Procol Harum's first year in the NME

Fisher solo album: 21 October 1967

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, tantalise us with the prospect of a multi-instrumental Fisher solo LP, a far more realistic and interesting possibility than the film project that the management seem to have invested all their energy in. 

Front page: full page advertisement for David McWilliams’s single and album.

NME Top 5:

1 (2) Massachusetts, Bee Gees
2 (1) The Last Waltz, Engelbert Huperdinck
3 (3) Hole In My Shoe, Traffic
4 (4) Flowers In The Rain, The Move
5 (6) There Must Be A Way, Frankie Vaughan

7 (11) Homburg, Procol Harum

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:

Donovan, There Is A Mountain
John Walker, If I Promise
Stevie Wonder, I’m Wondering
Eric Burdon & The Animals, San Franciscan Nights

News pages:
Harum organ solo LP; Cliff, Dodd, Bachelors, Davies, Zal singles

(excerpt)

Procol Harum organist Mathew Fisher is to make an LP without the other members of the group…

The Mathew Fisher solo album, to be produced by Denny Cordell for Regal-Zonophone release in the New Year, will consist entirely of self-penned compositions. He will be featured mainly on organ, but on some tracks will play piano, harpsichord, bass, drums and guitar. The other members of Procol Harum will not appear on the disc, but 'mystery guests' are planned for the LP, which will be primarily instrumental.

Procol Hollywood deal?

Procol Harum’s manager Tony Secunda flew to Los Angeles this week to negotiate a film deal for the group. The NME reported last week that Harum is planning to write its own film, and Secunda is seeking backing from one of the major Hollywood companies for this venture.

Read more from the first year of Procol press