Think of Procol Harum and your first thoughts will probably go to ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’, however in truth that was only the start of a very long story. Although these Essex boys can’t officially be classed as “one-hit wonders” due to second single ‘Homburg’ hitting number six in the UK charts, the omission of both of these tracks from their first album, Procol Harum in the UK (‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ was included on the US version and ‘Homeburg’ on the German) seemed to snub out the fire lit by the #1 hit single. That debut album released in 1967 supplied many of the building blocks, blues, psychedelia, art rock, which a year later led to the progressive rock sound of their follow up release, Shine On Brightly. With a line-up of Gary Brooker on vocals and keyboards, Robin Trower on guitar and vocals, Matthew Fisher on organ and vocal, Dave Night on Bass and Barrie James (B.J.) Wilson on drums supplying the band with a seriously strong musical foundation and with the added bonus of Keith Reid’s versatile lyrical input, this set up the group for a fruitful future.
The first thing that UK fans will notice with this latest vinyl re-issue is the use of the US cover artwork, with its dark image of a nude standing before an upright piano which is in stark contrast to the original brightly coloured, spiritually inspired cover where the nude(s) lurk inside a Daliesque stretched grand piano. Classic Procol abounds in the bouncing Hammond of opener ‘Quite Rightly So’, despite its lyrically bleak themes of inner struggle. The title track and ‘Skip Softly My Moonbeams’ find the Reid/Brooker writing team at their most psychedelic, maybe as the lyrics state this is the result of their “befuddled brain”. Side one continues the twists and turns of the Procol Harum sound with Trower’s blues guitar strains on ‘Wish Me Well’. Trower is still in full flight alongside Brooker’s piano on ‘Rambling On’, a simple but effective interlude with its changing moods pointing towards what will later be delivered on side two. ‘Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)’ was apparently rumoured to be inline to follow up ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ as the bands second single but I feel it would have struggled in that role with its sparse arrangement and military marching drum never really creating a hook as strong as AWSOP. Unlike the original vinyl (where it opened side two), ‘Magdalene’ concludes side one leaving side two solely to the 17 minute majesty of ‘In Held Twas I’. It is only fitting that ‘In Held Twas in I’ should be honoured with the exclusivity of a single side as in my eyes it stands head and shoulders above anything that the band had produced to date (including “that” song) and is a signpost to the future of progressive rock music for generations. Although it opens with the simple middle eastern birth of ‘Glimpses of Nirvana’ which sparkles with a very “in” Beatles Hare Krishna vibe, the simple piano and storytelling sets up the whole concept, a method later used by the likes of Spirit and Rick Wakeman, before ‘Twas Tea Time at the Circus’ continues the tale using its quirky bounce, a style Townshend and Entwistle would develop the following year on parts of The Who’s Tommy rock opera. ‘In the Autumn of My Madness’ exhibits much of the work laid-out by ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ but with a fuller more sophisticated pallet and joined to the grandeur of ‘Look to Your Soul’ creates a stunning centrepiece with Brooker giving Waters, Brown and Hayward a run for their money with his crazed soulful vocal. The piano coda of ‘Grand Finale’ supplies a glorious close to what should have been a springboard to higher fame and fortune, but time would show that Procol Harum were destined for a more underground appreciation. Side one of Shine On Brightly maybe diverse and a little inconsistent but side two is ground breaking, trend setting and hugely influential. ‘In Held Twas In I’ and Shine On Brightly is most definitely a great place to start your discovery of Procol Harem.
Gary Brooker went on to work and befriend many great artist, Kate Bush, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Alan Parsons amongst them, but with his passing in 2022 followed by Keith Reid’s (Brooker’s long time writing partner) in March 2023 interest in Procol Harum is at its highest peak since the 2000’s when helped by progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic covering ‘In Held Twas I’ on their SMPT:e debut album (2000) which coincided with a number of re-unions throughout the decade and gave the band a much appreciated boost. With the UK kinda missing out the first time around, there has to be no better time to re-visit or reappraise Procol Harum’s legacy considering the extensive number of expanded versions and re-issues available and this is a worthy addition for the vinyl buff.
- Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
- Shine On Brightly is released via Cherry Red Records On 23rd February 2024.
- Official Website / Facebook
Track List:
Side One:
1. Quite Rightly So
2. Shine On Brightly
3. Skip Softly My Moonbeams
4. Wish Me Well
5. Rambling On
6. Magdalene (My Regal Zonophone)
Side Two:
1. In Held Twas in I
i) Glimpses of Nirvana
ii) Twas Tea Time at the Circus
iii) In the Autumn of My Madness
iv) Look to Your Soul
v) Grand Finale
