No HM, that is not the whole truth. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article: "Authorship lawsuitIn 2005, former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher filed suit in the High Court against Gary Brooker and his publisher, claiming that he co-wrote the music for the song.[20]

Fisher won the case on 20 December 2006 but was awarded 40% of the composers' share of the music copyright, rather than the 50% he was seeking and was not granted royalties prior to 2005.[21]

Gary Brooker and publisher Onward Music were granted leave to appeal, and a hearing on the matter was held before a panel of three judges during the week of 1 October 2007. The decision, on 4 April 2008, by Lord Justice Mummery, in the Court of Appeal upheld Fisher's co-authorship[22] but ruled that he should receive no royalties as he had taken too long (38 years) to bring his claim to litigation. Full royalty rights were returned to Brooker.[23]

On 5 November 2008, Matthew Fisher was granted permission to appeal this decision to the House of Lords.[24] Lawyers say it is the first time the Law Lords have been asked to rule on a copyright dispute involving a song.[25] The appeal was heard in the House of Lords on 22–23 April 2009.[26]

On 30 July 2009 the Law Lords unanimously ruled in Fisher's favour. They noted that the delay in bringing the case had not caused any harm to the other party; on the contrary they had benefited financially from it. They also pointed out that there were no time limits to copyright claims under English law. The right to future royalties was therefore returned to Fisher.[27][28] The musicological basis of the judgment, and its effect on the rights of musicians who contribute composition to future works, have drawn some attention in the music world.[29]"

Procol Harum were not one-hit wonders.


Grand Hotel is a fantastic record with great production by Chris Thomas four years before he did the Sex Pistols album.













Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-17 07:40 by loog droog.

I was getting ready to go out, I must have been 16 years old. I was with friends, feeling real good! This song came on the radio, it stopped me dead in my tracks. I stood in front of the radio. It blew me away . . .

According to Linda McCartney it was the song played a few times the night she first met Paul back in 1967 at the Bag O'Nails, so it kinda became "their song."
She thought it was Stevie Winwood (nobody knew of Procol Harum at the time).
And the lead vocal does sound like Winwood, actually.

The Greatest song of the sixties, and of all times is still Like a Rolling Stone with Bob Dylan isn't it? but A whiter has nearly as good drums as Like A Rolling...



2 1 2 0

A dirge

Dirge from Planet Waves is also very good...

I associate A Whiter Shade.. with pirate radio. Not that I'm old enough to remember pirate radio, but every time I hear the song's opening bars I visualize a boat on the high seas, rocking gently in black and white, broadcasting music to the nation.

I remember A White Shade Of Pale along with Scott McKenzie's San Francisco and All You Need Is Love hogging the number 1 spot in the UK for the whole of the school holidays in summer 67. Those were the days when summers went on forever.

What does Procul Harum mean?

[www.procolharum.com]

Marv Peck

Y'all remember that rubber legged boy

Quote
marvpeck
What does Procul Harum mean?

[www.procolharum.com]

It is said to represent Latin procul harum, 'far from these things.

Gary Brooker explains (full interview here :
[www.procolharum.com])

About the Latin name. How did you invent that?

We didn't invent it, our manager at the time 'phoned up and said he'd found a name. We said, 'What is it?' 'Procol Harum.' 'Oh, great.' And it sounds like us, in fact, sounds like what we sound like, so that was that. He didn't just pluck it out of the air, it was the name of a Pedigree name of a cat of a friend of his. And ... er ... of course everyone went, 'What does it mean? What does it mean?' We didn't know it, so we had to find out. We did find out that we actually had got the name wrong over the telephone, we spelt it wrong. But in Latin, the cat's name was 'Procul' with a 'u' and 'Harun' with an 'n' on the end, 'Beyond these things' in Latin. We got round to saying that Procol Harum in fact meant 'Beyond these things', which was a nice coincidence: at least it didn't mean, 'I'm going to town to buy a cow' or something.



I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

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SwayStones

Quote
marvpeck
What does Procul Harum mean?

[www.procolharum.com]

It is said to represent Latin procul harum, 'far from these things.

Gary Brooker explains (full interview here :
[www.procolharum.com])

About the Latin name. How did you invent that?

We didn't invent it, our manager at the time 'phoned up and said he'd found a name. We said, 'What is it?' 'Procol Harum.' 'Oh, great.' And it sounds like us, in fact, sounds like what we sound like, so that was that. He didn't just pluck it out of the air, it was the name of a Pedigree name of a cat of a friend of his. And ... er ... of course everyone went, 'What does it mean? What does it mean?' We didn't know it, so we had to find out. We did find out that we actually had got the name wrong over the telephone, we spelt it wrong. But in Latin, the cat's name was 'Procul' with a 'u' and 'Harun' with an 'n' on the end, 'Beyond these things' in Latin. We got round to saying that Procol Harum in fact meant 'Beyond these things', which was a nice coincidence: at least it didn't mean, 'I'm going to town to buy a cow' or something.

Whatever happened to that band Urbum Purchasare Vacca?

Another link here :

PROCOL HARUM - terrific art rock band was named by lyricist Keith Reid - a term he thought to be Arabic for "beyond that which is" - also the name of his cat.

[library.thinkquest.org]

When I was 13 a 23 years old girl -a neighbor- told me about Ten CC 's name meaning .I was very naïve back then and didn't undertood a word of what she said ....
Now that I 've read this link,I know that she didn't talked nonsense

The British Bereavement Society says Whiter Shade of Pale is the most popular song to be played at funerals. Do you believe it? What song would you choose , if any?

Overall Top Ten
1. Procul Harum – Whiter Shade of Pale
2. Amazing Grace
3. Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again
4. Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
5. You’ll Never Walk Alone
6. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. The Beatles – Let It Be
8. Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
9. REM – Everybody Hurts
10. The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-17 15:16 by mitchflorida.

