Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale 

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Something Magic

The photographer's tale


Photographer Jay Rosenblatt writes to 'Beyond the Pale' (February 2005)

In 1977 I was hanging around Criteria Studio with the recording engineer of that album. At that time Gary Brooker asked me to photograph the band for their upcoming album Something Magic. He wanted to take the photo in a place that had a magical quality about it. We took the photograph in a place that was called the Enchanted Forest on 125th Street in Miami. I doubt that the park is still there as it is probably a condo development by now. We also photographed in Biscaya in Key Biscayne.

On the shoot day, we all got into my American Motors Rambler Classic, the whole band. It was a blast driving them around. I think I billed them about 75 USD at that time: did not even cover my cost. Shot lots of film. Gary knew I was a photographer 'cause I always carried a camera. He made a dream come true when he asked me to take photographs of Procol. Years before when I lived in Brooklyn, I went to just about every show they performed at in the New York Area. It was one of my dreams as a young photographer to be able to take photos of them one day. Dreams do and did come true.

After the album was cut, there was a party at 461 Ocean Boulevard, the same place that Clapton's album is named after. Gary took the time to thank me in front of all the album and studio bigwigs for making the photo.

When the album appeared two months later, I heard from a friend of mine that my photo was inside the album. I went to the record store. I saw the album and ripped off the plastic wrapper before purchasing it. The manager of the store screamed at me. "You can't unwrap the album before paying," he said. I pulled out the liner: there was my photograph. I jumped up and down in the aisle yelling, "This is my photo, I took it" All the people looked at me like I was nuts. maybe I was.

I looked in one of my old files and found an original 11x14 from the same shoot; not the same picture but the same day in the same clothing. See above ... what a kick!


More about this album


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