Procol Harum
Encyclopedia
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock
, and by extension, symphonic rock
. Their best-known recording
is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale
". Although noted for its baroque
and classical
influence, Procol Harum's music also embraces the blues
, R&B
and soul
.
, Essex, The Paramounts
, led by Gary Brooker
and Robin Trower
and including Chris Copping
and B.J. Wilson
, scored a moderate British success in 1964, with their cover version
of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
's "Poison Ivy
", which reached number 35 in the UK Singles Chart
. Unable to generate any follow-up success, the group disbanded in 1966.
(poet), Hammond organ
ist Matthew Fisher
, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights
. Guy Stevens
, their original manager, named the band after a friend's Burmese cat
. The name has been said to be Latin
for "beyond these things", but the correct Latin translation of "beyond these things" is Procul His. Alternatively, the name has been translated as "of these far off things". However, the feminine genitive plural harum means "of these women" (lacking an antecedent, it cannot mean "things"); moreover, procul would not be followed by a genitive in Latin. The name of the band is frequently misspelt; often with Procul, Harem, both, or other variations. The Paramounts were signed to EMI UK for their releases and up until one day prior to Procol Harum inking with EMI UK again, they were called The Pinewoods. A last-minute offer from Chris Blackwell's fledgling Island Records label was given the thumbs down by Brooker and band.
, with session
drummer (and non-Paramount) Bill Eyden
, producer Denny Cordell
, and sound engineer
Keith Grant, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale
" and it was released on 12 May 1967. With a structure reminiscent of Baroque music
, a countermelody
based on J.S. Bach's
Orchestral Suite N° 3 in D Major by Fisher's Hammond organ
, Brooker's soulful vocals and Reid's mysterious lyrics, "A Whiter Shade of Pale
" reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Canadian RPM Magazine
chart. It did almost as well in the United States, reaching #5. In Australia, it was #1 for many weeks, setting a record of 8 weeks in Melbourne.
After "A Whiter Shade of Pale" became a hit, the band set out to consolidate their studio success by touring; their live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix
in 1967.
The group's follow-up single, "Homburg
", with a line-up change of former Paramounts B.J. Wilson
on drums and Robin Trower
on guitar, reached #6 in the UK, and #15 in Canada but was not a hit in the US. The album Procol Harum
was recorded soon between the two hit singles, but was held back until early 1968. A series of singles charted lowly in the US and UK, though rarely both at the same time. A Salty Dog
(1969) was popular among fans, and was their first album to sell well in the UK. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay
. However, one noted US. writer pre-viewed the LP. and the story ran in print as 'A Salty Duck' and Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release.
The group would have many personnel changes, but their line-up for their first three albums was Brooker (piano and lead vocals), Trower (guitar and lead vocals), Fisher (organ
and lead vocals), Knights (bass), Wilson (drums), and Reid (lyricist). Former Paramount Chris Copping
joined on organ and bass in 1970, and from late 1972 until 1977, the group's guitarist was Mick Grabham
. The group appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
.
By 1971 the disparities in style became too great and after the release of their fifth album Broken Barricades
, it saw the departure of Trower to form his own power trio
band and him being replaced by Dave Ball
.
Procol Harum returned to success on the record chart
s in the following years with a symphonic rock sound, often backed by symphony orchestras. At this they were one of the first groups to achieve success; Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
was a #5 gold
album in the US in 1972, as well as reaching #48 in Britain. "Conquistador" (a track from their first album, re-charted for accompaniment by the Edmonton Symphony in 1971) was a hit single
in 1972, getting to #16 in the US and #7 in Canada, whilst reaching #22 in the UK. Their follow-up album, Grand Hotel
, did fairly well, reaching #21 on the US Billboard 200
in 1973.
in London. More personnel changes contributed to declining sales in the later part of the 1970s, with "Pandora's Box" being their final UK Top 20 hit in 1975. Its parent album, Procol's Ninth
saw a reconnection with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who both produced and wrote with the band. The band finally broke up in 1977, after seeing Something Magic
stall at #147 in the US Billboard 200 chart. They reunited for a single performance five months later, when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was named joint winner (along with Queen
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
") of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT Awards
, part of Queen Elizabeth II
's Silver Jubilee
.
