What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

January 31: Forty-four nights until Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK

Three days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Added a charming picture page featuring 'the youngest Procol Harum fan' [sic!] (thanks, Stefano)

Four days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!
 

" ... the legendary band really is intact, as if they never had been away."

Added a first review of The Well's on Fire (thanks, Hermann)

Hands up, everyone who never thought this day would come!

Added two pages (here and here) showing the current Procol line-up, from Modena, last month (thanks, Hermann)

Are you going to any of the UK gigs in March? Let us know, perhaps we shall be able at any rate to find a suitable hotel for all UK visitors to book into for the gigs on 15 and 16 March, allowing us to get together in the bar at any rate, and to travel together between the gigs.  Survey here ... only a trickle of responses so far.
 

Five days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Six days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Added some pre-publicity relating to the recent Procol gig in Ancona (thank you, Martin)

Added an article to remind our readers about the recent release, on CD for the first time, of Procol Harum's version of a piece written in 1945 by Remo Giazotto(thanks, Niels-Erik)

Added 'Ghost Train' to our list of non-Procol non-covers (thanks, Niels-Erik)

Are you going to any of the UK gigs in March? Let us know, perhaps we shall be able at any rate to find a suitable hotel for all UK visitors to book into for the gigs on 15 and 16 March, allowing us to get together in the bar at any rate, and to travel together between the gigs.  Survey here.
 

Added an early AWSoP cover version... the first-ever French one (thanks, Lars)

Updated pages here, here, here, here and here to reflect the imminent extension to the Procol Harum catalogue. Note some new links in the biography here

Nine days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two final songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... it's free!

Added an interesting memo of the Leslie set-up at a 1968 Procol Harum gig, incorporating an authoritative response from their Hammond organist (thanks, Gabriel; thanks, Matthew)

Quick! Pre-order the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire, at a 17% discount from Amazon USA: just click on this link.

Added a couple of good instances of 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in common parlance, both from the BBC: look here, and search for 'Losing Streak' and for 'Tony Leon' (thank you, Martin)

Added some comments about I Cento Passi, the Italian film that includes A Whiter Shade of Pale (thanks, John)

We now have fresh supplies of the Palers' Project CD, Lost in the Looking-Glass. Please order! You can read Gary Brooker's praise for this double album of 40 Procol songs, revisited and reinvented, by clicking here; you can securely order the album by credit card or by PayPal by clicking here. All receipts help towards the costs of keeping 'Beyond the Pale' online, and further our work publicising Procol Harum to the world.

Added the grand poster for the upcoming German Procol dates, with a warning to Palers that these shows are selling fast, so do book soon if you plan to hear the band(thanks, Chris)

As a result of this, 'Beyond the Pale' now has over 3,000 pages ... and each one of them a jewel, we think you'd agree!

We understand that Gary Brooker might be seen on BBC television tonight, in the audience during This is Your Life which will be featuring Mike Rutherford (thanks, Rex)

Lewisham (London) on 16 March is still selling, and we're getting reports of parties booking in to that Procol show from Rome and from LA ... should be a good 'un

Added another good review of the recent Procol gig in Milan (thank you, Martin)

Added a page of pictures taken while Procol Harum were on stage in Milan, Italy, last month (thanks, Stefano)

If you haven't yet got the Procol Live in Copenhagen 2001 DVD, please be aware that it is on special offer for 9.99 pounds at HMV Use the search facility: key word, 'Procol'. If you have already got it, buy a second copy and convert a friend! (thanks, Sam)

You can now pre-order Procol Harum's new album, Well's on Fire [sic] from Amazon USA using this link : please pre-order it now to propel the album into Amazon's 'Future Releases' chart ... in the hope that a high showing there may influence the way the album is promoted. Spend 25 dollars, and profit from Amazon's current free shipping offer.

We have not checked to ensure that Amazon is absolutely the cheapest price on the net - but they usually have good prices and we do want to promote the new CD.  Use Amazon, where any success in the much-viewed chart of future releases will give Procol Harum some valuable publicity!

We now have a scan of the signed promo CD of The Well's on Fire, one of the prizes chosen by quite a few of the competitors in our Christmas Competition (thanks, Gary; thanks, Chris).

Added an advertisement and a ticket relating to a Procol gig in Copenhagen on 15 November, 1975 (thanks, Frode)

'In less than a quarter of an hour the cost of the ticket is amply repaid ...'

Added an excellent review of Procol Harum's recent concert in Milan (thank you, Martin)

Yes, we thought that we were familiar with the Procol Harum compilation that A&M brought out in 1972 ... here it is. Imagine our surprise, then, to find out that there is another Procol Harum compilation that A&M brought out in 1972, with a rather remarkable set of tracks on it ... for one thing, they include Chrysalis / Island material ... for another, the selection is ... well ... unorthodox (thanks, Kerry)

German concerts. Procol management have mailed us to say that if Palers plan to go to any of these five shows, please be aware that they are selling very rapidly: Stuttgart is half full already. Please don't wait too long

Added a venue-clarification, regarding the last May Day gig of the Old Testament (thanks, Pam)

Added, by request, the back-cover artwork of the new Procol CD, The Well's on Fire(good thinking, Jeremy)

Added booking info for a Danish concert. (thanks, Solvej)

Added some pictures from Procol Harum's recent Italian foray (thanks, Gianluigi)

With reference to yesterday's upload, yes, the legendary 'lost song' A Robe of Silk is indeed a track on 2003's The Well's on Fire ... pre-order it now and keep it in the future charts ...

Don't confuse this new release with the faux Robe of Silk 45rpm B-side that is depicted on one of our recent April Fool Hoax pages. Stuff at BtP is true except on April 1, or thereabouts.

