There were multiple methods used back in the 70's. Tony Williams never used tape on his drums, and he used very large drums for a jazz drummer with a 14x24 kick, that he only used the old style felt strips wedged under the head against the bearing edge, no pillows or anything. He used clear Remo CS dot heads top and bottom which have a very focused tone, and he would tune the heads higher than Gadd would.
Peart, Palmer, Bonham, none of them used much if any muffling on their kits. They all have different sounds but they were big and in your face.
But yeah back then the norm was taping down everything, even the cymbals some times, to control ring and overtones.
One of the craziest techniques I've seen was Simon Phillips using gallon paint cans in each of his 24" kicks to absorb the energy. He says it gives a very focused sound from the mic.