John Bonham

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Geddy Lee Edition

I could sit here and write paragraphs about my appreciation of Geddy Lee. He was the first true influence I had as a bass player when I was in high school. For years after, I admired not just his talent as a musician, but his ability to improve and grow. He is also underrated for how great a "rock" ... More >>

30 Seconds With Wo Fat's Kent Stump

From the bowels of the bayou comes Wo Fat, rock and roll that oozes, pulses, and frankly makes me want to storm a compound. Good, good stuff if you're in the mood to hunt Bigfoot in the Big Thicket. I braved the rage of singer Kent Stump to see what I could learn about him in 30 seconds. Rocks Off: ... More >>

Bon Iver, Hipster Doofus

R.I.P. John Bonham: Top 5 Ways to Avoid Death by Misadventure

This week back in 1980, the rock world lost a good one. John Bonham, the fantastic, heavy-footed drummer for Led Zeppelin was found dead in bed in Jimmy Page's Windsor manor house. It was an ugly end for Bonzo. A longtime heavy drinker -- particularly when separated from his family -- Bonham had ... More >>

Squeezing the Lemon: Led Zeppelin & the 10 Most Shocking Rock and Roll Reunions

Five years ago this week, Led Zeppelin fans young and old squeezed their pants full of lemon juice when the band's three surviving golden gods -- Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - announced that they'd be reuniting for a one-off concert in London. John Bonham's son Jason would man the s ... More >>

10 Iconic Final Concerts Plus The End Of Beatlemania

The Beatles' concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park 46 years ago today was the end of an era for the band. Except for a famously unannounced appearance on top the Apple building two and a half years later, it would be the final live performance that the Fab Four would ever play together. It w ... More >>

Syrupy Surprises: Random Selections From DJ Screw's Personal Vinyl Collection

If you haven't taken the time to check out the "DJ Screw and the Rise of Houston Hip-Hop" exhibit on display now at UH's MD Anderson Library, do yourself a favor and go. Put on in conjunction with the H.E.R.E. (Houston Enriches Rice Education) Project, UH's African-American Studies department and th ... More >>

Bumbaklat Hits: Pop's 10 Most Unforgivable Reggae Misappropriations

Can you feel it yet? Don't let all this rain fool you -- Summer is on its way. Sure, that means triple-digit temperatures, mutant mosquitos and Astros-fan apathy, but it also means live music outdoors. And where there's live music outdoors, there is always reggae. It's some kind of rule. Persona ... More >>

The Roots Of Lionize: From Miles Davis To Led Zeppelin

It's hard to find a band that reps Miles Davis in the same breath as much as they do Led Zeppelin, but Lionize are that band. Recording in Jamaica with Steel Pulse's Sidney Mills, supporting beardos like Kylesa, Clutch, and cKy? Yes, that's Lionize for you. Opening for Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster ... More >>

Heavy Fuel: How to Drink Like a Rock Star

If you want to be a real rock star, you can go ahead and forget about those Red Bull and vodkas you're so fond of. Legit rockers are fueled by bigger, harder and flat-out weirder doses of alcohol than the mere mortals hitting on the bartender at your local watering hole. Sure, a few of our musical ... More >>

How To: Drink Like a Rock Star

Sure, most rock stars are probably happy with any bottle that happens to be within reach. Some rock stars, however, prefer to refine and perfect their booze intake, settling on a signature cocktail that suits their outsized personalities and consequence-free lifestyles. Rocks Off salutes these exc ... More >>

John Paul Jones' Six Coolest Led Zeppelin Bass Lines on His 66th Birthday

Growing up listening to rock music and being a bass players wasn't always a super exciting proposition. Most of the great bassists of all time are jazz musicians. Being a rock bass player means holding down the low end and keeping the groove intact. While this can still be challenging -- I've seen s ... More >>

