Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale 

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Procol Phone-taps, now published in book form

With limited free promo offer, ending midday 1 April 2017


It would be easy to dismiss this surprising little book as yet another 50th-anniversary Procol cash-in, but the fact that various Intelligence Bureaux have thought it worth listening in to our heroes' telecommunications over the past half-century does lend additional gravity to the band's already illustrious career. It also lends substance to the rumours about surveillance that have been circulating among Procol cognoscenti for some years, following the publication of similar leak-books about Led Zeppelin, The Allmans, and the Bismarck Five.

   

Although the book jacket promises 'unexpurgated' phone-call transcripts, the conversations have in fact been heavily redacted, presumably under threat of legal action.
The words uttered by members of Procol Harum are represented by coloured bars (see below) but of course it's easy to infer what's been hidden, by (literally, for once) reading between the lines.

   

A representative sample from the book follows. The excerpts are not dated, nor do they appear to be organised thematically.
Unfortunately the available preview doesn't extend far enough to let us see the promised editorial annotations.


The BtP team was considering setting one of its famous competitions ('guess the Procol member involved in each phone-tap'; or 'Arrange the excerpts in chronological order') ... but in fact the publisher, the aptly-named Crafty Buggers Press, have promised half-a-dozen promotional copies by post, free, to interested fans. So we'll be happy to pass on names of anyone who wants to own this 'indispensible [sic] rock document': click here ... first come, first served.

We hope to acquire stock of this interesting publication for the BtP online store. Meanwhile, up to six lucky applicants can have their own copy, post-free: click here ... but please note that it is first come, first served.


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