Procol Harum's first year in the NME

US before UK: 11 May 1968

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show Procol Harum putting a characteristic end to their first year in the paper, as they pull out of a British show in order to fulfil engagements in the States.

Front page: Full page advertisement for A New Generation’s Smokey Blue’s Away (Spark Records).

Headlines:

ALL READY FOR THE GIANT NME SHOW!
Party from behind Iron Curtain!

HIT NEWS IS ONLY BRIGHT THING ABOUT ENGEL’S HOLIDAY by Richard Green ('Engel' being Engelbert Humperdinck)

MIKE NESMITH composed ROCK MUSIC for a BIG BAND and made it into an LP. He hopes it will prove a MILESTONE IN POP PROGRESS by Ann Moses

JIVING, PUNCH-UPS, ROCK ROARING RIOTS BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS

The most exciting sound for years by Richard Green (writing about Bill Haley, Everly Brothers, Duane Eddy etc.)

 Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson
Elvis Presley, US Male

(and he thinks Genesis's A Winter’s Tale (Decca) is in with a chance; ‘it’s a platter I can thoroughly recommend … ‘)

NME Top 5:
1 (1) What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
2 (2) Simon Says, 1910 Fruitgum Co.
3 (3) Lazy Sunday, Small Faces
4 (7) A Man Without Love, Engelbert Humperdinck
5 (17) Young Girl, Union Gap

News pages:

Southern-TV covers Poll Concert SUNDAY IS THE GREAT DAY!

 (excerpt)

Two attractions originally announced for the event will, unfortunately, not now be appearing – the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Procol Harum. Hendrix is involved in a law suit with Capitol Records in America, and has to be in court in New York, on Monday morning – and Procol Harum’s US tour has been extended, preventing them from returning to London.

Read more from the first year of Procol press