Five Cool Songs Carmine Appice Drummed In Honor of His 65th Birthday

​Carmine Appice (pronounced "uh-pees" despite his brother Vinny claiming it is "a-puh-see" -- weird) is one of rock music's most recognized (and not just for the Fu Manchu 'stache) and longest tenured rock drummers. He also happens to be a somewhat polarizing figure. Despite being a contempora ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists of All Time

Me (right), God help me, and Billy Sheehan circa 1990.​Last week, Neph Basedow wrote her list of the 11 greatest female rock bass players and she took a little heat for it, including some from me. But, she also got a lot right. At the very least, she highlighted the most under-appreciated musi ... More >>

Tony Iommi: Music's Other Man In Black Proves His Heavy Mettle

​Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath By Toni Iommi with T.J. Lammers Da Capo Press, 416 pp., $26. Imagine this passage being read in your best "Behind the Music" narration: It was in the center of a dirty, grimy sheet-metal factory in Birmingham, England, when a 1 ... More >>

Father Figures: 100 Famous Musicians' Paternal Professions

If you're a Texan of a certain age, this week you've probably spent some time mourning the death of Jerry Haynes, the children's TV host better known as Mr. Peppermint. Haynes' show on WFAA-TV in Dallas, Peppermint Place, ran from the '60s to the '90s and was widely syndicated across the state, incl ... More >>

10 Semi-Obscure Facts About Led Zeppelin

​On this date in 1968, former Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, and session musicians John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time, rehearsing in a West End studio space in London, England. The first song they played together was a version of "Train Kep ... More >>

Last Night: Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience At Verizon

Photos by Groovehouse​Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience Verizon Wireless Theater November 16, 2010 Some family businesses involve cleaning out septic tanks, others have you pulling teeth and filling cavities all day. Some have you selling used cars, while others mean slaving in a bakery ... More >>

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience

Ten Iconic Musical Nicknames, And 25 You May Never Guess

​You know what sucks? Getting saddled with a really awkward family nickname when you are younger and it following you until it takes a frenzied freak-out to stop it. We were once called "Pooter" by our mother until an eight-year-old Rocks Off gave her a terse look right before third grade star ... More >>

Robert Plant & Band of Joy, Bettye LaVette

Going Platinum: Artists We'd Pay $10,000 To See - And When

​It started one night on the patio of Big Star Bar in the Heights; over Lone Star and cigarettes, a handful of Houston music wags debated the shows they would pay top dollar to see from lartists, iving or dead. We argued the aspects of an At the Drive-In reformation, seeing Sam Cooke in 1963, ... More >>

Free Tickets for Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and G.G. Allin... Sort Of

It's a veritable tribute band meltdown at the House of Blues this weekend, and we have a handful of free tickets up here at Rocks Off HQ to get you into three sure-to-be drunken shows starting this evening. Come pick 'em up at the front desk at 1621 MIlam, Suite 100, until 6 p.m. On the bill tonight ... More >>

Lost Tuneage: Terry Reid

L-R: Waddy Wachtel, Keith Richards and Terry Reid Who Dat? Though unfortunately best known to rock trivia buffs for what he didn't do than for what he did, Terry Reid was (and is) an extremely well-regarded British blues-rock singer/guitarist. He began warbling as a toddler when his mother would ... More >>

The Night Diamond Dave Rejoined Van Halen

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Over the Hills and Not That Far Away

Drenched In Blog: Just Can’t Quit You Baby

Rotation: Ringo Starr, Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo

“Thunderstruck” on I-45

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club returns to form with Baby 81

DVDs

Our Favorite Hussain

The Class of '03

Grab your gift certificates and trade in your white elephants -- here's what you really wanted for Christmas

Roll Over, Eric Clapton. And Tell Stevie Ray the News.

The blues is back -- rawer and louder (and punker) than ever

Hothouse Flowers

Groceries spoil in the heat, while the rest of Houston's music community blossoms

Cold Relief

Radio wild card Coldplay struts in from the UK with plenty of attitude

Played Out

The filmmakers have consumed all the standard clichés and yakked them up in the humorless Rock Star

Happy Daze

Nebula conjures up memories of loud Les Pauls, long hair and weed

Rotation