Procol Harum's first year in the NME

'Separation' : 13 April 1968

These excerpts from New Musical Express, kindly selected for 'Beyond the Pale' by Yan Friis, show a minute amount of live Procol activity: meanwhile Separation makes its début, apparently with a glimpse of the band playing.

Front page: Full page advertisement for British tour by Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and June Carter

Some headlines:

VERY EARLY MORNING CHAT WITH MIKE by Keith Altham (Nesmith)

 Captain hit big surprise for Reparata by Richard Green

 Paper Dolls 'wreck' the NME office! by Richard Green

 Tipped for the charts by Derek Johnson:

Troggs, Surprise Surprise
Kinks: Wonderboy
Grapefruit, Yes / Elevator
Des O’Connor, I Pretend

NME Top 5:

1 (4) Congratulations, Cliff Richard
2 (3) What A Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
3 (2) Delilah, Tom Jones
4 (1) Lady Madonna, Beatles
5 (5) The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding

News pages:

POPLINERS

(excerpt)

… Procol Harum at Birmingham Belfry this Saturday (13^th)..

PROCOL’S MAN’S FILM SCORE
Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum has written the entire [sic] musical score for a new British film, Separation, starring Ann Lynn – and the group performs the music on the soundtrack. Procol is also seen in one sequence [sic], playing Salad Days from its LP. The movie opens at the Essoldo in Chelsea on May 26.

Read more from the first year of Procol press