Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale 

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It is the cover story, and no fewer than eleven inside pages are devoted to the album and its originator.

Gary Brooker has performed (Hammond / vocal) on two of Bush's albums to date (The Red Shoes and Aerial); Kate herself was present at the Within Our House concert that came out on Brooker's own label.

Other celeb side-bars in this feature quote Roy Harper, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, John Lydon, Alison Goldfrapp, Tim McInnerny, Big Boi, and David Brewis.

Gary's account runs ...

"I first met her at a Prince's Trust concert at London's Dominion. I was playing with Pete Townshend, Phil Collin, Midge Ure and Kate. She said she was going to do The Wedding List. It was quite complicated, and I asked, 'What was that chord there?'. She said, 'I've no idea!' She didn't have any recollection of how it went on record; she'd just done it.

"I've always enjoyed playing on her records. She expects a lot of the musicians she gets in, and I did things I'd never done before. On The Red Shoes, there were the bare bones of a track, and you had to make up what you thought would fit. She didn't have a perfectionists' iron grip in the sense of: 'These are the notes you will play.' She drew you in the direction she wanted to go.

"She comes across first as a woman and a mother these days. Sometimes I've told her I'm playing somewhere, and she's come along. She's not holed up. I don't blame her for being a bit defensive. She has been bombarded by the media from very young, when she had this huge No 1. She's one of our best. Kate hasn't made enough records. But that's up to her. Whatever she has done has been remarkable."