How did the band Procul Harum get its name?

gtho4

The band was named after a Burmese cat. A few e-mails and 'phone calls to Maureen Smith and Margaret Somers at the Burmese Cat Club lead to me being put in touch with that august organisation’s Rosemary Hale. Over the 'phone, and later by letter, she tells me I’m not the first to have asked her about Procol Harum, though the last enquiry she received was a few years ago and didn’t seem to lead anywhere. With considerable patience and good humour, Rosemary explains the history of the Burmese breed in Britain, and provides me with much illuminating anecdotal and documentary information about the subject of my enquiry. The online database is a lengthy work in progress – cats breeding like … well, cats – and it turns out my quarry’s details have simply yet to be added. The band Procol Harum was named after a Blue Burmese male cat named Procul Harun,’ confirms Rosemary, after consulting the registration document and pedigree certificate the Cat Club was bequeathed when the cat’s breeders died in the mid Eighties. So the band did have access to the genuine pedigree certificate, after all … they just didn’t take notes. http://www.procolharum.com/young_cat-claude++2+.htm` May 16 10, 11:20 PM