, but sales were modest. After the album's release, a new incarnation of the band, with Brooker and Fisher but not Trower, toured the US and the world for a few years in the first half of the 1990s.
In July 1997, fans arranged the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the then inactive band to play a concert at Redhill
. A direct result of the concert was the creation of the fan website 'Beyond the Pale' in October 1997. Unusual for fan websites, 'Beyond the Pale' prides itself on being updated on a daily basis. Typical updates include the latest Procol Harum news, details of concerts from the 1970s and occasionally messages from the band.} The website also made fans aware of each other, and thus catalysed and sparked a new interest in the band. This then led to The Palers' Project, in which the fans got together to record four double CD albums of Procol Harum songs in novel arrangements, which in turn financed the website. The last of these albums was released in 2008.
.
In 2000, Procol Harum received some attention after the song "In Held Twas in I", appeared on Transatlantic's
debut album.
Since 2001 the band, comprising Brooker, Fisher, Geoff Whitehorn
(guitar), Matt Pegg
(bass), and Mark Brzezicki
(drums), has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US. A 2001 concert in Copenhagen was released on DVD in 2002. In 2003, the band released the album The Well's on Fire
. A December 2003 concert in London, with much of the material from that album, was released on DVD in 2004: Live at the Union Chapel. Fisher left Procol Harum in 2004.
The band resumed a limited touring schedule in 2005, with Josh Phillips replacing Fisher on Hammond, leaving Brooker as the only original performing member. In June 2006 they played at the Isle of Wight Festival
. In August 2006 Procol Harum played two outdoor concerts with the Danish Radio Orchestra
at Ledreborg Castle in Denmark
, which were tele-recorded. An hour long edit of the show was broadcast on Christmas morning, 2008 on Danish Channel DR2 and the full concert was issued on DVD on 11 May 2009 (with six extra tracks from a Danish television recording of the band from 1974).
Later in 2006 they played in Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, but with Geoff Dunn
replacing Brzezicki on drums, because the latter's other band Casbah Club
was touring with The Who
. However, Dunn ended up replacing Brzezicki for the band's European tour in 2007. Recording from the Italian concerts were later released as the One Eye to the Future – Live in Italy 2007
album. Procol Harum also played an orchestral concert in Sweden on 30 June. They performed with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra at the outdoor opera venue Dalhalla, near Rättvik
.
On 20 July and 21 July 2007, fans arranged the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the band to play. This took the form of two concerts at St John's, Smith Square in London. 20 July saw Procol Harum play a mixture of songs from their early days through to the début of a couple of new songs, "Sister Mary" and "Missing Persons". The following night 'Gary Brooker and Guests' performed a fixture of obscure songs by Brooker-Reid that had either never been recorded, never been performed live before or were significantly different from the version they recorded. Support act was The Palers' Project in which Procol guitarist Geoff Whitehorn also played.
Although there was no Procol Harum activity in 2008, their manager, Chris Cooke, used the 'Beyond the Pale' web site to announce plans for a live DVD and a new album in 2009, as well as festival concerts in Norway on 17 July and Finland on 23 July. Just before the latter concert, Brooker fell off a pile of road-side logs in Finland and broke several ribs. The show went ahead but he was unable to sing properly, and many of the songs were performed either as instrumental
s or sung by others in the band. In October 2009, with Brooker fully recovered, the band performed four concerts — in Hagen (Germany), Drammen (Norway), Moscow and St Petersburg. All This and More, a four disc retrospective (three CDs and a DVD with historical notes) was released in the autumn of 2009, and Salvo also issued all of the band's previous albums as remastered CDs with extra tracks, some never previously heard.
