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Track Listings
| 1. A Salty Dog |
| 2. The Milk of Human Kindness |
| 3. Too Much Between Us |
| 4. The Devil Came From Kansas |
| 5. Boredom |
| 6. Juicy John Pink |
| 7. Wreck of the Hesperus |
| 8. All This and More |
| 9. Crucifiction Lane |
| 10. Pilgrim's Progress |
| 11. Long Gone Geek |
| 12. Goin' Down Slow |
| 13. Juicy John Pink (live in the USA, April '69) |
| 14. Crucifiction Lane (live in the USA, April '69) |
| 15. Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) / Also Sprach |
| 16. The Milk of Human Kindness (take 1: raw track) |
Product Description
CD Description
The sailor leering out at you from the front cover (a parody of the old Players Navy Cut cigarette packet regarded as one of the greatest sleeve designs in rock) signals - even before you hear a note - that there is something different about A Salty Dog. But when you do listen, it becomes clear - from the sweeping title track that opens the album, to the serene Pilgrims Progress which brings it to a conclusion - that A Salty Dog is quite simply Procols most rewarding album. In fact, it has long been viewed as their masterpiece; one of the high watermarks of late-60s rock culture as well as one of finest examples of a rock album co-opting elements of classical music. When the title track was released as Procols fourth single during the early summer of 1969, the reviews were ecstatic. NME judged it positively stunning; Disc thought it perfection ; Melody Makers Chris Welch raved: Their finest hour... one of the greatest pop singles to emerge in recent years. Grandiose and sweeping, the title track remains one of Procols finest recorded moments - and its relative failure as a single, and that of the subsequent album, grows ever-more baffling with the passing years. Besides the epic sweep of the title track, the album also contained the towering Wreck Of The Hesperus and Pilgrims Progress . Breaking away from their familiar piano-organ dialogue, the album also incorporated elements of folk (Too Much Between Us), blues (Juicy John Pink), and even heavy metal (The Devil Came From Kansas). Looking back, at the millenniums turn, The Mojo Collection remembered A Salty Dog as a swirling, Gothic tale, drenched in salt spray... progressive rock at its very best, Procol Harum in excelsis. Certainly, few bands ever proved themselves as audacious in the studio as Procol Harum did with this album, which makes the fact that it only reached Number 27 in the UK album chart even more puzzling. Procol were a major touring attraction across in the USA around the period that the album was recorded, delivering acclaimed concert performances from coast to coast. The six bonus cuts featured on this release include four towering, previously unreleased live recordings that are certain to excite their fans.
Product Description
2009 remastered edition w/6 BONUS rare tracks selected by Gary Brooker. Rightly lauded as Procol Harum's masterpiece
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
With the band's first two releases 'in the bag', Salvo let fly this top notch repackaging of PH's much-awaited next move, and don't disappoint. 1969's 'A Salty Dog' (****) is possibly Procul Harum's finest hour: a trove of memorably lush melodies replete with towering orchestration interspersed with a dizzying array of hard rock, charming od-ditties, ball-bustingly dirty blues, even a spot of folk. Genre-hopping generally doesn't work across an album: there's too little time to assert sufficient credibility in any one field and the whole affair too often slips apologetically away. Gary Brooker, Keith Reid and Matthew Fisher as writers (Fisher also produces the album) are exceptions, coupling astutely commercial yet original composition to exciting and breezily confident performances. This has been reissued before, of course, but never with the definitiveness of Salvo's packages, which brim with new interviews, track annotations and rare pictures that assure them future collectability. Bonus tracks x six include hardrocking studio take 'Long Gone Geek' plus US-recorded live material that reinstates rightly high regard for the band on the performance circuit. But it's the grand sweep of 'A Salty Dog's' titular opener and the equally powerful 'Wreck Of The Hesperus' that set the band apart. All hands on deck, indeed.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was nine years old in 1969, and wouldn't buy my first album until the age of 11 two years later so never heard this album at the time.
Thanks to infrequent but judicious radio play from the likes of John Peel, Alan Freeman etc. the title track from this album did, over the years infiltrate my sub-conscious to the point where my curiosity got the better of me and I bought the album. I was well into my twenties. The title track is an absolute masterpiece and all else on the album is neccessarily in its shadow. But look and listen closely there are other sparkling gems in that shade.
It seemed timeless and ageless when I first bought it in the eighties and hearing it again remastered and repackaged with interesting extra tracks it still does. All hands on deck! Immerse yourself in its beauty.
