip of a recording contract after releasing only one album, an album that she would rather forget.

I was looking forward to this particular In Conversation, a conversation that would mention much about John Bonham, his son Jason Bonham and people like Robert Plant too. Debbie is now 39 years old and has just got married to Peter Bullick (who plays guitar on her new album); she has no children. With the rude bit out of the way (you know, those personal questions) a classic rock conversation of conversations was on the cards but first I mentioned that first album that Debbie recorded; we will leave the title aside since Debbie gave a yelp when I said I had a copy in the house somewhere.

Don't you go digging that out (laughing loudly), no not that, I'm doing what I want now. In those days I was doing what I was told to do. That's what happens when you get your first deal and you think they know better, but actually they don't. Oh that was along time ago and I got contractually tied and couldn't do anything but now it's OK and it's all going really well.

When I knew that we were going to chat Debbie I put at the top of my conversational piece of paper 'where to begin?' Debbie Bonham what a life, full of ups and downs and then I put 'at the beginning, I suppose.' What is your first musical memory Deb?
Oh God, that's such a hard one, I actually can't think, let me really think back to which was the first record I bought, 'All The Day and All Of The Night' by The Kinks. The first real musical memory was seeing Zeppelin at Birmingham Town Hall, I was about seven, something like that and that was the first real musical memory. That was blinding and that was the point where I thought 'I'd like to do this (laughing),' but it's not quite as easy as it looks (laughs).

Did that gig at Birmingham sort of infest you with the musical direction too because you could have become an opera singer, folk singer?

Well funnily enough I did go into opera at school and rained as an opera singer in a convent. I presume she's dead now but my Reverend Mother used to say (Debbie gives us her Irish voice), 'Oh you've got a wonderful voice; you'd be a great opera star,' and then when I left school and joined my first rock band I had to go back and see her at one of these reunions and she said, 'I hope you're not doing that dreadful stuff where they wear jeans,' and I said no, no Reverend Mother I'm doing opera singing. They put it in the school magazine that Deborah Bonham is now doing opera singing (laughing), but no I did train at that but I'm afraid I'm a blues rocker now. Soul was another big musical influence because both my brothers were so into like John's music. They were older than me, John was fourteen years older and my other brother, Michael, unfortunately died last year and he was older too. It's been horribly, horribly tragic and Michael used to be a DJ in Redditch and did a lot of photo's for Zeppelin as well. Just before he died he wrote a book about his life and that's fantastic and I'm trying to get that published as well. John's music was across the board, he loved Crosby Stills & Nash, he was a big Motown fan as well as all the rock stuff, Hendrix and everything else and the same with Michael. So I grew up on Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Crosby Stills & Nash, Hendrix, Janis Joplin ......

It was sort of John's record collection then that influenced you as well?

Totally, totally, because I always used to be there and I'd always be playing the records. John was great and loved it if you took an interest and he'd say, 'What d'you think of this', no matter how young I was and the same with Michael. There was Joplin, Pickett and Al Green and all across the board, I had a real wide selection of music at my fingertips when I was growing up, so I used to have all my little friends come round and they'd be listening to David Cassidy and stuff (laughing) and I'd be putting on 'Dazed and Confused' and say, now you've all got to dance to this bit here (laughing). My friends would go, 'Oh alright but I don't really like this' (laughing).

It's the same today though isn't it, a minority like good music and the majority like the silly pop music. What about the surreal situation for a Zep fan, was it normal for Robert Plant to nip around for a cuppa and things like that?

Oh God yes. Yeah, he only lived up the road and he lived with us for a while until they really got started and then when they were at their height Robert lived in the Midlands and so did John. So yeah they used to come down and John would occasionally say to come over and have a drink.

But I guess for you at that age it didn't really register till later on how big this thing was?