They played a string of US (and Toronto) concert dates in June 2010, mostly opening for Jethro Tull
. On 22 July Procol again headlined at the Keitelejazz Festival in Äänekoski, Finland – the venue where the band performed with an injured Brooker in 2009. They described this loyal Finnish audience as "the best in the world" and played a unique three-verse version of A Whiter Shade of Pale with a guitar solo from Geoff Whitehorn. 48 hours later Procol were invited to give a free concert at the courtyard of the Palace of the Province of Bergamo in Italy. In August 2010 they appeared in Bad Krozingen
in Germany and a Rock Legends event at the Dolina Charlotty Amphitheater in Poland. After a Halloween gig in Leamington Spa (their first in the UK for 3 years) the band returned to North America in November, including a return orchestral event with The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on 9 November After playing in Tallinn, Estonia on 18 November, they returned to the US for an orchestral concert in Wilmington, Delaware on 4 December. Over 13,000 people saw eight New Year concerts with the Danish Radio Orchestra in Copenhagen and other Danish cities in January 2011. The band returns there for the Kløften Festival on 25 June.
won a British court judgment awarding him 40% of the music royalties from 2005 onwards for 1967's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which had previously gone 50% to Brooker for the music and 50% to Reid for the lyrics.
14024 Procol Harum
is named after the band. The orchid Procol Harum, a hybridisation of Cymbidium Mighty Sensation with Cymbidium Electric Ladyland, is also named after the band.
There are many corruptions of the phrase A Whiter Shade of Pale in the press. These are extensively listed at here.
There is a rose named after A Whiter Shade Of Pale.
The second book in Douglas Adams
's Hitchhiker Trilogy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
, was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel", from Procol Harum's album of the same name
.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, and by extension, symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
. Their best-known recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale
A Whiter Shade of Pale
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well...
". Although noted for its baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
influence, Procol Harum's music also embraces the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
.
Origins
Based in Southend-on-SeaSouthend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
, Essex, The Paramounts
The Paramounts
The Paramounts were an English beat group, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They had one hit single with their cover version of "Poison Ivy", which reached #35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964, but are primarily known as the fore-runner to Procol Harum....
, led by Gary Brooker
Gary Brooker
Gary Brooker, MBE, is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder of the rock band Procol Harum. Brooker was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.-Early life:Brooker was born in...
and Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
and including Chris Copping
Chris Copping
Chris Copping is a musician and singer-songwriter who was a member of Procol Harum in the 1970s, and has also composed for TV and film. He predominantly plays organ, piano and bass guitar....
and B.J. Wilson
B.J. Wilson
Barrie James "B.J." Wilson was an English rock drummer.-Career:Born in Edmonton, London, England, Wilson was the drummer for Procol Harum. He did not play on their first hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale" , but joined the group soon afterwards...
, scored a moderate British success in 1964, with their cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Jerome "Jerry" Leiber and Mike Stoller were American songwriting and record producing partners. Stoller was the composer and Leiber the lyricist. Their most famous songs include "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Kansas City", "Stand By Me" Jerome "Jerry" Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011)...
's "Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy (song)
"Poison Ivy" is a popular song by American songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally recorded by The Coasters in 1959. It went to #1 on the R&B chart and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
", which reached number 35 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Unable to generate any follow-up success, the group disbanded in 1966.
The name
In April 1967, Brooker began working as a singer-songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts Keith ReidKeith Reid
Keith Reid is a songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every Procol Harum song that is not a cover...
(poet), Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
ist Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher is an English organist and singer-songwriter, and was responsible for the organ sound on the 1967 single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.-Biography:...
, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights
David Knights
David Knights was the original bass guitarist in Procol Harum. He played bass on the hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale". He was in the band long enough to play on their first three albums...
. Guy Stevens
Guy Stevens
Guy Stevens worked in a number of different roles in the British music industry including producer and manager. He gave the rock bands Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople their distinctive names....
, their original manager, named the band after a friend's Burmese cat
Burmese (cat)
The Burmese is a breed of domesticated cats split into two subgroups: the American Burmese and the British Burmese . Most modern Burmese are descendants of one female cat called Wong Mau, which was brought from Burma to America in 1930...