Thanks to infrequent but judicious radio play from the likes of John Peel, Alan Freeman etc. the title track from this album did, over the years infiltrate my sub-conscious to the point where my curiosity got the better of me and I bought the album. I was well into my twenties. The title track is an absolute masterpiece and all else on the album is neccessarily in its shadow. But look and listen closely there are other sparkling gems in that shade.
It seemed timeless and ageless when I first bought it in the eighties and hearing it again remastered and repackaged with interesting extra tracks it still does. All hands on deck! Immerse yourself in its beauty.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Brooker and Co had tried for album success but it was evading them because the listening public wanted the follow up to their debut single to be....well, exactly the same as their debut single. And they wanted their albums to be just the same. Which they weren't so people quickly lost interest. Dishing out music that seemed like hastily recorded B-sides didn't go down well with art-music fans that wanted More Of The Same.
Rule of Three - the third album is always the best (check it out for yourself with any band you like). A Salty Dog is far more than a collection of songs, it's a themed concept and nothing is allowed onto the album that doesn't add its own little bit. Nothing here was ever going to cut it as a hit single, the Radio One Playlist Policy saw to that. But an album is a very different animal to a single and for an album to work as an album, and not just a collection of potential hit singles, it needs consistency, substance, pathos, and most importantly of all a beginning, a middle and an end. This album has everything. Each track contributes without detracting from the others.
This is a remarkable remaster, bringing out details you never thought were there. They've resisted the temptation to turn it into a remix/remaster circus aimed at today's drum and bass amplified hungry audience and kept it as true to the original as possible. Everything is just that little bit clearer. Now you can appreciate Keith Reid's whimsical lyrics flung at you by Brooker's cracking vocal line in crystal clarity. Open a few windows before you play as the title track might cause fragile objects to shatter.
I've always thought of this album as something special to myself, as no one else has ever heard of it. But I expect with this magical rebirth all that will change.....
Rule of Three - the third album is always the best (check it out for yourself with any band you like). A Salty Dog is far more than a collection of songs, it's a themed concept and nothing is allowed onto the album that doesn't add its own little bit. Nothing here was ever going to cut it as a hit single, the Radio One Playlist Policy saw to that. But an album is a very different animal to a single and for an album to work as an album, and not just a collection of potential hit singles, it needs consistency, substance, pathos, and most importantly of all a beginning, a middle and an end. This album has everything. Each track contributes without detracting from the others.
This is a remarkable remaster, bringing out details you never thought were there. They've resisted the temptation to turn it into a remix/remaster circus aimed at today's drum and bass amplified hungry audience and kept it as true to the original as possible. Everything is just that little bit clearer. Now you can appreciate Keith Reid's whimsical lyrics flung at you by Brooker's cracking vocal line in crystal clarity. Open a few windows before you play as the title track might cause fragile objects to shatter.
I've always thought of this album as something special to myself, as no one else has ever heard of it. But I expect with this magical rebirth all that will change.....
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Salty Dog Procol Harum
Thank you Amazon for stocking this CD looked around the local music shops for years trying to buy this,
Brilliantly atmospheric music a truly classic album. Read more
Brilliantly atmospheric music a truly classic album. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Alan Lycett
Very good, but...
These re-releases are of excellent quality. However, they could have been released as single disk with two albums and an occasional bonus track thereby taking up less space and... Read more
Published 2 months ago by John Rempel
What a drummer
This is a great album, made better by the bonus tracks. The production (and orchestration) by Matthew Fisher is flawless. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Stephen Reid
Magical dream
I bought this on vynl when it first came out ans went on to buy everything else they released up to their 9th. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Charles E. Gorrie
Magnificent
A magnificent album - probably their finest. I had this on LP back in 1971 and thought it a great album then but really didn't appreciate how good it was - and it has stood the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by John M. Overend
Music To Feed The Senses
"A Salty Dog" original release date May 1969.
This is music for headphones and a certain state of mind. Read more
This is music for headphones and a certain state of mind. Read more
Published on 11 May 2010 by Armchair Pundit
A Natural Hat Trick
A Salty Dog was the last Procol Harum album to feature the original 5-piece line-up. Compared to the previous two, which were very much dominated by Gary Booker's songs and vocals... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2010 by Morten Vindberg
A masterpeice
I recommend anyone with an interest in fine music to explore this album. The title track is one of the best pieces of popular music ever recorded and the bonus live tracks reveal... Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2010 by Gerard A. Murphy
I can only use 5 stars?
40 years later, I still would place this album in my top ten of all time. Such a rich and varied album. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2009 by A Customer
The first one Salvo got right
Everything said about this album is true. It is a real Procol Masterpiece.
And this is the first Salvo release to live up to the promise. Read more
And this is the first Salvo release to live up to the promise. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2009 by originalsnuffy
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