No not really. It did and I have to say, and this sounds cheesy, but I am their biggest fan and I drive my husband mad because every time I get drunk I go 'Oh The Song Remains The Same' and I keep going just watch 'em. I'm just enthralled with John Paul Jones' bass playing and the way him and John played I just don't think that there's anything that could beat them. I just watch it and I think strewth this is absolutely amazing and I should say I watch it once a week (laughing), I'm normally pissed and it always ends in tears. I love 'em, I love the band, I loved their musical abilities, the changes on every new album, I loved the melody lines that Robert would come up with; 'Since I've Been Loving' you is one of my favourites.

Was John one to drive everybody mad with his drum kit?

When he was younger I think so when my mum and dad first bought it him. I think he turned the neighbours a bit loopy, yeah, soon as mum and dad went out he'd lock himself in the shed and play. Mum and dad would come home to a whole flurry of people shouting 'that's your bloody son,' but when he got older he had a great big music room and he played every day John. He had a juke box set up in there and he'd just put music on and he'd play all the time ad he'd get hold of Jason and Jason would play along as well. It was a good childhood and without a doubt I had the most privileged childhood.

I think that's why I put at the top of the piece, where to begin? Musically it must have been amazing.

It was fantastic and we were a very close family, it was all very family orientated and John was a great family man and when he came back off tour it would always be having the family round. He loved entertaining, and his wife Pat very much loved entertaining and I lived there later on. Even in the early days in the summer it'd be 'come on over' and at Christmas, there was always parties and all the family would be there, it was lovely.

So when John went off with Led Zeppelin what happened to Debbie? Did you start thinking about having your own band?

I really concentrated on school to honest Martin, I worked very hard at school to get qualifications and stuff. John didn't want me to be in the music business at all, I think he knew what it was like, especially at that time when I was much younger because I was only seventeen when he died. I'd be talking about it at fourteen and fifteen and I'd be skipping off school and going down to the Swansong office. I'd pretend I was going to school and then get on the train and go to London. John used to send his personal guy, Rex King, looking around London for me and I'd be hiding, I'd see Rex coming into all of the haunts and he'd say, 'Debbie, come on get in the car,' and I'd think oh shit. I was more frightened of John that I was of my dad (laughing), I thought God I'm going to get a bollocking, and I did. I was banned from going down there but I know now if I had a fifteen year old sister I'd be the same, I'd be extremely worried but I was extremely headstrong and still am, I'm very headstrong. I don't think he wanted me in that and so I was pushed to do well at school which I did because I didn't want to let anybody down. Then when he did die, after a while, I thought I'm going to have a go at this and so I phoned Robert up and said that I'd like to have a go and Robert had his own studio in a converted barn over at his house. I asked if I could go over and he said yes and that's when I first sang, in front of Robert (laughing, I don't know how the hell I did that.

That must have been something because in your sleeve notes of 'The Old Hyde' you describe how your recording of 'Battle of Evermore' with Jason came about on live American radio .............. with that poster of Robert Plant looking down on you.

Oh that poster, oh bloody hell I know, I've got a photograph of it as well. He's just cut out of the photo but you can see right towards the end of the disc that's the Robert poster. Oh yeah that was just mind blowing, I just looked around and I was just completely nervous and I was shaking not knowing that Jason was going to sing (laughing). It was all a bit frantic with 3 million listeners.

But that was only in front of a poster of Robert but to sing for the first time in front of the man himself.

I know, I remember just looking up and thinking oh shit! My knees were trembling, oh dear oh dear, but we got away with it. Robert was really helpful in those days, I'm not saying he isn't now but I don't bother him too much, you've got to get out there and do it yourself. I've certainly had no helping hand, I'm going back to when I was like seventeen and he definitely helped me then and put me straight on how to go about it but he didn't help me in the respect of 'OK you're great, I'll get you a record deal.' He said, 'you'd better get out there and play some gigs, here's a list of 'em and do some demo tapes and send 'em off.' I didn't get the silver spoon treatment at any stage in those days and throughout my career because my career went drastically wrong by signing the wrong deal. It's not been easy being John's sister or anything to do with Led Zeppelin because people instantly have a preconceived idea and you've got to live up to it, there's no way you can trade off the back of this at all. It's not an easy ride.

