Music Mogul Danny Goldberg has described the late John Bonham, Led Zeppelin's original drummer, as a “an angry and mean drunk”.

Goldberg, who worked as a publicist for the band, makes the comment in a new book, Bumping Into Geniuses, which details his life inside the music industry.

He also recalls an interview where Bonham, who he regards asthe “greatest drummer in rock”, responded angrily to a critic who questioned his lengthy drum solos.

“Bonham grabbed the reviewer's lapels and yelled, 'Look, I've had about enough of you people!'” he writes.

The exerts, which appeared in the New York Daily News, also highlight how the atmosphere around the band in 1973 "was one of tension, exacerbated by huge quantities of cocaine. Violence was one bad mood away."

Bonham's son, Jason, took over his drum seat when the band reformed at the O2 Arena in London last December.

Goldberg's book is released next month.

(by Jason Gregory)