Procol Harum's first year in the NME

Radio and television: 16 March 1968

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show Procol on the promotional round for the new single; and Handel, as well as Bach, getting a Haroid name-check.

Front page: full page advertisement for The Beatles Lady Madonna (Parlophone).

 Major feature headlines:

 Chart positions don’t bother us any more, says Stevie Winwood

TRAFFIC WANT TO PUSH ALBUMS NOW by Nick Logan 

STONES ARE ON THE RAMPAGE ONCE MORE by Keith Altham

 Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson

Scaffold, Do You Remember?
Jimmy Young, Silver And Blue 

Review:

Peddlers, Handel With Care (CBS) 

(excerpt)

If you’re familiar with the beautiful Largo by Handel, you’ll know that it’s in much the same category as Bach’s Air On The G String – which helped to provide Procol Harum with its first hit. This has the same sort of treatment – with rich cathedral-like organ, but rather more of a snappy rhythm …

 NME Top 5

1 (1) Cinderella Rockefella, Esther & Abi Ofarim
2 (2) Legend Of Xanadu, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
3 (5) Rosie, Don Partridge
4 (10) Delilah, Tom Jones
5 (3) Fire Brigade, Move

News pages:

Television news:

(excerpt)

Guesting in this weekend’s networked Southern-TV show Time For Blackburn– in most areas tomorrow (Saturday) – are the Scaffold, Procol Harum, Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and Wayne Thomas.

and radio news:

(excerpt)

Set for Sunday afternoon Top Gear on March 24 are Procol Harum, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, the Nice and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Read more from the first year of Procol press