2 December 1967: PH from NME

Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Procol Harum's first year in the NME

Back from America: 2 December 1967

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show early promise of Poll success for PH, and include BJ's very revealing report about the US tour: hippies, materialism and a disconsolate Fisher.

Front page: Full page advertisement for Scott Walker's new single Jackie (Philips)

(The Procol Harum album cover used again in EMI's half page advertisement for new albums.)

(Dave Clark, Felice Taylor, Cliff Richard, Reg Presley, Jonathan King, Andrew Steele (Herd), Vince Melouney (Bee Gees) and Andy Fairweather-Low show how they filled their coupons)

Dave Clark: Year's Best British disc: A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Procol Harum

The Herd, Paradise Lost
Scott Walker, Jackie
Georgie Fame, The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde
Mamas & Papas, Glad To Be Unhappy
Cat Stevens, Kitty

1 (2) Let The Heartaches Begin, Long John Baldry
2 (3) Everybody Knows, Dave Clark Five
3 (-) Hello, Goodbye, The Beatles
4 (1) Baby Now That I've Found You, Foundations
5 (4) Love Is All Around, Troggs

... Other stars enjoying their-first ever NME poll success in the British divisions are Tom Jones ('Male Singer'), Bee Gees ('New Group'), Engelbert Humperdinck ('New Singer') and Procol Harum ('Best Disc of 1967').

(This was just a preview of the poll results giving away the winners and the runners-up. Full results in next week's edition.)

It was a tired and relieved Procol Harum who arrived back in London on Monday after spending five weeks in America. Tired naturally as a result of all the travelling they've done recently but more relieved to be back in a more tolerant society.

Barry Wilson explained: 'The pressures of advertising in America are incredible. Everywhere you go they're screaming at you buy this or buy that. Everyone is so material-minded - much more than here.

'All they seem to want are bigger and better cars and bigger and better houses and newer swimming pools. But where is it getting them? There's much more violence there than there is here.

'The only release from it all was with the hippies in San Francisco. The flower scene there is fading now, but the hippies are still there - and many of them are dropping out altogether.

'They just don't want to belong to society any more. People there are now forming their own communities to get away from it all. There's one group which lives in caves out in the hills making their own rules and living their own lives.

'The average American has everything - car, fridge, washing machine, but they don't seem to be better people as a result.

'People were so obviously rude to us in some places. They pointed at us in restaurants and stared at us in the street. Lots of them used to shout abuse at us because of our hair and clothes. They used to think we were Americans and they just don't tolerate young people who look like us but when they realized we were English they seemed to accept us.

'It was all very interesting and we all enjoyed it - except Matthew (Fisher) who hated it. He didn't go out much at all because he just didn't like America.'

Despite his criticisms of Americans generally, Barry appreciated the audiences who came to see the group. 'In many ways they were just like the people who would come and see us at the Saville.

'There were many things that impressed us out there. Driving into New York from the airport was a tremendous experience. I had always wanted to go to America and it was a great thrill seeing the skyscrapers and all the other things associated with New York. It's just the pressures they live under that we couldn't take.'