This article is dedicated to my Friend, Drummer Extraordinaire, Mr. Tom Mooney (Moondog). R.I.P.
This is the most astounding drum set I ever saw, heard or owned. The grail of grails.
This extraordinarily rare set has an extremely bitter-sweet personal tale to tell, and I will now be it’s voice.
I met Tom in the late 1970s through my brother, Tom had just started a band with him and a few other guys, he was a little bit older then me but we hit it off immediately both being drummers, it’s a universal language.
Tom was a big lanky long armed guy who used to spread this set out so far it was near impossible for anyone to play but him. He had a great energy behind the drums and was an amazing performer to watch.
Tom purchased this Camco set from the original owner in the early 70s. The original owner was a relative of some sort, second cousin, distant uncle..., he, the original owner, custom ordered this set in late 1969 and received it in 1970 from Chanute, Kansas.
My Friend Tom used this set and this set only his entire musical career. Unfortunately and sadly, he was diagnosed with one of the cruelest robbers of youth and mobility, Multiple Sclerosis about thirty five years ago. I witnessed his terrible decline over the decades with heartbreak, because if you knew Tom you knew he was ALWAYS full of juice bouncing off the walls awaiting his next adventure every day. He was a great guy dealt more then one terrible hand in his life from disease to heartbreak, he didn’t deserve either.
I had some very difficult conversations with him over the last few years about his beloved drum set and let him know that I would not only be proud to be the next temporary custodian of them but that I would bring them back to their former glory and not only give them permanent residency in my studio, but perform with them and allow them to sing again. He always said, “Eddie (he still called me by my youthful monicker), don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get them!”.
Sadly, Tom passed away this past spring, I received the news from the bass player in my band who was also one of his best friends, he had suffered a debilitating setback about two weeks prior and had been hospitalized since with little hope of recovery. Quite a few months later I received a call from my brother letting me know that Toms sister was ready to let go of his drums, I know it was a very hard decision for her but she knew they should be played again. I believe she was very happy to know that I would restore and cherish them as well.
I called his sister to set a time to look at the drums and evaluate them, we did and a couple weeks later we met, I gave her an estimate on value and made an offer for the set, she graciously accepted. It took a few weeks for me to get there to pick up the drums and she assured me during that time not to worry that they weren’t going anywhere!
So the day came to pick up the drums and I arrived shortly after lunchtime on a beautiful sunny clear blue sky summer day. Tom had other plans for me as I believe he didn’t want to give them up so easily. I get down to the basement where the drums had been fully set up for years to find out that that area of the state had the storm of storms the night before and the basement was flooded! Luckily the drums weren’t wet but the carpet underneath was soaked and there was standing water in much of the basement.
So I began to start breaking down the set sloshing around in the water with nowhere to put anything on the floor as I’m doing so except near the Bilco doors that lead out of the basement a room over. So after bagging all the Zildjian cymbals I get all the hardware broken down first and transported one piece at a time into the other room. Then I have to start to breakdown the drums but the cases for them are bags and the only place to sit them was on a couch in another room so they wouldn’t get soaked. So it was a bag-one-at-a-time-balancing-act on the couch to get them ready for transport.
Okay, all done packing them, time to drag everything up the muddy wet straw covered stairs, though the back and forth maze of fences out to my truck in the driveway. BOOM!!! Instantly the sky unleashes a torrent of rain and lightning!!! So I wait, and I wait, and I wait, it’s not stopping for hours. By this time it’s well past dinner, hunger is setting in and I have to get home and get out of there. I go outside and see one patch of clear sky (See photo) breaking that makes its way above me and I go at it like the blazes of hell and get this set loaded before the downpour starts again, thanks Tom, you finally decided to let go!
1970 Camco Custom Ordered Drumset Original Black Diamond Pearl Wrap, 12”, 13”, 14”, 15”, Toms, 18”, 20” Floors, 22”, 24” Bass Drums.
I just completed a very long journey of total tear down and restoration. This was the ONLY set restoration that I did not take a single before photo of, Tom was not able to do much as respect to maintenance the last many years and out of respect for him I only want the drums to be remembered as they where in the early years and right now. This set is now the Crown Jewel of my Studio Collection and the most personal treasured one.
There was and is much more to this set - almost 20 Zildjian cymbals, snares, an enormous amount of hardware, cases, accessories...
Thank you Tom, my Friend, I will think you and the good times every time I look at these drums and play them.
Stay tuned...🥁