Procol Harum's first year in the NME

All abroad! : 20 April 1968

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show Procol Harum planning ten weeks' touring in the USA, including recording sessions in LA; European dates are planned, but nothing again for Britain.

Front page:

Half page advertisement for Massiel’s He Gives Me Love/ La, La, La (Philips)

Headlines:

 AT A BEATLE BIRTHDAY PARTY IN MAHARISHI-LAND by Nicholas Nugent

 ELVIS LED STANDING OVATION FOR TOM! by Chris Hutchins

 TRUTH BEHIND MOVE SPLIT by Nick Logan

 At home with Face Steve … what an experience! by Keith Altham

(Steve Marriott of Small Faces, that is)

 Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:

Engelbert Humperdinck, A Man Without Love
Sandie Shaw, Don’t Run Away
Pink Floyd, It Would Be So Nice

NME Top 5:

1 (2) What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
2 (1) Congratulations, Cliff Richard
3 (6) If I Only Had Time, John Rowles
4 (3) Delilah, Tom Jones
5 (8) Simon Says, 1910 Fruitgum Co.

Plastic Penny’s Two Sides Of A Penny (Page One) reviewed by Allen Evans and gets a four star rating (which is the highest)

News pages:

AMEN, PROCOL, HERD, WHO & DUSTY BACK BRITAIN WITH US TOURS

(excerpt)

PROCOL HARUM begins a six-week tour of the US college circuit at the end of June. This is in addition to the group’s four-week tour of America’s West Coast starting tomorrow (Saturday) which includes a week’s recording sessions in Los Angeles. Harum is also set for a major European concert tour (with Herman’s Hermits) from May 28 to June 18, but no British dates are planned in the immediate future.

Read more from the first year of Procol press