Posted on 02/22/2022 9:04:38 AM PST by Carriage Hill
Gary Brooker, the lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum, whose 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale mesmerised baby boomer fans with its psychedelic melancholy, has died at the age of 76. The pianist, composer and lyricist as well as frontman for the band had been treated for cancer. He died peacefully at home at the weekend. A statement on Procol Harum’s website described Brooker as “a brightly shining, irreplaceable light in the music industry”. It added: “Gary exhibited and developed a highly individual talent. His first single with Procol Harum, 1967’s A Whiter Shade of Pale, is widely regarded as defining the ‘summer of love’, yet it could scarcely have been more different from the characteristic records of that era ….
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St6jyEFe5WM
So now he’s a Whiter Shade of Pale?..............
a very talented band!
I saw one of the reunion shows with my brother about 15 years ago - he was still pretty good then.
Oh no.......RIP
This is a great song Brooker sang.
Limelight - The Alan Parsons Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2XNFgRIXEU
Trower endures.
And the truth is plain to see
Jabbed and boosted?
The entire album was phenomena though.
I was always surprised it wasn’t in our top 100 albums of all time.
My absolute all time favorite song. I used to wish some Olympic class skater would do a routine to it.
Great funeral dirge of a song. Back in my long haired days, I listened to it like seventeen times in a row after a chick turned me down for a date.
The best track on Stereotomy - and I didn’t make the connection earlier (read - the past 35 years). So thanks for pointing that out.
Conquistador wazs big too
60 years old in that video. Voice was as if he was 30!
It must be a mixed blessing to have your band’s first hit become the best known song your band would ever release, but at least they had that one induring hit.
As most people know, the organ fade out was partially based on J.S. Bach’s “Air’ composition.
They had some other good songs. Simple Sister; Shine on Brightly. They also had a hit in the early 70s with Conquistador, which they pronounced Conkwistador.
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