Procol Harum
A Whiter Shade of Pale

THE REVIEW

Among the many artistic rivals that the Beatles saw multiplying at breakneck speed as the end of the sixties approached, Procol Harum seemed at one point among the most fierce and reputable, thanks to an initial series of outstanding singles, released quickly one after another as was the custom then, starting with the one in question that made a sensational debut and remained, though worn by time, an acclaimed evergreen of pop music.

However, when their albums also started to come out, they contained many fillers, various episodes that were poorly crafted and inspired. And despite some progressive improvement, with record releases of increasingly average quality, at that point, they almost lacked memorable individual songs, masterpieces, production peaks, with the result that the Procol Harum brand quickly lost charisma and consideration, increasingly retreating to the pop and rock backup positions, compromising too much the historical memory of this group.

The magic of this song is founded on the mix between the heartfelt rhythm & blues-styled vocals of pianist and frontman Gary Brooker and the absolutely dominant counter-theme, played at full volume on the Hammond organ as no one had ever done before in a hit track, to the credit of organist Matthew Fisher. The aforementioned musician, gently inspired by Bach's so-called “Air on the G String,” almost entirely transplants the descending bass movement (what a bassist Bach! One of the best…) and then manages to derive a melodic variation of almost equal beauty, less charming and mysterious but more glorious and extroverted.

There is no doubt that the appeal and commercial success of this song owe more to the organ motif content (and the excellent corresponding tone, rendered predominantly by the mixing) than the singing melody, not to mention the abstruse and insignificant lyrics, but they were psychedelic times… even the title is no joke: “A Whiter Shade of Pale”! Yet Fisher had to fight legally for many years before he managed to have 50% of the royalties for this track recognized, for long years the sole province of his colleague Brooker who had written the vocal part, harmony, melody, and lyrics.

On the cover, psychedelic almost as much as the title, Brooker is the little mustache in the foreground, Fisher is the first little face on the right, semi-hidden. The other three don't count… they were session men hired for the need; the group would organically form right after the first major success of this single, and at that point, a couple of excellent musicians would be taken on, namely drummer B.J. Wilson (whom Jimmy Page had considered for the future Led Zeppelin, before the newly hired frontman Robert Plant showed him how his fellow countryman John Bonham played and then... amen!) and guitarist Robin Trower, who would later enhance himself autonomously with his rock blues band.

John Lennon said at the time that “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was the best single of 1967, and since, in the meantime, he was putting out things like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I’m the Walrus,” it's believable, also because he didn’t suffer from modesty and lack of ambition.