At what age did you go for that deal then Deb?

When I was about twenty and then they groomed me and the album came out when I was about twenty two.

But it wasn't what you wanted.

No not all, it was a disaster really and then I couldn't get out of it. They had all my publishing and no matter how many songs I'd written and I tried to get deals nobody would take you on when they're looking at a lawsuit before they even start with you. So that was a downer but I turned it around because I thought I can't actually record anything so I may as well go and learn the industry so I worked for BMG, Warner Brothers, everybody in marketing to A&R and learned all about contracts and through doing that I was then able to read the contracts that I'd got and I found loopholes and I got out. I didn't have any money to get a lawyer and being connected to Zeppelin everybody thinks you're rich (laughing). It was difficult but I turned it to my advantage and through learning that I was able to start my own business helping other musicians. I've got a manufacturing business and mastering studio and I was able to do my own album and do licensing deals with it with a great company, NMC, who have just been blinding and they're fantastic. I can't say enough about them, I'd like them to have a real good credit. Carlton Sandercock and Nick Hindle have been blinding, they believe in me and the music and say (Debbie puts on her Irish accent again), 'We don't have a lot of money but we care,' but they're absolutely marvellous.

So from that first album to this album that's been a lot of years?

Yes, I think it was about '85 and then I was about ten years to get everything sorted and then I made the mistake of trying to get a deal and of course people say you're too old, you're too this, you're too that, we only want twenty year olds and your time's come and gone and I thought OK this isn't going to work I'm not going to get a major deal. I went off on tour in America and Sony saw the reaction of the crowd and they wanted me but then they wanted to mould it into what they wanted and I just looked at Pete and said, Pete I've been here, I'm not doing it again. Excuse the French, I thought fuck that I'm doing my own album and at least I'll know that if it doesn't get anywhere or whatever I'll always be able to play it and say that's what I wanted to do and it it is an album I wanted to do. It's got the songs I want on it and there's no interference.

When I listen to the voice I must say it reminds me of some of the great British female blues voices in particular, although Janis Joplin you've already mentioned. I thought of Elkie Brooks in her early days and especially of Maggie Bell too.

Well Maggie Bell was on Swansong anyway and more than Janis Joplin, Maggie Bell was my heroine. Everybody does say to me about Janis Joplin but not really, I was a Janis fan obviously because of just the fact of what she did, but Maggie Bell has a bit more of the soul and more of the voice, the Motowny sort of stuff and I had a close affinity with Maggie and I think that she was one of the most underrated vocalists ever. Funnily enough Mo Foster my producer worked with her and did a tour with Maggie; he worked with Jeff Beck too and Phil Collins, he's got a CV as long as your arm. I couldn't have done the album without him and I've just been very lucky with this, to get people like Mick Fleetwood, Jason on drums and Mo Foster to produce and the guitarists and I feel very, very privileged.

Where did it actually start then Deb, how far back does 'The Old Hyde'go?

About five years ago and the whole idea was to self-finance it which is what we did. We took out a loan on our house and we'd already got the studio anyway, Jason sold me his studio for next to nothing because he didn't use it. Then Mo came on board 'cos he'd been helping me for years and none of these guys got paid. It was wonderful, everybody just said 'If it does alright sort us out, we know you will', so it was all done on trust so I'm very lucky. Of course I'm not going to pay them a cent (laughing loudly).

I've got this on tape Deb!

Oh don't worry they've got my address.

What about the songs then, were they the actual songs you wanted or were the part of a batch from which you picked the best?

