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Whiter Shade Of Pale

Procol Harum

Listen to Procol Harum:

I suppose that any number of songs could qualify as the theme song to the Summer of Love, but none can lay claim quite as justifiably as Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". With its oh-so-precious lyrics - which are both as floral and opaque as the most self-indulgent excesses of the ‘70s art-rock crowd that it influenced - it was astonishingly original and absolutely perfect for the mid-‘60s mystics who observed life through their rose-tinted lenses. If Johann Sebastian Bach were a mid-twentieth century songwriter from the American south with a predilection for psyche-inducing substances and bad poetry, then "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" is probably what he would have come up with. Luckily for him (and us), he was a seventeenth century European who redefined Western culture by expanding our present-day twelve-tone method of musical notation. Procol Harum can't claim anything quite as heroic, unless of course you think that their influence on the Nice, E.L.P., Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Nektar, Focus and the Electric Light Orchestra has altered the course of musical history. E.L.O. in particular deserves to be singled out for its grueling, obnoxious and simple-minded one-off joke of combining pallid symphonic arrangements with tepid rock-and-roll rhythms. I mention this because the organ riff that gives "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" its hypnotic appeal is based upon Bach's Suite No. 3 in D Major- Air On The G String. As many of the above-mentioned bands have proved time and again, most subsequent rock reworkings of classical themes have met with less than startling results, but in 1967, this song was just that: startling.

The Procol Harum that recorded "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" ceased to exist almost as soon as the song was released. The original group was hastily thrown together by keyboardist Gary Brooker and nonperforming lyricist Keith Reid, who rehearsed and recorded their first composition (“A Whiter Shade of Pale”) and then proceeded to sack some bandmembers. Replacements were hired for live performances and to record their first album. This facelessness combined with some decidedly ludicrous business decisions to thwart the band's career. The only thread of consistency came from the songwriting team of Brooker and Reid. They carried on against the odds until, in 1977, the “group” was abandoned for lack of interest. To be sure, mid-‘70s England, in the full throes of punk rock, was a hostile environment for their high-browed, often pretentious compositions and they appeared as dated as dinosaurs. After a stint as keyboardist for Eric Clapton's band, Brooker once again attempted to revive Procol Harum in 1991 with ex-alumnus Robin Trower, but without the special magic of 1967, the band has stubbornly defied all attempts at rekindling its spirit.