Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

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Christmas Quiz 2019 – 2020

 The prizes, kindly donated from Gary Brooker's collection


Each year at Christmas, following the Scandinavian custom, BtP sets twelve days of Procol puzzles which great numbers of the band's adherents follow with much interest and merriment ... at the end of the trail is typically a tiny answer, which you send in by e-mail to the webmasters, to win one (or more?) of the prizes below. The puzzles start on Christmas Day.

The twelve questions of Christmas will simply involve thinking about some places, and what Procol Harum have done there ... nothing complicated: the information required is here at 'Beyond the Pale', the only Procol Harum work of reference you'll ever need.

This year's fine freebies are, we trust you'll agree, every bit the equal of anything from 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018: special thanks to Gary Brooker and Procol Harum. Click here, in due time, to view the schedule of winners


A


A very rare brass and enamel lapel badge (called 'pin' in some parts of the globe), flat, in the shape of a grand piano, the keys in black, gold and white, and the words 'Gary Brooker' emblazoned in gold across the top.
+
A lilac Cropredy Festival tee-shirt from 2003, the reverse advertising bill-toppers Procol Harum in the second of three nights

Both items are from Gary Brooker's collection and are used, but still very much fit for purpose.
 


D

A professional photograph in full colour, measuring 9 by с. 7½ inches, showing Gary Brooker, Chris Thompson, Jon Lord, Ian Anderson, Peter Frampton, Eric Burdon and others; taken backstage in Germany, 2004
 

E

A Procol poster, about 25 by 19 inches, from a Warsaw gig in December 2001. Printed in black on a striking yellow background, it spells the name of one of the players imperfectly (clue ... not 'Brzezicki')

+

A Procol poster from Amsterdam, September 2017. About 30 by 42 cm, printed in full colour on good paper stock, it shows Gary Brooker at the piano.

+

A mint 2018 Procol poster, about 33 by 23 inches, from a German gig, prominently featuring the band's very attractive 'Still There'll be More' design by Novum designer Julia Brown
 

I

A black and white 1960s' photograph, about 9 by 7½ inches, showing a member of Procol Harum in a European flea-market, with two folding beds, assorted footgear, a dozen or so people processing indifferently past, and one young woman in a polka-dot minidress bestowing an admiring glance upon the musician in question.

+

Another 1960s' photo hitherto unpublished to our knowledge, of the same individual, and about 9 by 7½ inches; a fascinating monochrome portrait of a pensive, guarded face: a desirable item for the Procol completist. Almost certainly from the same occasion as the photo it's offered with.
 

L

An immaculate poster advertising Procol Harum 'live in concert'; 39 by 27½ inches, in full colour, it shows GB in close-up, and the whole band in long-shot, the pictures taken at the Union Chapel concert in late 2003.
+
A poster, about 33 by 23 inches, advertising Procol Harum with orchestra, chorus and dancers, at Wuppertal Town Hall in April 2103, full colour, predominantly yellow on dark green.
+
A mint 2018 Procol poster, about 33 by 23 inches, from a German gig, prominently featuring the band's very attractive 'Still There'll be More' design by Novum designer Julia Brown
 

M

An unplayed 45 rpm record (A&M 1264) of Broken Barricades (2m 17s) by Procol Harum, signed by the composer.

'B'-side is Power Failure (3m 13).
 


N

A black-and white portrait of Gary Brooker (long hair, weskit, necktie, and part of a guitar), signed by Gary, with coloured 'Fezborough Limited' sticker on the reverse bearing the photo credit 'Nik Kalinowski' (son of Kellogs).
 

O

A genuine curiosity: a concert poster, approx 27½ by 20 inches, advertising Procol Harum in Kristiansand, Norway, home of 'Beyond the Pale', when they played there in May 2001. The poster, in full colour, is illustrated with a photograph of the wrong line-up. Mick Grabham is passing on the tradition of 'Procol guitarist pictured with wrong head', and his image has been amusingly modified in black pen by Geoff Whitehorn. The poster is autographed by Brooker, Brzezicki, Fisher, Pegg ('Merry Xmas') and Whitehorn.

+

A mint 2018 Procol poster, about 32 by 23 inches, from a German gig, prominently featuring the band's very attractive 'Still There'll be More' design by Novum designer Julia Brown
 

P

A greetings card (unused) about 8½ by 6 inches when folded, featuring Holger Weber's 'Echoes in the Night' design, as used in 2013's posters for BtP's Procol convention and Palers' Band gig (signed on the front in silver ink by Gary Brooker). The picture is a puzzle in itself ... how many PH songs are alluded to in the intriguing illustration? Can you find all sixteen vestal virgins?
+
A brand new black Palers' Band tee-shirt from the same occasion (women's size 'medium') ... of which only half-a-dozen were ever made. The design, printed in four colours, imitates an old record-label and shows an elephant, two wind-up gramophones, and musical notation of the first chord of A Salty Dog.
 

R

A professional photograph in full colour, measuring 12 by 8 inches, taken in a bar in 2004, showing Gary Brooker (wearing his MBE), Mikhail Gorbachev, Ian Anderson, Peter Frampton, Eric Burdon et al
 

Competitors should rank the above ten prizes in the order they favour them, and send in their preference – all ten letters, please! – with the solution to the puzzles. Your message will look something like: "The brief answer is [x] and my prize preferences are LOINDAMPER or RANDOMPILE or whatever"

We shall allot the first three prizes on a beat-the-clock basis, where the earliest correct response earns its first choice of prize and so on; after that all subsequent correct entries received in the next 48 hours will be placed in the BtP Homburg and the remaining seven prize-winners will be drawn by a suitably Glamorous Assistant, all being well.

In the somewhat unlikely event of there being fewer than ten winners, the first people to submit correct answers will get more than their fair share of the prizes!

The quiz started on Christmas Day and ran through to Twelfth Night. You could join in at any time, if you had a pencil and an internet connection. Best to play on your PC or laptop ... could get eyestrain if you try to do it on a phone.

It is now closed.


How to play | The solution | Winners | First question


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