Procol Harum news

As of 25 February Procol Harum's planned 2021 concert at the London Palladium is postponed, again because of the Covid situation (the band themselves are well).

3 and 4 July: the big fans' convention, and two Procol concerts back-to-back, in London, regrettably won't take place as planned.
Annoyingly misinformation about ticket refunds has been posted on social media. For the avoidance of doubt, ticketholders for the BtP event at Stamford Bridge in July will all receive e-mails about refunds (SeeTickets is already on the case). The Hampton Pool concert is under entirely separate management, and we’re advised that their ticket-holders will receive a notification in coming days … so please sit tight as they work on it!

October: stellar re-issue/remaster of Something Magic, with a bonus live concert on CD, from Esoteric Records.

July: as part of the Procol ‘Artist of the Month’ promotion from Cherry Red Records, Gary Brooker will present brief pieces to camera, filmed in his home studio, introducing the following favourites from the Harum repertoire: A Rum Tale, Pandora’s Box, An Old English Dream, Simple Sister, A Salty Dog, Grand Hotel, As Strong as Samson, Holding On, Conquistador, Skating on Thin Ice.

The schedule of Procol dates for 2020 has been substantially revised in light of the virus crisis ... watch this space

3 March at London's O2 Arena: Gary Brooker was musical director of a fabulous all-star ensemble that played a benefit for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity on Tuesday 3 March 2020 ... this is to support the Royal Marsden’s new, state-of-the-art cancer treatment and research facility, planned to open in Sutton, Surrey in 2022. Musicians so-far announced include Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, John Illsley, Rick Wakeman, Paul Jones, Mike Rutherford, Mick Hucknall, Paul Carrack, Bonnie Tyler, Paul Young and Zucchero; the core band (closely based on No Stiletto Shoes!) includes Dave Bonze (bass), Andy Fairweather Low and Robbie McIntosh (guitars), Graham Broad and Ian Paice (drums), and ‘Wix’ Wickens (keys) ... read the BtP interview with Gary about this concert, by clicking here.

December: hear Gary Brooker with the Paul Winter Consort (very nice sample here) from the Voices of Solstice ... marvel at the reverb in the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York.
Buy the digital album from here, and hear the ensemble's A Whiter Shade of Pale ... a stunning development of the arrangement by Darryl Way of Curved Air, with a glorious drum entry ...

8 December: Josh Phillips releases charity single, Gimme Some Truth: article and links here

16 November: Gary Brooker in a live concert in Limerick: details here and also here (GB informed BtP in a recent telephone call that he hopes to be playing some PH songs during this concert)

Late September: Gary Brooker in a live broadcast from Abbey Road (on SiriusXM's The Beatles Channel) commemorating fifty years of the Beatles' album of the same name. Here's what Gary said to Beatle historian Kevin Howlett (cut down by BtP from three hours to fourteen minutes. You'll hear the glitches)

16 August: a compilation album Ballywonderland by late Irish guitarist Henry McCullough is released in UK, containing two previously-unreleased songs. One of these is Long Live Rock & Roll, credited to 'McCullough's Fusiliers' – a stellar line up of 60s' musicians – such as Nick Mason, Paul McCartney, Chris Stainton, Albert Lee, Paul Carrack, Paul Brady – all still playing today (article here). Lead vocalist is Gary Brooker, who stands out on the standout track of an excellent album. Henry himself doesn't feature on this track as it was recorded in his memory. Among others Henry played with Wings, Joe Cocker and of course Frankie Miller. 'I thought Procol fans might be interested to know of Gary's involvement in this Brooker rarity,' writes long-time friend of BtP, Tom McCafferty, from Glasgow

Gary Brooker tells his story and plays his favourite tracks: Brooklands Radio, 27 January, 20:00 hrs: listen here or enjoy our digested mp3 which includes all the talk

Procol Harum play a rock cruise ... details here

Huge, lavish, tasty eight-disc Boxed Set from Esoteric Records out in March 2018: details here. Contains three concerts and much hitherto unseen DVD material; and a 68-page hardback illustrated book

2017

25 June: first time in quite a few years, Procol Harum live on UK television: they perform two songs, live, on Aled Jones's Sunday morning show, ITV 1, at 8.30 am: Sunday Morning (two verses) and an excellent Whiter Shade of Pale

22 February 2017: Procol Harum's new single gets its first radio broadcast: BBC Radio 6, Stuart Maconie's interview with Gary Brooker. MP3 here ... but respecting the song copyrights.

December: Gary Brooker will play four shows in Manhattan to celebrate the Winter Solstice: story, dates and booking details here

November: two attractive gigs were scheduled for Finland in November, but regrettably one has been cancelled from the promoter's side: details here

July: Festival dates in Italy (headlining a two-day prog festival with an exceptional roster of bands) and in the UK : details here

January: Procol Harum headline day two of the 'Giants of Rock' residential festival in the West of England: details here

December: two Procol gigs in Finland with a temporarily modified line-up (Geoff Whitehorn is already contracted to play with Roger Chapman)

August: Gary Brooker plays at Souillac with Judy Blair (Hammond), Geoff Whitehorn (guitar), Matt Pegg (bass) and Graham Broad (drums).

27 June: Gary Brooker plays Paris (here) avec Judy Blair (Hammond), Geoff Whitehorn (guitar), Matt Pegg (bass) and Graham Broad (drums). 'An evening of Rock and R'n'B to celebrate his fifty years in music' at the New Morning club, 7–9 Rue des Petites Écuries, 75010 Paris, France (+33 1 45 23 51 41) (thanks, Franky and Roland)

20 June BBC 6 Music is broadcasting 'Classic Concert with Procol Harum in 1977'. This is the well-known 1977 Golder's Green TV Special.

19 January for a week: Listen to BBC Radio 2 in this coming week for a feature, between 11.30 am and noon daily, featuring Gary Brooker's favourite records – two a day. Monday 19: B Bumble and the Stingers, Emeli Sande; Tuesday 20: George Harrison, Kate Bush; Wednesday 21: Chuck Berry, Andy Fairweather Low; Thursday 22: Ray Charles, The Beatles; and Friday 23: The Coasters, The Rolling Stones: transcript here

3 January: Gary Brooker on British Radio again (thanks, Charlie, who adds, 'Spencer Leigh is a respected figure who writes a lot of obituaries for The Independent')

December: Gary Brooker has recorded Radio 2's 'Tracks of my Years', and the programme is in the bag for broadcast when the time is right.

