Procol Harum's NME coverage ...

4, 18 and 25 January, 1 February 1969

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show Procol Harum shining and rampaging in Miami, but leaving a conspicuous gap in the NME poll.

NME January 4, 1969
Front page: Full page ad for Cartoone’s A Penny For The Sun (Atlantic)

Headlines
FLASHBACK
NME’s Keith Altham (helped by Richard Green) relive ANIMALS GOLDEN DAYS … together again but it only lasted for just one day

God bless John Peel, says LOVE SCULPTURE
by Richard Green

In one of their most candid interviews ever, lead vocalist COLIN YOUNG reveals HOW FOUNDATIONS ESCAPED THE ONE HIT WONDER TRAP
by Nick Logan

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Cream, White Room

NME Top 5
1. ( 1) Lily The Pink, Scaffold
2. ( 3) Build Me Up Buttercup, Foundations
3. ( 8) Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Marmalade
4. ( 2) One Two Three O’Leary, Des O’Connor
5. ( 4) Ain’t Got No – I Got Life, Nina Simone

AMERICA CALLING
by June Harris

Great star line-up
(excerpt)

Last year, thanks to great underground showcases like the Fillmore (East and West), the Boston Tea Party, the Grande Ballroom in Detroit and Chicago’s Kinetic Playground, British acts who have had little, or no, success at home, were able to crack the toughest audiences in America, drawing not only standing ovations and huge crowds, but also, in most cases, big album sales.

Fine examples of this in the past 12 months are Jeff Beck, Procol Harum, John Mayall and the Moody Blues…

[Quite rightly so, the Shine On Brightly album was released at the end of September, hit the charts on 12 October 1968, peaked at No 24 and spent 20 weeks in the Hot 200. Procol Harum peaked at No 47.]

NME January 18, 1969

Front page: Full page ad for The Troggs’ Evil Woman (Page One)

Headlines:
A SECRET CHANGES SCOTT’S LIFE
Plans for two albums a year
by Gordon Coxhill

I’M NOT KNOCKED OUT BY MYSELF says TOM JONES
by Nick Logan

Love Sculpture need readers’ help
by Alan Smith

NOW GUN WILL STOP GOING POP
by Richard Green

AMERICA CALLING
by Terry Manning

BRITISH ACTS STAND OUT IN THREE-DAY MIAMI FESTIVAL
(excerpt)

SECOND DAY
… Procol Harum – truly a standout performance! Easily the top act of the second day, they were musically beautiful with a very moving stage appearance. Led by Gary Brooker on piano, they rampaged through Shine On Brightly, Homburg, Conquistador and A Whiter Shade Of Pale, which brought down the house with screams of "Bravo!" and "More!". After several standing ovations they encored with an instrumental written by organist Matthew Fisher, Repent Walpurgis, which was received with wild applause. Definitely a smashing performance by a very underrated group!

[My comment: Others playing the Second Day: Marvin Gaye, Richie Havens, Grateful Dead, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Box Tops and Steppenwolf. Not a bad lot to beat! Attendance: 100,000]

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson
Long John Baldry, It’s Too Late Now
Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus, We Can Work It Out
Troggs, Evil Woman

NME Top 5:

1. ( 1) Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Marmalade
2. ( 5) Albatross, Fleetwood Mac
3. ( 2) Lily The Pink, Scaffold
4. ( 3) Build Me Up Buttercup, Foundations
5. ( 7) Something’s Happening, Herman’s Hermits

[Remember, during these days The Beatles were filming their disastrous Let It Be - movie in London, hating every inch of each other. I bet John Lennon hated the No 1 on the NME chart as well!]

News pages:
… Among artists competing in Italy’s San Remo Festival (January 30 - February 1) will be the Casuals, Procol Harum, Stevie Wonder, Wilson Pickett, Brenton Wood, Francoise Hardy, Rita Pavone, Little Tony, Bobby Solo and the Rokes…

Derek Johnson comments on the NME reader’s poll results:
(excerpt)
Procol Harum’s total absence from the table is primarily the group’s own fault – exactly why it chose to turn its back on the British fans, at a time when it was sitting on top of the world, is beyond my understanding …

NME January 25, 1969

Front page: Full page ad Amen Corner’s (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice (Immediate)

Headlines:
BLACKBERRY WAY SAVES THE MOVE
Out goes rebel image
by Nick Logan

Tamla down? We’ve never had it so good
BARNEY ALES in Detroit, tells Alan Smith

In Hollywood MONKEE PETER reveals…
WHY I HAD TO QUIT THE MONKEES
by Ann Moses

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Amen Corner, (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice
Diana Ross & The Supremes & The Temptations: I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

NME Top 5:
1. ( 2) Albatross, Fleetwood Mac
2. ( 1) Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Marmalade
3. ( 6) For Once In My Life, Stevie Wonder
4. ( 5) Something’s Happening, Herman’s Hermits
5. ( 4) Build Me Up Buttercup, Foundations

Reviewed by Derek Johnson:

FREEDOM: Kandy Kay (Plexium)
This is the group formed by the two ex-members of Procol Harum. An up-beat number with a sparkling Latin-American flavour. It was produced and arranged by Keith Mansfield – and the bustling brassy backing is very reminiscent of the work he’s done for Love Affair and Marmalade.

A happy-go-lucky routine complemented by swinging organ and a spirited Steve Shirley vocal.

NME February 1, 1969

Front page: Full page ad for The Doors’ Touch Me / Wild Child (Elektra)

Headlines:
Jethro – the new breed
by Nick Logan

FLEETWOOD WAITING TO CELEBRATE NO. 1
by Nick Logan

'Team work is secret to Atlantic’s soul success’: Label chief JERRY WEXLER talking to Alan Smith

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Barry Ryan, Love Is Love
Status Quo, Make Me Stay A Bit Longer
Don Partridge, Breakfast On Pluto
Locomotive, Mr. Armageddon
Engelbert Humperdinck, The Way It Used To Be

NME Top 5
1. ( 1) Albatross, Fleetwood Mac
2. ( 2) Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da, Marmalade
3. ( 3) For Once In My Life, Stevie Wonder
4. ( 8) Blackberry Way, Move
5. ( 4) Something’s Happening, Herman’s Hermits

News pages:

NEW DISCS
(excerpt)
… Issued next week (7) by Regal-Zonophone is the Procol Harum album Shine On Brightly.

A compilation album reviewed in NME February 15, 1969:

**** THE WORLD OF HITS (Decca (S)PA 7).
Procol Harum, A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Dave Berry, The Crying Game
Unit 4+2, Concrete & Clay
Cat Stevens, Matthew And Son
Small Faces, Sha La La La Lee
Alan Price Set, Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear
Fortunes, You’ve Got Your Troubles
Them, Gloria
Zombies, She’s Not There
Los Bravos, Black Is Black
Billie Davis, I Want You To Be My Baby
Moody Blues, Go Now

Missing in action: NME March 1, 1969