Wild man of rock was a gentle giant

The band not only set new standards with the sheer volume of their pounding, finger-blistering blues-rock but also in the fields of rock 'n' roll debauchery.

Leading the hotel-trashing, groupie-seducing, drink-and-drugs-guzzling charge was drummer John "Bonzo" Bonham, whose alcohol-related death in 1980 ended the band.

However, to younger sister Deborah Bonham, the John Bonham she knew and grew up with was very different to the portrait painted by rock mythology.

Deborah, who now lives in Bognor, remembers John not just as the finest rock drummer of all time but also as a gentle, funny, farm-loving older brother.

Hers was certainly an unconventional childhood.

Not many children, for instance, can boast of having an authentic rock legend perform the music at their fifth birthday party.

John was on drums, accompanying some of his Midlands musician friends, for Deborah's birthday celebration, at the Crabs Cross Village Hall near the family home in Redditch, Worcestershire.

Led Zeppelin released their debut album in 1968, having formed when Midlands mates Bonham and Robert Plant teamed up with London musicians Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

Probably the youngest member of the thronging crowd at Led Zeppelin's 1969 concert at the Birmingham New Street Odeon would have been seven-year-old Deborah.

She is now a singer in her own right, with a new album soon to be released, and believes it was that exciting night which first inspired her.

Deborah, now 41, said: "That was the night I first thought, 'This is what I want to do, what I want to be a part of'.

"It was a totally awesome experience. I remember looking at the balcony, which was full of people moshing, leaning over the edge, and I was convinced they were all going to fall."

She was a regular at all the band's biggest UK gigs, including sell-out shows at Knebworth, Earls Court and the Royal Albert Hall, and rubbed shoulders backstage with the likes of Paul McCartney.

She had already become accustomed to mixing with leading figures in the rock world, from the late Sixties days when her mum would put up the likes of legendary drummer Cozy Powell and Birmingham band The Move.

Deborah said: "There was a really strong music scene around the Midlands and it became normal to have these important guys staying over with us."

Before hitting her teenage years, she saw nothing unusual in being related to a world-famous rock star.

She said: "I used to have friends round and got them dancing to Led Zeppelin records like Dazed And Confused but they didn't have a clue what or who they were listening to.

"It was when I became a teenager I suddenly realised everyone now wanted to be my friend, when Led Zeppelin had become really big and people worked out who I was."

Bonham was famed as the loudest drummer in the world, often breaking his drum skins through the sheer power of his playing, and was also credited with creating the famous Kashmir riff.

But tales of outrageous off-stage excess have become almost as important a part of Led Zeppelin's place in rock history as the music itself.

Anecdotes told about Bonham include claims he once handcuffed two female fans to a bed before leaving for a gig, to ensure they were there when he got back.

He also allegedly once forced a pair of naked groupies into a bathtub with an octopus, although other accounts claim Jimmy Page was the guilty party.

He is said to have been able to drink vodka out of a bottle like it was water but this culminated in his premature death at the age of 32.

After John was found dead in Jimmy Page's Windsor mansion in September 1980, a coroner concluded he died from asphyxiation from being sick after drinking 40 shots of vodka in 12 hours.

He was buried the following month at Rushock parish churchyard, near The Old Hyde farm. The surviving band members announced they could not go on without him.

Bonham's alcohol addiction has been attributed to a fear of flying, as well as a dislike of being away from his home and family for too long.

Deborah said: "He was a gentle giant. I know he's often described as the madman of rock but there were two very different sides to him.

"I'm sure he was capable of being wild. It was the Seventies, they were flying the flag for rock hedonism and, remember, they were young guys.

"With all that money, fame and women, they weren't going to say: 'No, let's be sensible and just go home and have a nice cup of cocoa.'

"But with his family, John was a very different man. He used to take me horse-riding and every weekend me and his son Jason would go motocross scrambling with him.

"John was a farmer, too. He loved his own farm, The Old Hyde near Droitwich, where he bred Hereford cattle."

Deborah still finds it hard to talk about his sudden death.

She said: "It was ghastly - it still is. Not a day goes by without me thinking of him."

She was in New York recently to launch a new live DVD called simply Led Zeppelin and had to wipe tears from her eyes at the Press launch with the surviving members.

She said: "It felt so weird to watch the footage of the band on stage but not to have John there with us in person. I got a bit choked up.

"But I was also proud. I was jumping up screaming and shouting when Moby Dick started playing - so was John Paul Jones."

Deborah hopes her new album will be released later this year on Hot Records, the label behind the late Eva Cassidy.

She has been performing at festivals throughout the summer, including an appearance at Canterbury last week on the same bill as old friend Robert Plant.

Jason Bonham, John's son, drums on her album as does Mick Fleetwood, while her husband Pete Bullick plays guitar.

The couple, together for 13 years and married for three, moved two years ago to Bognor, where much of the family had already moved.

Her mother Joan lives with them, having failed to settle in north-west London after moving from the Midlands.

Deborah said: "I'm a country girl at heart. I grew up on a farm and never really felt right in London."

Six months ago, she adopted a nine-year-old horse, Space Agent, from the Moorcroft Racehorse Welfare Centre in Slinfold, near Horsham - a decision which had unexpected consequences.

The centre looks after and rehabilitates former racehorses which have had to retire through age or injury and Deborah was so impressed by its efforts, she decided to organise a fund-raising gig.

She said: "I realised just how difficult it is for horses when they stop racing. Often they suffer the most horrendous final years and end up in meat markets but the Moorcroft saves them.

"I wanted to do something to help. My husband and I were talking to Mark Butcher, who's a great friend of ours and we came up with the idea of doing a gig."

England international cricketer Butcher suggested raising money for both the Moorcroft and the Ben Hollioake Fund, set up in memory of the cricketer who died in a car crash last year.

The fund raises money for the charity, Chase for Life Limited Children.

Deborah's husband produced You're Never Gone, the song Butcher wrote for his former England and Surrey team-mate and which he will perform at Saturday's concert.

Also appearing will be ex-Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones, Donovan and Formula One driver Damon Hill and his band, The Six Pistons.

Polo and racing fan Kenney Jones, who also performed with The Who and The Faces, helped organise the use of Hurtwood Park Polo Club as a venue.

Donovan, who recorded Hurdy Gurdy Man and Barabajagal with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in the late Sixties, volunteered to perform as soon as he heard about the event.

Butcher has also promised to bring along some of his England team-mates, celebrating this week's Test match win against South Africa.

Channel 4 racing presenter Brough Scott will auction off an array of rock and sports memorabilia in aid of the two charities.

Among the items on offer will be a signed Fender Stratocaster guitar donated by Iron Maiden's Dave Murray and Led Zeppelin DVDs autographed by the surviving members.

Bids will also be invited for a framed Rolling Stones poster from 1970, a signed portrait of Mick Jagger and a cricket bat signed by the England team.

The concert takes place at Hurtwood Park Polo Club in Horsham Road, Ewhurst Green, on the Surrey/Sussex boundary this Saturday at 7pm.

Tickets cost £20 and are available by calling the polo club on 01483 272828 or Deborah's firm, Sound Discs, on 0208 968 7080.