Memorabilia of BJ Wilson, Procol Harum's great percussionist

Kick drum etc. offered for sale, thanks to Gary Brooker • 8 October 2014

Gary Brooker's vocal explanation of the items offered for auction: click to listen. Bid for drum and three heads at eBay

 

Gary Brooker once harboured the intention of turning this bass or kick drum into a coffee-table.  It is 23 inches from rim to rim, 22 inches across the shell, and 14 inches deep

   

As Gary describes in the mp3 at the top of this page, which you have already listened to, BJ painted his kit maroon at some point (the later kits he played in Procol Harum (see here) were likewise red).
Removal of the fittings in places, however, shows that the original finish is alive and well underneath, so – given a suitable solvent – that pearly appearance
could doubtless be recovered. Scroll down the page to see the rest of the drum fittings

Ludwig! Like the other items offered in this sale, this drum belonged to BJ Wilson, who played it with Procol Harum for stage
and recording work;  it was later in the possession of Gary Brooker, who played BJ's kit for home demo purposes

Depicted, within one of the recincts of the drum, all the fittings that come with it

Some are a tad rusty ...

Others continue to shine on brightly

Included in this sale, three drum-heads, not all in a pristine state. The one closest to the camera is a typical BJ head, one for which
he procured his own animal-skin and fitted it so as to get exactly the sound he wanted

Self-evidently we have not tidied up nor cleaned any of these items; they're offered in used condition and have clearly been in storage for quite a while.
Their historic patina will surely give them real appeal to BJ's fans – they are as he handled them – but of course they can also be
cleaned up, restored and so on as required by their eventual lucky owners

Recently noticed, inside the drum: a split in the plywood about 10 cm long. The corresponding blemish on the outside is hard to spot and
even harder to photograph: see below. This occurs on the top of the drum, probably just under where the tom-tom wouold be mounted.
It doesn't appear to threaten the structural integrity of the drum shell

Bid for drum and three heads at eBay

Back to the index page for the sale of BJ's drums