What was new at 'Beyond the Pale'

May 31:

' ... their work shows an atmosphere of resignation and sadness ...'

Added a translation (into English) to this page (thanks, Fred)

Request Brooker/Procol favourites for tomorrow's broadcast!
"HIDDEN TREASURES OF ROCK 'N ROLL" (some of the best music you've never heard) will be celebrating Gary's Brooker's 64th birthday (29 May, 1945) by playing lots of his music (including live Ledrevborg tracks). The show is broadcast tomorrow (and each Monday) from 12–4 PM CDT at http://uicradio.org/ . Send requests to rose60612@yahoo.com  (John Rose www.myspace.com/rose60612)

May 30:

Added a page previewing Procol Harum in Aberdeen, 1970 (thanks, Jim)

May 29: Happy Birthday Gary Brooker (1945) Procol Harum play Brønnøysund in seven weeks' time

"I'm quite a nice bloke, really ... I'd like to meet some good musicians from another planet ..."

Added a new interview with Gary Brooker (thanks, Michael) and an unfamiliar picture here and here (thanks, Ingot)

Gary is in superb voice on the new Procol Harum DVD ... see here ... and BtP is getting lots of mails along the following lines ...

May 28: Procol Harum play Äänekoski in eight weeks' time

Please send us a message if you're planning to be at the Finnish Procol show!

Added a page about the imminent London screening of the long-lost Separation movie (thanks, Peter)

Procol Harum's new DVD ... order it now from Amazon UK or from Amazon USA ... it's available from both

May 27:

' ... unique songs ... no expiration date ...'

Added another review (aimed at the general public) of the fantastic new Procol / orchestra / choir DVD/CD (thanks, Bert)

May 26:

Added a picture sleeve, in four different places – here, here, here and here – for reasons that will become obvious when you glance at its fifth manifestation (thanks, Lars)

Added a solution and the winner of a Salvo Procol re-mastered album here (thanks, Gus)

May 25:

Added a useful note about Procol Harum in Wichita in 1973 (thanks, Ricardo)

Added a great review of Secrets of the Hive (thanks, Dmitry)

May 24:

' ... the crowning glory of the entire album, the gently moving, previously unreleased, Understandably Blue ... a real find ... pips the evergreen Whiter Shade…'

Added an interesting review of the first Procol Harum album with its bonus-tracks (thanks, all)

Added two scans to this compilation page (thanks, Adrian)

May 23:

'... it is something grand sounding even grander ...'

Added a glowing BBC review of the 2009 Shine on Brightly reissue album (thanks, Jane)

Buy these extremely popular and justly-feted reissue albums – and much more – direct from 'Beyond the Pale' by clicking here

May 22: Procol Harum play Brønnøysund in eight weeks' time

' ... Another one to add to the 'Gary-oke' collection ...'

Added a review of one of the recent Salvo re-masters (thanks, Captain Claptrap)

Added an Antipodean winner's name to the competition to win the above album ... at the foot of this page (thanks, Lola)

May 21:  Procol Harum play Äänekoski in nine weeks' time ... will they play new material, that's the question!

' ... pop groups who sang in dialect ...'

No particular Procol content (though tangentially relevant to the case of the Beatles' refusal to sing in American accents) ... added a fascinating addendum to this page  (thanks, Jan)

No sooner has the competition to win the remastered A Salty Dog closed (thanks for the great numbers of entries, many of them correct!) than we announce a competition to win the remastered Home CD

Nice to see bloggers posting about Procol Harum, but people's spelling continues to baffle ...

May 20:

Added a gig on 10 November in Colorado (thanks, DotNot)

Added a fascinating note about Maastrichtian to this much-frequented page (thanks, Peter)

Added a codicil to this page (thanks, Phil)

The competition to win the remastered A Salty Dog closes at 23:59 GMT today, Wednesday 

May 19:

Added a review of the Ledreborg DVD, with two new picture collages (thanks, Charlie) 

May 18:

Added a competition, running until 20 May 2009, a simple bit of fun giving you the chance to win the third new Procol Harum reissue album (many thanks, Salvo Records)

May 17:

'... the future curse of art rock kicked in ...'

Added a somewhat iconoclastic review of the 2009 Shine on Brightly reissue album (thanks, Dmitry)

The Norwegian National day! Congratulations to Norway – the country chosen by Procol Harum for their 2009 return to live work – who triumphed and broke all voting records in the Eurovision Song Contest

May 16:

Where were you thirty-two years ago last night? Added a picture here, here and here in commemoration of a notable – if regrettable – Procol occasion (thanks, Bert and TLC)

Added a compilation (probably dodgy) (thanks, Charlie)

May 15: Procol Harum play Brønnøysund in nine weeks' time

Added an illuminating review of the 2009 Procol Harum reissue album (thanks, Dmitry)

The 'Beyond the Pale' online shop has shipped numerous copies of the third Salvo reissue, A Salty Dog, and the fourth Salvo reissue, Home to numerous countries in the past 24 hours.

