"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"

 

Unfortunately for Procol, their catalog has been in disarray forever, and the product can be spotty.  Missing songs.  Sub-optimal sound.  Someone (Rhino, are you listening?) needs to purchase the catalog, at least the Trower years, and give them a proper remastering.  Then I for one would buy the whole lot.

 

But of course given that the original band members are, 40 years later, still suing each other over composer credits, probably does not help.

 

So, I just got this Shine On Bartly album...finally...and it's pretty sweet. Maybe not as sweet as the debut, but sweet nevertheless. "Skip Softly (My Moonbeans)" is just CRAZY. Am I sensing a Strange Days influence with all the carnival references?

 

Anyway, so what's up with this "In Held Twas I" thing? It's not just a proto-progressive suite, it IS a progressive suite. It's got multiple movements, spooky conceptuality, nicely used sound effects...it's like a minature Wall, eleven years too soon. So why isn't it remembered fondly, around the fireplace, in smoking jackets and with wine whilst gazing at the hunting trophies? NO, instead, we recall that whole Days o' Future Pissed, which is WAY less proggy than this.

 

And what was the reaction to the record at the time? I wasn't there, you have to understand. On holiday.