One of the great hits of the Summer of 1967, "Whiter Shade of Pale" came out in America, Britain and all over the world at what many critics think of as the apex of the 1960's. It was Number one in Britain for four weeks in July of 1967 before being replaced by "All You Need Is Love". (John Lennon was a major fan of the tune, with its "haunting tonality and Bach flavouring"),
The vocals were by Gary Brooker, and unusual lyrics by Keith Reid.
There have been dozens and perhaps hundreds of covers on this one, including one by Joe Cocker and a very poignant one by Annie Lennox.
I was a huge prog-rock fan (still am!) -- when P.H. came out with "A Salty Dog" in 1972, everyone thought they'd seen their day - but they proved that thinking-person's rock was still a commodity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this memory....
whoa doug did you steal Markus' idea as to this Brit rock re-invasion? just kidding one of the first guys i was sweet on loved this song and I did too, it was for us our song! lol shoulda married the guy, too! oh well that was then, this is now!
ReplyDeletethanks for this neat memory for me!
the clothes are a scream, but very much in vogue, depending on where you are in the US and elsewhere! what goes around comes around!
ReplyDeleteIndeed they did. Glad you like the music as well--its fun to see the some of the sites of London and environs in the middle of the video--in all their transfered 16mm grainy glory.
ReplyDeleteSometimes songs bring back all sorts of memories, don't they? Personally I remmeber this one as too slow for my taste when I was younger. As I got older, though, I appreciated the lyrical uniqueness of the song. "Trip the light fandango..." is a nice opening lyric.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested, here's a link to the Annie Lennox version from 1995 :
http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=8FmqbpzmJT4
always loved this song... lovely piece of gothic architecture in the background too
ReplyDeleteoh man, one of my most fav's to slow dance to after playing spin the bottle under the black light with the black velvet glow in the dark mushroom poster on the wall....did I just show my age or what??!!
ReplyDeleteDoug You`re talking my music now. I came to London as an 18 year old in 1964 looking for all this "free love" and a Whiter Shade of Pale was seminal music for me. I remember vividly dancing (snogging even) to it with my arms around a young lady in a basement party in Putney. Great times. Procul Harum were from Southend in Essex and their follow-up "Homburg" was also quite good,
ReplyDeleteI love the church setting, too...and those shots of Piccadilly with all those young folks in colorful clothes, long hair, etc, and the girls in mini skirts. Must have been quite a shock to older people who were used to that famous British reserve.
ReplyDeleteSounds like good times, roolee. I remember all those black light posters myself---you could get at places like Pier One Imports stores back when malls were smaller affairs than today.
ReplyDeleteHope I brought back some good memories Jeff. After reading and listening to music and films about that time and place, I often wish I could have come of age about the time you did, and in a place like London which was the center of the world. (Although I would have settled for San Francisco before it "Baghdad-By-the-Bay became a gentrified Yuppie real estate boomtown.)
ReplyDeleteThe "snogging" was probably better back then;-)
Yep the snogging was great. Present at the same party was a young American singer called P P Arnold who had hits with "First Cut is the Deepest" and "Angel of the Morning",.She was cute. .
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed this song for years. I never knew who sang it. Thank you for enlightening me
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of her before, both those are both great songs so I looked her up. This is PP Arnold's recent website: http://www.pparnold.com/
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Fred.
ReplyDeleteIt was around this time that I became aware of 'pop' music as my mother refered to it. What ever they were smoking when writing it I'll have a pint of please. ;-))
ReplyDeleteI became aware of music about the same time,Jim ...and, yes,, you can't write music lyrics like that while just drinking Coca-Cola. This is one of my favorites from '67 I believe. Glad you enjoyed this little time machine, courtesy of You Tube.
ReplyDelete