Procol Harum

Procol Harum - Live In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra - 1972 - Chrysalis UK/ A&M US [ Re-Released in 2003 on Repertoire, with bonus track].

Great album from Procol Harum, which became a Top 5, million-selling album in the USA. The album contained strong versions of "Conquistador" and "A Salty Dog." Gary brooker was delighted with the album, and the big orchestral back up, and is quoted as saying,"We should have taken an orchestra with us around America. We would have had an 'Edmonton' every night. And that's why today we are Procol Harum and not Pink Floyd!" He underestimated his band with this comment, as PH released some classic albums, after this concert. Pink Floyd's and Procul Harum are both two of the most talented progressive rock groups of all time. Check out Procol Harum's brilliant "A Salty Dog" album. You should also listen to Robin Trower's great "Bridge of Sighs " album. There is info on Procol Harum's "Home" album @
PH/HOME
and on Gary Brooker's fine "Echoes In The Night" album @
GB/EITN

TRACKS / COMPOSERS [ Repertoire Issue]

1.Conquistador
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

2.Whaling Stories
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

3.A Salty Dog
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

4.All This and More
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

5.In Held 'Twas in I
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

6.Luskus Delph
Composed by Gary Brooker, Keith Reid
Performed by Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
with Da Camera Vocal Ensemble, Procul Harum

Recorded live at the Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on the 18th November 1971

MUSICIANS

Gary Brooker / lead vocals, piano, orchestration
Dave Ball / guitars
Alan Cartwright / bass
Chris Copping / organ
Keith Reid / words
Barrie James Wilson / drums
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
The Da Camera Singers

The album has had many different releases. Some LP copies of the album also have "Look To Your Soul" credited as "I Know If I'd been wiser". It was released on several labels, including Festival Records, Chrysalis UK, A&M US, Mobile Fidelity, and Repertoire, the Repertoire edition being the one posted here.

REVIEW

This whole album was an afterthought -- Procol Harum had been invited to play a concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the DaCamera Singers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in August of 1971, at the tail-end of their last tour with Robin Trower in the lineup. Amid all of the preparation -- including the writing of new orchestral arrangements by Gary Brooker and with a new lead guitarist, Dave Ball, just joining the lineup -- Brooker decided that it might be a good idea to preserve a professionally made tape of the show and suggested that A&M Records, to which they were signed, might want to record the performance; the label agreed with just a week to go until the concert. Even "Conquistador," the song on which the resulting album's commercial success was built, was added at the last minute, with no time for the orchestra to rehearse the arrangement that Brooker wrote on the flight from England. They did it cold, opening the concert, and the eventual album featured a performance -- highlighted by the orchestra's brass in a Spanish mode, running scales on the strings, and B.J. Wilson's powerful drumming -- helped loft the single to number 16 in America. The group's second-biggest hit record (after "A Whiter Shade of Pale"), in turn, helped lift the album into the American Top Five. Ironically, the success of the LP also left Procol Harum's image slightly askew, with the presence of the orchestra and choir and the selection of songs, from the most ambitious part of the band's repertory, all combining to present the group as more of a progressive rock act than they actually were. "Conquistador" was the most accessible song on the album, and nothing else here matches it for sheer, bracing excitement, but the rest -- especially "Whaling Stories" and "A Salty Dog" and the multi-part "In Held 'Twas I" -- were all opened up by the vast canvas provided by the orchestra, and the group didn't wimp out in their own performance; Wilson, Ball, Brooker, and company all played hard and heavy where the songs required it. [Note: Long out of print on CD, Procol Harum Live: In Concert With the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra & the Da Camera Singers was finally reissued in August of 2002 by Repertoire Records in a newly annotated edition with one bonus track, "Luskus Delph," which was recorded at the same show and only ever issued on vinyl as a U.K. single B-side.] © Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

The Mobile Fidelity release has 10 tracks. Any info on this release would be appreciated by A.O.O.F.C. Details as follows -

1 Conquistador Brooker, Gary/Reid, Keith
2 Whaling Stories Brooker, Gary/Reid, Keith
3 A Salty Dog Brooker, Gary/Reid, Keith
4 All This and More Brooker, Gary/Reid, Keith
5 In Held Twas in I: Glimpses of Nirvana/'Twas Teatime at the Circus Brooker, Gary/Fisher, Matthew/Reid, Keith
6 In Held 'Twas in I: Glimpses of Nirvana/'Twas Teatime at the Circus/In Brooker, Gary/Fisher, Matthew/Reid, Keith
7 'Twas Teatime at the Circus Arlen, Harold/Brooker, Gary/Fisher, Matthew/Harburg, E.Y./Reid, Keith
8 In the Autumn of My Madness Arlen, Harold/Brooker, Gary/Fisher, Matthew/Harburg, E.Y./Reid, Keith
9 Grand Finale Brooker, Gary/Fisher, Matthew/Reid, Keith
10 Grand Finale Arlen, Harold/Brooker, Gary/Harburg, E.Y./Reid, Keith

