Procol Harum

Procol Harum is a British rock band, formed in the 1960s. They are best known for their 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which is not only a regular item on classic singles polls, but is also regarded as being a seminal track in the development of pop music and particularly progressive rock music. Based in Southend, England, The Paramounts, led by Gary Brooker and Robin Trower and including Chris Copping, scored a moderate British success with a cover of The Coasters song "Poison Ivy" in 1964, reaching number 35 in the UK singles chart.They were unable to recreate this, however, and the band fell apart in 1966.

In April 1967, Brooker began working as a singer/songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts Keith Reid (poet), Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights. The band name was chosen by its original manager Guy Stevens after a friend's Burmese cat.

At Olympic Studios, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale." The song was officially released on May 12, 1967. With the sudden success of this single and The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin", their label Deram Records became known as a premier progressive rock label. With its Bach-like tonality, provided by Fisher's Hammond organ, Brooker's soulful vocals and Reid's mysterious, if not impenetrable, lyrics, the song reached #1 on the British charts and reached #5 in the U.S. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic, placing on several polls of the best songs ever.

With the song's success the band consolidated their studio success by touring; their live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix in 1967. A Salty Dog (1969) was their first album to sell well in the UK; it is still regarded as one of their finest albums. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay, with Reid's ominous lyrics in the forefront. However, Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release. This would lead to many personnel changes with former Paramount Chris Copping joining on organ and bass in 1970, and from late 1972 till 1977, the group's guitarist was Mick Grabham, who replaced Trower.

Musically, Procol Harum was split during all these years between Trower's guitar-driven blues rock style and Brooker's and Fisher's structured classical rock sound. The group often combined the two into a dynamic fusion, but by 1971 the disparities in style became too great; the end of an era was marked for Procol, with the release of their fifth album Broken Barricades, and subsequent departure of Trower to form his own power trio band; he would be replaced by Dave Ball.

The band reformed in 1991 with Brooker, Fisher, Trower and Reid (Wilson had died in 1990), and released The Prodigal Stranger, but sales were modest. In July 1997, fans arranged the celebration of the 30-year anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the then-inactive band to play. The concert, at Redhill, drew fans from all over the world. A direct result of the concert was the creation of the fan website "Beyond the Pale" in October 1997. In late 1999, Gary Brooker promised that "Procol will play in 2000", and in September the band played an open-air gig with the New London Sinfonia in Guildford, UK.

Since 2001 the band [Brooker; Fisher; Geoff Whitehorn (also guitarist with Elkie Brooks), guitar; Matt Pegg, bass, 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 London concert with much of the material from that record was released on DVD in 2004: Live at the Union Chapel. Fisher quit Procol Harum in 2004.

The band still tours, with Josh Phillips replacing Fisher on Hammond, leaving Gary Brooker as the only original performing member. In June 2006 they played at the Isle of Wight festival, the only act also to have played the original festival in 1969. In July of 2007, fans arranged the celebration of the 40-year anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and invited the band to play in two concerts at St John's, Smith Square in London. Find out more at: www.classicbands.com/procol.harum

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org


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