22 November: watch out for Gary Brooker on Sky television at around 9.30 am GMT on Saturday 22 November: the programme is called Sunrise. We don't know if it can be seen online, but this link could be worth trying. We understand that Gary will also be featured on Robert Elms's show next Wednesday, 26 November: you should be able in due course to find the schedule by clicking here. (thanks, Chris)

Procol Harum, with chorus and orchestra, star in a broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 28 November. Friday Night is Music Night is the world's longest-running orchestral live music programme on radio. These two hours of live Procol music will be the band's largest national exposure in their homeland for many long years. The live recording on 24 November is completely sold-out; to be present at the pre-show fans' gathering, keep an eye on this page and, of course, sign up here for the new-look 'Fresh Fruit' newsletter.

July: Procol Harum in France, Switzerland, Canada and America (details here)

May: Procol Harum in France and Germany (details here); Gary Brooker's birthday celebration here

17 May: Gary Brooker sings A Whiter Shade of Pale on French TV ... watch it here

April: Two new albums from Procol Harum: the 2CD collection InsideOutside, and the download-only collection, ... Some Long Road ... . And new material, albeit not in traditional album form, from www.phsatnav.info

Watch out for Procol publicity in the following publications following Gary Brooker's recent recording for French television: Jukebox Magazine (25,000 circulation, monthly 60s' rock magazine); Paris Match (prestigious people weekly magazine, 670,000 circulation, millions of readers [inc. photo session]); Rolling Stone (monthly rock magazine, 30,000 circulation); Télérama (important weekly cultural magazine (700,000 circulation, 4 million readers); Le Parisien – (daily newspaper, 436,000 circulation).

Following his recent recording session in Paris, watch out for Gary Brooker's performance on French television – the programme is called Les Années Bonheurs, was scheduled for June broadcast, but the band was told on 16 May that it was to be aired on 17 May! (thanks, Chris)

1 March: Gary Brooker played a monochrome set – Old Black Joe and A Whiter Shade of Pale – at the Albert Lee 70th Birthday Party (pre-show article here, glowing review here, and a setlist for the night Gary didn't play: here)

February:

Matt Pegg writes that he's standing in for his father Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention during Fairport's Winter tour and some dates in Spain/Denmark (dates and tickets here).

Best wishes to Dave for the recovery of the tendon that operates his first finger (left hand): read how he hurt it here!

Matt is also off on tour with Rick Wakeman doing the Journey to the Centre of the Earth tour, starting in April in the UK.

The Wakeman dates are listed here.

24 and 25 August: two Gary Brooker and friends concerts in France: details here

1–6 April: Palers' Convention and two Procol Harum orchestral shows at Wuppertal, Germany

24 February: 'On Sunday evening, on DR radio, Hans Otto Bisgaard (famous compère of Procol Harum concerts in Denmark) had an interview with Gary Brooker about the forthcoming concerts with the DR Orchestra. Gary's news included the statement that Procol will be performing In Held 'Twas In I. With a full orchestra, and the acoustics in the Falkoner Theatre, that must be impressive,' writes our correspondent, Henrik Gøttrup.

February: Robin Trower's new CD Roots and Branches: RT has gone back and re-examined classics like The Thrill is Gone, Born Under A Bad Sign and so forth: order from Amazon UK or Amazon.com

January: 'I’ve been watching the enjoyable new BBC documentary series The Story of Music, written and presented by Howard Goodall - and smack bang in the middle of episode 2; The Age of Invention :1650-1750 was gobsmacked to be presented with a snippet of black and white footage of our heroes performing A Whiter Shade of Pale! Goodall was illustrating the influence of inventions of Vivaldi and Bach on some pop songs, particularly the descending bass line thing. A short montage also included Go Now – The Moody Blues, Piano Man – Billy Joel and No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley. The other pop music used in the programme to illustrate modern use of ‘pleasing chord progressions’ was Poker Face by Lady GaGa and Somewhere Only We Know by Keane. Goodall has a nice presentation style and explains a lot of concepts by playing keyboard and singing. Highly recommended. For those in the UK it’s available on the BBCiplayer. Procol Harum appear 22 minutes in: click here' (thanks, Alan)

Procol Harum are confirmed to appear in Japan at the BBL on 4 December in Osaka, Japan, and 7 December in Tokyo. Manager Chris Cooke writes, 'For the main part we have been invited by Yumi Matsutoya to celebrate her forty years as a top performer and recording artist in Japan. She was initially inspired by the music of Procol Harum, and wishes to play some special concerts which return to the roots of her inspiration. We are doing seven concerts with Yumi in Japan (see illustration, right), where we are sharing the stage, and she is singing some of our songs. This is why you could have found Procol Harum in Abbey Road Studio 3 this week, where we have collaborated with Yumi to provide a special version of A Whiter Shade of Pale for her anniversary album.'

More detailed news about these dates, and venues : manager Chris Cooke's brief explanation of the project

November
Henry Scott-Irvine's new biography of Procol Harum will be published, and there will be a London screening of rare PH live footage: full details here.

12 March a Gary Brooker appearance celebrating the posthumous sixtieth birthday party of Douglas Adams. Gary wrote to BtP as follows: 'Don't know repertoire yet but we're an ensemble and doing about eight tunes.' Setlist here

2011

November
Josh Phillips informs us that 'yours truly is the Hammond and other bits man at The Prince's Trust Rock Gala 2011: should be a great night, tickets are available ... maybe some Procol Harum fans would like to come!'

Gary Brooker, with manager Chris Cooke, travelled to Rome in Italy on Thursday 24 November for rehearsals at the studios of RAI; the following evening he played A Whiter Shade of Pale and ninety seconds of Homburg (click to view)with the house band (new arrangements) for broadcast on the programme I Migliori Anni. Our correspondent Stefano Ciccioriccio, who dined with Mr Brooker on the Thursday night, advised us that Gary was scheduled to be on stage around 9.40 (Italian time) on Friday 25 November, and filed this report

22 October Gary Brooker in a performance, for charity, at Charterhouse School, of Sir Malcolm Arnold's eight-minute Grand, Grand Overture in which he will play first hoover. He was originally scheduled to play floor-polisher, rather than one of the three vacuum cleaners, and said '... we know about [hoovers], their pitch and their range; but floor-polisher is not an easy instrument. It's a dark one ... a bit like the serpent.' But in the event he took the lead hoover part.

Summer Gary Brooker telephoned BtP (28 September) with an update on some of his recent musical activities, unknown to us during the summer for various reasons. He played the Albert Hall, at very short notice, at the Sunflower Jam (film here includes glimpses of his 2009 work with the superjam band) alongside John Lord and Rick Wakeman ('Lord, Wakeman and Brooker: the Three Keys,' he quipped). Others in the band included Wix, Ian Paice, and Mick Moody. He performed (piano and voice) at the wedding of Eric Clapton's daughter, playing Unforgettable (with Chris Stainton) by request as the bride and her father danced. He has played for Southampton Hospital's Red and White Appeal.