ABOUT PROCOL HARUM [ Taken from Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2004]

Best known for the timeless "Whiter Shade of Pale," Procol Harum is generally regarded as a progenitor of the '70s prog-rock boom. In the late '60s, the group (led by singer/keyboardist Gary Brooker) combined British pop with classical-influenced motifs and intellectual lyrics (courtesy of non-performing lyricist/band member Keith Reid). By the '70s, the Procol Harum sound became more complex and sophisticated, closer to that of the prog-rockers they'd initially inspired. This soulful progressive rock band was originally formed in Essex, England following the demise of the R&B pop unit, the Paramounts. Gary Brooker (b. 29 May 1945, Hackney, London, England; piano/vocals), Matthew Fisher (b. 7 March 1946, Addiscombe, Croydon, Surrey, England; organ), Bobby Harrison (b. 22 June 1939, East Ham, London, England; drums), Ray Royer (b. 8 October 1945, the Pinewoods, Essex, England; guitar) and Dave Knights (b. David John Knights, 28 June 1945, Islington, London, England; bass) made their debut with the ethereal "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", one of the biggest successes of 1967. The single has now achieved classic status with continuing sales which now run to many millions. The long haunting Bach-influenced introduction takes the listener through a sequence of completely surreal lyrics, which epitomized the "Summer Of Love". "We skipped the light fandango, turned cart-wheels across the floor, I was feeling kind of seasick, the crowd called out for more". It was followed by the impressive Top 10 hit "Homburg". By the time of the hastily thrown together album (only recorded in mono), the band were falling apart. Harrison and Royer departed to be replaced with Brooker's former colleagues B.J. Wilson (b. Barrie James Wilson, 18 March 1947, Edmonton, London, England, d. 8 October 1990, Oregon, USA) and Robin Trower (b. 9 March 1945, Catford, London, England), respectively. The other unofficial member of the band was lyricist Keith Reid (b. 10 October 1946, England), whose penchant for imaginary tales of seafaring appeared on numerous albums. The particularly strong A Salty Dog, with its classic John Player cigarette pack cover, was released to critical acclaim. The title track and "The Devil Came From Kansas" were two of their finest songs. Fisher and Knights departed and the circle was completed when Chris Copping (b. 29 August 1945, Middleton, Lancashire, England; organ/bass) became the last remaining former member of the Paramounts to join. On Broken Barricades, in particular, Trower's Jimi Hendrix-influenced guitar patterns began to give the band a heavier image which was not compatible with Reid's introspective fantasy sagas. This was resolved by Trower's departure, to join Frankie Miller in Jude, and following the recruitment of Dave Ball (b. 30 March 1950, Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands, England) and the addition of Alan Cartwright (b. 10 October 1945, England; bass), the band pursued a more symphonic direction. The success of Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was unexpected. It marked a surge in popularity, not seen since the early days. The album contained strong versions of "Conquistador" and "A Salty Dog", and was a Top 5, million-selling album in the USA. Further line-up changes ensued with Ball departing and Mick Grabham (b. 22 January 1948, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England; ex-Cochise) joining in 1972. This line-up became their most stable and they enjoyed a successful and busy four years during which time they released three albums. Grand Hotel was the most rewarding, although both the following had strong moments. "Nothing But The Truth" and "The Idol" were high points of Exotic Birds And Fruit, while "Pandora's Box" was the jewel in Procol's Ninth, giving them another surprise hit single. By the time Something Magic was released in 1977 the musical climate had dramatically changed and Procol Harum were one of the first casualties of the punk and new wave movement. Having had a successful innings Gary Brooker initiated a farewell tour and Procol Harum quietly disappeared. In August 1991, Brooker, Trower, Fisher and Reid got back together, with Mark Brzezicki (b. 21 June 1957, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England; ex-Big Country) replacing the recently deceased Wilson. Unlike many re-formed "dinosaurs" the result was a well-received album The Prodigal Stranger, which achieved minimal sales. The revamped Procol Harum continued to perform throughout the decade, and in 2002 Brooker, Reid and Fisher returned to the studio to record a new album. Together with Brzezicki, Geoff Whitehorn (guitar) and Matt Pegg (bass), they released the excellent The Well's On Fire.