What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

June 30:

Added a page about Matthew Fisher's stage coat from the early Procol days, which you can bid for online (thanks, Beverly)

Remind yourself of the Gary Brooker 70s stage coat, which was sold through this website a while ago

June 29:

Added a page transcribing the opening remarks made about Gary Brooker at the Barbican with Douglas Adams – this is somewhat in response to some intriguing Procol conversations at The Beanstalk, a friendly and lively forum for the discussion of all matters Procolian, which anyone can join in: just visit this page to sign in (it's all under your own password control – you can come and go as you please) (thanks, Jill)

Also in relation to discussions on The Beanstalk, added a brief link between Procol Harum and the TV show, The Prisoner (thanks, Cathy)

June 28: Happy Birthday, David Knights (1945)

Added another brief review, and another brief review, of From Shadow to Shadow (thanks, Beverly; thanks, Dave)

We welcome more reviews from Procol Harum fans who have ordered this album. There are still CDs in stock so order yours while you can.

It may be a while since you read this Brooker interview ... as we eagerly await the Procol film documentary from the interviewer!

June 27: Three weeks until Procol Harum play Budapest

Added a pilgrim's account of a journey to Verona to hear Procol Harum (thanks, Stefano)

Remind yourself of the first time you probably saw the name of the above correspondent ... it's a while ago!

June 26: A week until Procol Harum play Vienna; a month until Procol Harum play Amorbach

Added a review of a new Robin Trower compilation ... and numerous links on the page will allow you to acquire it, and other Trower work as well (thanks, Jill)

Do you remember this page that links Robin Trower with Syd Barrett?

June 25:

Added some first pictures of Procol Harum performing in 2004 (thanks, Gianluigi)

Remind yourself of the Procol gig in Ancona, 2002: when Gianluigi first met his heroes.

June 24:

' ... a bland MOR-leaning ballad of balls-aching portentousness ...' [sic]

Added an interesting article about A Whiter Shade of Pale ... and the apparent airing of the famous organ part in a pre-Procol context (thanks, Charlie)

Remind yourself of another piece with a very similar theme to the above

June 23:

A Whiter Shade of Pale was recently featured in an American television programme : visit our Procol / films page, and search for 'Cold Case' (thanks, Robert; thanks, Paul)

Added another item (search for 'Orioles') to our page about the phrase 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in common parlance (thanks, John)

June 22:

Added a glimpse of the programme for Friday's Procol Harum concert ... correct line-up not featured! (thanks, Stefano)

Added a 2004 ticket here and here ... (thanks, Hans) ... and the ticket from Friday's Verona show, here and here (thanks, Stefano)

June 21: Happy Birthday Mark Brzezicki (1957)

Added the setlist from Saturday night's casino gig on the Swiss / Italian border (thanks, Stefano)

Added two short reviews from the above gig, which was quite a curious one (thanks, Paolo; thanks, Stefano)

June 20: A month until Procol Harum play Budapest

Added the Verona setlist from Friday night (thanks, Gianluigi)

Added first impressions from the first Procol gig of 2004, and the first with the present line-up (thanks, Stefano)

June 19: Tonight Procol Harum play Campione, Italy: a fortnight until Procol Harum play Vienna; five weeks until Amorbach

'I doubt anybody but a diehard would want or need it ...'

See if you agree with this review of the sixth Procol Harum album, Live in Edmonton (thanks, John)

Remember how this seemed to a reviewer at the time?

June 18: Tonight Procol Harum play Verona, Italy

Added an mp3 to our page of parodies of A Whiter Shade of Pale (thanks, Puddleduck)

It was way back in 1996 that a devout Paler strove to bring Procol's then management together with promoters from Verona, where the band is playing tonight.

June 17:

Added a statement from Matthew Fisher's spokesman regarding a line-up change in the band

Thoroughly reorganised our presentation of early Procol tour-dates, supplanting this once-vital index with year-specific entries: 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972

June 16:

Added an interesting coda to this page about the Brooker / Daltrey / Cooper tour from 1999 : did anyone else see this broadcast a few weeks back? (thanks, Robert)

Why not refresh your memory of the British Rock Symphony's activities around the turn of the century? Here they are in Australia ...

