Procol Harum
Il tuo diamante

At the tail end of a pioneering foreign music season that developed in the second half of the sixties, during which practically all successful British musicians were pressed by their record companies to record some version in a language other than English for markets that were still relatively exotic at the time, this was Procol Harum’s una tantum contribution to the Italian cause. The original, superlative, and passionate semi-ballad “Shine On Brightly,” featuring piercing guitar chords by Robin Trower (the gentleman with the big nose crouched lower than anyone else), skillful organ arpeggios by then school leader Matthew Fisher (the guy on the far right of the photo), and the usual singing filled with educated soul blues by Gary Brooker (the mustache half-hidden by the group’s logo) was unexpectedly transformed into “Il tuo diamante.”

The title and lyrics in Italian, interpreted with a laborious syllable-by-syllable approach by the obviously bewildered Brooker, were by the omnipresent Mogol, but not only: Italian import strategists of the time also asked him to come up with a brand-new title for the instrumental on the flip side of the 45 rpm, because the original “Repent Walpurgis” sounded quite daunting, if not downright sinister, and thus came the gratuitous but harmless “Fortuna.”

This “Fortuna” (or if you prefer “Repent or Walpurga”… who should be a saint from Northern Europe) is a highly successful mishmash of different situations that primarily includes a new recycling, in terms of the organ theme, of both “Whiter Shade Of Pale” and “Homburg,” the first two major hit singles from the band. Then there's the usual gentle gratuitous contribution from certain Johann Sebastian Bach, a very skillful (understatement) German musician who graciously offers his Prelude No. 1 in C major here, ineffably arpeggiated on the piano, exactly as is, by Gary Brooker in the piece’s central interlude. Then yet again, the brilliant solution to the fact that this time they didn’t manage to create lyrics and a vocal melody: guitarist Trower stepped in, offering an endless and articulated guitar solo, his most daring and notable performance up to that point, supported by a very confused and imperfect distortion, as naive today as it is tender to listen to and evocative of those pioneering times.

The future would reward Robin Trower, once he embarked on his own path with his Hendrixian rock blues trio, with far other sounds (splendid, he is one of the masters of the Fender Stratocaster) and far more allure in terms of touch and phrasing on six strings (sublime, he is one of the masters… but I already wrote that), compared to this performance which was nevertheless an epiphany for him.

Returning to “Shine On/Il tuo diamante,” it is much more pleasant in its original English version but also shines in this makeshift Italian version (the instrumental base is exactly the same). In the usual high Procol standard of the time, the organ, piano, and guitar are distributed with remarkable blending and efficiency, and Brooker’s theoretically out-of-context voice, so warm and soulful in an otherwise very progressive and mannered environment (but with passion, especially regarding the guitarist), works excellently: a fine peak pop single of that time.