What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

December 31: One hundred and forty-six days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and sixty-eight days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the seventh clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do

You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

UK Palers: remember to set your video-recorders to catch Gary on Jools Holland's BBC2 Hootenanny: either at 11.55 pm on 31 December, or at 1.20 pm the following afternoon, or both.

December 30: One hundred and forty-seven days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and sixty-nine days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the sixth clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do

You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

December 29: One hundred and forty-eight days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and seventy days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the fifth clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do. You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

December 28: One hundred and forty-nine days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and seventy-one days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the fourth clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do. You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

December 27: One hundred and fifty days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and hundred and seventy-two days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the third clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Since you asked: Yes, the hidden puzzle links may be everywhere on the pages. In the text links, behind pictures, on the menu bars and even behind banner ads

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do

You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?
 

Did you see the Salty Santa picture on the front page of BtP during Christmas? Here is a last chance (this year) to see it.  Thanks to Tito Davila for this.

December 26: One hundred and fifty-one days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and seventy-three days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Christmas Puzzles: for the second clue, start today's treasure hunt here

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do

You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

December 25: One hundred and fifty-two days until Procol Harum play in Kristiansand, Norway - and one hundred and seventy-four days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

A Merry Christmas to all Palers from Jens and Roland … thanks for all the e-cards!

'Beyond the Pale' has its origins in Scandinavia, where a sequence of little conundrums (or conundra?) is a pleasant annual Yuletide tradition. This year's theme is that of a treasure hunt, and it starts here.

Full advice about how to play is at the Puzzle page, and there's a Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do

You can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning one of our roster of great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

December 24: One hundred and seventy-five days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK; countdown for Norway coming soon!

A Merry Christmas to all from Roland and Jens

"Bravado won through and it was a fantastic night for the band …certainly a heart full of inspiration from the meeting at the Civic Hall on the eve …"

Added a great greeting to all Palers from Gary Brooker (thanks, Gary)

Also added a transcript of the above, with numerous links: please click on them to relive the experiences Gary's message relates.

Added three more prizes to our Christmas goodies that you can start winning in tomorrow's update! (thanks, Christine and John)

Good to see Procol Harum now listed at Pollstar

'You'll cry out for turkey … still there'll be more!' … added a Paler's Christmas Greeting too (thanks, Rob and co)

December 23: One hundred and seventy-six days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added a page introducing this year's Christmas Puzzles. Habitual Palers will know that 'Beyond the Pale' has its origins in Scandinavia, where a sequence of little conundrums (or conundra?) is a pleasant annual Yuletide tradition. The first of our twelve puzzles will be available from this page on Christmas Day, and you can join in at any time during the celebrations with every chance of winning a prize.

So please have a look at the Puzzle page, and follow the Demo Puzzle so that you will be in no doubt what to do .. and have a look at our roster of eight great prizes, one unique, one almost unique! Which one do you most desire to receive in the New Year mail?

A Whiter Shade of Pale is in the lead in the Norwegian best-record-ever poll but the Beatles are catching up. To confirm Procol Harum's lead please click here, and select AWSoP before you press the button labeled "Stem". If PH are still rightly on top of this poll when it closes, it will be a huge publicity advantage to the organisers of the Norwegian concert … and to the band.

December 22: One hundred and seventy-seven days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Palers for the Norway gig are already coming forward: read all about this concert here.

Added a cover to our AWSoP page (search for 'Roos') and a film to our AWSoP film collection (search for 'China') (thanks, Bengt and Jay)

Added a repository for grotesque aberrations in the spelling of 'Procol Harum' … and we defy anyone to find a more grisly and idiotic one than that featured at the foot of the page (thanks, Diane)

Added a pick pic here (thanks, Beverly)

Coming tomorrow … all about BtP's annual Christmas Competition: this year, one unique and one almost-unique Procol prizes.

December 21: One hundred and seventy-eight days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added a dream come true for webmaster Jens … details of a Procol Harum band-only gig on 26 May in his home-town. Please explore this suite of pages and share his delirious delight!

A Whiter Shade of Pale is in the lead in the Norwegian best-record-ever poll but the Beatles are catching up. To confirm Procol Harum's lead please click here, and select AWSoP before you press the button labeled "Stem". If PH are still rightly on top of this poll when it closes, it will be a huge publicity advantage to the organisers of the Norwegian concert … and to the band.

December 20: RIP Kirsty MacColl, Electric Landlady par excellence
One hundred and seventy-nine days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added, in response to an enquiry on the Procol list, a page purporting to indicate the disposition and prices of seats at the Procol gig in 179 days' time. When you have booked seats please send a brief message to BtP so that your name may appear on the glorious roll of Palers attending

Added an unusually ceramic item to our page of AWSoP in Common Parlance (thanks, Martin)

December 19: One hundred and eighty days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added the Procol Harum entry from the Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (thanks, Sam)

December 18: One hundred and eighty-one days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added some pictures from Guildford, showing the Palers' Band doing their stuff (thanks, Allen)

December 17: One hundred and eighty-two days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added a comprehensive page about the Whalers' 2CD Album (not the Palers' 2CD Album!) including a pictorial index (click on all the pictures) to many, many pages about the musical contributors (including Mssrs Copping and Ball), and (at the foot) details of how to order this excellent album (orders close end of January 2001) (thanks, Jens B, Charly, Mirek, Michael and Hermann)

If you ordered this album already, please be aware that it is on its way to you now!