. The name has been said to be Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "beyond these things", but the correct Latin translation of "beyond these things" is Procul His. Alternatively, the name has been translated as "of these far off things". However, the feminine genitive plural harum means "of these women" (lacking an antecedent, it cannot mean "things"); moreover, procul would not be followed by a genitive in Latin. The name of the band is frequently misspelt; often with Procul, Harem, both, or other variations. The Paramounts were signed to EMI UK for their releases and up until one day prior to Procol Harum inking with EMI UK again, they were called The Pinewoods. A last-minute offer from Chris Blackwell's fledgling Island Records label was given the thumbs down by Brooker and band.
Early years
At Olympic StudiosOlympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
, with session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
drummer (and non-Paramount) Bill Eyden
Bill Eyden
Bill Eyden was a renowned English jazz drummer....
, producer Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...
, and sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Keith Grant, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale
A Whiter Shade of Pale
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well...
" and it was released on 12 May 1967. With a structure reminiscent of Baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, a countermelody
Counter-melody
In music, counter-melody is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. Typically a counter-melody performs a subordinate role, and is heard in a texture consisting of a melody plus accompaniment...
based on J.S. Bach's
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Orchestral Suite N° 3 in D Major by Fisher's Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, Brooker's soulful vocals and Reid's mysterious lyrics, "A Whiter Shade of Pale
A Whiter Shade of Pale
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well...
" reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Canadian RPM Magazine
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
chart. It did almost as well in the United States, reaching #5. In Australia, it was #1 for many weeks, setting a record of 8 weeks in Melbourne.
After "A Whiter Shade of Pale" became a hit, the band set out to consolidate their studio success by touring; their live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
in 1967.
The group's follow-up single, "Homburg
Homburg (song)
Homburg was Procol Harum's follow-up single to their initial 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Written by pianist Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid, "Homburg" reached number 5 in the UK charts, number 15 in Canada, and number 34 in the United States...
", with a line-up change of former Paramounts B.J. Wilson
B.J. Wilson
Barrie James "B.J." Wilson was an English rock drummer.-Career:Born in Edmonton, London, England, Wilson was the drummer for Procol Harum. He did not play on their first hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale" , but joined the group soon afterwards...
on drums and Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
on guitar, reached #6 in the UK, and #15 in Canada but was not a hit in the US. The album Procol Harum
Procol Harum (album)
Procol Harum is the self-titled first album by British rock band Procol Harum, released in September 1967. The original Deram release of the LP included a large poster of the album cover artwork by Dickinson....
was recorded soon between the two hit singles, but was held back until early 1968. A series of singles charted lowly in the US and UK, though rarely both at the same time. A Salty Dog
A Salty Dog
A Salty Dog is an album by the Rock band Procol Harum, released in June 1969. Having an ostensibly nautical theme, as indicated by its cover , interspersed with straight rock, blues and pop items A Salty Dog showed a slight change of direction from its predecessors, being thematically less obscure...
(1969) was popular among fans, and was their first album to sell well in the UK. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
. However, one noted US. writer pre-viewed the LP. and the story ran in print as 'A Salty Duck' and Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release.
The group would have many personnel changes, but their line-up for their first three albums was Brooker (piano and lead vocals), Trower (guitar and lead vocals), Fisher (organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and lead vocals), Knights (bass), Wilson (drums), and Reid (lyricist). Former Paramount Chris Copping
Chris Copping
Chris Copping is a musician and singer-songwriter who was a member of Procol Harum in the 1970s, and has also composed for TV and film. He predominantly plays organ, piano and bass guitar....
joined on organ and bass in 1970, and from late 1972 until 1977, the group's guitarist was Mick Grabham
Mick Grabham
Mick Grabham played lead guitar for Procol Harum after the departure of Dave Ball, beginning with their album, Grand Hotel through to Something Magic...