They were the first band I was ever into on my own. I had an older brother who turned me onto the Beatles and Stones, but Procol Harum I discovered on my own. I have each of their first 9 records on vinyl and they still sound good. The band took a lot of hits for being too 'classical' but they could rock, and even play the blues. I saw them last Summer and though Gary Brooker is the only original member touring, they were great, still. They were never very charismatic, could never 'sell' the band, but they could write and play.

I remember hearing the song the first time for this reason:

In 1967, rock music started moving from the AM radio stations in Los Angeles, and onto the FM Progressive Rock station. Rock had never been played on FM radio before, and you could really hear the instruments and vocals much better than before.

WSoP was really discovered first on FM radio and I remember the Dee Jay introducing it , "You are going to hear a song now that is unbelievable, Procul Harum and Whiter Shade of Pale"

The groups name was rather mysterious and interesting. I waited for the song to start with the dj's breathless description. But they delivered the goods. . I bought the album soon after on an oddball Deram label . I remember the album was very good, but the ones that followed were so-so.

Procal Harum already had a drummer in the group, but he was incapable of playing the drum part for the song. They brought in a session drummer Bill Eyden for that one track only. He was paid only 15 pounds for about 3 hours work and that was it. The "regular" drummer didn't play on the recording but received 1000s of pounds of royalties for it anyway.

Bill Eyden was a pretty good friend of Charlies Watts and toured with Watts' big band with 3 drummers in the late 80's.


For me the best moment of the song is at 3:52 when the Hammond Organ is made to say "WOW" just before the fade out



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-17 16:48 by mitchflorida.

Quote
mitchflorida
The British Bereavement Society says Whiter Shade of Pale is the most popular song to be played at funerals. Do you believe it? What song would you choose , if any?

Pretty sure that it was played during the funeral scene in The Big Chill.

actually, I totally forgot the lyrics and didn't pay much attention to them and my understanding of english is not perfect.
there is a strange atmosphere in this song. I expected the lyrics to be more sad, dealing with a tragic event for instance. It sounds like a strange dream with confusion and mixed emotions.
Just imagine lyrics like " I didn't mean to hurt you, didn't mean to make you cry (jealous guy from Lennon) instead of "we skipped the line fandango....it could have done it.

But maybe it would've been less original...

I just get the impression is that the singer is wrongly accusing the girl of infidelity and she totally berates him for his mistrust, and turns pale.

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mitchflorida
I just get the impression is that the singer is wrongly accusing the girl of infidelity and she totally berates him for his mistrust, and turns pale.

I thought it was drinking the "tray of drinks" that made her turn pale.....


Always preferred "A Salty Dog". Great song and album.

another great song from 1968 - this recording is from december 2003.
fine guitar moments & drumming & gary brooker still has got a great voice!

I remember hearing that they later stated that the song was written about the various stages of getting drunk.

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mitchflorida
I just get the impression is that the singer is wrongly accusing the girl of infidelity and she totally berates him for his mistrust, and turns pale.

maybe you're right
I just can't tell if she has been unfaithfull

An anthem of the 60's for sure as Good Vibrations, You really Got Me.

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mitchflorida

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stones78
I never got the hype about this one, I find the melody of the verses really boring, and the guy's trying too hard to sound soulful.

This is really a classical music melody masquerading as rock and roll. If you don't like classical, (it reminds me of Bach), you probably wouldn't appreciate this song.

According to Wikipedia, "The Hammond organ line of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String" but contrary to popular belief, the song is not a direct copy or paraphrase of any music by Bach, although it makes clear references to both pieces. This similarity is referred to in the 1982 play The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard and the 1991 film The Commitments. A yet closer melodic influence that is seldom cited can arguably[weasel words] be found in the organ choral prelude "O Mensch bewein dein' Sünde groß" (O Man, Lament Your Sin So Great), BWV 622, from Bach's Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book). The music also borrows ideas from "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge.

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uhbuhgullayew

Quote
mitchflorida
The British Bereavement Society says Whiter Shade of Pale is the most popular song to be played at funerals. Do you believe it? What song would you choose , if any?

Pretty sure that it was played during the funeral scene in The Big Chill.

I think the song that was being played during the opening funeral scene of Big Chill was actually You Can't Always Get What You Want.

Marv Peck

Y'all remember that rubber legged boy

Quote
mitchflorida
The British Bereavement Society says Whiter Shade of Pale is the most popular song to be played at funerals. Do you believe it? What song would you choose , if any?

Overall Top Ten
1. Procul Harum – Whiter Shade of Pale
2. Amazing Grace
3. Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again
4. Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
5. You’ll Never Walk Alone
6. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. The Beatles – Let It Be
8. Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
9. REM – Everybody Hurts
10. The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony

I would choose Bob Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door
followed by
I hear you knocking, but you can't come in...

Marv Peck

Y'all remember that rubber legged boy

Quote
marvpeck

Quote
mitchflorida
The British Bereavement Society says Whiter Shade of Pale is the most popular song to be played at funerals. Do you believe it? What song would you choose , if any?

Overall Top Ten
1. Procul Harum – Whiter Shade of Pale
2. Amazing Grace
3. Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again
4. Jeff Buckley – Last Goodbye
5. You’ll Never Walk Alone
6. Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
7. The Beatles – Let It Be
8. Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World
9. REM – Everybody Hurts
10. The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony

I would choose Bob Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door
followed by
I hear you knocking, but you can't come in...

This would be a good song for someone's funeral.

I always thought of it as that sort of LSD, beyond comprehension song, that you could feel but not always explain in the cold light of sobriety. For god's sake, the ceiling flew away.

Y'all missed the best one.