Procol Harum's first year in the NME

'Homburg': 30 September 1967

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show more Procol broadcasts scheduled, and the flavour of the chart world into which Homburg emerged. For a rebuttal of Derek Johnson's attempt to assimilate AWSoP and Homburg, see Roland Clare's This Old Cat

Front page, a full page advertisement for Dusty Springfield's new 45: What's It Gonna Be?

NME Top 5:

1 (1) The Last Waltz, Engelbert Humperdinck
2 (2) Excerpt From A Teenage Opera, Keith West
3 (8) Flowers In The Rain, The Move
4 (6) Reflections, Diana Ross & The Supremes
5 (11) Hole In My Shoe, Traffic

New discs on chart this week, among others:

No 17, When Will The Good Apples Fall, The Seekers
No 23, From The Underworld, The Herd
No 29, King Midas In Reverse, The Hollies On page 3: Half page advertisement for Homburg; the PH-logo used is the same as can be seen on the Norwegian Quite Rightly So single. .

Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:
Procol Harum, Homburg
Nancy Sinatra, Lightning's Girl
Anita Harris, Playground
Amen Corner, The World Of Broken Hearts

Top singles reviewed by Derek Johnson:

Derek Johnson's main single review (quoted in full):

Spine-Tingling Harum - Another Hit: Homburg / Good Captain Clack (Regal Zonophone)

This follow-up to Harum's No 1 could well have been titled A Paler Shade Of White, because it's very similar to the group's first disc. The chordal structure is much the same - and so is the fusion of contemporary lyrics with Bach-Handel fugal strain.

But whereas the last one owed a lot to Air On a G String, this latest effort seems to lean heavily on Sheep May Safely Graze.

 The main melody line is taken by clanking piano, with that spine-tingling organ playing a background rôle - and the beat, emphasised by crashing cymbals, is more pronounced than before.

It's another disc that gets right into your blood - obviously a smash! (read GB's Perverse Hopes, andother short reviews)

Flip: A complete contrast, almost in the Good-Time idiom. Barrelhouse piano, swirling organ, bouncy beat and an ensemble chorus. Both sides are Keith Reed [sic!] - Gary Brooker compositions.

News pages:

PROCOL UK TOUR IN JANUARY

Procol Harum will undertake its first-ever British concert tour in the new year. It will open in late January and continue until the second half of February. An itinerary is currently being drawn up by promoter Tito Burns in association with the group's manager, Tony Secunda.

Harum, Traffic, Frankie, Anita: BBC-1 Dee TV

(excerpts)

Procol Harum, Traffic, Frankie Vaughan, Anita Harris and the Dave Dee group are among the latest bookings for Simon Dee's Saturday evening BBC-1 series Dee Time.

... Procol Harum guests on October 14, and Frankie Vaughan appears in the October 21 show.

Procol Harum also makes a guest appearance in the first edition of BBC-1's Crackerjack which returns for a new series on Friday, October 6. The group, which guested in Top Of The Pops yesterday (Thursday), is also booked for the next two editions of this show on October 5 and 12 ...

Read more from the first year of Procol press