[A wider shade of confusion.]
Revisiting A&M Records No. 19
Procol Harum: ‘Procol Harum’ (Sept ’67)
When I began this series back as a patchwork of weekly pairings hashtagged #TuesdaysWithJerry as a tribute to the label’s just-departed co-founder Jerry Moss, I envisioned maybe two dozen posts, tops. Surely, I foolishly figured, I’d get from ‘Whipped Cream & Other Delights’ and ‘Joe Cocker!’ to ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ and ‘Breakfast in America’ and then ‘Synchronicity’ and ‘Superunknown’ in no time flat.
I never learn.
Now that my retrospective has been liberated from Tuesdays and expanded exponentially — been diving so deep I might never resurface — it dawned on me how shabbily I treated this excellent, at this point quite underrated British band some installments ago.
‘Round about Halloween Procol Harum got short shrift when I paired greatest-hits gatefolds from them (and Spooky Tooth) merely as signposts indicating how the heretofore softer A&M got into the rock game: by striking deals with UK labels to acquire their rosters. This Essex outfit, however, was the first to straight-up sign with the game-changing artists-first endeavor from Moss and partner Herb Alpert.
If only the story stayed so simple.
An amalgam of talents led by the distinctively soulful voice and piano of Gary Brooker but also featuring (for a while) the guitar heroics of Robin Trower and signature organ style from Matthew Fisher — not to mention the often sublime surrealism of longtime lyricist Keith Reid — Procol Harum broke big in the Summer of Love with that indestructible timepiece of psychedelic melancholy, ‘A White Shade of Pale.’
Yet Deram Records chose not to include it (or follow-up hit ‘Homburg’) on the group’s self-titled debut for the UK market — and the LP, a very strong one kicked off by another PH staple, ‘Conquistador,’ flat-out flopped.
The label did, however, include it for the North American edition, booting ‘Conquistador’ to Side 2 and lopping off ‘Good Captain Clack.’ Surprise, surprise: Procol Harum soon found a loyal and growing fan base in the US and Canada.
This should-be-great album’s reputation has endured more muddling than just the fact that only a mono master exists. A&M put out their next five LPs but they really didn’t start handling this one until ’73, probably as a means of finishing off contracts along with the best-of.
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That year they reissued ‘Procol Harum’ with an uglier cover that placed the original by Dickinson — in the manner of Aubrey Beardsley, and so significant it scored a spot in a Tate exhibit — in a thick maroon border with the band members names and instruments at the top.
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So lame, as was technically renaming the album ‘A White Shade of Pale.’ They did do right in one regard, though: After that smash opens the ’73 edition, ‘Conquistador’ and the rest of the original UK track listing follows, including all 1:30 of good ol’ Capt. Clack, rightfully restored.
I haven’t said anything much about WHY Procol Harum’s early catalog would be worth revisiting in full even if I’d never delved into A&M’s history. This far into my babble, I’m feeling like that’s a topic to explore properly with a post on their second album, ‘Shine On Brightly.’
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Suffice to say, this album is one of the key reasons I decided this series needed wider scope. Been playing the hell out of it for weeks and felt it needed a spotlight all its own — as does the remainder of their work on A&M, especially ‘A Salty Dog’ (’69) and the live one from ’72. Playing this on a loop made me realize how much I’d wrongly written them off as not-quite-Traffic and kinda dated; neither remark is true, or fair.
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Of all their appealing traits, Gary Brooker’s voice has become a most comforting tone I didn’t know I needed at midlife. Also, his partnership with Keith Reid ought to be discussed far more these days than the overanalyzed oeuvres of Taupin & John and Hunter & Garcia, as non-performer/star songwriting combos go.
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But no matter what my ears tell me, I still sing along to ‘Conquistador’ with a Spanish translation. I mean this question respectfully, my British mates: Do all of you say ‘con-kwiss-ta-dor’?