The Ultimate

1960’s Music Site

Need a Poster

Procol Harum Sixties Singles

Procol Harum Albums

Book - Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale

Procol Harum: Live at the Union Chapel (DVD)

Procol Harum

Shine on brightly - Procol Harum

Procol Harum - A Salty Dog

Procol Harum (40th anniversary series)

Year

A Side

B Side

1967

A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Lime Street Blues

1967

Homburg

Good Captain Clack

1968

Quite Rightly So

In The Wee Small Hours Of Sixpence

1969

A Salty Dog

Long Gone Geek

Click inside the boxes below for Track Listings, Reviews, Comments and Biographies.

Salvo, in association with Fly Records, have enlisted the assistance of songwriters and band mainstays Gary Brooker and Keith Reid in presenting Procol Harum’s early albums as a part of their meticulously produced 40th Anniversary Series. Procol’s classic recordings are to be collated chronologically for the first time accompanied by copious bonus tracks - including previously unreleased masters - and highly detailed booklets. In 1968, with their reputation in the ascendant, and having just signed to Herb Alpert’s A&M label in the USA, it was decided that the bands second album should be released in the States a good six months before the UK. It proved a good decision - and by the end of 1968, Shine On Brightly had reached No.24 on the US album charts. This would be the album that cemented Procol Harum’s position as one of the most imaginative and forward-looking groups of the era - a band more than capable of emerging from the shadow of their debut single, A Whiter Shade Of Pale. With the success of Shine On Brightly, musical comparisons were being drawn between Procol Harum and The Band. Both groups relied on the same line-up of organ, piano, guitar, bass and drums. And with the release of their own Music From Big Pink in the summer of 1968, The Band were finally being recognised as more than just Bob Dylan s backing group. Some perceptive critics noted the influence of Procol Harum on Big Pink; while Shine On Brightly - a far more assured and confident sounding album than their debut - confirmed how much further Procol themselves had developed. Opening with Quite Rightly So (Procol’s third single), Shine On Brightly displayed a band at the top of their game and determined to stay there. Keith Reid’s lyrics, as inscrutable as ever, were particularly impressive on the title track, Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) , and Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone) . But in hindsight, it was the 17 minute In Held Twas In I which would prove the albums most influential track. Divided into five movements , the song starts with Glimpses Of Nirvana , a wry spiritual quest; continues with the sprightly Twas Teatime At The Circus , which is at direct odds with the sombre In The Autumn Of My Madness , which in turn flows into Look To Your Soul before concluding with the triumphant Grand Finale . In later years Pete Townshend would cite In Held Twas In I as one of the building blocks which helped fashion Tommy; while Brian May maintained that the Procol suite had played a formative role in the Queen sound - indeed, there are distinct echoes of In Held Twas In I in the scene-shifting Bohemian Rhapsody.

Shine on brightly

Shine on Brightly/Procol Harum 2LPs

The sailor leering out at you from the front cover (a parody of the old Players Navy Cut cigarette packet regarded as one of the greatest sleeve designs in rock) signals - even before you hear a note - that there is something different about A Salty Dog. But when you do listen, it becomes clear - from the sweeping title track that opens the album, to the serene Pilgrims Progress which brings it to a conclusion - that A Salty Dog is quite simply Procol’s most rewarding album. In fact, it has long been viewed as their masterpiece; one of the high watermarks of late-60’s rock culture as well as one of finest examples of a rock album co-opting elements of classical music. When the title track was released as Procol’s fourth single during the early summer of 1969, the reviews were ecstatic. NME judged it positively stunning; Disc thought it perfection ; Melody Maker’s Chris Welch raved: Their finest hour... one of the greatest pop singles to emerge in recent years. Grandiose and sweeping, the title track remains one of Procol’s finest recorded moments - and its relative failure as a single, and that of the subsequent album, grows ever-more baffling with the passing years. Besides the epic sweep of the title track, the album also contained the towering Wreck Of The Hesperus and Pilgrims Progress . Breaking away from their familiar piano-organ dialogue, the album also incorporated elements of folk (Too Much Between Us), blues (Juicy John Pink), and even heavy metal (The Devil Came From Kansas). Looking back, at the millenniums turn, The Mojo Collection remembered A Salty Dog as a swirling, Gothic tale, drenched in salt spray... progressive rock at its very best, Procol Harum in excelsis. Certainly, few bands ever proved themselves as audacious in the studio as Procol Harum did with this album, which makes the fact that it only reached Number 27 in the UK album chart even more puzzling. Procol were a major touring attraction across in the USA around the period that the album was recorded, delivering acclaimed concert performances from coast to coast. The six bonus cuts featured on this release include four towering, previously unreleased live recordings that are certain to excite their fans.