. The group appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
Isle of Wight Festival 1970
The 1970 Isle of Wight Festival was held between 26 and 31 August 1970 at East Afton Farm an area on the western side of the Isle of Wight. It was the last of three consecutive music festivals to take place on the island between 1968 and 1970 and widely acknowledged as the largest musical event of...
.
By 1971 the disparities in style became too great and after the release of their fifth album Broken Barricades
Broken Barricades
Broken Barricades, by Procol Harum, was released in 1971. This was Robin Trower's last album with Procol Harum before his solo career.-Track listing:#"Simple Sister" - 5:48#"Broken Barricades" - 3:09#"Memorial Drive" - 3:43#"Luskus Delph" - 3:44...
, it saw the departure of Trower to form his own power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
band and him being replaced by Dave Ball
Dave Ball (musician)
David 'Dave' J Ball is a guitar player who is currently resident of New Zealand but working in various parts of the World....
.
Procol Harum returned to success on the record chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
s in the following years with a symphonic rock sound, often backed by symphony orchestras. At this they were one of the first groups to achieve success; Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, by the UK band Procol Harum, was released in 1972; it was recorded at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 18 November 1971. It is the band's best selling album, certified Gold by the RIAA...
was a #5 gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
album in the US in 1972, as well as reaching #48 in Britain. "Conquistador" (a track from their first album, re-charted for accompaniment by the Edmonton Symphony in 1971) was a hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
in 1972, getting to #16 in the US and #7 in Canada, whilst reaching #22 in the UK. Their follow-up album, Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (album)
Grand Hotel is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1973.-Track listing:#"Grand Hotel" - 6:10#"Toujours l'amour" - 3:31#"A Rum Tale" - 3:20#"TV Caesar" - 5:52#"A Souvenir of London" - 3:23#"Bringing Home the Bacon" - 4:21...
, did fairly well, reaching #21 on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in 1973.
Mid 1970s
In 1975 Procol Harum played the final night at the Rainbow TheatreRainbow Theatre (Finsbury Park)
The Rainbow Theatre is a Grade II*-listed building, in the Finsbury Park area of North London. Built as a cinema in 1930, it later became well known as a music venue and is now a Pentecostal church.-Cinema:...
in London. More personnel changes contributed to declining sales in the later part of the 1970s, with "Pandora's Box" being their final UK Top 20 hit in 1975. Its parent album, Procol's Ninth
Procol's Ninth
Procol's Ninth is the eighth studio album by Procol Harum, that was released in September 1975.- Side one :# Pandora's Box - 3:39# Fool's Gold - 3:59# Taking The Time - 3:39# The Unquiet Zone - 3:39# The Final Thrust - 4:41...
saw a reconnection with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who both produced and wrote with the band. The band finally broke up in 1977, after seeing Something Magic
Something Magic
Something Magic, by Procol Harum, was released in 1977.After this album was released, Copping left the band. Dee Murray replaced him for the North American tour promoting this album.- Side one :#"Something Magic" - 3:37...
stall at #147 in the US Billboard 200 chart. They reunited for a single performance five months later, when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was named joint winner (along with Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
") of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
, part of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
's Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...
.
1990s: reformation
The band reformed in 1991 with Brooker, Fisher, Trower and Reid (Wilson had died in 1990), and released The Prodigal StrangerThe Prodigal Stranger
The Prodigal Stranger is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1991. The album is dedicated to the memory of Barrie James Wilson who had been the drummer on all of the group's previous albums....
, but sales were modest. After the album's release, a new incarnation of the band, with Brooker and Fisher but not Trower, toured the US and the world for a few years in the first half of the 1990s.
In July 1997, fans arranged the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the then inactive band to play a concert at Redhill
Redhill
Redhill can refer to:* Redhill, South Australia, Australia* Redhill, Nottinghamshire, England* Redhill, Shropshire, England* Redhill, Somerset, England* Redhill, Surrey, England**Redhill railway station**Redhill Aerodrome* Redhill, Singapore, Singapore...