December 16: One hundred and eighty-three days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added a nicely-illustrated 1972 article, Procol Harum Reconsidered' from Rock subntitled 'Of Changes, Pickles and the Grand Hotel' (thanks, Marvin)

December 15: One hundred and eighty-four days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added news of Gary Brooker's contributions to the annual Hootenanny on BBC2

Added a page about a new Procol Harum compilation with many new pictures and extensive liner-notes … featuring Keith Reid on guitar … (thanks, Charlie)

This album will be one of the prizes in this year's excellent BtP Christmas Puzzles, coming soon!

Copies of the Official Double CD Souvenir of the Palers' Band are now shipping (thanks, Hermann and Helga) … thanks to everyone for being patient while the printing was being done.

Continuing online orders for this 20-dollar album are most welcome: do have a listen to CD1 clips and CD2 clips before you buy.

December 14: One hundred and eighty-five days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added an interesting, personal essay on the influence of drugs on rock and roll music (thanks, Beverly)

December 13: One hundred and eighty-six days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added some fine pictures of Procol Harum with orchestra and chorus from October 1972 (thanks, Hermann und Fritz). Click on the pictures for some lateral surfing to related corners of 'Beyond the Pale'.

Added (since this page went 'live') a paragraph about the sound boards pictured on the page mentioned above (thanks, Chris)

December 12: One hundred and eighty-seven days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added some pictures from Guildford, showing Procol Harum in performance and in soundcheck (thanks, Allen)

December 11: One hundred and eighty-eight days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added the fifth episode of the illuminating retrospective about Procol Harum, dealing with the A Salty Dog album (thanks, Phil)

December 10: One hundred and eighty-nine days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added a brief review of Straight Answer in a Crooked Town, an album by one of the Imponderable Strangers

Added some detail to this Procol organist's BtP page (thanks, Josh)

Pleasing and extraordinary to see the names of so many Palers booking for the big Manchester gig, six months in advance. Click here for direct online booking. Click here to add your name to the list. Gary Brooker is aware of this fans' list: bound to be heartening to the band!

December 9: One hundred and ninety days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added the fourth episode of the illuminating retrospective about Procol Harum, dealing with Shine on Brightly (thanks, Phil)

December 8: One hundred and ninety-one days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Did you get it: Amazon sells the Pilgrim's Progress CD / Video CD for USD 5.49 only. It may not arrive before Christmas, but at that price, how can you live without it?

Added a brief review of the Rhythm Kings' Groovin' (thanks, davelee)

Added an elliptical little chronological something that might provoke some interesting consideration ...

Please visit the register of Palers coming to Manchester, and don't book your accommodation without visiting the Procol Base Camp page

December 7: One hundred and ninety-two days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

If you are coming to the Procol Manchester gig, please visit the register of Palers attending, and don't book your accommodation without visiting the Procol Base Camp page. Do fans want a Procol Convention in Manchester? Click to let us know.

Added a scan of a poster relating to Procol's 1974 US tour and the second show at Hosftra University, Long Island (thanks, Dave)

December 6: One hundred and ninety-three days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Upgraded our information about an early PH compilation from the Netherlands and added another (thanks, Fred)

Remember this device, which you can use if you can't decide what Procol music to listen to?

December 5: One hundred and ninety-four days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

No photograph was taken of the entire Palers' Band at Guildford … nevertheless, the Official 2CD Souvenir album manages to depict the entire ensemble in a single image!

How is this possible? Answer here … (thanks, Richard!)

December 4: One hundred and ninety-five days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Tip of the day: Amazon sells the Pilgrim's Progress CD / Video CD for USD 5.49 only. It may not arrive before Christmas, but at that price, how can you live without it?

Added a fine and doomy compilation to our index of the same (thanks, Beverly)

Added a rubric to the text of the Procol Harum 'biography' that can be found at Amazon.com (thanks, Sam)

Part II of Gary Brooker's excellent interview with Psychedelic News is published today: visit this page to read it (thanks, Steve)

December 3: One hundred and ninety-six days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added the text of a Procol Harum 'biography' that can be found at Amazon.com (thanks, Ken)

Added an illustration to this Fillmore East page (thanks, Beverly)

December 2: One hundred and ninety-seven days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

Added the third episode of the illuminating retrospective about Procol Harum, dealing with the first Procol album (thanks, Phil)

Added illustrations to two Manchester pages, here and here

Copies of the Official Double CD of the Palers' Band are now manufactured and the graphic design is done: we hope to be able to send them out shortly (people who have already ordered have received an e-mail to this effect).

Continuing online orders for the 20-dollar album are most welcome: listen before you buy to CD1 clips and CD2 clips.

December 1: One hundred and ninety-eight days until Procol Harum and the Hallé Orchestra play Manchester UK

'Brooker and Reid choose and seize effortlessly fragile and strayed souls ...'

Added Procol Chez Nous, a morbidly intriguing piece from France's Best, January 1976 (thanks, Malène)