Official PJ Proby Forum

I was listening to some music the other day on my CD player (sorry it wasn't P.J. but Frankie Laine) & he sang "I Believe".My mind automatically thought of P.J. & his version of this wonderful song.For some reason in my head I went thru' all of the fantastic vocal performances P.J. had done over the last 50 years.He's made so many classics (with more to come) & it was so hard to choose just one but after a good, long think I came to the conclusion that my favourite greatest ever P.J. vocal performance is "I Believe" & when I pop my clogs that's the song aisle insist is played when "It's Goodbye".
Ron
P.S. No plans to go down "Rainbow Road" just yet! Amen!

Like you Ron every fan you speak to has a PJ song for their funeral. Mine is Somewhere, but hope its not for a long time yet.
When we all meet ' up there' we can start our own little fan club and sing amongst the stars and maybe PJ could be with us.
On a better note, hope everyone is ok at the moment.

Pauline

hi Pauline,
It was a hard choice for me but P.J. & "I Believe" narrowly beat "Knees Up Mother Brown" by Max Bygraves into second place.Perhaps the vicar will agree to the two songs being played.If so I'll have to put some padding on my knobbly knees so I don't injure myself or damage the coffin that they carried me off in. I'm bound to get excited when the music starts & it's not easy doing a knees up in a small, dark, confined space.
Ron

I know this is rather a morbid subject but interesting. Great choice in 'I Believe' Ron but for me it would have to be 'From a Distance'.
Margaret

Hi Ron,Pauline & Marum,
I was reading your postings to Lee and he said he wants to play "It's Your Day Today" at my funeral. I told him I wanted more than one Proby song played at my funeral. I reckon I want my entire service to be a celebration of Proby songs and that includes at my viewing, in the hearse on the way to the church, during the service, on my final journey in the hearse to the cemetery and even at my graveside. There's just one question I have with all our wishes. Will our families need to pay royalties for the right to do this? If so, could we pay the royalties to PJ in advance like now for instance?

Leanne.

Hi Marum,
If they accidentally leave your coffin outside the church then it really will be a service "from a distance."
Actually it's nice to hear one of P.J.'s new recordings chosen.90% of the time it's his golden oldies.
Leanne,I don't know much about things like royalties & copyright issues but I know a man that does! Your "moving upstairs" day sounds like it's gonna be fun.
Ron
P.S. Judging by the replies I think I should have originally just asked "what is P.J.'s greatest ever vocal performance?" & not mentioned anything about my clogs going pop!

HI EVERYBODY, I CAN'T BELIEVE NOBODY ELSE THINKS "MARIA" IS THE GREATEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE BY ANYBODY ANYWHERE EVER. ABSOLUTELY FAUTLESS.
BEST WISHES TO ALL PROBYANS AND HURRY UP WITH THE NEW C D.

Hi George

Nice to meet you. PJ has produced many, many 'Greats' and I find it impossible to say which is my favourite. I suppose they all are.
I think we are all eager to get our hands on the new album. It does take a bit of time though. Something for us all to look forward to!
Margaret

Hi Guys!

I love fantasising about my funeral, but probably, when it's my time, the family will come up with their own choice. That's fine with me as it's supposed to help them "get over me".
I Apologise is my all time favourite but I also think You'll Never Walk Alone (the Shindig Live version) would be very appropriate.

If I would have the money by the time I die, I would hope the family hired PJ for a live service and PJ could sing anything he likes....
I'm sure it would be the best service ever...

Manja

Hi All,
Shall we close this topic now? Ever since I've started it I been all morbid & depressed hearing about funerals and things!I'm sure we've all got plenty of mileage in us yet..or in Manja's case kilometres.By the way in Holland, where they still wear clogs, does popping your clogs have another meaning to what it does in the U.K.?
Ron

Hi Ron!

I've just discovered this topic and I love it!
I'm sorry if it makes you depressed. Don't forget you're the one that painted us vivid images like bumping your knees against the lid of the coffin!

Ever since my post this morning I've done some serious thinking... I think PJ would really make an excellent singer at funerals, as he always sings with emotion and his voice is known to be comforting for those in pain.

Although I haven't discussed it with him, I'm sure you could hire Proby to do some acapella singing at a funeral of one of your loved ones, or just accompanied by a piano or so. I'm convinced the costs would be nothing compared to the funeral costs as a whole.
At least in Holland the prices for a funeral are sky high!
I imagine you could have Proby for around £1000,- plus travelling expenses. Wouldn't that be great?

Of course, Ron, I hope we'll all live for a long long time. But there are people around us that reach the age of the very old, like our parents maybe. I seriously think Proby would be a good choice to do the music when they have left us.

I would have left this the subject alone if you didn't ask me a question....
I assume popping your clogs means something like taking off your shoes for the last time? We don't have such an expression in Holland. You're supposed to take of your clogs everytime you enter the house anyway, as they're only meant for outside use. So you certainly wouldn't want them in your coffin!

Don't get depressed and remember:
"Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life!"

Manja

hi Manja,
The English say so & so has "popped their clogs"...in other words has passed away.We also say "pushing up daisies" which means the same thing. "6 foot under" also means the same.Weird sense of humour we English have!!!Humour gets in everywhere even in the most tragic happenings!I don't know if it's a good or bad thing.
P.J. has a wonderful voice & in a church backed with the obligatory organ I bet it comes over even better.He sang at his Uncle Dan's funeral last year & also at Barry Benson's funeral a few years back.I bet there wasn't a dry eye in either building.
Ron
PS. Had a strange tickling feeling in my toes for weeks....just discovered today that my clogs were riddled with woodworm!!!

Well, I've been away for 4 weeks and you've all decided to pop your clogs. I think I'll hang around for a while I've had such a great cruise. Favourite PJ song, too many to pick at this moment in time - appropriately one of my favourites is "In A Moment" but might request "Angelica" at my passing. Manja if I can have PJ for £1,000 plus travelling expenses I'm nipping down to the Building Society now and I'll collect him tomorrow - no need for travelling expenses!!! Just a note, I want to thank Elaine and Barbara for your birthday cards, and Margaret for you email. PJ's didn't arrive unfortunately but that might be the mail that didn't have enough postage on it and I had a card from the post office on my return wanting the excess plus £1. handling fee, I wasn't able to collect it as the time had run out, so they will return it to sender, so PJ can expect to get that back again.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise Annie, and I hope you had a lovely birthday. We are due to go to Mexico in a few weeks but flights are cancelled at the moment. If we do manage to get there I think I'd better leave a list of the PJ songs I'd like at my funeral just in case I don't survive this swine flu!! There are so many, but some of my favourites are Somewhere, I Believe, My Prayer, I'm Coming Home and He Touched Me. I would love to have PJ sing for me (not at my funeral), so if my family start saving perhaps that could be my 60th birthday present - they have got 2 years so I'm sure they could manage it.

Elaine

Hi Elaine and Annie,

All great songs you're mentioning...
I'm sure PJ could sing one or two of those songs acapella at a funeral for £1000,-.
Don't get me wrong: I never said Pj would come over to anybody for £1000,- and travelling expenses. If you would want PJ to sing at a birthday or wedding party that's certainly possible, but PJ would never do so without a band and Sophie. You could hire him for a full show of course, but the costs would be much higher. Still it's a good thing to start saving for!
Did you know PJ even flew over for somebody's birthday in Australia once?

Take care!

Manja