September 2001: Procol Radio Marathon from UCLA

Gary Brooker speaks of plans for new Procol album

On this page: playlist and numerous mp3s of words spoken during the show by Gary and by the DJ. Of course the broadcast sounded a whole lot better than our clips, which we have compressed to speed downloading. So do download them and give them a listen ...

Impossible to forget – albeit irretrievably distant – the romance of listening to pirate radio … Radio Luxembourg, under the bedclothes, through an old hearing-aid found in an early Oxfam shop. Every record seemed to be positively improved by the intermittent, flanged reception: the likes of Echo Park and Lady Samantha sounded like perfect pop records to me, in those teenage circumstances. 208 even had a Procol marathon, and I taped the huge Gary Brooker interview as he introduced Broken Barricades track-by-track … though I have no idea where that spool is now.

But that 1971 Procol marathon, a mere hour long, seems positively stunted by comparison with the six-and-a-half hours of Procol music – 79 songs! – that was transmitted from the Ackerman Union Grand Ballroom by uclaradio.com on Sunday 23 September 2001 by guest DJ 'Number Six'. The occasional stuttering net-congestion was compellingly reminiscent of pirate days … and the music just sounded perfect once again, superb and fresh through the tiny, PC speakers.

The Procol catalogue really does have sufficient variety to sustain a transmission of this length; and it was marvellous to be in the hands of a DJ who really knew the nooks and crannies of Procoldom. I even had a phone-call, towards midnight, from a genuine hardcore Paler who had heard something he had not recognised! Much of what was played has surely never been broadcast ever before, and we must hope that other stations will take up the idea of airing some of the Procol Harum live records.

DJ Number Six … who was kind enough to give a nice mention to 'Beyond the Pale' … artfully started with the superb live Utrecht 1992 album, One More Time, progressing through a very kaleidoscope of arcana, to the hallowed songs from the Sixties. And on the way he conducted a most revealing and intriguing interview with Gary, arranged through BtP and Diane, Gary's PA and manager.

'It was indeed a last-minute affair,' Number Six wrote afterwards, 'and it wasn't clear that we would have it until about one-and-a-half hours into the program. Obviously we were delighted, especially since he really seems like such a nice guy.' A very relaxed and positive-sounding Gary reflected on recent gigs, the Prodigal Stranger album, on the abominations of 11 September, and on the prospects of a new album, which he had mentioned to us at the Hell Blues Festival.

As the blissful hours passed we could perhaps hear Number Six beginning to tire slightly, but his enthusiasm remained undimmed: as he wrote afterwards, 'There are several albums we didn't have a chance to cover including solo Matthew Fisher, Brooker, and Trower albums. I need a few days to recover and then I'll let you know about dates for a second show.'!

Palers will no doubt wish to send feedback to the station in order to ensure that another such marathon will be broadcast: to send feedback, click here.

What we heard, or … what you missed !

Whiter Shade of Pale - the original single

About Procol Harum and its personnel (mp3) | DJ's Gameplan (mp3) | Dedication to 'Beyond the Pale' (mp3)

From One More Time: Bringing Home the Bacon, Shine on Brightly, Homburg, One More Time, Grand Hotel, Man With a Mission, The Devil Came from Kansas, Whisky Train, King of Hearts

Edmonton introduction (mp3): from Live in Edmonton: Conquistador, Whaling Stories, A Salty Dog, All This and More, In Held 'Twas in I … with Gary Brooker interview during A Salty Dog as follows … (full transcript of the interview)

Rare Tracks introduction (mp3): singles and Bonus tracks: Luskus Delph from Edmonton 1971, Drunk Again, Blue Danube, Adagio di Albinoni, Backgammon

Liquorice John introduction (mp3): from Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About: Breathless, Everything I do is Wrong, Shopping for Clothes, Well I

Brooker ensemble introduction (mp3): from Within Our House: Holding On, Within Our House, Nothing But the Truth, The Long Goodbye

1991 rejoicing introduction (mp3): from The Prodigal Stranger: The Truth Won't Fade Away, (You Can't) Turn Back The Page, The Hand that Rocks The Cradle, All Our Dreams are Sold, Perpetual Motion, Learn to Fly, The Pursuit of Happiness

Gary Brooker on 45 rpm singles: Chasing for The Chop, Badlands, No News from the Western Frontier, Come Turn it All, Two Fools in Love (duet with Lori Spee)

Procol miscellanea: Into the Flood (single); Alpha (bonus track)

1995 introduction (mp3): from the Symphonic 'Long Goodbye' album: Pandora's Box, A Whiter Shade of Pale, Repent Walpurgis, Strangers in Space, Butterfly Boys

Back to 1967 introduction (mp3): from 1967's 'The Black Album', Procol Harum: She Wandered Through The Garden Fence, Something Following Me, Mabel, Cerdes (Outside the Gates of), A Christmas Camel, Kaleidoscope, Salad Days (Are Here Again)

Paramounts introduction (mp3): from The Paramounts at Abbey Road: Poison Ivy, Bad Blood, It Won't be Long, Don't Ya Like My Love, Freedom

1968 introduction (mp3): from the Shine on Brightly era: Quite Rightly So, Shine On Brightly, Skip Softly (My Moonbeams), Wish Me Well, Rambling On, Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone), Seem To Have the Blues Most all of the Time and Monsieur Armand (bonus tracks)

From A Salty Dog: A Salty Dog, The Milk of Human Kindness, Too Much Between Us, The Devil Came from Kansas, Boredom, Wreck of the Hesperus, All This and More, McGreggor (bonus track)

From Home: Still There'll Be More, Nothing That I Didn't Know, Piggy Pig Pig, and Your Own Choice.

 Wow!