50 years ago: Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” charted

A Whiter Shade of Pale Procol Harum

Writer(s): Gary Brooker/Keith Reid/Matthew Fisher (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 25, 1967 Peak: 5 US, 5 CB, 2 GR, 3 HR, 1 CL, 16 UK, 11 CN, 13 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.76 UK, 10.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 172.44 video, 161.50 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: With lyrics about vestal virgins and skipping the light fandango, this song has become a “favorite for university theses.” KL-131 “The song nobody understands” BBC managed to simultaneously sound literary with its allusions to Chaucer while also capturing “what most people thought was going on at these LSD parties.” TC While mostly sounding like a drunk trying to hit on a girl at a party, the words quite possibly mean nothing at all. HL “Even the writer Keith Reid couldn’t explain it” BBC saying it was just “’a lot of abstract phrases.’” TC “Ultimately, it’s probably no more or less than a love song packed full of intentionally bewildered nautical metaphors.” TB The song resembled nothing else on 1967 radio, RS500 which helped it to top the charts in several countries and has made it a popular cover song, with some 800 known recordings. WK It has also become the go-to song when television and films, such as The Big Chill, are looking to capture the spirit of 1960s counterculture. WK Additionally, the song birthed a fusion of classical and rock music, which gave rise to groups like the Moody Blues. RS500http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595902/whiter_shade_of_pale While commonly believed to be paraphrased or even directly copied from Johann Sebastian Bach, WK the song is merely inspired by his “Sleeper’s Awake” and “Air on a G String” works. WK Astonishingly, this is the only track recorded by the band’s original lineup RS500 with writing credits originally given only to Brooker and Reid. However, organist Matthew Fisher won a 2006 court case which was supposed to give him a co-writing credit as well. With the case upheld on appeals, his royalties remain under dispute. WK Resources: Procol Harum’s DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 806. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. Blandford Books: London, UK. Page 94. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 131. RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 92. WK Wikipedia.org First posted 5/25/2011; last updated 7/11/2023.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 Nominees

image from RockHall.com

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has nominated its class of 2013. Over the next couple months, the Hall’s voting body of roughly 600 musicians, industry types, and journalists will vote to determine which of them will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 18, 2013. Here are the 15 nominees:

• Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Chic
• Deep Purple
• Heart
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
• Albert King
• Kraftwerk
• The Marvelettes
• The Meters
• Randy Newman
• N.W.A.
• Procol Harum
• Public Enemy
• Rush
• Donna Summer

You can read about each nominee at RockHallcom. In an interesting move, the Hall has added a way for fans to vote, although their voice will be minimal. Fans can vote at RollingStone.com and the top 5 vote getters will be entered as one of the 600+ ballots. Results will be announced in mid-December.

Rush finally gets long overdue nomination; image from progarchives.com

So who should go in? After last year’s class of nominees was announced, I tapped 39 lists arguing for who deserved inclusion. Based on that list, here’s how this year’s crop ranks:

1. Rush (2)
2. Deep Purple (5)
3. Heart (12)
4. Kraftwerk (39)
5. Public Enemy (47)
6. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (53)
7. Chic (55)
8. Procol Harum (81)
9. Randy Newman (86)

Not ranked: Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Albert King, The Marvelettes, The Meters, N.W.A., and Donna Summer.

As always, there will be plenty of debate regarding who didn’t get nominated – namely, KISS. In another blog post last year, I argued on behalf of KISS, Gram Parsons, Rush, Joy Division, and Deep Purple. I’m grateful that the Hall has listened to me and included two of my suggestions. ;)

Frankly, though, if that top 5 (Rush, Deep Purple, Heart, Kraftwerk, Public Enemy) were this year’s inductees, that would be an awesome class. There’s some nice diversity in terms of genre, race, and gender. We’d have a newbie (Public Enemy) and some long overdue nominees. Don’t hold your breath, though. Based on the Rock Hall’s past trends, I’d say Heart and Public Enemy have good shots among this class, but the other three slots are likely to go to the pet projects of Hall nominating committee members, meaning the other slots might well go to Chic, Albert King, and Donna Summer. They aren’t horrible picks, but they certainly aren’t more worthy than Rush and Deep Purple. We’ll see what happens.

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Resources and Related Links:

• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The 2013 Nominees, 4 October 2012
• RollingStone.com: Rush, Public Enemy, Deep Purple Nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, by Andy Greene, 4 October 2012
• Dave’s Music Database blog: The Top 100 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Hopefuls, 22 October 2011
• Dave’s Music Database blog: And This Year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Should Be…, 28 September 2011

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Psychedelic Rock Goes Mainstream: June 24, 1967

Psychedelic rock is a style of music which strives to replicate the experience of mind-altering psychedelic drugs. It grew out of folk- and blues-rock in the mid ‘60s and integrated non-Western sources such as Indian music. New recording techniques and effects also marked the genre. It was a stepping stone to progressive rock, glam rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. ^PR

June 24, 1967 does not mark the birth of psychedelic rock. It does, however, make for a fitting place to plant the freak flag on mainstream music turf. Several significant recordings made their chart debuts, trumpeting the genre’s full-fledged arrival on British and American shores.

In the U.K., Pink Floyd charted with their second single, “See Emily Play”. That same day Syd Barrett & Co. made their television debut performing it on Top of the Pops. The recording process for the song implemented studio trickery such as backward tapes, echo, and reverb. ^SP It hit #6 in the UK and makes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the Top 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.



By summer’s end, Pink Floyd released their debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which All Music Guide’s Steve Huey called “one of the best psychedelic albums of all time.” ^SH



Click photo for more about the album.

On American shores The Beatles debuted on the Billboard charts with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, another landmark psychedelic album. Many within the music industry, including Dave’s Music Database, call it the best album of all time.



Click photo for more about the album.

That same day, Jefferson Airplane debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 with “White Rabbit.” With references to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland as a means of relaying the experience of psychedelic drugs, the song could lay claim as the official psychedelic rock anthem. The group was on the bill of the Monterey Pop Festival which unofficially launched the Summer of Love. That moniker has become the go-to term for a transformative time when hippie lifestyles, complete with their own peace mantra and psychedelic soundtrack, converged upon San Francisco.



Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” is another “stone cold classic of psychedelia” ^HS which captured “a moment in the summer of 1967 when, if you were fortunate enough not to have to work for a living and bought into the whole flower power freedom movement, anything seemed possible.” ^HS The song makes the aforementioned Rock Hall 500 list and is featured in The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. It topped the list of Britain’s most heard songs in 2009. ^TS



Certainly the development and proliferation of the psychedelic rock movement cannot be narrowed to one day. However, the convergence several game changers on June 24, 1967, is enough to give one a head trip.

Resources:

^HS Headfullofsnow.com “Procol Harum Week: A Whiter Shade of Pale” (10/4/09)

^SH Steve Huey, All Music Guide

^TS Ted Spangler, American Songwriter “Britain’s 75 Most Heard Song List Topped By…Procol Harum?” (4/15/09)

^PR Wikipedia entry on psychedelic rock

^SP Wikipedia entry on “See Emily Play”