Procol Harum – Butterfly Boys Oil Well – RSC 131

Procol Harum – Butterfly Boys
Oil Well – RSC 131

1. Conquistador — 5:03
2. Bringing Home The Bacon — 5:36
3. Whaling Stories — 8:54
4. New Lamps For Old — 4:15
5. As Strong As Samson — 6:00
6. Simple Sister — 6:06
7. The Idol — 6:56
8. Butterfly Boys — 3:51
9. Nothing But The Truth — 3:17
Time: 49:57

Note
All songs by Brooker/ Reid
Live in London, UK - December 1, 1974
Live in Londonm UK at The Hippodrome, Golders Green on 22/3/1974 at for  BBC Live in Concert

Lineup:
Piano and Vocals – Gary Brooker
Bass – Alan Cartwright
Drums – B J Wilson
Lead Guitar – Mick Grabham
Organ – Chris Copping

This album is a digital clone of: "Live in London 1974" - Genschman Rec. 1004 - 1991
This Oil Well version has a fine cover, fine quality.  Limited to 200 copies only.
Due to its rarity and good quality, this disc is recommended.
Please note that this is a very rare publication with some peculiarities. This is perhaps the only Oil Well bootleg to present an image of the group in the cd booklet together with the group name (in white) Procol Harum on a red background, at the base of the silver cd shelf. For this reason we attach all the images in the box

The BBC recorded these eleven superb compositions (words Keith Reid, music Gary Brooker) on 22 March 1974 at Golders Green Hippodrome in London; this CD supersedes the incomplete, off-air tapes that fervent Procoholics - you can hear them yelling out "Encore" before a note's been played! - have treasured over a quarter-century.

Audio quality: 
Quality content: 
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Procol Harum at BBC
Following a three-month lay-off for studio recording, Procol had already played six college shows and a John Peel session in March 1974 - unprecedented UK exposure for them. Brooker recalls, "You did the BBC shows as a way of getting your new album on the radio", and to Mick Grabham they were "... pretty much just another job." Reid also emphasises the workaday nature of a gig where "... if somebody screwed up, it just got broadcast that way."
Conquistador: Procol judiciously open with their latest hit (August 1972). They'd played Conquistador on two (now lost) 1967 BBC sessions with their original Hammond-genius, Matthew Fisher. His successor, Chris Copping, provides a final Baroque flourish!

Bringing Home the Bacon: another favourite 70s opener, driven by the piano and percussion of Brooker and Barrie Wilson, instrumental core of Procol's evolving line-up. This song was not included in the hour-long broadcast, 30 March '74.
 Whaling Stories: the band condenses a thrilling range of dramatic emotions into nine epic minutes. The BBC didn't retain concert master-tapes, so the somewhat haphazard original mix cannot now be rejigged. New Lamps for Old: over half tonight's concert comes from 1974's Exotic Birds LP, whose theme of disillusion (at waning record sales?) this weary setting complements to perfection. "New Lamps was certainly very unusual for us to play live," says Reid, who always determined Procol's running-orders.

As Strong as Samson: this unusually topical Procol song, about 1973's industrial unrest, was updated during 90s tours, with '... Croats and Kurds, causing confusion and changing the words'. Sadly that reborn Harum could not include the great Barrie Wilson, who had died in 1990. Marvel here at his inspired start to the instrumental break!
Simple Sister: now Procol relax and let rip! If the Edmonton orchestral version of this savage belter had been included on the Live album, it might have shaken the 'classic-rock' prejudices that unjustly beset the band.

The Idol: Mick Grabham, unrivalled as an ensemble guitarist, shines out as the soloist here. Who was the enigmatic 'idol' who had saved these 'drowning men' before, but could now 'see no point in diving in'? "I get an image of a golden, Biblical idol," says Gary, "not someone specific from rock music."
Butterfly Boys: Reid's lepidopterous libretto angered Chrysalis, the band's record company. "Procol is the 'sinking ship' here," says Brooker, "and it's Chrysalis who've 'got the cake'. They wanted us to change it to Government Boys. We said, 'Bollocks.'"

Nothing But the Truth: John Peel made this 45 release (15 March) his 'single of the week', and Elton John praised it on a pop panel - sadly to no effect. Chart hit or not, this is prime Procol Harum - in full flight there really is no-one in the world to touch them.
Roland Clare, October 1999

September 1999
Sue Armstrong at Strange Fruit Records rang 'Beyond the Pale' to chat about Harumish matters, and followed it up with this communiqué for the Palers at large:Strange Fruit, the official outlet for BBC recordings, are currently in discussion with Gary Brooker with a view to releasing Procol Harum's BBC Live In Concert performance recorded at the Golders Green Hippodrome on 22 March 1974. It would be much appreciated if anyone with any photos or paraphernalia from the era or, preferably, from the concert itself, could e-mail Strange Fruit at sfm@strange-fruit-music.co.uk

Hardcore Palers will already know this concert, since it has circulated 'informally' under a variety of names. Nevertheless it's an exciting prospect, since the vast majority of the oblivious rock public will suddenly become aware of live Procol, as the CD joins a prestigious catalogue of BBC / Strange Fruit material, including the highly-regarded Led Zep set. Remember also that the BBC broadcast two songs from Golders Green (Beyond the Pale and Grand Hotel) that are not on the non-legit version that fans are familiar with, and for all we know there may be more still on tape that never graced the airwaves. The quality of the Strange Fruit sound is also likely to be very good.

Strange Fruit is well-known as an artist-friendly label and we feel that fans should be thoroughly heartened by this development. We might well hope that good sales of this album will encourage Gary and Strange Fruit to put out other choice material from the BBC vaults.
So do write to Sue if you have ticket-stubs, unfamiliar 1974 PH photographs, or any of the other typical ephemera that make a CD-liner attractive. Even if you haven't, some appreciative e-mail would undoubtedly be helpful in furthering the Procol cause.

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