Last thing ... if you are planning to hear Procol Harum play at Milton Keynes, UK, don't delay your booking: BtP just spoke to the venue and there are fewer than 100 seats left.

Joyously added some new pages with great potential here, here, *here*, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and if you want a nice big picture to go with them, try this link (thanks, Chris; thanks too, Bill)

Added to the page about Keith Reid's non-Procol songwriting (search for 'Magic Jadestone') (thanks, António)

Added a correction to this page of picture-sleeves ... search for 'Eddy' (thanks, Eddy)

Added a location to our gig records for 22 April 1973 (thanks, Kevin)

Added a support act to our gig records for 26 April 1974 (thanks, Albee)

Later today we shall be sending out a one-off mailing of the Fresh Fruit newsletter. If you have subscribed to it by the time we mail out, you'll receive the location of two more pre-release clips from Procol Harum's forthcoming album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... but hurry!

The newsletter also contains a reminder to North American fans ... if you'd like Procol Harum to play in your part of the world, please send your opinion to the band's management via this survey.

Added Lost in the Looking-Glassto the BtP shop

Added booking information for these two Norwegian concerts: Stavanger and Oslo

January 12: Sixty-two nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, UK RIP Maurice Gibb

One day to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

Added a final page of action shots from the recent Procol Harum gig at Ancona, Italy (thanks, Giuseppe)

Here's a little riddle for you, since our Christmas Puzzles were so well-received: on 13 January we reveal ... to those who have subscribed to our Fresh Fruit e-newsletter ... pre-release excerpts from two more songs from The Well's on Fire. So the question is: which of the following titles (mostly BtP confabulations) is the real Procol song title: Underneath the Arches; Mind the Doors; The RIP Blues; The VIP Room; The Sword of Damocle's [sic]; The Custard Song; A Need to Know; Mind the Gap; The Bat Tattoo; Bird in the Hand; Turn out the Light Brigade; Mothers Ruin; The Clod and the Pebble. Answers to The Beanstalk, or thereabouts.

Added some nice pictures of Procol Harum on stage at Milan, Italy, on 4 December (thanks, Francesco)

Three days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

Derren 'Mind Control' Brown - famous from his various TV series and his recording with the Palers' Project - starts his huge UK tour in March: full details here

Added another page of action shots from the recent Procol Harum gig at Ancona, Italy (thanks, Giuseppe)

Four days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

Added a very full page giving details solutions to and commentary upon the recent 'Beyond the Pale' puzzles

The Well's on Fire has been doing well on Amazon UK and has been listed in the top 25 of most-sold unreleased CDs. Let's all pre-order our copy, and make the new Procol CD a Top 10 hit even before it is released.

If you live in Canada or North America, do please fill in our survey, soliciting your opinions about a putative Procol Harum visit to North America. Be aware that what you fill in goes to Procol Management and may be used in helping to formulate a possible plan. We've had a good crop of responses but there must be many more Americans who could take a moment to sent some helpful feedback to Procol Harum.

Five days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

Added a review from Record Collector (12.02) of a recent re-issue of Procol Harum's first two albums. '... one of the great overlooked albums of the era'

Six days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

Added a page of action shots from the recent Procol Harum gig at Ancona, Italy (thanks, Giuseppe)

January 6: Sixty-eight nights until Procol Harum play at Lewisham, UK

Seven days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

The Well's on Fire has been doing well on Amazon UK and has been listed in the top 25 of most-sold unreleased CDs. Let's all pre-order our copy, and make the new Procol CD a Top 10 hit even before it is released.

Tadaa: our lucky winners in this year's Christmas Puzzle.

And now, at last, The Final Thrust(not a clue, Rich!) of this year's Yuletide Puzzlages. As soon as you have solved it, bang an e-mail off to BtP using the special link provided, and make sure it includes (a) the right answer and (b) the order in which you value and would like the fab prizes. But don't send your answer until you have carefully read the question!

Eight days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

When these end, tomorrow, you will have one last easy question to answer, with a single word. As soon as you have this word, bang an e-mail off to BtP using the special link provided, and make sure it includes (a) the word and (b) the order in which you value and would like the fab prizes. But don't send your answer until you have read the question!

We've slightly changed the way we're deciding who the winners are. The first three correct answers received after the last clue goes up will be allotted their first choice of prizes in traditional fashion. But after that, anyone who gets a correct answer in to BtP during a span of 24 hours will get their name placed once in a hat - a Homburg, naturally - from which we shall then draw the other ten winners. This new system - thrashed out by the BtP team over a protracted breakfast in Guildford - is designed to give hope to people whose servers cache pages, making it hard for them to access the final clues in timely fashion.

Tomorrow's upload will be as close to 00.01 GMT as possible

Nine days to go until our 'Fresh Fruit' mailing will tell all subscribers where to find excerpts from two more songs from the forthcoming Procol Harum album, The Well's on Fire ... to sign up, click here ... 'tis free!

As promised, added a survey, soliciting your opinions about a putative Procol Harum visit to North America. 'Beyond the Pale' would like to ask you, if you live over there, to fill this in very thoughtfully, and only once. Exaggerated or multiple responses will not help at all to bring the band over, in fact they will muddy the water and possibly create unrealistic expectations. So please do the survey decorously ... it's a great, one-off opportunity to make your opinions felt ... and be aware that what you fill in goes to Procol Management and may be used in helping to formulate a possible plan.
 

Added Batch 10 to the Christmas Puzzlings

Added to our Yuletide Quizlets with the rather straightforward Dose 9 ... be of good cheer, you're on the home straight now.

Happy New Year, everyone. It's been a while since we started a year knowing there would be a new album of Procol Harum songs released ...

Now we turn our attention to Dose 8 of the Yuletide Conundrums or Conundra ...

Read what was new on this website in previous months