Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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BJ Wilson, Procol Harum's great percussionist

Signed memorabilia offered for auction on eBay • late October 2014


On 20 November a member of the BtP team, at Gary Brooker's invitation, travelled to a location in Southern England where Procol Harum were preparing for their orchestral performance at The Dominion Theatre in London on 24 November: the specific purpose of this visit was to enable the Commander to sign, and dedicate, the nine drumheads depicted below – and our picture shows him diligently fulfilling that promise. The work-in-progress is in fact balanced on some of the internal struts of his faux grand. Behind the photographer guitar, bass, Hammond and drums are fine-tuning the skeleton of one of Procol's best-loved stage numbers. If you can see anyone in the reflection, it's probably John Magner, who is scooting about making sure things work. [Once the indisposition of Geoff Whitehorn was made public, it was possible to amend the wording of this article to explain that in fact the Matt, Josh and Geoff D were teaching Simple Sister to stand-in guitarist David Colquhoun]. Outside this ombrageous rehearsal space (which must be a good forty miles from the ocean) a ruined boat, rotting tractors, and numerous substantial, friendly cats characterise a somewhat other-worldly scene. The nearest manmade landmark is an extensive cemetery. These details are probably not sufficient to send even the most avid Procoholic stalker to the right place ... so Procol Harum may continue to rehearse in peace, and we're sure they'll surprise us all on Monday night.

 

Offered to fans of BJ Wilson, by eBay auction: signed drum-heads used by BJ in Procol days

Signatures and
dedications yet
to be added,
of course

These used drumheads (larger pictures below) of BJ Wilson's have long been in the keeping of Gary Brooker: listen to his explanation of their history: click here

The large, heavy items GB refers to in the sound clip were sold on eBay starting on 8 October.

We decided to sell the drumheads in a second wave in hopes that people who didn't fancy bidding for
a big item could still end up with a nice souvenir of the great percussionist.

All nine items are listed on this page, to make comparison easier. Each has its own eBay page: you'll see the links.

In conversations between GB and BtP (28 October 2014) Gary kindly offered to sign and dedicate each drumhead,
to make them into wonderful and iconic wall-decorations for fans' music rooms or dwelling spaces.

So the item you win will be authenticated with a legend something like
'For Betsy, November 2014: Gary Brooker, pp BJ Wilson'
You'll be able to specify the name you want once the sale is complete.

Obviously, this personalised writing can be done only after the auction, and we may not be able to despatch your trophies for a few days.
They will be worth waiting for.

Proceeds from this sale go equally to 'Beyond the Pale' and to GB's BJ Wilson Fund
 


Drumhead 1: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 1: 14½ inch snare-drum head, used: Remo Weather King Ambassador Batter, Made in USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 2: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 2: 14½ inch snare-drum head, used: Remo Weather King Ambassador Batter, Made in USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 3: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 3: 14½ inch snare-drum head, used: Remo Weather King Emperor Batter, Made in USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 4: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 4: 14½ inch snare-drum head, used: Remo Weather King Emperor Batter, Made in USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 5: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 5: 14½ inch snare-drum head, possibly used: Yamaha Batter, made by Remo, USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 6: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 6: 14½ inch snare-drum head, used: Evans Genera Dry, US Patent

Detail of the above


Drumhead 7: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 7: 14½ inch snare-drum lower head, used: Yamaha, made by Remo, USA

Detail of the above


Drumhead 8: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 8: 14½ inch snare-drum lower head, used and quite wrinkled: Remo Weather King, 'Ambassadore',  made in USA

Detail of the above

Detail of the above


Drumhead 9: click here to bid at eBay for the item depicted below

Drumhead 9: 16½ inch drum head, used: Ludwig Weather Master, Heavy; Manny's 48th Street

Detail of the above
 


BJ Wilson's page at BtP |


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