Since his tragic death in 1980, John Bonzo Bonham's reputation has soared. Led Zeppelin were the number one rock band of their day, and Bonham was undisputedly the leading rock drummer.
Zeppelin are credited as being the progenitors of heavy metal, but they also incorporated elements of blues, folk.jazz,psychedelia and
progressive rock into their sound.
Bonzo himself was much more than just a heavy drummer.
In his playing
you can hear the swing of jazz maestros Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Elvin
Jones, and Joe Morello with the rocking power of Ginger baker and his
good friend from the other side of the pond Carmine Appice, rounded off
with the Motown sound of pop and soul grooves of Burnard Purdie. John
Bonham knew he was the best rocker of his generation but he continually
strove to improve his superb technique. Perhaps the biggest compliment
is that, after his loss, Zeppelin never tried to replace him.
They knew it would be impossible.
I was giving a student of mine, a drum lesson some time last year off Penn Hill Poole when his uncle arrived from up North he asked if he could sit in a watch me teaching his nephew. I agreed and we carried on
with the drum lesson, it was only when he was telling me how easy and interesting i was making his nephews lesson and who was my drum hero. I answered John Bonzo Bonham, his reply was i play basketball with John's son Jason, the lesson ended and we had a good old chat about the drumming legend John Bonham.
I went to the house two weeks later to give Jeremy his drum lesson and
when his dad John answered the door he said a parcel had arrived for me,
i quickly opened it and it was a pair of personalised drum sticks with
the name Bonham on them there was a short note wrapped around the sticks
with a elastic band. The message read many thanks for saying so many
nice things about my dad signed Jason Bonham, i have the sticks at home
along with many other pairs of drum sticks that have been very kindly
sent to me in my quest to teaching young people.
I made a decision to go into youth work when i was working as a busy
studio drummer in the 80's in Liverpool, once the work dried up. I moved
South to Bournemouth in 1987 and after settling down here i was
appointed as a part time youth worker in 89, through structured drumming
lessons and drumming in a variety of youth clubs i have worked with
hundreds if not thousands of young people over a period of 27 years
teaching drums.
I started to play drums in 1972 after hearing a record by Eric Clapton
titled Laylor, i studied drums with Red Carter who was the best teacher
in Liverpool, it was funny to read an article in this months Rhythm
magazine with Chris Sharrock an old mate from liverpool. He mentioned
his drumming lessons with Red and it made me think of putting this
together. If you are ever unsure about taking up the drums just make
sure you get a teacher that will explain things for you, or come along
to my youth centre 131a Alma Road Winton
Since his tragic death in 1980, John Bonzo Bonham's reputation has soared. Led Zeppelin were the number one rock band of their day, and Bonham was undisputedly the leading rock drummer. 
In his playing
you can hear the swing of jazz maestros Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Elvin
Jones, and Joe Morello with the rocking power of Ginger baker and his
good friend from the other side of the pond Carmine Appice, rounded off
with the Motown sound of pop and soul grooves of Burnard Purdie. John
Bonham knew he was the best rocker of his generation but he continually
strove to improve his superb technique. Perhaps the biggest compliment
is that, after his loss, Zeppelin never tried to replace him.
I was giving a student of mine, a drum lesson some time last year off Penn Hill Poole when his uncle arrived from up North he asked if he could sit in a watch me teaching his nephew. I agreed and we carried on
I went to the house two weeks later to give Jeremy his drum lesson and