Procol Harum

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Procol Harum is a British progressive rock band, formed in the 1960s. They are best known for their #1 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", though they have had a devoted cult following throughout their career.

Some of the roots of Procol Harum are in a live band led by Gary Brooker and Robin Trower called The Paramounts, popular performers in the early 1960s. They signed to Parlophone in 1963 (see 1963 in music) and released "Poison Ivy", a moderate British success in 1964 (see 1964 in music). They were unable to recreate this success, however, and the band fell apart in 1966 (see 1966 in music).

In early 1967, Brooker began working as a singer/songwriter and formed Procol Harum with non-Paramounts: poet Keith Reid, Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Ray Royer and bassist David Knights. At Olympic Studios, with session drummer (and non-Paramount) Bill Eyden, producer Denny Cordell, and the excellent sound engineer Keith Grant, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale." The song was officially released on May 12, 1967. With the sudden success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin", their label Deram Records became known as the premiere progressive rock label.

With its haunting tonality and Bach flavouring, both provided by Fisher, soulful vocals and mysterious lyrics, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 on the British charts and did almost as well in the United States, reaching #5. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic, placing on several polls of the best songs ever.

Right after "A Whiter Shade of Pale" became a hit, the band set out to leverage their studio success by touring; their live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix in 1967 (see 1967 in music).

The group's follow-up single, "Homburg", with a lineup change of former Paramounts B.J. Wilson on drums and Robin Trower on guitar, was almost as successful in the UK as it reached #6, but the LP Procol Harum, was less successful. A series of singles charted lowly in the US and UK, though rarely both at the same time. A Salty Dog (1969; see 1969 in music) was popular among fans, and was their first album to sell well in the UK; it is still highly regarded as perhaps their finest LP. The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay, with Reid's ominous, alliterative lyrics in the forefront. However, Fisher, who produced this album, departed the band soon after its release.

Procol Harum produced a unique sound that emphasized Brooker's melancholy vocals and an evocative mix of his classically-trained piano, Fisher's elegant, church-like organ, and Trower's searing guitar licks, along with frequent black humour and a penchant for unpredictable experimentation.

The group would have many personnel changes [1], but their "classic" lineup for their first three albums was Gary Brooker (piano and lead vocals), Robin Trower (guitar and lead vocals), Matthew Fisher (organ and lead vocals), David Knights (bass), B.J. Wilson (drums), and Keith Reid (lyricist). Former Paramount Chris Copping joined on organ and bass in 1970, and between 1973 and 1977, the group's guitarist was Mick Grabham, a very worthy successor to Trower.

During the early 1970s, Procol Harum remained more popular than slightly inaccessible progressive rock bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Musically, Procol Harum was split during all these years between Trower's guitar-driven blues rock style (that was often compared to Eric Clapton or Hendrix) and Brooker's structured classical rock sound. The group often combined the two into a brilliantly dynamic fusion, but by 1972 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.

Brooker and Procol returned to success on the music charts in the following years with a distinctly symphonic rock sound, often backed by symphony orchestras. At this they were one of the first groups to achieve success: the album 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. From this, a dynamic performance of "Conquistador" (a song from their first album) was a hit as a single, getting to #16 in the US with considerable additional FM radio airplay, while reaching #22 in the UK.

More personnel problems contributed to declining sales in the later part of the 1970s, with "Pandora's Box" being their final UK top 20 hit in 1975; the band finally broke up in 1977 (see 1977 in music). They reunited for a single performance five months later, due to "A Whiter Shade of Pale" being 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.

The band reformed in 1991 (see 1991 in music) and released The Prodigal Stranger, but sales were modest. A new incarnation of the band, led by Brooker, toured the US and the world for a few years in the first half of the nineties.

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 web site "Beyond the Pale" in October 1997.

The web site made fans aware of each other, and thus catalysed and sparked a new interest in the band. 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.

From 2001 the band 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 London concert with much of the material from that record was released on DVD in 2004: "Live at the Union Chapel".

The band name was chosen by its manager, after the name of a friend's cat which roughly translates from Latin as "Beyond these things". The original spelling of the phrase is sometimes given as "Procul Harum (or Harun)". If this is the case then the band's name is in fact a misspelling and one which has frequently been 'corrected' in articles and catalogues.

The asteroid 14024 Procol Harum is named after the band.

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