2010

December Gary Brooker's 'other' band, No Stiletto Shoes, makes a welcome return for just two nights in Southend-on-Sea: 11 and 12 December

August Paul Holland alerts us to a special event – Gary Brooker and Judy Blair (the organist) are doing a concert at l'Abbaye Nouvelle near Gourdon, France, on 21 August. The Office de Tourism in Salviac will be taking reservations [tel: 05 65 41 57 27] It's 20 euros (children under 12 free).

On the same day Bobby Harrison and Matthew Fisher will play Holy Trinity Parish Church, Rayleigh, Essex (more information here, here and here)

June 2010 Back to the USA for Procol Harum, for the first time in seven years; they'll play solo shows, will support Jethro Tull, and will be supported by Renaissance.

May 2010 Procol Harum announce a forthcoming live album. Spirit of Nøkken will contain nine live tracks from the 2009 tour and is apparently going to be very special. It features Gary Brooker (voice and piano) / Geoff Dunn (drums) / Matt Pegg (bass guitar) / Josh Phillips (Hammond organ) / Geoff Whitehorn (lead guitar).

November 2009: Procol Harum travel to France to record A Whiter Shade of Pale live for television. Chris Cooke writes, "It was called Le Grand Duel des Générations TV Show. It was very weird in that two panels argued, one for the sixties and one for the eighties. The audience was divided into two – one wearing white tops, and the other ... not. Our Procol performance (live) mainly showed Gary, or pictures of the audience / panellists dancing to AWSoP. Gary then did an interview in French."

November 2009 Release of the eighth, ninth and tenth albums in the much-lauded Procol Harum re-issue series from Salvo Records: here, here, and here

18 October: the One More Time live in Utrecht album (Brooker, Bronze, Brzezicki, Fisher and Whitehorn) in now available online, remastered, at 320 kbps

28 September: release of All This and More, the Procol Harum Box Set (three CDs, one DVD): details here, order here

August 2009 Release of the fifth, sixth and seventh albums in the much-lauded Procol Harum re-issue series from Salvo Records: here, here, and here; for more in this series watch the Salvo index page

May 2009 Release of the third and fourth albums in the long-awaited Procol Harum re-issue series from Salvo Records: here and here; for more in this series watch the Salvo index page

26 April 2009 'A Whiter Shade of Pale: Pyschedelia, Toilet Paper, Marriage, Death and Litigation', 19:30 – 20:30 GMT on London's Resonance FM (listen online); writer/presenter/producer: Henry Scott-Irvine

29 March 2009 Fifteen-track audio downloads of Procol Harum's Ledreborg orchestral/choral show from 20 August 2006

3 March 2009 Sixth anniversary of the release of The Well's on Fire ... 'Beyond the Pale' reveals that the band are going into the studio to record again, this month.

2 March 2009 Release of the new Live CD Procol Harum in Concert with the Danish National Concert Orchestra and Choir

Procol Harum's manager, Chris Cooke, used The Procol Harum mailing list (join here, to be part of this) to announce the release of various Procol Harum recordings:

'... we will have the live show from Ledreborg out on DVD. Watch out for imports of the original albums (release in Europe) with some bonus tracks. There will also be a 4 CD box set which I think will be very special. We are also working on the release of early albums in the US. Other things to watch will be a DVD on the original Ragnarock festival from 1974. The release is about the festival, but Procol features well (even though they keep interviewing people while the band perform, which is frustrating) with some special audio-only bonus tracks. The band is working on new product, but certain legal matters, which proved quite pressing, have slowed down that process. We do want to make a new record, but you do have to be in the right frame of mind.'

24 December: The one-hour long TV programme, 'Procol Harum live at Ledreborg with The Danish National Concert Orchestra & Concert Choir' will be aired on the Danish national TV channel DR2 on Christmas Eve, 24 December, just after midnight.

December 2008: No Christmas shows for No Stiletto Shoes this year: Gary Brooker is having a year off.

31 October: new Procol live set, a limited-edition download-only album entitled One Eye to the Future containing 17 tracks recorded in Italy by the fortieth anniversary line-up: Gary Brooker (voice and piano) / Geoff Dunn (drums) / Matt Pegg (bass guitar) / Josh Phillips (Hammond organ) / Geoff Whitehorn (lead guitar). Click here to download the album

August: release of The Common Thread, first solo CD album from The Keith Reid Project

Procol Harum concert dates for 2008: see here

December 2007: Two interesting iTunes items now available from Josh Phillips, Procol Harum's Hammond player: here and here

December 2007: No Stiletto Shoes (Gary Brooker, Andy Fairweather Low, Dave Bronze, Graham Broad and Frank Mead): three Christmas concerts: booking page here

25 November: London's Marquee Club: extremely rare, unseen 60s Procol Harum footage / a blues set from Dave Ball's Ballbreakers: click here

3 & 4 October: the appeal hearing in the A Whiter Shade of Pale lawsuit was heard in front of three Appeal Court judges; they are not going to give their decision 'for some time' ... certain estimates suggest it could be Christmas before the verdict is revealed.

September: Gary Brooker in the studio with Jack Lancaster to record a piece for what he describes as 'a follow-up to Peter and the Wolf'. Gary will be singing Tyger Tyger (words by William Blake)

Gary Brooker Radio Interviews promoting the AWSoP re-release and Secrets of the Hive: Gary's Classic Gold interview is running in the Entertainment bulletin all this week (starting 30 July) which goes out at various times. Smooth FM London – Martin Collins show – goes out 6pm on Monday 6 August). Smooth FM London – Lynn Parsons show – goes out 11.15am every day the same week – quick 4 minute interview each day. The Mike Sweeney Capital Gold interview ran on Sunday 29 July; Gary's 'My Tunes' feature is running in September 2007: dates to be confirmed. Look out for interviews and reviews in September / October issues of Classic Rock, Rock N Reel, Uncut, Record Collector and Mojo's Special 1967 Issue.

20 and 21 July, London UK
BtP presents Procol Harum and 'Procol Rarum' in the PH 40th Anniversary Celebrations: two gigs, two parties

16 July Paler Bill Blankenship writes from the USA: 'I emailed the BBC last month and asked if they could play a Procol Concert on their Live @ Midnight show in honour of the Fortieth Anniversary. They have responded: July 16th's Live @ Midnight will be Procol Harum at Golders Green Hippodrome 1977 on BBC 6: it can be accessed for a week after it's on. See you Friday!'