Where were you three years ago ... plenty of links to explore here

June 15:

Added links to two contrasting prices – here and here – realised at eBay for signed Procolabilia (thanks, Cathy)

In which Marshall connection, added a link to our Geoff Whitehorn page, whereby fans can hear some of the fret-maestro's work on a showcase CD (thanks, Dave)

June 14:

Added a fine example of 'A Whiter Shade ... ' in common parlance (search for 'Pelican'!) (thanks, Robert)

Added a picture of Gary Brooker singing Dancing with Ghosts (thanks, Mirek)

June 13: Five weeks until Procol Harum play Budapest

Added part of a hitherto missing setlist from an exotic location (thanks, Robert)

Added a clarification about Sounds (thanks, Nik)

Added some detailed birthplace information for The Commander (thanks, John)

June 12: A week until Procol Harum play Campione, Italy : three weeks until Procol Harum play Vienna; six weeks until Amorbach

Added a second page of photographs of the fabulous line-up that Gary unleashed on the folk of Guildford for his opening concert of this year (thanks, Ben)

Here's the bassist from that line-up in a great trio with a Procol guitarist ... worth a listen!

June 11: A week until Procol Harum play Verona, Italy

Added another excellent review of From Shadow to Shadow (thanks, Bob)

We welcome more reviews from Procol Harum fans who have ordered this album. There are still CDs in stock so order yours while you can.

Did you ever read this page about Keith Reid's French collaboration?

June 10: RIP, Ray Charles

'The title track is a low point ... an unimpressive synth loop, with nothing great in the vocal melody or lyrics to redeem it ... easily a good minute-and-a-half overlong'

Added another refreshingly iconoclastic review of the fifth Procol Harum album, Broken Barricades (thanks, John)

Remember what Rolling Stone said about the same album?

June 9:

Added a page of photographs of the stellar line-up that Gary Brooker unleashed on the people of Guildford for his first concert of this year (thanks, Ben)

Remember the BtP survey, many months back, which preceded Procol's venture back into North America? The results may make interesting reading now, with a bit of hindsight.

June 8:

Added a page about Gary Brooker's recent solo foray to Poland in which the meaning of AWSoP is at last revealed, and we find out how many times Gary Brooker has played it (thanks, Mirek; thanks, Mac)

Have a rummage on this page to recall Procol's first gig in Warsaw in the present millennium

June 7:

' ... a lot of Swiss and Tirolian sounds ... future plans which include a possible rock opera'

Added – as Procol Harum line up a gig on the Swiss / Italian border – an interesting snippet about an unrealised Procol Harum project (thanks, Bart)

Added – here and here – some useful research about the next two Procol concerts (thanks, Stefano)

June 6: Six weeks until Procol Harum play Budapest

Added an excerpt from a book of interviews that reveals something about Procol on the road, and Trower's inherited 'death-wish', as well as the working methods of Trower and Fisher in the For Earth Below era (thanks, Cathy)

Remember the excerpt from this book that we originally put up on 22 September 2002?

June 5: A fortnight until Procol Harum play Campione, Italy : a month until Procol Harum play Vienna; seven weeks until Amorbach

Added another nice review of From Shadow to Shadow (thanks, Jill)

We welcome more reviews from Procol Harum fans who have ordered this album. There are still CDs in stock so order yours while you can.

June 4: A fortnight until Procol Harum play Verona, Italy

'... just as there's good and less-good short songs, there's good and less-good "long" songs, and while this is by no means bad, I have trouble finding much to hang on to ...'

Added a very provocative review of the fourth Procol Harum album, Home (thanks, John)

June 3:

Added another, very detailed review of From Shadow to Shadow (thanks, Dave)

We welcome more reviews from Procol Harum fans who have ordered this album. There are still CDs in stock so order yours while you can.

Added a nice bit of Geordie to this very useful page (thanks, Rob man)

June 2:

Added a transcript of Gary Brooker's interview following Procol Harum's triumph in the Bank Holiday poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners in the UK. (thanks, Jill)

Remember this most famous Brooker interview from long ago?

June 1:

Added a page about Procol Harum's triumph in yesterday's Bank Holiday poll of BBC Radio 2 listeners in the UK. Find out what Gary Brooker said, see the 99 famous songs that AWSoP trounced, and read about the various things that don't work properly at the BBC website (including their spell-checker).

Added a graphic to this page, showing a variant songwriter-credit for A Whiter Shade of Pale (thanks, Hieronimo)

Read what was new on this website in previous months