Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Procol Harum

1967

Maybe we're all a bit biased here: but has there ever been a more brilliantly accomplished debut album?

'I suppose the first album was the album I was the happiest with. It was fantastic, you know; I thought all the songs were great. It was the worst recorded album, but I really like it.' Keith Reid, 1972

Gary Brooker - piano, vocal
Keith Reid - words
Matthew Fisher - organ
BJ Wilson - drums
Robin Trower - guitar
Dave Knights - bass
Producer: Denny Cordell

Conquistador	She Wandered Through The Garden Fence	Something Following Me
Mabel	Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of)	A Christmas Camel
Kaleidoscope	Salad Days (Are Here Again)	Good Captain Clack
Repent Walpurgis: Matthew Fisher explains the origins (title and music) of this instrumental		NB this is the original, UK listing of tracks (more about this)

Liner notes: To be listened to in the spirit in which it was made Items of interest: The original UK album did not feature A Whiter Shade of Pale: it was added for the American version. This necessitated a change in the classic Beardsley-influenced album sleeve, which, like the Salty Dog and Home artwork, had been executed by Dickinson, who went on to marry Keith Reid. The advertisement (right) relates to the 1973 A&M re-release of the album, and was originally printed in Rolling Stone. Variant versions: Good Captain Clack as it appeared as the 'B' side of the Homburg single differed by one gong-beat from the version on this album.
	The 1997 Repertoire re-issue of this album: A Whiter Shade Of Pale
	Some of these songs first recorded with Ray Royer and Bobby Harrison (replaced by Robin Trower and BJ Wilson)
	Images from the Russian pressing
	The Italian job; the American version
	Was it ever released in stereo? See here and here; and here's a version with stereo bonus track
	Read an eyewitness account of one recording session for this album
	The words of this album, provided by Keith Reid for this website
	About the film Separation, which featured Salad Days
About the Salvo re-release of this album	About the 'Plus' re-release of this album
Audiophile re-release (2003) with bonus tracks, two discs on 200 Gram vinyl	A Record Collector review in 2002 about the BGO re-issue
A curious box-set version	Double CD reissue with bonus-tracks, 2015, from Esoteric
A Canadian Deram mono album autographed during the 1991 tour by the album's writers Gary Brooker, Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher (thanks, Guy Campeau, from Montreal) Ridiculous and upsetting re-ordering of the songs for this 'stereo' US release on reel-to-reel tape

Procol Harum

Beyond the Pale

Procol Harum

1967

Beyond
the Pale