14 July Gary Brooker and Georgie Fame co-headline in a big-band gig at the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark: setlist here

9 June onwards Procol Harum's Ledreborg Castle Concerts from August 2006 will be broadcast on Danish Radio P4's Middagskoncerten starting 9 June 2007 and the following two Saturdays. There's enough material for further broadcasts after the summer holidays. The broadcasts are at 12.28-13.00 Danish time: to listen, visit www.dr.dk/p4/?oversigt# ; click on "P4 Netradio" just under the map of Denmark, top right of the website. It will be possible to listen to the programmes for seven days after the broadcasts, on DR internet radio: www.dr.dk/radio/?top then then click on 'P4' on the top of that site to get to next page where you choose "Middagskoncert" from the menu at the top of the site. This information comes from Hans Otto, compère at the concerts and presenter of the radio broadcast: he doesn't know the DVD release date yet but sends his greetings to all Palers all over the world. (thanks, Henrik)

Live Procol Harum concerts, among many other artists' recorded shows, are available for legal download at 'Wolfgang's Vault'. Read about the1968 Fillmore show here and about the 1973 Hollywood Bowl orchestral show here.

April: Union Square Music (trading as 'Salvo') have negotiated a deal to release all the Procol albums and Brooker solo works in the next couple of years. This will start with a 35-track 'best-of' entitled (by BtP) Secrets of the Hive, which will have all-new liner notes by Roland from BtP (based on fresh Brooker and Reid interviews) and Patrick Humphries. It contains one hitherto-unreleased live recording and is the first 'best-of' to include material from every phase of the band's career: as such it will surely satisfy the perennial demand at the band's gigs for something that represents all their work. The 2CD will be presented with 31-page booklet including some hitherto-unseen illustrations.

24 February, 12 noon: Copenhagen Cathedral: Jochen Busch, violin; Sven-Ingvardt Mikkelsen, organ (from Frederiksborg Slotskirke): a programme entitled Retro Rock featuring the music of Procol Harum, The Doors and Jethro Tull. Free admission (more info here)

14 February: Procol Harum on Deutschlandradio at 20:00 hrs European time: details here

Ledreborg broadcasts: February 2007: Henrik Gøttrup writes to BtP: "I've just had a mail from Hans Otto Bisgaard, the compère at the Ledreborg Concerts, and host of the radio programme that will broadcast the concerts in full. Originally the programmes were scheduled for January 2007, but will be postponed 'til February 2007. Hans Otto will keep me up-to-date of the exact dates and time, so when I get them I'll forward them to you. But I think you should make a note of this on BtP to steady the nerves of all non-Danish Palers, some of them having heard something in Danish DR-program Amadeus. The concerts haven't yet been broadcast in full."

Friday 17 November at 10pm: on BBC4 TV (Sky116, Freeview9): a half-hour version of the BBC Sight and Sound in Concert is being re-broadcast. For info, Radio Times describes it as 'a 1977 performance by the prog-rock band'!

June 2006: at last, a new double CD album of 42 Procol / Brooker / Fisher / Trower / Reid songs: Trace of a Feeling from The Palers' Project ... order it here.

June 2006: Gary Brooker's Band du Lac releases a DVD, One Night Only: review of the show here. Pre-order the DVD from Amazon UK by clicking this link. The show's line-up included Gary Brooker, Mike Rutherford, Andy Fairweather Low, Dave Bronze, Henry Spinetti, Paul Carrack, Graham Broad, Frank Mead, Eric Clapton, Roger Taylor, Katie Melua, Ringo Starr, Chris Barber, the Drifters, Rory Bremner, Paul Young, and the Jones Gang. The DVD running list is said to include: Tequila / Over My Shoulder (featuring Paul Carrack) / Reconsider Baby (featuring Eric Clapton) / Lay Down Sally (featuring EC) / How Long (featuring PC) / Willie & The Hand Jive (featuring EC) / Crawling Up a Hill (featuring Katie Melua) / My Aphrodisiac Is You (featuring KM) / The Closest Thing to Crazy (featuring KM) / Lay My Burden Down (featuring Andy Fairweather-Low) / Say It's Not True (featuring Roger Taylor) / These Are the Days of Our Lives (featuring RT) / I Want to Break Free (featuring RT) / This World is Rich (featuring Gary Brooker) / Act Naturally (featuring Ringo Starr) / Photograph (featuring Ringo) / With a Little Help From My Friends (featuring Ringo) / A Whiter Shade of Pale (featuring GB) / Stormy Monday (featuring EC and Chris Barber) / Under the Boardwalk (featuring The Drifters) / Stand By Me (featuring The Drifters) / Cocaine (featuring EC) / I Can't Dance (Everyone!): Bonus features: interviews with the key performers in "The Road To Wintershall" feature. Running Time: 128 minutes

18 December 2005:
Gary Brooker has just decided to add a second night of music in Southend. This will not be another Paramounts gig (ie not a Shades Reunion Reunion!) but just Gary Brooker and Friends. The friends will be Dave Bronze, Mo Witham and Mick Brownlee. Support comes from OCEAN 7 and tickets are £15–00 ... book them from this link.

17 December 2005: a Shades Reunion concert at Club Riga, Southend-on-Sea, at which Gary Brooker will lead a Paramounts reunion of the original line-up: Gary Brooker, Robin Trower, Chris Copping, Mick Brownlee. The gig has been sold out a long time and BtP has now disposed of six extra tickets to people who applied to us for assistance. Order the DVD of this amazing gig here.

December 2005: regrettably, no Christmas Charity Concerts this year from No Stiletto Shoes, Gary Brooker's 'other' band. The musicians are not all available: Henry Spinetti is working with Katie Melua, Andy Fairweather Low guesting with Chris Barber on tour.

