Keith Moon’s Drumkits: 1970–1973 Black Premier kit
1970–1973 – Premier black kit
Likely the same specification as the “Pictures of Lily” kit — in black. Used beginning early 1970 until March 1973.
Timeline
- First known date used:
- 26 March 1970 – Top of the Pops
- First (likely) stage date used:
- 18 April 1970 – Leicester University, Leicester, UK
- Confirmed last stage date used:
- 10 March 1973 – Sporthal de De Vliegermolen, Voorburg, Netherlands.
Specification
Mahogany, finished in black. Likely with Gretsch fittings, Rogers Swiv-O-Matics tom holders. See Champagne Silver kit for drum sizes.
Included metal plates inside bass drums for added strength.
Cymbals:
Paiste Classic 2002 with black logo
- 15″ Heavy HH
- 16″ crash
- 18″ crash
- 20″ crash
- 18″ medium
- 22″ ride
- various Symphonic gongs in ca. 30″ – 38″ sizes
Photo Gallery
20 Sept. 1970, Falkoner Centeret, Copenhagen.
1970, showing gong stand on road case.
1972
1972
Closeup of bass drum showing metal reinforcement plates. These are not standard, but added for extra strength.
1972, with headphones.
Ca. 1972, with headphones.
Ca. 1978, with headphones taped down.
Click to view larger version. 1972, rear view of drumkit.
Floor tom on display at the Hard Rock Café in Honolulu. Martin Forsbom
Dec. 5, 1971, Crawdaddy interview: “Who Puts The Bomp” by John Swenson:
Keith starts using headphones, which he taped to his head with gaffertape, so he can hear the backing tape for Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again.
KM: About halfway through the tour. The big problem was not being able to hear the tape. So we’ve got John and Pete blasting away and this tape, which is important because they take their thing off of me. I get mine off the tape so if I don’t get that, we all go and lose it.
International Musician, April 1976
- What do you get through the cans?
-
I get synthesizer and I get straight chords. The tape is played out on stage as well, so I get the same as comes out on stage. The chords are mainly for Pete, so he knows where he is. It is very difficult to explain in words because it’s a complex matrix. The machine itself is mathematical. There’s no lead-in, so all I do basically is keep in my head the phrase where I come in. It doesn’t make sense to come in where I do on the cans, but overall, it does … hopefully. The synthesizer dictates the tempo all the way through. Every number I use the cans on, it’s metronomic, totally.
Gretsch DRB Special snare drum
Click photo to view larger version. Oval Cricket Ground, London, 18 Sept., 1971, Keith “clubbing” a Gretsch DRB Special wood-shelled snare.
Here’s a Gretsch DRB Special snare drum Keith had that is now owned by Donn Bennett, a drum shop owner. Keith used these drums in 1971, as evidenced in photos from the Oval gigs in 1971.
This is a story from Bob Henrit about this drum, which Bennett also refers to:
”He’d say, ‘Dear boy, come and have a sit in the car’. He’d play Who music for me. He’d say, ‘Dear boy, have a drink’, and hand me a bottle of brandy. One day he showed up and said, ‘Dear boy, open the boot [trunk]’. There were all these snare drums there. He said, ‘I don’t need them any more; do you want them?’ Once he offered me one of his DRB specials, a Gretsch, done in New York. As I recall, it was a Walnut drum with a silver badge. I was too embarrassed to take it. Now I wish I had.”
Donn Bennett:
I got the drum from Alan White (Yes). He played in a band called Bell and Arc right before he joined Yes. Bell and Ark did a world tour with the Who in the early ’70s. Keith gave Alan the snare drum after the last show of the tour. Either Modern Drummer or Drum! magazine did an issue dedicated to Keith sometime in the last five or so years. There was a sidebar interview with a guy named Bob Henrit who played in Argent and The Kinks and ran a drum shop in London in the ’70s. He specifically mentioned the drum and mentions the DRB Special plaque on the side of the drum.
Click photos to view larger versions. Gretsch DRB Special snare photos courtesy Donn Bennett.
Resources and Information
Contributors:
Many thanks to the following, who have made this page possible:
- Martin Forsbom (forsbom@gmail.com)
- Brad Rodgers at whocollection.com.
- Huw Owens (huw.owens@ntlworld.com)
Additional information:
- Brad Rodgers at whocollection.com.
- David Brewis at Rock Stars Guitars, rockstarsguitars.com/pages/moon.htm for pictures of Moon’s drumsticks, timbales, claves and drumheads.
- Tam Rankin at vintprem.moonfruit.com for information on vintage Premier drums.
Bibliography:
- Drums & Drumming magazine, Oct./Nov. 1989.
- Modern Drummer, September 2003.
- Moon, the Life and Death of a Rock Legend, by Tony Fletcher. 1999.
Manufacturers’ sites
- Premier Drums: premier-percussion.com
- Ludwig Drums: ludwig-drums.com
- Paiste Cymbals: paiste.com
- Zildjian Cymbals: zildjian.com
- Slingerland Drums: slingerland.com (now owned by Gibson)
- Vistalites Drums: vistalites.com
- Zickos Drums: zickosdrums.com