Description
Label Review.
1967 album. 180g Music On Vinyl.
Our Overview.
Procol Harum formed in London, England, in 1967. The name, roughly translated from Latin, means ''beyond these things’’. They recorded 10 albums over the next decade, but founders Brooker and Reid were the only continuous members.
They contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. The band's claim to fame 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'' from their debut eponymous album ‘Procol Harum’ (1967) has sold more than 6 million copies since its release in 1967. It reached the top of the British charts for the first of a six-week run in the top spot, making them only the sixth recording act in the history of British popular music to reach the number one spot on its first release (not even the Beatles did that).
The song has also been covered by everyone from the Canadian Brass to Willie Nelson. But Keith Reid and Gary Brooker, the two members of Procol Harum who wrote that group's first and only smash hit, haven't exactly become millionaires as a result. In fact, they don't even own the rights to the song. So while Reid admits that he and his partner ''didn't do badly,'' he also says that ''A Whiter Shade of Pale'' has ''made a fortune for other people.''
Brooker and Reid began writing songs together in 1966, after Brooker's R&B band, the Paramounts, broke up. Procol Harum is arguably the most successful "accidental" group creation that is, a band originally assembled to take advantage of the success of a record created in the studio – in the history of progressive rock. With "A Whiter Shade of Pale" a monster hit right out of the box, the band evolved from a studio ensemble into a successful live act, their music built around an eclectic mix of blues-based rock riffs and grand classical themes.
Reid supplied evocative, cryptic lyrics for singer-pianist Brooker's classically-flavored melodies. To record ''A Whiter Shade of Pale'' (its organ line is borrowed from Bach's Suite no. 3 in D Major), they enlisted organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist Dave Knights. At their most accessible, as on "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Conquistador," they were one of the most popular of progressive rock bands, their singles outselling all rivals, and their most ambitious album tracks still have a strong following.