2 September: Matthew Fisher appears in Greece. As Carol Fisher explains, '... Maf is going to be the guest of honour at a party for a popular radio station in Thessalonika. It was exactly nine years ago this week when he played his only solo gig (ever) in the nearby city, Serres – that's what the mention of a 'reunion' was referring to. I have no idea if there'll be any pictures up on the radio station's website following the September 2nd party at Club Mylos, but it might be worth bookmarking the link and checking back on the page later.' Later Carol wrote to the Yahoo group for Procol Harum fans, 'The party at Club Mylos was a memorable evening. While a film shown on a screen over the stage showed a glimpse back in time to the days of broadcasting from a little apartment with tacky wallpaper, a few of the faces on the screen (a few decades older now) watched themselves as they talked, laughed, and had drinks with their friends. Maf sang three of his songs, Can't Stop Loving You Now, She Makes Me Feel, and Why'd I Have To Fall In Love With You. He was only supposed to sing the first two, but was coaxed into singing the third song after discovering (only after we got there) that it had been a big hit in the charts on the local radio.' (thanks for relaying this, Donna)

7.30 pm, Saturday 16 April : Gary Brooker's Tsunami Appeal concert in Surrey UK. BtP made an online-booking arrangement with the organisers so that Palers would benefit from a reserved block of seating, right at the front (99 people took up this offer). The general public, booking by 'phone, will be seated in the 1,000 unreserved seats on a first-come first-served basis

Sunday 6 February: Gary Brooker is a panellist on the Never Mind the Buzzcocks music comedy quiz: BBC2 9 pm. Gary is on Phil Jupitus's team – but which team wins? Studio photos are here. We understand GB was on excellent form. [Sorry we've had to sit on this info for a long while (contractual reasons) but it is now published in the Radio Times]. Non Brits, or non-fans of the show's occasionally facile, egocentric 'humour', can find out all about its origins by clicking here.

March / April: Procol Harum shows for this period are shown here. Remember – even if tickets go on sale for concerts not mentioned here, they're bought 'at own risk' until the shows are confirmed as contractual by PH management.

29 March: first official North American CD of Procol's Ninth (remastered, and including French Chrysalis single Adagio di Albinoni b/w Blue Danube, and a Brooker liner note about the recording of Adagio). The same day, Something Magic (remastered with the bonus track Backgammon) gets its first official North American CD release; the same day, Ain't Nothing to Get Excited About gets its official North American
release, 'remastered, and sounding much nicer': all thanks to Friday Music

1 March: first official North American release of One More Time, Procol's excellent live album from 1992, newly re-mastered and with song words included in the packaging. Owing to the length of the concert there are no bonuses, except the fine sound: thanks to Friday Music

January : Gary Brooker performed Holding On and A Salty Dog in Italy during a show that was televised. This is the tenth edition of the Epiphany concert (Concert for Peace). Naples Monday 3 January: 11.30 am press conference including Paul Young, Z Star, Linda, Bungaro, Mauro Pagani, Youssou n'Dour, Alfio Antico, Mouna Amari, Gary Brooker, Meg, Enzo Gragnaniello, Kjdio, Renato Serio, Giulia Parente, Franz Coriasco, father Giuseppe Reale. The concert took place on Tuesday, 4 January in the Church of Santa Maria La Nova in Napoli. The event (or presumably part of it) was shown on TV Rai Uno, on 6 January, between 9.35–10.30 am: just A Salty Dog ... watch it here. See also here (thanks, Giancarlo)

26 December: Boxing Day, 7pm UK time, Radio Caroline will be featuring a unique 60-minute interview with Gary Brooker. Gary tells the story of his career in music from way back in the Paramounts right up to the present day. The 60 minute interview also features a great soundtrack of Procol Harum favourites and music from Gary's solo career. Radio Caroline is available on the internet, on Sky Digital satellite for the UK (tuning) and Astra satellite for Europe (tuning) (thanks, Mark Stafford)

19 and 20 December: No Stiletto Shoes: Gary Brooker and the gang are to play Riga Music Bar in Southend on Sunday 19 December 2004 (completely sold out) and on Monday 20 December: tickets £15.00, on sale to fans either by telephone +44 8700 600 100 or by clicking on this booking link from 9 am on 18 October.

29 November: Keith Reid and Gary Brooker were interviewed together for an hour about the writing of AWSoP on Monday, at the Onanon nightclub in Piccadilly. This was done for the 1,000 No. Ones programme to be shown on television in the second week of February; of course, it will be edited down for the purpose.

7 October: Gary Brooker may be heard live on WRFG 89.3FM at 1.30 pm GMT today: listen online by hitting the WRFG link here

In a PS to a recent letter Gary Brooker cryptically alerts us to listen to BBC Radio 2 on 31 May between 4–5 pm UK time ...

28 May: Gary Brooker – legendarny wokalista – plays in Opole, Poland, by special request of Budka Suflera to celebrate their 30th anniversary. He will sing one of their numbers as guest vocalist, and join them as they perform A Whiter Shade of Pale. We understand that this will be the subject of a huge television broadcast. More details here.

Story-teller John Edgar tells us that on Sunday 23 May between 2 and 4 pm UK time he will be talking about his writing and performing career in an internet broadcast from www.thebridgewalsall.co.uk, and has been asked to include The Palers' Project and From Shadow to Shadow.

Tuesday 13 April: 9 pm (21.00 hrs Danish Summer Time) Procol will be aired on Danish Radio, P4, in a recording from Aalborg, November 2003. P4 is broadcast on the net as well: click here (then go to any link under 'Min region' and listen directly). In Norway (and probably the rest of the Nordic countries) you should also be able to receive it on satellite.

A few nice words about this old band still producing significant music is to be read here, and Scandinavians might enjoy Danmark Radio's essay (thanks, Niels-Erik)

4 January 2004: Gary Brooker and Friends headline the 'Last Fling' at Guildford Civic Hall (the venue for the first BtP convention). Though this event has been long in the pipeline, BtP was asked not to publicise it until after Gary's Christmas Charity events – which deserved our ticket-money more! – meanwhile the show has sold out entirely.

December: A little bird ('a little Swiss bird') advises us that Gary Brooker MBE and friends will play their Christmas Charity gigs on 19, 20 and 21 December, two near Guildford, the last in Southend. This is the weekend after the final Procol gig of the year, which is in London ... make a week of it and get some shopping done! Palers' Basecamp Hotel details are here

4 June: Gary Brooker MBE features in the Queen's Birthday Honours list: his comment is here

30 April: five minutes into the day: Procol Harum concert from Hamburg to be broadcast on the internet [details here]

29 April: Mick Ronson tribute concert is scheduled as headlining item on 22.00-24.00 Dream Ticket show in the UK on 6 radio. This is presumably a rare case of solo Brooker broadcast on UK radio (thanks, Sam)

April: on Easter Monday, 21 April, two radio shows will broadcast very recent Procol gigs [details here]

April 19: Eighth Procol Harum marathon from uclaradio.com : Guest DJ No 6 at uclaradio.com broadcast his 250-minute Procol Harum Tribute Show: it featured a good number of songs from The Well's on Fire, 30 of the 40 songs on The Palers' Project's Lost in the Looking-Glass, Geoff Who 2002, the Brooker tribute to John Lee Hooker and more. DJ number 6 was ably abetted by Al 'One-Eye' Edelist and also joined by Jeremy Gilien; they were also joined, in a sense, by Roland from BtP, on the transAtlantic telephone.

