When Procol Harum toured the world in 2003, promoting their new album The
Well's on Fire, they gradually accumulated strange toys and crazy mementoes
– by the time the Union Chapel DVD was filmed, the stage was strewn with
seagulls, pigs, clockwork mice, models of George W Bush (a former president of
America), a singing M&M homunculus, a stately galleon, a Baby Dumpling, and a
fat old Buddha carved in gold.
Gary Brooker has invited 'Beyond the Pale' to auction a few of the surviving
items at eBay, the proceeds to be divided between The BJ Wilson Fund (through
which Gary is able to help BJ's family) and 'Beyond the Pale'.
So we're inviting bids for this regal-looking galleon – some have thought of it as the Schooner Hesperus – which has been seen many times on stage with Procol Harum, most notably on top of Matthew Fisher's Hammond organ rig during the famous Union Chapel DVD concert.
It's not only a suitably-nautical Procol ornament, it's a wine-jug (read more below) and we imagine it will be bought by an elegant host or hostess with a suitably Procoloid sense of humour: imagine the surprise of guests who – once the wine is all poured – notice Gary's writing and initials on the bottom, where he has inscribed the Salty Dog lyric, 'We fired the gun'.
The galleon is pictured at the foot of the page with Gary – in the control room of the studio in his barn in deepest Surrey, UK.
A stately galleon, 8 x 9 x 3 inches, made in ceramic, glazed in gold and painted in red, white and blue
The galleon – perhaps it is the Schooner Hesperus – as it appears in the Union Chapel Procol DVD, sailing
across the
top of
then-organist Matthew Fisher's Leslie cabinet (sound-check photo by One-Eye)
The canon in the prow functions as a spout from which wine may be poured.
When filled to cork-level, the ship's capacity is about a pint
Undecorated back side of the galleon. The way the topsails and pennants are arranged,
the hand can pick it up
easily for pouring
On the underneath, 'We fired the gun' (Keith Reid's words, in Gary Brooker's hand, with GB's initials) from A Salty Dog
Gary Brooker in the control room of his studio with the galleon
This item will soon go live at eBay | Another stage item for sale
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