The Best of Procol Harum

EMI $tateside : 5c 054-24069

Fred Schröter reports:

This first Dutch compilation is called The Best Of Procol Harum. It was released on EMI's $tateside label, record number 5c 054-24069. It opens with the mono single version of A Salty Dog electronically recreated for stereo, and the same goes for Long Gone Geek. It was released right after the single version of ASD and a little before the ASD album.

The tracks on the album were as follows.

There is also an earlier Fly compilation which dates from 1969 (the date is on the vinyl) which was released in the series Fly Back. 5c 052.92455 is the number from the Dutch issue of the Fly 1969 release. In Holland and Germany it was later released by Polydor as Superstarshine volume 9 record number 2343 051. The person who wrote the liner notes actually thought that Gary Brooker played the organ!

But then, Kate Bush did not know it either. (Gary played organ on three tracks of The Red Shoes album. She invited him for the way he played organ in Procol Harum and Gary told in a Dutch interview that he liked Kate Bush and wanted to play with her so he did not tell her to ask Matthew instead!)

This compilation was first released in the Netherlands by EMI on the $tateside label after releasing the A Salty Dog album!

Bill Mounce adds:
The Dutch 'Best of PH' is hard to date. I bought that because of the high quality color photos of the band on the cover. No where is there a date, but I always assumed it was put out right after A Salty Dog because the band shown was with Copping, but all the songs except one were from the first three albums. Also, Trower is playing a bass guitar, so I assumed it was after Knights left. This album was on EMI / Stateside, but that logo was covered by a sticker with 'Odeon' on it, another label or distributor, I assume. Being an import, it cost me a dollar or two more, but the stereo version of Homburg was worth it. So the date: 1970 is my guess.

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