March: Gary Brooker recorded the Jools Holland show in February, and it was transmitted (BBC Radio 2) on 3 March from 9 pm – 10 pm. Listen to Jools's musical trailer here. After playing A Salty Dog from 1969, they discussed Gary's musical origins, and played Goodbye Hawaii with GB's father Harry Brooker on Hawaiian guitar; as well as Peace in the Valley by the Gary Brooker Ensemble they also played Shadow Boxed, The Blink of an Eye, and So Far Behind from The Well's on Fire

February 22, BBC Radio 2: Bob Harris radio show: The Well's on Fire should be featured, we understand ... try the webcam ... [apparently this didn't happen ... but we passed the information on in good faith]

February 24, BBC Radio 2: Simon Mayo Album Chartshow (7 pm): Gary Brooker will be talking about the new Procol album ... [apparently this didn't happen until 3 March, but we passed the information on in good faith]

Saturday 21 December 2002: Gary Brooker will be assembling No Stiletto Shoes, his R'n'B band, for one night only to play The Riga Music Bar in his home town of Southend. Places are limited to 160, and tickets are priced at £12.50. They are available only online from www.rigamusicbar.co.uk .

Friday 29 November: No Stiletto Shoes (feat. Gary Brooker, Henry Spinetti, David Bronze, Eric Clapton, Andy Fairweather Low) are House Band at the Royal Albert Hall for George Harrison's Memorial Concert, one year since the Quiet One's death: our articles about this concert are indexed here.

Reminder: Edmonton and Broken Barricades were re-issued in August on Repertoire CD: order from here.
Also all Procol's 'A' and 'B' sides (including Albinoni and Blue Danube) on one triple CD: order from here

17 October around 18:30 Central European Time: Swedish TV (SVT TV2) shows an interview with Gary Brooker, made in August this year, lasting about 6-7 minutes. They also played A Whiter Shade of Pale. The program was called GoKväll, ('Good Evening') and was a kind of talk-show (thanks, Bengt)

October: Have you got a Procol Harum anecdote to contribute to a forthcoming book? If so, please see here

October: Gary Brooker and Diane Rolph send a State of the Union address to 'Beyond the Pale': essential reading!

14 August: Norwegian radio station NRK 1 announces on their website that Procol Harum will be featured as part of their Friday night concert programme P1 Scenen. This will be a re-run of the recording made when Procol Harum played in Hell in September 2001, though each re-run will, due to limited time, omit one song from each set.

You can listen via the Internet, if you are not able to listen to Norwegian radio through air or satellite: see grey box below for details. Transmission dates are 13 and 27 September at 22.05 Norwegian time (which is GMT+1). The same station will also transmit a Highlights from Hell Blues Festival 2001 at the same time on Friday 30 August: could be a Procol Harum song here as well.

August 2002: Repertoire Records issue four Procoloid titles: (order online here and here) Broken Barricades (REP 4980) has three bonus tracks: Broken Barricades (single edit), Power Failure (single edit) and Simple Sister (mono version); Live in Edmonton (REP 4981) contains the live version of Luskus Delph as its bonus track; Liquorice John Death (REP 4982) is re-issued without extra tracks; and the 3CD set of Singles A&B contains all fifty-six 45s Procol Harum ever released, irrespective of the original label: all digitally remastered, including rarities such as Adagio and The Blue Danube

June 2002: Seventh Procol Harum marathon from uclaradio.com : Saturday 15 June 9am to 12 am California time. New interviews with Matt Pegg and Mark Brzezicki; rare Procol Harum music and spin-offs, music from the Whalers' CD; live tracks from the Palers' Band ...

May : release of Procol Harum – Live (DVD) : 150 minutes of Procol Harum from Classic Pictures, filmed onstage in December 2001 and also in rehearsal: superb sound and pictures, rare songs, interviews ... even an appearance from Keith Reid.

5 April at 8.30 pm: Gary Brooker appears on the Dutch TV Channel 2 show, Het Gevoel Van 1969, singing A Salty Dog.

Saturday 30 March : Sixth Procol Harum marathon from uclaradio.com, from 9am California time for several hours! Featuring Guest DJs Number 6 and Al 'One-Eye' Edelist, the show will feature and eclectic mix from members of Procol Harum past and present including works by Harrison, Royer, Knights, Grabham, Whitehorn, BJ, Ball, Solley, Copping, Fisher, Brooker, Pegg, Brzezicki, and others ...

Wednesday 27 March at 3.45, as #3 in the BBC radio series Repeat Till Fade, Gary Brooker is interviewed about A Whiter Shade of Pale. Further details available in Radio Times (thanks Dumpy!)

March: the recording of Procol Harum at Hell will be aired on P1 on the evenings of 1 March and 15 March, from 22.05 to 23.00 Central European Time. Each programme will be shared between Procol Harum and a Tony Ashton tribute (also from Hell, in which both Geoff Whitehorn and Henry Spinetti were among the guests).

March: Metro Records releases a new double compilation of Procol material from 1967 -1970: Classic Tracks & Rarities – an Anthology Metro CD 502. Nothing that we didn't know, but a lot of music on one disc at a low price: like their last offering, a good present for someone who doesn't know the band well: order it from Amazon UK here or from Amazon.com here. And the March issue of ICE in the USA is saying that (page 24) that 9 April will see the re-release of Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Informal word has it that this will include Luskus Delph as a bonus track; and that the April release-date no longer stands. More news when we have it.

February : The 2001 Warsaw concert will broadcast on 3 Programme of Polish Radio on Saturday 16 February at 19:00 hours Polish time (FM 98,8 MHz). This is good news for all fans who can listen to Trojka (the popular name of this radio station). You can also listen to this program on the Internet: see following panel to find out how. (thanks, Mirek)

February : the fifth Procol UCLA radio marathon will be broadcast on Saturday 23 February from 9am to about 1 pm, California time: tune in at www.uclaradio.com to hear several hours of Procol material, including rarities; a brand-new interview with Keith Reid; a first public airing of some Matthew Fisher rarities; a selection of numbers from the Palers' Band in Kristiansand; and BtP's Jens will also be interviewed by telephone.

January : the fourth Procol UCLA radio marathon will be broadcast on Saturday 19 January from 9am to noon, California time: tune in at www.uclaradio.com to hear several hours of Procol material, including rarities; and a selection of numbers from the Palers' Band in Manchester. Guest in the studio will be Palers' vocalist, Allen 'One-Eye' Edelist, to talk about BtP conventions (and Procol Concerts!) that he has been to.