. A direct result of the concert was the creation of the fan website 'Beyond the Pale' in October 1997. Unusual for fan websites, 'Beyond the Pale' prides itself on being updated on a daily basis. Typical updates include the latest Procol Harum news, details of concerts from the 1970s and occasionally messages from the band.} The website also made fans aware of each other, and thus catalysed and sparked a new interest in the band. This then led to The Palers' Project, in which the fans got together to record four double CD albums of Procol Harum songs in novel arrangements, which in turn financed the website. The last of these albums was released in 2008.
2000 and beyond
In late 1999, Brooker promised that "Procol will play in 2000", and in September the band played an open air gig with the New London Sinfonia in GuildfordGuildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
.
In 2000, Procol Harum received some attention after the song "In Held Twas in I", appeared on Transatlantic's
Transatlantic (band)
Transatlantic is a progressive rock supergroup consisting of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, Pete Trewavas of Marillion, Mike Portnoy formerly of Dream Theater and Neal Morse formerly of Spock's Beard. They formed in 1999 as a side project to their full time bands until 2002...
debut album.
Since 2001 the band, comprising Brooker, Fisher, Geoff Whitehorn
Geoff Whitehorn
Geoffrey Charles 'Geoff' Whitehorn is a guitarist and singer-songwriter, who has played as a member of If, Crawler and Procol Harum.- History :...
(guitar), Matt Pegg
Matt Pegg
Matt Pegg is an English musician and bass guitarist.Pegg is the son of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull bass guitar player Dave Pegg. He is an experienced bass guitarist in his own right and has been known to stand in for his father on Jethro Tull tours...
(bass), and Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
(drums), has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US. A 2001 concert in Copenhagen was released on DVD in 2002. In 2003, the band released the album The Well's on Fire
The Well's on Fire
The Wells on Fire, by Procol Harum, was released in 2003. This was Matthew Fisher's last studio album with Procol Harum. Fisher's last live release with the band was Procol Harum Live at the Union Chapel DVD and CD package, recorded in December 2003 and including many of the songs from the studio...
. A December 2003 concert in London, with much of the material from that album, was released on DVD in 2004: Live at the Union Chapel. Fisher left Procol Harum in 2004.
The band resumed a limited touring schedule in 2005, with Josh Phillips replacing Fisher on Hammond, leaving Brooker as the only original performing member. In June 2006 they played at the Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival 2006
The Isle of Wight Festival 2006 was the fifth revived Isle of Wight Festival on the Seaclose Park site in Newport on the Isle of Wight. It took place between 9 and 11 June 2006. The attendance was around 55,000 and the event was dubbed the biggest festival in England, because Glastonbury was on its...
. In August 2006 Procol Harum played two outdoor concerts with the Danish Radio Orchestra
Danish National Chamber Orchestra
The Danish National Chamber Orchestra is a small symphony orchestra consisting of 42 players...
at Ledreborg Castle in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, which were tele-recorded. An hour long edit of the show was broadcast on Christmas morning, 2008 on Danish Channel DR2 and the full concert was issued on DVD on 11 May 2009 (with six extra tracks from a Danish television recording of the band from 1974).
Later in 2006 they played in Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, but with Geoff Dunn
Geoff Dunn
Geoff Dunn has since 2002 until 2007 been the drummer with the rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Prior to joining the Earth Band, his long list of credits includes a stint playing and recording with Van Morrison, featuring on the albums Too Long In Exile, A Night in San Francisco, Days Like...
replacing Brzezicki on drums, because the latter's other band Casbah Club
Casbah Club
Casbah Club is a mod rock band formed in 2004, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Simon Townshend , bassist Bruce Foxton , drummer Mark Brzezicki , and rhythm guitarist Bruce Watson...
was touring with The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. However, Dunn ended up replacing Brzezicki for the band's European tour in 2007. Recording from the Italian concerts were later released as the One Eye to the Future – Live in Italy 2007
One Eye to the Future – Live in Italy 2007
One Eye to the Future, by Procol Harum, is a live album released Hallowe'en 2008. It was recorded in Turin and Schio during the group's 40th anniversary tour, and contains two previously-unreleased songs...
album. Procol Harum also played an orchestral concert in Sweden on 30 June. They performed with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra at the outdoor opera venue Dalhalla, near Rättvik
Rättvik
Rättvik is a locality and the seat of Rättvik Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 4,588 inhabitants in 2005. It's bandy club IFK Rättvik wants to reach the highest division Elitserien and has built an indoor arena.- References :...