A Salty Dog (40th Anniversary series)

A Salty Dog

Their music was a particularly majestic hybrid. Keith Reid’s expansive, highly cinematic lyrics crowned an instantly identifiable sound. Strong R n B influences were integrated with classical themes. Gary Brooker’s lue-eyed soul vocals were accompanied by a hallmark dual keyboard sound (a Steinway grand piano and a Hammond organ), bluesy guitar playing, rock-inspired percussion and melodic bass lines, forming the essence of a uniquely British ensemble. Salvo, in association with Fly Records, have enlisted the assistance of songwriters and band mainstays Gary Brooker and Keith Reid in presenting the Procol Harum’s early albums as a part of their meticulously produced 40th Anniversary Series. Procol’s classic recordings are to be collated chronologically for the first time accompanied by copious bonus tracks - including previously unreleased masters - and generous, highly detailed booklets. A wonderful album that built on the lavish promise of their first two singles, which weren’t originally included, and proved very influential in its own right, Procol Harum’s eponymous long-playing debut is here augmented by the inclusion of the timeless A Whiter Shade of Pale, the follow-up smash Homburg and a variety of rare and previously unreleased cuts selected by Gary Brooker. If any song can be said to encapsulate an era - to immediately conjure up the sights, sounds and smells of a particular time - then A Whiter Shade Of Pale is surely that song. For a whole generation A WHITER SHADE OF PALE remains the emblematic anthem of that Summer of Love. And even now, 40 years on, the song remains a haunting tale of mystery and imagination. Thanks to the extraordinary success of A WHITER SHADE OF PALE, the recording of the album had to be staggered, slotted in between a hectic round of one-nighters all over the UK. And when it hit No.5 in the US during the summer of 1967, transatlantic travel had to be factored in too. After such an interrupted gestation it would not have been at all surprising if the LP had lacked continuity, but in fact Procol Harum is a remarkably cohesive record. The foundations for a whole school of specifically English rock music were laid by A WHITER SHADE OF PALE and by the tracks on this album. Even the albums cover managed to capture the spirit of the times. Drawn in the style of Aubrey Beardsley, the illustration was perfectly in keeping with the faux-Victorian flavour established by Sgt Pepper and here we have used the rare pink Italian version.

Procol Harum (40th anniversary series)

Procol Harum

Procol Harum: Live at the Union Chapel is a record of the final performance of the band's 2003 world tour, taped on December 12 before a small London crowd. The venue was an inspired choice. As a performance space, the Gothic church is at once both intimate and grand, a perfect mirror for the band's odd but cogent mix of bar-band boogie and classically tinged prog rock. The 22-song concert includes eight selections from The Well's on Fire, Procol Harum's 2003 studio album. Most of the newer songs are strong (particularly "The Question" and "An Old English Dream"), and the band, having honed its arrangements to a T, does an exceptional job of blending its recent music with its older material. Singer-pianist Gary Brooker and organist Matthew Fisher, both original members, lead the way through time-honored favourites like "Homburg", "Conquistador" and their immortal 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale".

Procol Harum - Live At The Union Chapel [DVD]

Procol Harum:Live at the Union Chapel

Procol Harum - Beyond The Pale

In May 1967, Procol Harum smashed into the charts all over the world, and into chart history, with a song called "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Combining Gary Brooker's soulful voice, Keith Reid's enigmatic lyrics and Matthew Fisher's sweeping organ, it became one of the enduring anthems of the 1960’s. Before they split in 1977 Procol Harum went on to make some of the best albums of the era, including classics such as "Shine on Brightly" and "A Salty Dog". This book, drawn from years of research by musician and novelist Claes Johansen, is an insightful look at one of Britain's finest ever rock acts.