Procol Harum's NME coverage ...

24 May, 31 May, 7 June 1969

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show a resurgence as Procol play on the radio and garner a fine reaction to the A Salty Dog single.

 NME May 24, 1969

Front page:
Half page ad for Edwin Hawkins Singers’ Oh Happy Day (Buddah Records)
Half page ad for Tunderclap Newman’s Something In The Air (Track)

Headlines:

WELCOME BEACH BOYS
Keep fit kick helps them get through British tour
by Richard Green

PAUL SIMON SAYS: CONCERT AFTER GARFUNKEL FILMING ENDS
Wants to play Albert Hall and Scotland
by Richard Green

JOE SOUTH LIKES 'GAMES’ WE PLAY

by Gordon Coxhill

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson
Bob & Earl: Dancin’ Everywhere
Four Tops: What Is A Man
Cliff Richard: Big Ship

NME Top 5:
1. ( 1) Get Back, Beatles
2. ( 6) Man Of The World, Fleetwood Mac
3. ( 4) Sentimental Friend, Herman’s Hermits
4. ( 6) Behind A Painted Smile, Isley Brothers
5. ( 6) My Way, Frank Sinatra

News pages

Holiday Radio One line-up
(excerpt)
Spooky Tooth guests in Symonds On Sunday on June 1 and, later the same day, Procol Harum and Pink Floyd are in Top Gear …

NME May 31, 1969

Front page:
Feature with two pics on Mike D’Abo:
MIKE D’ABO IS SONG IMPERSONATOR
by Richard Green

Big pic of Tom Jones: Tom socks it to New York!

WHO’S WHERE
(excerpt)
PROCOL HARUM: London Roundhouse (1), Birmingham Mothers (7).

Headlines:

FOCUS ON THE FLEETWOODS
Mick Fleetwood/Jeremy Spencer
by Nick Logan

ONLY IN ENGLAND DOES HERMAN OUTSHINE HERMITS
by Richard Green

Ad with picture: Procol Harum, A Salty Dog (Regal Zonophone RZ3019).

Tipped for the charts by John Wells
Beatles, The Ballad Of John And Yoko
Peter Sarstedt, Frozen Orange Juice
Paul Revere And The Raiders, Let Me
Beach Boys, Breakaway
Bee Gees, Tomorrow, Tomorrow
Bobbie Gentry, Touch ’Em With Love
Eric Burdon And The Animals, River Deep Mountain High

NME Top 5

1. ( 1) Get Back, Beatles
2. ( 6) Dizzy, Tommy Roe
3. ( 2) Man Of The World, Fleetwood Mac
4. ( 3) Sentimental Friend, Herman’s Hermits
5. ( 5) My Way, Frank Sinatra

Tail-Pieces by the Alley Cat

…Procol Harum’s hit could be retitled by Scaffold, Whiter Shade of Watney’s Pale!…

NME June 7, 1969

Front page:

Half page ad for Mike Kennedy (lead singer of Los Bravos) and his 45 I’ll Never Forget (Major Minor)
Half page ad for David McWilliams’ 45 Oh Mama, Are You My Friend? (Major Minor)

Headlines:

BEING No 1 ISN’T ENOUGHT FOR TOMMY
by Jan Nesbit
(Tommy Roe that is.)

NMExclusive from Ritchie York in Canada with John and Yoko
As fans mob them Lennon admits
RINGO’S RIGHT, WE CAN’T TOUR AGAIN

FOCUS ON FLEETWOODS:
John
A recluse in the making
Danny
The choir boy growing up
by Nick Logan

New to the charts
CREEDENCE: 'FUNNY HATS’ TO BAYOU ROCK
by Ritchie York

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Scott Walker, Lights Of Cincinnati
Elvis Presley, In The Ghetto

Not tipped for charts, but "in with a chance":

SPELL-BINDING PROCOLS DESERVE COME-BACK HIT
PROCOL HARUM: A Salty Dog (Regal Zonophone).
It won’t be easy for Procol Harum to re-establish themselves after 18 months of hibernation – but if ever a disc deserved a Top Ten placing, this is it! More than a pop song, this is a tone poem.

A tale of nautical adventures and hardships, it has a magnificent scoring of flowing violins, rich cellos, clanking piano and pastel woodwind [sic] – as the perfect framework to Gary Brooker’s resonant vocal. Like all Harum’s work, it has a distinctive sepulchral quality, and sounds as though it was adapted from a classic – even though it may not have been. Spell-binding and haunting.

NME Top 5:
1. ( 2) Dizzy, Tommy Roe
2. ( 1) Get Back, Beatles
3. ( 3) Man Of The World, Fleetwood Mac
4. ( 5) My Way, Frank Sinatra
5. ( 4) My Sentimental Friend, Herman’s Hermits