.
On 20 July and 21 July 2007, fans arranged the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the band to play. This took the form of two concerts at St John's, Smith Square in London. 20 July saw Procol Harum play a mixture of songs from their early days through to the début of a couple of new songs, "Sister Mary" and "Missing Persons". The following night 'Gary Brooker and Guests' performed a fixture of obscure songs by Brooker-Reid that had either never been recorded, never been performed live before or were significantly different from the version they recorded. Support act was The Palers' Project in which Procol guitarist Geoff Whitehorn also played.
Although there was no Procol Harum activity in 2008, their manager, Chris Cooke, used the 'Beyond the Pale' web site to announce plans for a live DVD and a new album in 2009, as well as festival concerts in Norway on 17 July and Finland on 23 July. Just before the latter concert, Brooker fell off a pile of road-side logs in Finland and broke several ribs. The show went ahead but he was unable to sing properly, and many of the songs were performed either as instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
s or sung by others in the band. In October 2009, with Brooker fully recovered, the band performed four concerts — in Hagen (Germany), Drammen (Norway), Moscow and St Petersburg. All This and More, a four disc retrospective (three CDs and a DVD with historical notes) was released in the autumn of 2009, and Salvo also issued all of the band's previous albums as remastered CDs with extra tracks, some never previously heard.
They played a string of US (and Toronto) concert dates in June 2010, mostly opening for Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
. On 22 July Procol again headlined at the Keitelejazz Festival in Äänekoski, Finland – the venue where the band performed with an injured Brooker in 2009. They described this loyal Finnish audience as "the best in the world" and played a unique three-verse version of A Whiter Shade of Pale with a guitar solo from Geoff Whitehorn. 48 hours later Procol were invited to give a free concert at the courtyard of the Palace of the Province of Bergamo in Italy. In August 2010 they appeared in Bad Krozingen
Bad Krozingen
Bad Krozingen is a spa town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 15 km southwest of Freiburg....
in Germany and a Rock Legends event at the Dolina Charlotty Amphitheater in Poland. After a Halloween gig in Leamington Spa (their first in the UK for 3 years) the band returned to North America in November, including a return orchestral event with The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on 9 November After playing in Tallinn, Estonia on 18 November, they returned to the US for an orchestral concert in Wilmington, Delaware on 4 December. Over 13,000 people saw eight New Year concerts with the Danish Radio Orchestra in Copenhagen and other Danish cities in January 2011. The band returns there for the Kløften Festival on 25 June.
Authorship lawsuit
In July 2009, Matthew FisherMatthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher is an English organist and singer-songwriter, and was responsible for the organ sound on the 1967 single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.-Biography:...
won a British court judgment awarding him 40% of the music royalties from 2005 onwards for 1967's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which had previously gone 50% to Brooker for the music and 50% to Reid for the lyrics.
Influences in popular culture
The band's unusual name has inspired references in modern popular culture. The asteroidAsteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
14024 Procol Harum
14024 Procol Harum
14024 Procol Harum is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 9, 1994 by P. Sicoli and P. Ghezzi at Sormano. It is named after the British rock band Procol Harum.- External links :...
is named after the band. The orchid Procol Harum, a hybridisation of Cymbidium Mighty Sensation with Cymbidium Electric Ladyland, is also named after the band.
There are many corruptions of the phrase A Whiter Shade of Pale in the press. These are extensively listed at here.
There is a rose named after A Whiter Shade Of Pale.
The second book in Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
's Hitchhiker Trilogy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction trilogy of five by Douglas Adams. It was originally published by Pan Books as a paperback. The book was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel" by British rock band Procol Harum...
