Yan Friis presents early Procol journalism

In each of these fascinating articles journalist Yan Friis presents an early piece of Procol Harum reportage in the context of contemporary chart events. Each summary below will be linked to a 'Beyond the Pale' page on the 31st anniversary of the news item's original publication. See also Swimming Against the Tide.

The Mammoth Task: the first fifty-two weeks of Procol Press in the UK's New Musical Express
13 May 1967	A very early mention of AWSoP, and the single's first advertisement
20 May	No Procol press, though their single is selling hand-over-fist
27 May	Live dates, runaway sales, the primacy of Keith Reid, praise by Denny Cordell for the group's professionalism in the studio.
3 June	A tiny snippet showing AWSoP in the Top 3
10 June	Massive AWSoP sales, gigs with Hendrix, a picture, and 'lack of visual appeal'.
17 June	Spike Milligan is a fan, Jacques Loussier a critic: and an extremely revealing set of 'lifelines' about the five original members of the band.
24 June	The band's illness (diplomatic or real?) and Fisher to work on Separation with Stanley Myers.
1 July	Procol Harum sacking their manager, and a confident Keith Reid.
8 July	Brooker ordered to rest, AWSoP still at No 1.
15 July	New personnel, first album finished, the Bill Eyden 'scandal' and public appearances cancelled.
22 July	'Our fans may rest assured that we shall work extensively throughout the autumn,' says Keith, who 'owns the group'. Royer and Harrison protest at their summary sacking.
29 July	Contradictory PH 'decide to prolong their UK inactivity'; AWSoP peaks on the Billboard chart; a new single is announced with the working title, Homburg Hat;
5 August	AWSoP sliding down the charts but still riding high in the US.
12 August	The first album comes out in the US; an 'amicable settlement' with Royer and Harrison
19 August	Denny Cordell and Regal Zonophone, BJ and the talking cabbage.
26 August	Befuddlement regarding live concerts, 'Straight Ahead' productions; more legal hassles on the horizon from Jonathan Weston
2 September	More on PH's management background; Royer and Harrison announce Freedom, which at the time must have seemed like a PH splinter-group.
9 September	Hendrix gets to grips with Reid words; a brilliant review of a live PH show ('next best thing since the Beatles'): Repent Walpurgis left the reviewer 'limp and exhausted'.
16 September	Procol Harum playing Europe; the dawn of BBC Radio 1.
23 September	Under the Beatles' influence, Procol's management flirt with film-projects!
30 September	Homburg reviewed as A Paler Shade of White
7 October	Homburg enters the chart, and there's further confusion about concert dates for the 'negative' Procol Harum
14 October	Further extraordinary news about Procol and ex-Procol film projects, while the UK scene continues to be beset by doubts, cancellations and reversals: no wonder Gary got ill again.
21 October	The tantalising prospect of a multi-instrumental Fisher solo LP, a far more realistic and interesting possibility than those film projects.
28 October	Homburg peaks in the chart back home as Procol Harum undertake their North American tour of clubs and television studios: and a Gary Brooker profile
4 November	Homburg 'taking off like mad' in the US while Procol get a standing ovation from the American press', and a Wilson / Trower article.
11 November	Homburg slipping down the UK chart, PH eventually flying their own equipment out to the States, and the 'not really evil' Matthew Fisher!
18 November	Poll-mania takes its hold as Homburg continues to slide, and David Knights suffers the NME spotlight.
25 November	Poll predictions: PH in 'terrific fight for supremacy in the Best New Group division', high chart placings abroad, desperately silly headlines.
2 December	Early promise of Poll success for PH, and BJ's very revealing report about the US tour: hippies, materialism and a disconsolate Fisher.
9 December	Poll-successes for A Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum and Gary Brooker: but it was never to be the same again.
16 December	A superb review of the Procol Harum album, Procol for Italy ... and they evidently have at least 25 compositions ...
23 December	A lean week in terms of Procol press, but the name keeps popping up in odd snippets.
30 December	Procol Harum offering a gnomic outlook for 1968, and evidently feeling the pressure of their still-strong reputation.
6 January 1968	Procol lost amidst a sea of Englebert in the chart retrospective; a handful of obscure college gigs, and a decision to postpone the concert tour!
13 January	Gold Disc for Homburg, and a confusingly premature gig at the Speakeasy. Meanwhile Mick Grabham's band makes an appearance!
20 January	Procol announce American dates; meanwhile news of an extended track on the next album is leaking out.
27 January	Mick Grabham's band listen appreciatively to Gary Brooker; Mick plays Hendrix; Procol planning a televised appearance in the States?
3 February	Little Procol news, but an acknowledgement of Dylan's huge influence on the period.
10 February	Nothing about Procol Harum, but all you could reasonably need to know about the young Mick Grabham.
17 February	No Procol Harum news.
24 February	Activity from Zonophone-mates The Move, but only a whiff of a rumour about a new single from Procol Harum.
2 March	Procol Harum among poll-winning bands scheduled (perhaps) to play Wembley in May.
9 March	First news of Quite Rightly So - sans Fisher credit, incidentally; and Procol opening, to silence, for the Bee Gees in Germany!
16 March	The promotional round for the new single; and Handel, as well as Bach, gets a Haroid name-check.
23 March	Quite Rightly So reviewed, as the quality of the British charts declines. And who's seen that film that the German crew was out to make?
30 March	Brooker and Reid win Britain's international song of the year award for A Whiter Shade Of Pale.
6 April	Nothing of Procoholic import, as we wait for Quite Rightly So to chart.
13 April	A minute amount of live Procol activity: meanwhile Separation makes its début, apparently with a glimpse of the band playing.
20 April	Procol plan ten weeks' touring in the USA, including recording sessions in LA; European dates are planned too, but nothing again for Britain.
27 April	Nothing Procolian except a tiny name-check from label-mates The Move.
4 May	News of an important Procol engagement!
11 May	Procol Harum put a characteristic end to their first NME year, as they pull out of a British show in order to fulfil engagements in the States.
Following this weekly cruise through the first year of NME Procol coverage, *Swimming Against the Tide* presents a chunk-at-a-time survey of the way things went after the AWSoP bubble burst.

Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Procol Harum's first year in the NME

A BtP special: thanks to Yan Friis