Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Procol Harum
Label: Repertoire Records
Release: 1967
Rating: 4.5/5
The self-titled debut by the legendary prog rock pioneers Procol Harum marks the start of the creative journey of one of the finest and most important bands in the history of rock music. The album is equally responsible for the development of progressive rock, psychedelic rock, classic rock and blues rock, and is still recognized today as the key work of this unforgettable British band, which over its long career put out a good number of excellent albums.
Procol Harum were formed in 1966 and for years led jointly and as equals (in fact, they still are) by vocalist, pianist and occasional wind player Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. The latter prides himself on being the first lyricist in rock history who played no instrument yet was nevertheless an equal and even one of the leading members of the band. A little later Peter Sinfield had the same status in King Crimson, and he learned a lot from Reid. Brooker and Reid were without doubt always the band’s two main pillars, and they wrote every one of its biggest hits.
Their first joint composition, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (which this review will mostly be about), was also their best and most famous, and it pretty much staked out the band’s musical identity. In the band’s early days they also had strong backing from the legendary guitarist Robin Trower and Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, who both left a powerful mark already on the debut.
From a strictly prog rock standpoint, Procol Harum had rather unusual roots, since their musical foundations were built mainly on the blues. Brooker, with his melancholic singing and ‘salon-style’ piano playing, was just as responsible for that as Trower, who was a pure blues guitarist heart and soul. What really made Procol Harum special, and put them among the pioneers of progressive rock in the company of bands like Pink Floyd, The Nice, The Moody Blues, Soft Machine, Family and Traffic, was their dabbling in classical-style arrangements, above all through Fisher’s Hammond organ. Classical music, alongside the blues, was a key factor in shaping the band’s recognizable idiom. It was never easy to pin down, but the best definition might still be baroque rock or symphonic rock
The album has also been released several times under the title “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, which is no surprise, since this majestic evergreen, which always turns up on lists of the best rock songs of all time, defines the whole album in many ways. You could say all the other tracks on the album live in its shadow, as it stands out so strongly in intensity, melody and lyrics that it’s gone down for all eternity as the song through which the world discovered Procol Harum and still knows them best today. At the same time it was one of the key creations in the rise of psychedelic rock and the birth of progressive rock. In many ways it also became an “anthem” of the flower generation.
Reid’s lyrics were quite unusual for the time, stuffed with idyllic and mysterious mysticism that wove brilliantly into the melody and atmosphere of the composition. The tale of 16 vestal virgins waiting for sailors on the shore of some mythological island has become part of prog rock folklore. The central message buried under the mystical metaphors is a lot less romantic, being nothing other than a description of the foreplay before sex between a man and a woman. Reid found his inspiration at a party, where he first heard the phrase ” a whiter shade of pale” from one of the guests while he was chatting up a woman.
Everything about this song reflects the band’s exceptional perfectionism and sense for creating hypnotic melodies, while it also represents one of the first attempts at blending rock and symphonic music into perfect harmony. Brooker’s melancholic vocal is backed by the remarkable warmth the central melody on Fisher’s Hammond organ adds. The Hammond sound was inspired by two classical compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, but contrary to the still-prevailing majority opinion, the song contains no element of copying the legacy of the legendary composer. The irony of all ironies is that the band’s best-known and most beloved hit wasn’t even included on the original British release of the album, and came out only on the American version.
The rest of the tracks on the album don’t reach the breadth and intensity of “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, but every last one of them still deserves attention. Each in its own way offers a wealth of listening pleasures. The spirited “Conquistador” is a bellicose creation with witty drum transitions courtesy of B.J. Wilson, as the drama builds on piano and Hammonds alongside an almost hard-rocking succession of guitar riffs. On the bouncy “She Wandered Through the Garden Fence”, the seeming lightness of the exuberant Hammond melody is a real delight, in great contrast to the inconsolable melancholy of Brooker’s vocal. The latter shines again on “Something Following Me”, a bluesy ballad with plenty of salon piano.
Procol Harum, like the lion’s share of British bands that emerged in the sixties, also cultivated a keen sense of mischievous humor. You can hear it on playful tracks such as “Mabel”, which sounds like a barroom jab at a rude girl, and “Good Captain Clack”, where the band cooks up a veritable pirate cabaret. “Cerdes (Outside The Gates Of)” is an interesting mid-tempo blend of psychedelia and blues rock, accompanied in the lyrics by Reid’s strange mystical visions. The combination of Fisher’s Hammonds and Trower’s brilliant guitar passages shows both great technical chops and a subtle feel for building a tense atmosphere. “A Christmas Camel” is packed with drama via fiery Hammond passages, while Brooker sets the tempo with heart-wrenching singing and piano.
The almost childlike playful “Kaleidoscope” is carried by a branching Hammond melody, while Brooker again impresses with an excellent delivery of Reid’s lyrical flights of fancy. On “Salad Days (Are Here Again)” romance and cheekiness mingle in an unusual way, thanks mostly to the crafty build-up of witty motifs on the Hammond and the subtle piano accompaniment. The closing instrumental “Repent Walpurgis”, with an almost funereal melody on Hammond and piano, accompanied by phenomenal guitar soloing, clearly hints that the symphonic side would play an ever bigger role on the band’s future albums. The symphonic drama and melancholy only intensify toward the end of the track, which means that with this kind of approach Procol Harum had already staked out one of the standard, or at least very common, elements of progressive rock.
On some reissued (CD) editions of the album you can find bonus tracks containing all the band’s singles released in 1967, among which the excellent romantic ballad “Homburg” stands out in particular, with the central melody built by Brooker’s vocal and piano and Fischer’s Hammond, and which, thanks also to its surreal lyrics, is in many ways akin to “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. This classic is among the best and most beloved achievements in the band’s history. Brooker’s songwriting, instrumental and vocal approach on this evergreen was also an important inspiration for such legendary musicians as Peter Gabriel and David Bowie.
The essence of the Procol Harum debut could most easily be boiled down to a single sentence – “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. This pioneering album, carried on the wings of a huge hit, is without doubt one of the best debuts in rock history. On later albums Procol Harum would build on the symphonic rock direction and become one of the most consistent and resilient prog rock bands in terms of quality, capable of tossing off radio hits for a laugh alongside complex, epic compositions. Even before the term progressive rock first came into use with the arrival of the King Crimson debut, Procol Harum had already laid one of the central cornerstones of this wonderful musical genre with their first album and written themselves into the ranks of the main heroes of the musical revolution that swept the second half of the sixties.
Lineup
Gary Brooker – piano and vocals
Keith Reid – lyrics
Robin Trower – guitar
Matthew Fisher – Hammond organ
Dave Knights – bass
B.J. Wilson – drums
Two musicians who played only on “A Whiter Shade of Pale”:
Ray Royer (in place of Trower) – guitar
Bill Eyden (in place of Wilson) – drums
Production
Denny Cordell
Tracklist
1. A Whiter Shade of Pale
2. Conquistador
3. She Wandered Through the Garden Fence
4. Something Following Me
5. Mabel
6. Cerdes (Outside the Gates Of)
7. A Christmas Camel
8. Kaleidoscope
9. Salad Days (Are Here Again)
10. Good Captain Clack
11. Repent Walpurgis
