8 July 1967: PH in NME

Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Procol Harum's first year in the NME

Still off work: 8 July 1967

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show a falling-off of Procol news as they remain at the top of the chart while personally out of circulation. The 'scandal' about the session-drummer is about to break!

Front page: a full-page advertisement for John Walker's Annabella 45 on Philips.

1 (1) A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Harum
2 (2) There Goes My Everything, Engelbert Humperdinck
3 (6) Alternate Title (Randy Scouse Git), The Monkees

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Beatles, All You Need Is Love
Arthur Conley, Shake Rattle And Roll
Sandie Shaw, Tonight In Tokyo
Bee Gees, To Love Somebody
PP Arnold, The Time Has Come

Procol Harum who retain their No 1 spot in the NME Chart for the fifth successive week, are under medical supervision and still not working. They had hoped to resume work this week with a BBC1 Top Of The Pops appearance, but singer Gary Brooker has been ordered another seven days' rest.

The group hopes to resume engagements next week, when it plans to issue a statement concerning its future managerial plans. As reported last week, the Harum have broken away from their former business manager Jonathan Weston.

In the 1967 half-year NME Chart-points table, Engelbert Humperdinck is No 1 with 554 points, while Procol Harum is No 31 (168 points).

Attending promoter Vic Lewis's party for the Monkees on Monday night: John Lennon, George and Patti Harrison, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Samantha Juste, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Patsy Ann Noble, Searcher Frank Allen and Eric Clapton - plus the Who, Procol Harum and the Manfreds in force...