6/30/2023 0 Comments Procol harum whiter shade of pale![]() ![]() However the real gift of Procol lays in the guitar and the drumming. Procol Harum is one of those groups that should really be considered pioneers of prog as they were the first one to have this double KB attack as Brooker sang and played piano and Fisher played the Hammond organ in such a fabulous manner that it is the principal reason for the success of Whither Shade Of Pale with this awesome intro. One of Procol Harum's most ionnovative trend is a lyricist (Keith Reid), some two years before Crimson's Pete Sinfield, and even before Pete Brown (Jack Bruce's lyricist in Cream), and his incredibly poetic text will be over-analysed for years to come, but they were one of the most important strength of Procol's better tracks. The original UK vinyl did not have the heavily Bach-influenced Whiter Shade Of Pale on it but the US release (four months previously) does and quite rightly so. One of those obligatory passages from sixties pop to seventies rock, along with Caravan's debut, Soft Machine's first two albums and the Nice's debut. This is another one of those seminal proto-prog albums that is so instrumental to prog and music in general. Plus", remastered, for the 1st time from the original production mastertape, includes 10 bonus tracks LP Deram - DES 18008 (1967, USA) Stereo, different track listĬD Cube Records - 25CP-11 (1988, Japan) Entitled "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", Mono audioĬD Cube Records - F-80.1667 (1989, Spain) Entitled "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"ĬD Westside - WESM 527 (1998, UK) Entitled "1st Album. LP Regal Zonophone - LRZ 1001 (1967, UK) Mono audio Bobby Harrison / drums (13-16,18) Releases information Barrie James Wilson / drums & percussion Shine On Brightly ('67 alternate version)Īll tracks Mono except * Stereo Line-up / Musicians Quite Rightly So ('67 undubbed version) *Ģ0. ![]() Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) (original version)ġ9. Something Following Me (earlier alternate version)ġ8. Salad Days Are Here Again (earlier alternate version) *ġ7. A Whiter Shade of Pale (original single version)ġ4. She Wandered Through the Garden Fence (3:18)ġ1. She Wandered Through the Garden Fence (3:24)Ģ. If you spend too much time trying to figure out Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale,” you might miss out on its majestically-rendered sorrow.2. Even when you can’t quite understand their meaning, Reid, who was clearly influenced by Dylan’s surreal story songs from the mid-60’s, writes lines that leave a lasting impact, right from the immortal opener: “We skipped the light fandango.”Īttempts to wrangle these lyrics into linear coherence are thwarted at every turn, in part by red herrings (Reid claimed that the line “As the miller told his tale” has nothing to do with Chaucer) and by the demands of pop radio (Two extra verses were excised to keep the running time low.) Don’t let it bother you. Yet the song defies a specific interpretation, instead conjuring various shades of melancholy which are embellished by the mournful music and Brooker’s pained delivery. The general consensus is that “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” is a snapshot of a drunken sexual escapade gone awry. With the ceiling flying away and room humming harder, I wanted to paint an image of a scene.” I was trying to conjure a mood as much as tell a straightforward, girl-leaves-boy story. “It’s like a jigsaw where you’ve got one piece, then you make up all the others to fit in. “I had the phrase ‘a whiter shade of pale,’ that was the start, and I knew it was a song,” he said. ![]() ![]() In an interview with Uncut magazine, Reid shed a little light on the song’s origin and meaning. ![]()
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