Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale"

Welcome to the One Hit Wonders Series on Rock and Roll Flashback!  In 2018 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new Singles category.  Two of the six songs inducted that year were "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Rumble".  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will discuss Procol Harum's influential 1967 hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale"!  I reviewed the song "Rumble" in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode #134.

Besides the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale", Procol Harum would have a few more modest hits.  However, nothing would compare to the lasting influence of "A Whiter Shade of Pale".  Who was Procol Harum, and why the fuss about their hit song? 

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Welcome to the One Hit Wonders Series on Rock and Roll Flashback!  In 2018 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new Singles category.  Two of the six songs inducted that year were "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Rumble".  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will discuss Procol Harum's influential 1967 hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale"!  I reviewed the song "Rumble" in Rock and Roll Flashback podcast episode #134.

Besides the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale", Procol Harum would have a few more modest hits.  However, nothing would compare to the lasting influence of "A Whiter Shade of Pale".  Who was Procol Harum, and why the fuss about their hit song?  

Gary Brooker, Robin Trower, and B.J. Wilson came together in the early 1960's to form a British beat group called The Paramounts.  After The Paramounts demise, Gary Brooker formed a new version of the group, adding Keith Reid to help write some esoteric song lyrics in the new Psychedelic Rock vein.  The new band lineup was initially going to call themselves the Pinewoods.  However, British promoter Guy Stevens called Gary Brooker on the phone with a new name suggestion.  The suggested name came from a friend of Stevens whose cat pedigree name was Procul Harun (spelled H-A-R-U-N).  Brooker misheard him, and the band became Procul Harum  (spelled H-A-R-U-M).  The new band's line up in April 1967 was made up of singer and keyboardist Gary Brooker, non-performing lyricist Keith Reid, organist Matthew Fisher, bassist David Knights, and guitarist Ray Royer.  Drummer Bobby Harrison had not yet joined the band.  

At a party in early 1967 Keith Reid got the title and starting point for a new song.  He overheard someone at the party saying to a woman, "You've turned a whiter shade of pale", and the phrase stuck in his mind.  His original lyrics had four verses, but only two are heard on the original recording.  The third verse would be heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom the fourth verse.  Reid was quoted in the February 2008 issue of Uncut magazine as saying [and I quote] "I was trying to conjure a mood as much as tell a straightforward, girl-leaves-boy story.  With the ceiling flying away and room humming harder, I wanted to paint an image of a scene.  I wasn't trying to be mysterious with those images, I was trying to be evocative. I suppose it seems like a decadent scene I'm describing.  But I was too young to have experienced any decadence, then.  I might have been smoking when I conceived it, but not when I wrote.  It was influenced by books, not drugs" [end quote].

The structure and theme of the resulting song was unusual for 1967 pop tunes.  While the recorded version is just over four minutes long, it is composed of only two verses, each with chorus.  The piece is also more instrument-driven than most songs of the period, and with a much looser rhyme scheme.  Its unusually allusive and referential lyrics are much more complex than most lyrics of the time.  While the chorus alludes to Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale",  lyricist Keith Reid later admitted that he had never read "The Miller's Tale".

The melody of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" features a strong similarity between its Hammond M102 Organ line and Johann Sebastian Bach's "Air on the G String".  In both cases, the sustained opening note of the main melodic line develops into a free-flowing melody against a descending bass line.  In classical music this is known as a ground bass.  The harmonic structure of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is identical for the organ melody, the verse, and the chorus, except that the chorus finishes with a cadence.  

Thus, with its Bach-derived instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics, the music of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was composed by Gary Brooker and Matthew Fisher, while the lyrics were written by Keith Reid.  Originally, the writing credits only listed Brooker and Reid.  However, after years of legal battles, in 2009 Matthew Fisher finally won co-writing credit for the music in a unanimous court ruling.

Procol Harum recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in April 1967 at Olympic Sound Studios in London, England, with Denny Cordell producing.  Because they did not have a regular drummer, the drums were played by session musician Bill Eyden. The track was completed in two takes, with no subsequent overdubbing.  A few days after the session, the band re-recorded the song with their newly recruited drummer, Bobby Harrison, at Advision Studios.  The newer version was discarded, and one of the original mono recordings was chosen as the A-side for release as the band's debut single.  The single's B-side was "Lime Street Blues".

The single was released on May 12th, 1967 in the United Kingdom by Deram Records.  It entered the UK chart on May 25th.  In an amazing two weeks "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 in the UK on June 8th, where it stayed for six weeks.  In the US it reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1 million copies.  By July the song was the number one selling song in the world.  In December 1967, New Musical Express readers voted the song "Best British Disc This Year". 

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" would continue to receive critical acclaim.  The song ultimately became one of the most commercially successful singles in history, with sales of over 10 million copies worldwide.  In the years since its release, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has become an enduring classic, with more than 1,000 known cover versions by other artists.  The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films and television shows.  In 1977, the song was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody") of "The Best British Pop Single 1952–1977" at the Brit Awards.  In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.  In 2004, the performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited recognized it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.  Also in 2004, it appeared at #57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".  British TV Channel 4 placed the song at #19 in its chart of "The 100 Greatest No. 1 Singles".  In 2009, it was reported as the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, in 2018 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted "A Whiter Shade of Pale" into the new Singles category.

Along with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, music historians have credited "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with kick starting the 'Summer of Love' in Britain.  It hit #1 on the UK singles chart on the same day that Sgt. Pepper topped the British national albums chart.  By melding thoughtful lyrics, electric guitar, powerful vocals and drums, and a complex classical organ melody and arrangement, the song seemed to define a new genre of 'Classical Rock'.  The song greatly impressed numerous other contemporary musicians, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Billy Joel to name a few.  In a recent podcast interview Rick Beato asked Peter Frampton what his favorite ballad was.  Peter Frampton replied [and I quote] ""A Whiter Shade of Pale".  It's a perfect song, I don't know what it is about that song, but it's just perfect" [end quote].  

Procol Harum's subsequent singles were compared to their early success, but hopes for more million-sellers only led to frustration.  "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was such a huge hit in 1967 that it burdened the band with a legend they couldn't live up to.  A follow-up single in September 1967 called "Homburg" did reach #6 in the UK, but stalled at #34 in the US. Their only other single to enter the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 was "Conquistador", which peaked at #16 on July 29th, 1972, exactly five years to the date after "A Whiter Shade of Pale" had peaked at #5 in the US chart.  Nevertheless, Procol Harum attracted a devoted following.  They would release 10 albums before breaking up in 1977.  Various incarnations of the band would continue into the 21st Century.  Gary Brooker, the only constant member of the band and the main songwriter, died on February 19th, 2022.  After Brooker's death, Procol Harum disbanded for good.

Thank you for listening to another episode in the One Hit Wonders Series on Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John McDermott, and at the end of this episode I will play Procul Harum's classic hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale"!  And until next time...Rock On!