December 30: Procol Harum on Danish TV.
The following message was sent to BtP:

December 22: the third Procol UCLA radio marathon of the year will be broadcast on Saturday 22 December from 9am to 1pm California time: tune in at www.uclaradio.com to hear the new Geoff Whitehorn interview, and to win a copy of Broken Barricades on CD: this will be awarded to the first person to mail in correct answers to the question, 'Name all the Palers' Band versions of Procol songs that have just been played, in the right order?' which should not be too difficult! The show also features a brief telephone conversation with Roland from 'Beyond the Pale'.

November 17: the second Procol UCLA radio marathon will be repeated live at 9AM Pacific Coast time, at www.uclaradio.com : technical problems last time prevented a lot of people from hearing it, but these are now fixed.

October 21: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) broadcasts its second Procol marathon , 10am to 1pm Pacific Coast time (California Time). Tune in at www.uclaradio.com. Quicktime (for Macs) and Windows Media (for PCs) audio stream downloads are available on the site. The last one was fantastic and included a revealing Gary Brooker interview; this one includes a telephone interview with Matther Fisher

September 23: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) broadcasts its first Procol radio marathon , 10am to 4pm Pacific
Coast time (California Time). Tune in at www.uclaradio.com. Quicktime (for Macs) and Windows Media (for PCs) audio stream downloads are available on the site. "If we get positive feedback from this first show we'll do more" they tell us!

September 17: Gary Brooker and friends played Holding On at the memorial service for the life of Douglas Adams at the Church of St Martin in the Fields in London. A brief excerpt of the webcast, and some screenshots, may be found here.

September: No News From The Western Frontier, sung by Gary Brooker, is included on the official double CD compilation Beyond the Skies, vol. 3 (Shift Records) issued in September 2000

1 May: Gary Brooker records an interview about his recollections on London's famous Marquee Club; this was for Sir Bob Geldof's company, and many famous celebs have recorded bits. The two-part series airs on BBC Radio 2 on June 30 and July 7.

21 January: Fans of Dave Ball should note that he will be playing with the re-formed Bedlam at the Underworld, World's End Pub, Camden Town, London, on Sunday afternoon 21 January. Doors open 2:30 pm, close around 6:00. Cost, a mere 6 pounds.

6pm January 8, UK's Channel 4: the '100 Greatest Hit Singles'. Gratifyingly this programme places AWSoP in the top twenty, whereas most of its fellows are songs of the last ten years or so.

December 27 Procol Harum wins a poll in the Norwegian radio programme "Herreavdelingen" for the best single ever. Collecting 22% of the votes for A Whiter Shade of Pale, while Beatles Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane comes in at no 2 with 14%

December 13: Gary Brooker recorded for the annual Hootenanny, hosted by BBC2's Jools Holland. We gather that Gary had an excellent time and that he performed AWSoP at the piano and Ray Charles's I've Got News For You at the Hamond with Jools Holland's Big Band (big horn section and some strings). Lionel Richie (a big fan of GB's) and Ruby Turner are among the other guests. The programme goes out New Year's Eve and then again on New Year's Day (thanks, Diane). [See the hopeless messTV Times made of writing 'Procol Harum']

November: Rock photographer, Baron Wolman (who photographed for Rolling Stone, Bill Graham, a.o.) has a show on at Gallery 270 in Westwood, New Jersey. It comprises pictures from his book, Classic Rock & Other Rollers: Procol is photographed in Sausalito, California circa 1968 on page 16. A print of Wolman's PH photo will cost you $450 for a black and white 8 x 10. (thanks, Carol)

6 November
Gary Brooker in the Psychedelic News: 'The start of the next millennium happens from Jan 1st next year ... so, in fact I'll get on with my second promise. I'm sure that we should play in America at the start of the next millennium, we will be there.' Visitthis page to subscribe!

November: No Stiletto Shoes to play Club Riga, 10 and 11 November. Lineup: Gary Brooker, Andy Fairweather Lowe, Henry Spinetti, Dave Bronze, Nick Pentelow More details at the Club Riga website.

Saturday 6 May: UK audiences will have a chance to see The Rhythm Kings guesting on Jools Holland's Later on BBC2

Saturday 22 April (9 pm, ITV) UK audiences will have a chance to see The Rhythm Kings guesting on Brian Conley's show (recording on 21 April). We understand that this is likely to be a vocal spotlight for Gary Brooker,singing Hole in the Wall, though this is not confirmed. Conley has asked for the words and music, so it looks like it might be a duet ... apparently he often joins in with his guests ...

Sunday 9 April: Ebay closes its auction of a sealed copy of Procol Harum with poster ('original first pressing, beautiful! No cuts, holes. Hard to find one of these'): "The last two bids were over US $160 in the last 10 seconds of the auction. This must be a new world record for a normal production release of a Procol Harum LP," writes Tony Allen. "It demonstrates that interest in Procol Harum is currently very high."

Saturday 8 April at 20.15 (8.15 pm): The Rhythm Kings are scheduled to guest at RTL TV Germany's Millionaer Gesucht- Die Skl Show. This information is not to be found in the papers , but is confirmed on videotext. (thanks, Hermann) In the event they appeared without GB

6 March: 45 minutes'-worth of Brooker music and a new interview will be broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Rock et Cetera at 10.05 p.m. (mid-European time)

February: Gary Brooker will not join the next Ringo tour: see http://www.best.com/~abbeyrd/fabnews.htm (this brings up 2 frames; scroll down the one on the left and click on 'Ringo to tour US this year'. The most recent update regarding this story is 16 February) Thanks, Marvin

12 November New Procol Harum concert CD released on Strange Fruit; special price and release date for visitors to this website.

