Anyone who knows about drumming will acknowledge that Carmine Appice’s influence is towering.
New York-born Appice’s powerful style has been the engine behind Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart, Blue Murder, Ozzy Osbourne, King Kobra and more.
And across the years he has inspired many other drummers – including the man widely acclaimed as the greatest rock drummer of all time, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
Appice tells MusicRadar that he was aware of his influence on Bonham in the early ’70s, but claims he never spoke about it at the time because he feared a backlash.
“I did notice it then,” he says, “but for a long time I couldn’t say that, you know? I couldn’t because everybody would have thought I was an egomaniac!
“But then, there’s been some books released that talk about how John was raving about me to Cozy Powell [former Rainbow/Whitesnake/Black Sabbath drummer]. So there was definitely some influence there.
“There were other influences with him [Bonham]. He had the same influences that I had, like Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Max Roach. But it wasn’t until I came along that he put it into the rock thing, from what I could see.
“John Bonham went on to become one of the most famous rock drummers because of Led Zeppelin. But I know my place in rock history. I know what I started. I know who listened to me. I could tell.”
The fourth Vanilla Fudge album, Near The Beginning, was released in 1969 and features a version of the Junior Walker song Shotgun.
In the climax to Shotgun, Appice played licks that were echoed by Bonham at the end of the Led Zeppelin classic Rock And Roll, which was included on Zeppelin's fourth album, released in 1971.
Appice tells MusicRadar that he never spoke to Bonham about the similarities between their performances on the two tracks.
“No, I never talked to him, but he knew," Appice smiles. "I’m sure he knew because if you listen to the end of Shotgun and the end of Rock And Roll, it’s almost the same thing. He’s playing my riffs, you know? But it’s cool – because it’s not the only time that it’s happened to me.
“I actually went to see Jason Bonham [son of John], who was doing some Led Zeppelin stuff, and I went with Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden. After the show, we got together and Jason laughed, saying, ‘How many Carmine licks did I do tonight?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I didn’t count them.’ And then Nicko said, ‘I counted nine!’"
Appice goes on: “When I was touring with Ozzy [Osbourne], and Mötley Crüe was the opening act, Tommy Lee would twirl a stick, hit the cymbal, grab it, and twirl the stick like I did by going forward, not backward. And he’d hit the cymbal and grab it with his whole arm.
“Now, I was the only one who did that until John Bonham came along. So I said to Tommy Lee, ‘Where’d you get that?’ He goes, ‘From John Bonham.’ I said, ‘Well, indirectly, you got it from me.’
“He said, ‘No, dude. I got it from John Bonham.’ I said, ‘Okay, after the tour, come over to my house, and I’ll show you some videos…’
“So he did, and I showed him the two Ed Sullivan videos [featuring Vanilla Fudge], and he was blown away. He said, ‘Wow, dude! I can’t believe it. John Bonham got this stuff from you.’ I said, ‘I told you.’ And the Ed Sullivan thing was from before Zeppelin was ever around.”
There’s more. There is Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher, which has an intro similar to that in the song Parchment Farm by Cactus, the band formed by Appice after Vanilla Fudge broke up.
“Alex Van Halen told me they listened to Parchment Farm and they loved the intro of the song," Appice says. "So that’s another blatant influence right there. I mean, there are so many, you know?”
Appice maintains that he is not bitter about all of this.
“Oh, there have been so many stupid things on the Internet,” he sighs. “I saw one thing about the supposed five drummers that I hate the most – it’s ridiculous!
“I’ve seen people say that I hate John Bonham because he stole my stuff. Yeah, right! I don’t hate anyone! Knock on wood, I’m still here to enjoy it all.
“I could use more credit. But he [Bonham] gets a lot of credit because he was in the biggest band, you know? I mean, look at Ringo [Starr] and all the credit that he gets!
“But really, I get enough credit. I have a drum book that sold half a million units and I was the very first one to do a rock clinic out of anyone in the music business.
“But what can I say? Maybe I’m not credited the way John Bonham is, but I know what I did, and so do a lot of other people. I am where I am.”
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