Procol Harum in Japan • a short
explanation
Procol manager, Chris Cooke, writing on
The Beanstalk (30 November 2012)
Yuming Matsutoya (Yumi) has been a star in Japan for forty years, and has
done sell-out tours every year, usually with big productions.
For her fortieth anniversary tour she had the dream to go back to the band
that not only influenced her musical taste, but also were the reason she
actually started singing: Procol.
The tour and the merchandise is labelled "Yumi
Matsutoya and Procol Harum – back to the beginning".
Her
massive fan base is fully aware of the position Procol has always had in her
career. Every show we do now, the audience are treated to sixty minutes of
Procol music, as they wait for the show. There is also a temporary club in Tokyo
from 16 November for six weeks, called 'Procol Harum', which is playing only PH
songs, plus covers of AWSoP.
The setlist is as follows:
Procol Harum
Bringing Home the Bacon
Broken Barricades
Pandora's Box
Shine on Brightly
Conquistador (joined on stage by Satoshi Takebe – Yumi's MD – playing
synthesiser string parts)
Procol playing, with Yumi and Gary sharing vocals
A Salty Dog
Homburg
Wizard Man
Roaring Skies (Yumi Japanese solo hit with Brooker
/ Phillips English lyrics)
Lonely Room (Yumi Japanese solo hit with GB / JP English lyrics)
A Whiter Shade of Pale
The Yumi triple CD - (Y40th) just released and currently Number 1 in
the Tower Records chart (yes Tower still exist in Japan) contains the track A
Whiter Shade of Pale credited as 'Procol Harum featuring Yuming' (in
English) was recorded by Procol in Abbey Road after the 2012 US tour [article
here]
The show in Tokyo will recorded for later broadcast, so hopefully you will be
able to judge for yourselves if you can find it. It will be transmitted by WOWOW,
which is a cable company.
I will agree that it is an unusual collaboration and some of [Beanstalk
readers] will question it. It's hard work, but it is also fun and I believe
everyone is enjoying it.
On 11 December Chris added:
Last night's performance was filmed by WOWOW with 26 cameras;
tonight,
back-up night with only 15 cameras. The band visited
the
Procol Harum bar last night, and Yumi also came along later.
Thanks, Chris
BroadcastAt 2100 hrs on 31 March [not sure which time-zone, though!]
the Procol / Yumi show will be transmitted for viewing at
2100 hrs on 31 March [not sure which time-zone, though!]
See
http://www.wowow.co.jp/pg_info/detail/102122/index.php
for details. The BtP team is not skilled in reading
Japanese, but a friendly contributor provides a translation
(red text below) of the matter in question
In commemoration of the fortieth
anniversary of Yumi Matsutoya's debut, a 'dream' tour with
Procol Harum was broadcast in 2012. Don't miss the 'miracle'
that brings back Yumi's 'origin'.
It has been decided that the tour Back to the
Beginning by Yumi Matsutoya and Procol Harum will be
broadcast exclusively on WOWOW.
(Watch
an example)
Procol Harum is one of Britain's
leading bands that coloured the history of rock from the
1960s to the 1970s, and the masterpiece Aoi Kage,
which has an impressive classical element, has a strong
influence not only on music fans but also on many musicians.
Given, it is still sung. Yumi was also one of the
influencees of the song, and even wrote on the official
homepage that 'the song that paved the way for me to live as
a singer-songwriter'. Such a joint with a band that can be
said to be the origin of Yumi's sound has a big meaning in
looking back on Yumi's footsteps, and it can be said that it
is a big event that is strongly engraved in her own music
history. On this tour, she said, 'If I didn't listen to
Blue Shadow, I wouldn't be there now. I rehearsed with
them in London in September, and I strongly felt that again.
After singing Hikouki Kumo and Kageriyuku Heya,
I felt that I was reunited with the 'sound' that was ringing
in my head when I wrote the song, and in November, I will
perform with them. Singing my song with Procol Harum ... my
dream that suddenly came true after a long time. Probably
this is the first and last. I'm excited from now on.'
Procol Harum, who is also the tour
title of Yumi Matsutoya's Beginning, and Aoi Kage,
will be co-starring on the same stage. The stage should not
be missed by those who are interested in and love the music
scene of the 60s and 70s. We will tell you in detail the
'miracle' at Showa Women's University Hitomi Memorial Hall
on 10 and 11 December 2012.
Re the WOWOW site, it looks as if you have to register (by clicking
on the pink box for "New Online Registration and/or the blue box "OWOW
Member Registration") if you want to access the 'on demand' feature.
オンラインIDをお持ちでない方
WOWOWメンバー登録
Registration is free, but it may be difficult navigating/completing
registration without being able to understand what you have to
input/where.
It looks as if you have to be registered even to watch the programme
at transmission time (9.00, March 31).
judging from the second boxbelow (Bangumi Toroku = Programme
Registration)
3/31（日）よる9:00
(Thanks, Arun)
Procol dates in 2012