Salad Days Are Here Again Procol Harum

The earliest lineup, 1967

Formed in 1967, the sophisticated and forward-looking British ring Procol Harum had its origins in a very different outfit, the Paramounts. Forth with pianist/singer Gary Brooker, guitarist Robin Trower, multi-instrumentalist Chris Copping and drummer B.J. Wilson were part of a grouping that focused on American-style rhythm and blues. The band scored a UK Top 40 single with Leiber and Stoller'southward "Poison Ivy," a tune previously covered by countrymen the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones and the Hollies, among others.

After the Paramounts failed to follow that tape up with another hit, the group disbanded. Brooker connected writing on his ain, and afterwards linked upwardly with organist Matthew Fisher, not-performing poet/lyricist Keith Reid and others. Calling the new group Procol Harum, that early lineup recorded and released 1967'southward "A Whiter Shade of Pale," a smash hit that today remains the ring'southward most well-known vocal. Afterwards opening for Jimi Hendrix in London in that same year, the ring organized a bout.

Over the coming months, the ring's lineup would change significantly, with erstwhile Paramounts Trower, Copping and Wilson eventually joining Procol Harum. The group sustained disquisitional and commercial success with its adjacent several albums, though the lineup would keep to change. Past the fourth dimension Procol Harum broke up in 1977, five lead guitarists had passed through its ranks (Trower left in 1971 for a successful solo career).

The band's sound had always been a mixture of the members' r&b influences, a progressive – merely not overly fussy – musical bent (aided and abetted by the presence of non one but 2 keyboard players), and Reid's ofttimes impressionistic lyrical work. Those qualities had largely fallen out of favor with the record-buying public past 1977, and then the members went their separate ways.

But subsequently some 14 years without Procol Harum, Brooker relaunched the ring in 1991, and has continued unabated to present day. Almost every original member has returned at least one time to play with the modern-day group (even Trower returned briefly in 1991), and the current lineup has been together since 2007, with three members (Brooker, guitarist Geoff Whitehorn and bassist Matt Pegg) on board since the early '90s.

Different most other "legacy" bands who started in the 1960s, today Procol Harum continues as a artistic force rather than a traveling oldies jukebox. After a xiv-yr break from releasing new material, the band made a highly-regarded 2022 album, Novum. Avoiding the temptation to rest on past glories, with Novum the band has created a work that stands up the the group's 1970s-era releases. And a new box set, All the same There'll Be More is a comprehensive survey of Procol Harum'southward work from 1967 to today, with three CDs worth of music from the band's dozen studio album, ii CDs giving official release to long-bootlegged live recordings, and 3 DVDs worth of concert and archival video dating all the way back to the beginnings of the ring.

Procol Harum's current tour—built around City Winery venues in cities across the U.S.—commences in February with an opening date in Atlanta. Ahead of the tour, Gary Brooker spoke with me about the band's past, present and future.

Afterward the Paramounts, when you lot started working with Keith Reid, did yous have in listen a specific style or musical approach that you were seeking to explore?

I think that in the years before that, I'd absorbed lots of different styles of music. I liked everything, really—from classical to Hawaiian, blues, R&B, rock and ringlet—and I just thought I'd attempt and write songs of my ain, which is what came out.

The Scopitone video jukeboxes of the 1960s predominantly featured adequately lightweight French pop acts; there are very few of what most people would call rock music Scopitones. Procol Harum'southward promo film for "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was a notable exception. Do you have any recollection at all of making that film?

The starting time LP

Well, yeah, I practice. I have seen it, and I tin retrieve making it. Merely the reason that it fits into that French genre is because information technology was a number one single in French republic. I don't think even the Beatles were often number one in France! The French really took to information technology, and it was number 1 in France before it was number one in the UK. And so the Scopitone people would have wanted it on their jukeboxes, certainly.

Some critics label Procol Harum—or at least some of the band'due south piece of work—as progressive stone. Do you call up that that term applies?

Well, I merely won an award, my friend, for a pregnant contribution to progressive stone or progressive music! Simply of course, when Procol Harum started, the genre didn't even exist. We pre-dated the terms progressive music and progressive rock past a couple of years, at least. I think that Procol— certainly our attempts at early things through Smooth On Brightly and A Salty Dog and even the Edmonton Symphony alive album—were trying to progress things in the sense that we were trying to explore new avenues that a rock group could go down. Long pieces like "In Held 'Twas in I" had us playing with a symphony orchestra.

When bands have a keyboard player equally one of the focal points, it can be a little more difficult to put across visual energy, unless one uses a keytar or does gymnastics like Elton John did in the 70s or wears a glittery cape like Rick Wakeman did (and still does). It's pretty much a case of a guy sitting at a keyboard, and Procol Harum has traditionally had ii of those. Looking dorsum to the early days of the grouping, was the visual aspect of the ring something that you idea much about?

An early lineup

No, it didn't really figure. No concern at all, in fact. I think that in 1967, we'd had enough. Nosotros'd seen plenty of the three bouncing front end men grin going "ooh." It was very lightweight, and we were a fleck more serious about things. I was actually the singer as well. Then, I'm at the keyboard, and singing, and not doing especially much … non doing what Piddling Richard did or fifty-fifty what Jerry Lee Lewis did. It was trying to make people listen and to affect the people that were listening. To get up to the stagecraft of existence a madman or something was not actually office of my [approach]. It isn't today, too. I still play and sing the songs.

You've done a significant amount of work outside the band, both when the group was inactive and even during times when Procol Harum was together. Practice endeavors like playing with Bill Wyman'due south ring or Ringo'southward group fulfill you creatively in ways that Procol Harum does non?

Yep, they do. For a showtime, in those bands the onus of entertainment or the onus of presenting it is not e'er on my shoulders. It is when information technology'south my turn, but it'south not there for two hours or for however long the ring plays. When I was with Eric Clapton's band as well, it was the same thing. I used to sing a couple and take the reins, but generally, I could, if y'all like, relax and be the pianoforte player. And that'south quite a relief sometimes!

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Source: http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2019/04/16/procol-harums-salad-days-are-here-again-part-1-of-2/

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