, was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel", from Procol Harum's album of the same name
Grand Hotel (album)
Grand Hotel is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1973.-Track listing:#"Grand Hotel" - 6:10#"Toujours l'amour" - 3:31#"A Rum Tale" - 3:20#"TV Caesar" - 5:52#"A Souvenir of London" - 3:23#"Bringing Home the Bacon" - 4:21...
.
Discography
Studio albums- Procol HarumProcol Harum (album)Procol Harum is the self-titled first album by British rock band Procol Harum, released in September 1967. The original Deram release of the LP included a large poster of the album cover artwork by Dickinson....
(1967) - Shine on BrightlyShine on BrightlyShine on Brightly, by the UK band Procol Harum, was released in 1968 and consolidated the success of their debut album; it was influential in the development of progressive rock by breaking all pop and rock music standards with the 17-minute epic "In Held Twas in I", which marked the beginning of...
(1968) - A Salty DogA Salty DogA Salty Dog is an album by the Rock band Procol Harum, released in June 1969. Having an ostensibly nautical theme, as indicated by its cover , interspersed with straight rock, blues and pop items A Salty Dog showed a slight change of direction from its predecessors, being thematically less obscure...
(1969) - Home (1970)
- Broken BarricadesBroken BarricadesBroken Barricades, by Procol Harum, was released in 1971. This was Robin Trower's last album with Procol Harum before his solo career.-Track listing:#"Simple Sister" - 5:48#"Broken Barricades" - 3:09#"Memorial Drive" - 3:43#"Luskus Delph" - 3:44...
(1971) - Grand HotelGrand Hotel (album)Grand Hotel is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1973.-Track listing:#"Grand Hotel" - 6:10#"Toujours l'amour" - 3:31#"A Rum Tale" - 3:20#"TV Caesar" - 5:52#"A Souvenir of London" - 3:23#"Bringing Home the Bacon" - 4:21...
(1973) - Exotic Birds and FruitExotic Birds and FruitExotic Birds and Fruit is the seventh full-length studio album by British progressive rock band Procol Harum. It was released in 1974. Of special note is the release of the album in Argentina, calling the album "Pájaros Y Frutas Exóticas"...
(1974) - Procol's NinthProcol's NinthProcol's Ninth is the eighth studio album by Procol Harum, that was released in September 1975.- Side one :# Pandora's Box - 3:39# Fool's Gold - 3:59# Taking The Time - 3:39# The Unquiet Zone - 3:39# The Final Thrust - 4:41...
(1975) - Something MagicSomething MagicSomething Magic, by Procol Harum, was released in 1977.After this album was released, Copping left the band. Dee Murray replaced him for the North American tour promoting this album.- Side one :#"Something Magic" - 3:37...
(1977) - The Prodigal StrangerThe Prodigal StrangerThe Prodigal Stranger is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1991. The album is dedicated to the memory of Barrie James Wilson who had been the drummer on all of the group's previous albums....
(1991) - The Long GoodbyeThe Long Goodbye (Procol Harum album)The Long Goodbye was released in 1995. Strictly speaking, this is not a Procol Harum album; it was produced by Gary Brooker with various guest musicians many of whom are or were members of Procol Harum...
(1995) - Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About (1997; as Liquorice John Death)
- The Well's on FireThe Well's on FireThe Wells on Fire, by Procol Harum, was released in 2003. This was Matthew Fisher's last studio album with Procol Harum. Fisher's last live release with the band was Procol Harum Live at the Union Chapel DVD and CD package, recorded in December 2003 and including many of the songs from the studio...
(2003)
External links
- ClassicBands.com – 'Procol Harum'
- ProcolHarum.com – 'Beyond the Pale' (Procol Harum's semi-official website)
- Procol Harum on A&M Records – Bruce Eder's history of the band
- TrowerPower.com – Robin Trower's official site
- MatthewFisher.com – Matthew Fisher's Homepage