Bonham

I have always loved 'Fool in the Rain' (Led Zeppelin). Bonham's groove is unbelievably intricate but he makes it sound smooth and groovy. I practised this years ago but never made sound polished. I am going to make it part of my practise repertoire now and see if I can get it sounding solid. I did some research on the pattern, just to make sure I was playing it correctly. I wasn't far off. The actual term for the pattern is 'half-time shuffle', or Purdie Shuffle (from what I read on the Internet anyway). Its a triplet pattern where the shuffle is played on the hi-hat. The triplet is completed by the snare drum playing ghost notes and the back beat.
If that's not tough enough, Bonham opens his hat on the off beats and plays a beautiful bass drum pattern. He changes it up later in the song by playing slower triplets on the ride while maintaining the shuffle with the snare, open hat and bass drum.  That's going to be the challenge for me.
You can hear the half time shuffle used in Rosanna by Toto and All We Are by Kim Mitchell.
While researching this I stumbled across the Bembe (Afro-cuban) style. This is another triplet pattern that takes 12 beats to complete. You can google it and find plenty of info and you-tube videos for reference. The basic pattern is not difficult, when played on its own, but when you add the other instruments it becomes complex.  I would like to incorporate it into a song at some point. I'll first try to use the pattern on the right hand and play a standard beat with the rest of me, then build up the Independence. I am hoping I will find something that sounds good and is difficult to play (for me).