Well I've already got a second album ready and you can only put so much on and they all pretty much tell a story. I ended up doing some covers and I wasn't going to do that but 'Black Coffee' just happened and I just loved it that much. I'm a massive Steve Marriott fan and Humble Pie and had the absolute wonderful fortune to do the Steve Marriott Memorial show at the Astoria. I had to pinch myself, I actually got up to sing 'Shine On' with Peter Frampton and Humble Pie. I kept on looking round going my God this is Humble Pie, you know, and we all got up and did 'Tin Soldier' with Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher and it was how it should have been. Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller were just adorable, they were there for Steve Marriott. I'd done this 'Black Coffee' and I just loved it and thought shit I've just got to put that on, I know it's a cover but I wanted to do it and dedicate it to Stevie Marriott. Then I sent it to Jerry Shirley from Humble Pie 'cos we were doing the Marriott Memorial and he phoned me up and started gushing about it and it made my day, I thought it was worth doing for that. Of course one of my other big heroes is Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, I couldn't believe it when he said yes to play on the album(laughing). Anyway we'd been singing 'Need Your Love' down at this club and I thought I'd do that 'cos my mate died from there and so those are the two covers but all the other songs paint a picture of my life, they're all very, even the two covers, very poignant for me in my life. All the other songs are very much to do with me and my life.

And also to do with other peoples lives, what a great title for a song, 'Shit Happens'.

Oh yes, well it does doesn't it. Well that was written for Michael Chetwood, my keyboard player when he was going through a bad time and we'd spoken to each other on the phone. I was worried for him then but he's great now and he's sorted out and come through it but there was a time when we thought he was a gonna, but it's all stuff that's touched me or affected me at some point no matter what it's to do with. The songs fitted well together and I saved some others and have since written some more for the next album. The next albums ready but not recorded.

It's turned out as a single album with a bonus CD, was that always the way it was going to be?

No it's only a single album really, we just did that bonus disc because it has such an effect on me that 'Battle of Evermore'. When I play it now I'm straight in that room and I'd never done anything quite like that, I'd never done a Zeppelin song for a start except as rock 'n' roll maybe at the end of a gig. I just could not believe the enormity of it that there was three million listeners and we were in LA, I'd only gone over for a holiday and with Jason singing and we'd had no rehearsal, so whenever I hear it I'm straight back in there. I just thought damn I've got to put that on and we put that on and the other two are just throwaways. 'Superstition' was just a laugh and 'Songbird'. I think we're doing just one run of it when it comes out in the shops and then that'll be it, it will be a single album and not a double. I just wanted the 'Battle of Evermore' on really but then of course my brother played percussion on 'Superstition', he died and he was so looking forward to it going on the album (laughing), I thought he's going to haunt me if I don't put this on, but it's an embarrassing track to do because the original was God!

Well for me there's good music and bad an it holds up there.

It's alright but it's not one that I'd say yeah let's get that on the album. It's just an absolutely blinding song, fantastic drumming from Jason and great bass from Mo, it's not Stevie Wonder, I mean the original is just amazing, but we put it on because Michael was playing percussion, so at least he made it on to vinyl, as they say.

It's good that Jason's on there playing drums for you and the one thing the shines through your music and when I talk to you and reading the sleeve notes etc is that there's a warmth between you and Jason.

Oh yeah, well we grew up like brother and sister really, he's three years younger than me maybe four and so we really only had each other growing up as kids. We were always close but used to fight like cat and dog, we still do (laughs). Oh God no, I love him, yeah I do love him. I see a lot of him, his wife and his two kids, I see him a lot and I'm seeing him on Monday actually and my sister in law, Pat's coming down here this weekend, so yes we're very close. We fight hard to keep it together because we all live in different places, I'm on the south coast, I used to live in London but we moved down here. I've got other family down here that were very close with John and my mum's getting older and we've bought house with an annexe on the side and so she's very happy. Pat and Jason all live in the Midlands but we meet up regularly.

Anniversaries are something we have a fixation with but that isn't always the case when it comes to remembering the death of a loved one. Do you think about John on the anniversary of his death?

