Procol HarumBeyond |
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Some music fans outside Europe may not be aware of the original tobacco advertisement that spawned Dickinson's famous parody on the cover of the A Salty Dog album: here it is, below left, and you can click on it for a bigger version if you want to print it off as a health warning of some sort.
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| Note that the original contains several ships that are not reproduced in the Procol mutation, where the detailed ropes and so on have also been simplified. Procol's excellent 'best of' from 1995, however, reproduces that detail more faithfully, both on the front cover and on the CD itself: see below. It looks as though the graphic artist has gone back to the original advert for reference, although the ambience is considerably more Caribbean in the later illustration (and it lacks that outrageously phallic lighthouse). | |
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Above is another parody, clearly of the Procol version, not of the Players original. Click here to see several other parodies of the Procol sleeve (or of the original?), involving Croydon's Captain Sensible. |
Mirthlessly this parody commemorates
2001's destruction of the Twin Towers. The central figure is transmuted into Osama bin Laden, and the 'Hero' wording is omitted from the headpiece. |
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The Players' 'Hero' is a blue-eyed straight-backed archetype in his smart suit with his nicely-trimmed 'full set' of whiskers. On the other hand Procol featured a swarthy, hirsute, dentally-challenged sailor, gurning hideously from the 1969 album. |
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| Not all fans believe that this is a version of Keith Reid himself,
executed by Dickinson, to whom he was married. To the right, though, you
may see Keith writing 'That's me' as he signs the cover at Bloomsbury in
2005 after his first performance with the band in thirty years.
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And of course the lifebelt motif with wording, but sans matelot, is often seen on the lapels (or berets) of fans at Procol shows: lamentably, supplies of this excellent little memorabilium have long-since sunk without trace.
Another parody, clearly of Japanese origin, but otherwise obscure in import. Finally, a full-length version of the original advertisement, right. |
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