A Whiter Shade of Pale Procol Harum Cover w/Harmonica

(c)1967 on album “Procol Harum”. Procol Harum’s lyricist Keith Reid wrote the words to this song. He told us: “It’s sort of a film, really, trying to conjure up mood and tell a story. It’s about a relationship. There’s characters and there’s a location, and there’s a journey. You get the sound of the room and the feel of the room and the smell of the room. But certainly there’s a journey going on, it’s not a collection of lines just stuck together. It’s got a thread running through it.” Reid got the idea for the title when it came to him at a party, which gave him a starting point for the song. Says Reid: “I feel with songs that you’re given a piece of the puzzle, the inspiration or whatever. In this case, I had that title, ‘Whiter Shade of Pale,’ and I thought, There’s a song here. And it’s making up the puzzle that fits the piece you’ve got. You fill out the picture, you find the rest of the picture that that piece fits into.” Reid formed Procol Harum in 1967 with Gary Brooker, becoming an official member even though he didn’t sing or play any instruments. “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” was one of about 15 songs that he wrote for their first album. Says Reid: “We were really excited about it and liked it a lot. And when we were rehearsing and routine-ing our first dozen songs or so, it was one that sounded really good. But there were a few others that we liked I would say equally – we have a song on our first album called ‘Salad Days (Are Here Again)’ that was a strong …