May 14:  Procol Harum play Äänekoski in ten weeks' time

' ... Princes of Denmark, certainly, but this was no tragedy ...'

Added a first review of Procol Harum's new DVD (thanks, Good Captain Claptrap)

Today: a re-run of Henry Scott-Irvine's 60-minute show about A Whiter Shade of Pale, at 8 pm GMT on London's Resonance FM (listen online): Psychedelia, Toilet Paper, Marriage, Death and Litigation. Since the live broadcast, the glitches have been cut out, leaving room for more Gary Brooker, Ray Connolly and Alan Parker. 

May 13:

Added a graphic to this page (Barcelona, 4 April 1974) (thanks, Martin) 

Added a brief note about Procol Harum in Los Angeles to the foot of this page (thanks, Henrik)

Added some Limburgs to this indispensible document (thanks, Jan)

May 12:

On this 42nd anniversary of the release of A Whiter Shade of Pale, added a commentary – including links to online ordering sites – by a noted Caledonian Procoholic about various stereo recreations of the record (thanks, Charlie)

Also added an e-flyer link to this page about the imminently-forthcoming Ledreborg orchestral DVD (thanks, Robert)

Early fan reaction: 'The Procol Live in Denmark DVD arrived yesterday!! Extraordinary quality!' (thanks, Richard)

Ready to ship from the 'Beyond the Pale' online shop: the third Salvo reissue, A Salty Dog, and the fourth Salvo reissue, Home (thanks, Chas)

May 11:

Added an apparently authoritative assessment of the first Salvo Procol re-issue (thanks, Evan)  

May 10:

Salivation time ... King Jimi, two unheard symphonic offerings from 1971, and Dave Ball Bringing Home the Bacon ...

Added links to preliminary pages for the next three Salvo Procol re-releases – Broken Barricades, Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Grand Hotel (thanks, Chas)

In due course of time these will be available from The 'Beyond the Pale' shop in the usual way

May 9:

'Having an Anorak Day today ...'

Added a page examining the running-speed of various versions of Shine on Brightly, with specific reference to the recent Salvo re-issue series, and containing three new mp3 files for your listening enjoyment.

May 8: Procol Harum play Brønnøysund in ten weeks' time

'... 'when we found out that what we were doing – which seemed perfectly normal to us – seemed quite adventurous to other people, we realized we’d have to form our own band ...'

Added an excellent Keith Reid interview – initially about The Keith Reid Project CD – from the current edition of the USA's excellent Goldmine (thanks, lots of people)

This upload is page number 5,555 at 'Beyond the Pale'.

May 7:  Procol Harum play Äänekoski in eleven weeks' time

While we wait about ten weeks for the live return of Procol Harum, enjoy four clips of audio-visual Whitehorn in action (thanks, Charlie)

Added some Gaelic Manx to this indispensible document (thanks, Clive)

A Procol Harum fan is looking for a Complete Gary Brooker (solo) discography ... can anyone help?

May 6:

Added something unusual ... a preview, not a review, of Procol Harum's forthcoming choral/orchestral DVD from Ledreborg (thanks, Charlie)

May 5:

Ever wondered who came up with the idea of putting guitar-picks on sticky tape at the microphone ... and what band he was working for at the time?

Added a page about a racy book concerning a Liverpudlian roadie's career, including his time with Procol Harum, Harry Nilsson and sundry Beatles (thanks, Lily)

May 4:

"Some Santa Claus like ... knows – And treats my ears to ..."

Added a Procol Harum compilation of which we were previously unaware (thanks, Per)

Good to see so many orders coming in for the new Salvo re-issues, as well as for the first two. One customer writes, 'Did you notice that I've ordered my second copies of  the First Procol and Shine on Brightly? To me the sound quality and packaging are far superior to any of the other reissues. I'll keep one set still sealed for my collection!' Your pre-ordered reissues of A Salty Dog and of Home will be sent out as soon as they reach 'Beyond the Pale'

May 3:

In the UK we have a new Poet Laureate; meanwhile, have your say here about 'rating Keith Reid as Poet Emeritus for the Beat Generation'

Added a page from The Times about Procol Harum and Procul Harum (thanks, Peter)

Upgraded an image here (thanks, Anvil)

May 2:

Added more shots from Matt Pegg's German tour (where he's playing with the drummer from Robin Trower's band, Jude) (thanks, Kristina)

Added Japanese tour data here, and a graphic here (thanks, Evan)

Brooker/Reid tee-shirts ... now three sizes remaining

MayDay: Procol Harum play Brønnøysund in eleven weeks' time

Added ordering links to two pages – here and here – about Separation, which has Matthew Fisher and Procol Harum on the soundtrack. The film, unseen in forty years, is about to come out on DVD (thanks, John)