George Way was the brilliant drum designer and salesman who finally started to build his own, eponymous drums from around 1957. Going it alone was a struggle though and in 1961 Camco took over his company, proceeded to re-badge and develop the drums, going on to sell them with some success.

Those first Camco drums were made in Oak Lawn, a suburb of Chicago, but in the early ’70s they were bought out by the Kustom Company of Chanute in Kansas.

Soon after that they were relocated to Los Angeles and it was here that Don Lombardi of the fledgling Drum Workshop obtained the Camco tools and dies in the late ’70s (while the Camco name was appropriated by Tama).

The outcome was that George Way’s unmistakable turret-shaped lug eventually graced DW drums - and we all know where that has since led. George Way’s lug was also most likely the inspiration for the circular George Hayman design in the UK.