Oh it's horrible, you never get over it. The only thing that happens is you learn to live with it. Over the twenty-one years that John's been gone I learned to live with it. As Pete will tell you I put on 'The Song Remains The Same' and obviously a few drinks later and I can't believe it. Then I lost my other brother Michael who never got over John dying, there's only two years between them and they were as close as anything. As I got older Michael became my best mate and I'm still not dealing with that at all, I'm not living with that yet. It's only been eighteen months but it wasn't something that should have happened, thirty two and forty eight years old and I often think 'why us', but shit does happen and lots of people in the world will go 'why me' but it appens, I don't know. I don't know why my two brothers, who I adored, got taken away from me, I don't know. My dad died and that was a bad one for me, I found my dad and that was bad but justified a little because he was seventy one but he could still have had another ten years, but thirty two and forty eight, they'd got everything to live for. Now I have to push on and think of my mum and I have to be strong for her and my sister-in-laws and Jason and the rest of the family. Anniversaries though, I can't bear it.

And being able to record an album like 'The Old Hyde' is a bonus because not many get that chance or have the ability and you have something to fall back on.

Yeah I'm pleased with that and when I put it on there's a genuine feel. When I wrote 'The Old Hyde', which was the house, I had no idea where that came from. To sing that in front of thousands and see the whole place crying and the cig lighters going up. I had my eyes shut when we first did the House of Blues in LA and when I opened them when I came to the verse and I felt myself breaking up a bit and getting a bit tearful, I opened my eyes and the whole place was just full lighters and I could all the people at the front were in tears. I burst out crying but it'sw lovely because they never get forgotten with that song and whenever I sing it I dedicate it to the three of them and it's lovely.

Will the album get a worldwide distribution?

Yes I'm hoping so and it's scheduled for world wide release. We wanted to get it out here first and I've just been over to Germany and did a show with Uli Jon Roth of The Scorpions in front of 10,000 people and they all went mad. He's a lovely guy, a real sweetheart and his manager and promoter want us to do a tour and Uli wants me to go to Japan with him at the beginning of next year. The distributors in America love it and so yeah we're going to get a world wide release. I've got Sue (Williams) at Frontier on the case, isn't she wonderful, I'm just pleased with her and I love her and her husband Dave. She's been getting into Radio 2 and they were trying to get the Jools Holland show and Johnnie Walker and so if we can get things moving it will be good. Already the reviews are coming in and they're fantastic and so fingers crossed it might do alright. Make a few pennies for the lads.

Well I love the album Debbie and I wish you all the best with it and hope you can come and see us at the Classic Rock Society in Rotherham sometime. It really is an album that classic rock fans ought to try.

Well it's an album where all our mates have come together and you can feel that on it. Everybody's there not for what they could get, (Laughing) because I haven't got any money, they won't come back for a second one will they? They'll be saying 'I'm not playing for Debbie Bonham, she doesn't pay (laughing)'.

Just to finish Debbie remind me who will be in the band?

Well there's obviously Pete on guitar and then theres Christian Henson on keyboards, his mum's famous she was Aunt Sally. We pull his leg about that and he speaks awfully like that and we say 'cut it out we can't have a posh bloke in the band (laughing)'. So he's Posh Bonham, Pete's Greedy Bonham; I'm thinking of the Spice Girls, my bass player, Ian Rowley, has been with me since I was seventeen and on drums there's Andy Reilly and he engineered all the vocals for me and mixed a couple fo tracks and played drums on 'Religion'. That's the major line-up of the band and we've got a couple of backing singers who are great who I always mention and they are Alison David and Gerard Louis. We're off on tour with Lonnie Donnegan.

He's in his seventies now.

I know, he was on at Glastonbury, Guildford Folk and Blues ...

And the Cropredy Festival with the Fairport's.

He's amazing. So we tour the UK soon.

Great Debbie, hope to catch up with you somewhere on the road.

Wondrous Stories
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