Saturday 23 October at 10.04 am (mid-European time): after the news on Deutschlandfunk (frequencies over ASTRA-satellite or Longwave khz 177, or short wave kHz 6005 or medium wave kHz 900) Gary Brooker on the show Klassik, Pop et cetera in his own words. He presents himself and music, which has influenced his style (three songs from himself: orchestral version of Conquistador and Salty dog). This show has been produced by Dr Steffen Graefe

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings: UK Tour dates 1999 : Gary Brooker busy on the road, not with Procol Harum ... watch BtP for reviews

Pioneer Entertainment will be releasing Procol Harum – Best of Musikladen (as if the second part were really necessary) on DVD: see www.pioneer-ent.com/pea/weekup511.htm. In addition to the 1971 show (aka BeatClub, aka Pilgrim's Progress), it will also contain Grand Hotel and Drunk Again from a 1974 appearance. The 'street date' for this is 27 July 1999. (thanks, Marvin)

'Keith Reid's handwritten words of A Whiter Shade of Pale are for sale in the UK's 'Hits under the Hammer' auction on March 22nd. I picked up a prospectus in Virgin. I don't think they are the original working lyrics, but they do include the missing third verse ... Reserve price is 400 GBP (thanks, Julien)

Gary Brooker plays on 1999 solo début by the King Crimson veteran Ian MacDonald, alongside Michael Giles, Steve Hackett and Peter Frampton: CD is Driver's Eyes: 517092 UPC 766485170927; scheduled release date 25 March 1999; review here

Marvin Chassman relates that some of the Musikladen shows are coming out on DVD, including a 'Best Of ...' that includes Simple Sister, presumably from Procol Harum's Christmas 1971 show. He e-mailed the publishers, Pioneer, to ask if they would release all the Procol Harum material in their archive: doubtless many Palers will wish to do exactly the same.

Gary will be starring in Ringo Starr's Fifth All-Starr band. Tours will include USA and South Africa: more details here.

Brooker (& Spinetti) completists may order the Colin John CD Live in the Spirit by reading this page

The following was reported to BtP Wednesday 18 November: a Japanese TV company has been making a film about Gary for screening on Japanese TV on 21 December. They went to Paris to film him with Bill Wyman and are filming him fishing and pubbing Thursday, and at a meeting about his charity work and Guildford Civic on Friday.

November:
Fresh back from the Rhythm Kings tour (many reviews indexed here), Bill Wyman, Gary and co. will play on UK television on 2 November 1998. The band has to be at the ITV studios at 6.30 am (autograph-hunters please note!) and will broadcast a song sometime during the GMTV show, which ends at 9.25 am: set your video-recorder accordingly.

We don't know what song it will be, but BtP understands that Beverley Skeete will be singing it. If the studio shenanigans go on after 8 am they will have to happen without Georgie Fame, as he is leaving for his holiday at that time! We understand that GF and Gary have been 'playing a lot of jazz together' lately.

October:
New Procol Harum re-release (with eight bonus-tracks including a previously-unavailable song) from Westside Records.

New album, Anyway the Wind Blows, from Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, featuring Gary Brooker on two tracks: Spooky, the US #3 hit by the Classics IV (early 1968); and the old blues classic Mojo Boogie (by JB Lenoir). Gary plays piano on the former, organ on the latter. Read all about it here. (thanks, Frans)

Check here for the set-list for the '98 All-Starr Band: it contains only 3 PH songs (compared with 4 the last tour): Whisky Train, Conquistador and AWSoP. Otherwise, the song list is very similar to the last one. I guess the list was decided upon before the results of our top-10 song voting were tabulated ... (thanks, Marvin)

Ringo has one date confirmed for London on Friday 21 August 1998 at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Tickets are 25 pounds each and are on sale now at the Empire box-office. The Empire is a comparatively small club compared to the Odeon at Hammersmith where Ringo did his last London concert. It was once owned by the BBC, and the Wogan TV show was broadcast from there. MPL used it to host their Buddy Holly Week show in 1996. That year, Paul got up on stage and sang with the Crickets, Carl Perkins and Bobby Vee. Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster and SBE.

This information was found on this Beatles website and reported to 'BtP' by Marvin Chassman. BtP subsequently learnt that this is the band's only scheduled UK gig, and that Gary will definitely be playing with Ringo. Shepherds Bush Empire confirm that it will be 21 August and not 28 August as advertised on the Beatles website.

August 6 – 9: Skanderborg Festival featuring Gary with the Ringo All Starr Band. At the 'Smukfest' website (it means 'most beautiful festival') the artist-information page is in English.

July 1998: imminent new CD from Brooker / Wilson / Trower / Copping: full story here

Here you will find an indication that Ringo all-Starr video is to be released on July 28 by MPI. 120-minutes-or-so in length, it includes Gary Brooker performing The Devil Came From Kansas and (surprise?) A Whiter Shade of Pale. (thanks, Jim)

Marvin Chassman adds that this concert will also be issued in DVD, for those of you who have a DVD player, or are looking for an excuse to buy one. A couple of online stores list it on their sites: www.dvdempire.com has it for $14.95 plus S/H; www.kencranes.com (or kencrane.com) lists it for $15.98 plus S/H.

May – Alan Semok reports another imminent Robin Trower gig: 'May 1st (the night after his gig at Tramps in New York City), he'll be playing 35 miles from NYC at Club Bene in Sayreville, New Jersey. It's a cosy venue, seats perhaps 350 or 400 and generally has very good sound (I've seen quite a few great shows there over the last 15 years)'. (Thanks, Alan) Review here

Larry Eskridge reports: Robin Trower is scheduled to play the House of Blues in Chicago on Friday evening, 8 May. Tickets are $25 each.

April 30 – Robin Trower plays Tramps (the club in NYC where Springsteen filmed his Murder, Inc. video, 51 W 21st Street off 6th Ave). Opening act is Bobby Radcliffe:

March – Gary Brooker broadcasts on Dutch TV with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Seven tracks were recorded in Holland the night before the Rhythm Kings played Amsterdam: Gary plays the piano on the four cuts that were broadcast but the vocals are shared between Georgie Fame and Bill Wyman

February? – Gary Brooker performs No More Fear of Flying with a Dutch studio band on a Netherlands TV show entitled The Feeling of '78

January 24 – checking that the Brooker / Reid guestbook entry from 23rd January was genuine, we were able to ask directly for confirmation of Gary's apparent hint that a new PH album was planned for 1998. Sadly the rumour was categorically quashed. 'You can say, "Sources close to the poet denied it" ...' were the exact words used.

January 10 – Gary Brooker implies in Dutch TV interview that Procol Harum will record a new album in 1998

December 16 – Messages about a new Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band tour, with same line-up as last tour. And an expected video release from the last tour. Will Gary Brooker be on this tour also? – Thanks to Marvin Chassman for supplying this link!

December 8 – Mojo's readers vote A Whiter Shade of Pale No 38 in their Best Single Ever Poll

October 27 – Whaling Stories newsletter adds fuel to persistent rumour that Brooker, Bruce and Frampton will record together in 1998 (see also end of Telegraph article)

August 8 – Huge fiesta of confusingly-similar PH re-issues: some information

January – The Gary Brooker Ensemble releases a CD, Within Our House: details here

Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Who's been doing what with who(m) ...

Activities of PH, related musicians, and fans