Author Procol Harum
Heartbreak House
[2008]
Music by Michael Saxell
Lyrics by Keith Reid, outside Procol Harum
Album: The Common Thread (The Keith Reid Project)
As lyricist for Procol Harum, Keith Reid wrote the words to their hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" and many other nice songs. He moved to America in 1986, and in the mid-'00s started writing songs for what would become The Common Thread, the new multi-artist album which was issued in August 2008 under The Keith Reid Project banner.
He wrote this song with the Swedish songwriter Michael Saxell, who handles the vocals.
The song is about a woman whose husband is killed when he is sent overseas to fight a war.
Says Keith: “That song I wrote in Sweden. But it felt American to me. The military guy, to me it was an American. I think the characters, although I actually wrote it somewhere else, it felt like an American situation. The idea for that was, 'even the floorboards... (Continues)
Music by Michael Saxell
Lyrics by Keith Reid, outside Procol Harum
Album: The Common Thread (The Keith Reid Project)
As lyricist for Procol Harum, Keith Reid wrote the words to their hit "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" and many other nice songs. He moved to America in 1986, and in the mid-'00s started writing songs for what would become The Common Thread, the new multi-artist album which was issued in August 2008 under The Keith Reid Project banner.
He wrote this song with the Swedish songwriter Michael Saxell, who handles the vocals.
The song is about a woman whose husband is killed when he is sent overseas to fight a war.
Says Keith: “That song I wrote in Sweden. But it felt American to me. The military guy, to me it was an American. I think the characters, although I actually wrote it somewhere else, it felt like an American situation. The idea for that was, 'even the floorboards... (Continues)
She always did the best she could,
(Continues)
(Continues)
Contributed by giorgio 2020/7/12 - 18:35
Holding On
[1991]
Lyrics by Keith Reid
Music by Gary Brooker
Album: The Prodigal Stranger
Sometimes reunions can be unfulfilling and happen for the wrong reasons, however this was not in Procol Harum’s case, as tracks from the reunion album, ‘The Prodigal Stranger’, all highlight how the song-writing has matured and show that Gary Brooker still has one of the finest voices in rock. More than a dozen years after disbanding, Procol Harum reformed for this 1991 release. The group is here built around the songs of pianist and singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. The band's sound is here further bolstered by founding member Matthew Fisher on organ, and guitarist Robin Trower, both of whom departed at different points during their first five years. Sadly, drummer B.J. Wilson, who was a remarkable stylist and a key component of the group's sound, died a two years before this reunion. The production... (Continues)
Lyrics by Keith Reid
Music by Gary Brooker
Album: The Prodigal Stranger
Sometimes reunions can be unfulfilling and happen for the wrong reasons, however this was not in Procol Harum’s case, as tracks from the reunion album, ‘The Prodigal Stranger’, all highlight how the song-writing has matured and show that Gary Brooker still has one of the finest voices in rock. More than a dozen years after disbanding, Procol Harum reformed for this 1991 release. The group is here built around the songs of pianist and singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. The band's sound is here further bolstered by founding member Matthew Fisher on organ, and guitarist Robin Trower, both of whom departed at different points during their first five years. Sadly, drummer B.J. Wilson, who was a remarkable stylist and a key component of the group's sound, died a two years before this reunion. The production... (Continues)
Zika nor nama ... hesah! Zika nor nama ... hesah!
(Continues)
(Continues)
Contributed by giorgio 2020/6/14 - 10:15
McGreggor
[1968]
Lyrics & Music by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid
Album: Salty Dog [1999 reissue bonus track]
Produced by Denny Cordell and recorded 10/07/68, this is an unreleased performance mixed down from the original four-track tape, that was originally intended to be included on the Shine On Brightly album. Brooker's vocal on this track is merely there to guide the group as they work out the song in the studio, and is obviously not representative of how any finished version of this track would have sounded. It is, however, the only surviving take of McGreggor to feature any kind of vocal performance, and as such the historical importance of the whole outweighs the technical imperfections of any of its parts!
Lyrics & Music by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid
Album: Salty Dog [1999 reissue bonus track]
Produced by Denny Cordell and recorded 10/07/68, this is an unreleased performance mixed down from the original four-track tape, that was originally intended to be included on the Shine On Brightly album. Brooker's vocal on this track is merely there to guide the group as they work out the song in the studio, and is obviously not representative of how any finished version of this track would have sounded. It is, however, the only surviving take of McGreggor to feature any kind of vocal performance, and as such the historical importance of the whole outweighs the technical imperfections of any of its parts!
McGreggor was a soldier brave
(Continues)
(Continues)
Contributed by giorgio 2020/6/1 - 22:30
Soldier
[2017]
Lyrics by Gary Brooker
Music by Gary Brooker and Josh Phillips
Album: Novum
“Soldier” starts pensive and it’s a solid Procol Harum old fashion melody. Everything is as it was during “Shine on Brightly”, – powerful, melodic, haunting, and Whitehorn once again slips into a perfect lead guitar role with that signature Hammond-organ riding the finale with beautiful horns. Pete Brown takes a respectable lyrical page from Keith Reid with political-sturdy verses. No pomposity. This one has an emotional melody that is relevant and time and care to this music: applied. No one in rock music since 1967 has ever approached the literate rock of this band and how it marries their intense music and arrangement to the presentation. Some come close, Van der Graaf Generator, King Crimson, PFM (but what they lack is a solid foundation in the blues - that which Procol Harum possesses and understands). Potency…that’s the word that best describes Procol Harum yesterday…and today as well !
Lyrics by Gary Brooker
Music by Gary Brooker and Josh Phillips
Album: Novum
“Soldier” starts pensive and it’s a solid Procol Harum old fashion melody. Everything is as it was during “Shine on Brightly”, – powerful, melodic, haunting, and Whitehorn once again slips into a perfect lead guitar role with that signature Hammond-organ riding the finale with beautiful horns. Pete Brown takes a respectable lyrical page from Keith Reid with political-sturdy verses. No pomposity. This one has an emotional melody that is relevant and time and care to this music: applied. No one in rock music since 1967 has ever approached the literate rock of this band and how it marries their intense music and arrangement to the presentation. Some come close, Van der Graaf Generator, King Crimson, PFM (but what they lack is a solid foundation in the blues - that which Procol Harum possesses and understands). Potency…that’s the word that best describes Procol Harum yesterday…and today as well !
The sky has no end tonight
(Continues)
(Continues)
Contributed by giorgio 2020/6/1 - 16:36
Conquistador
Dall'esordio dei Procol Harum, l'omonimo album del 1967.
Commento di RayMan alla canzone, da Songmeanings:
Commento di RayMan alla canzone, da Songmeanings:
"This track was recorded live with the Edmonton Orchestra, and the atmosphere is electric. Yes, the Conquistadors were the Spanish conquerors of the New World in the 1500's... but the image is a powerful metaphor for the anti-war movement (the Vietnam War in this case). Those who promote war see the Conquistador's gleaming armour, sword and shield as the answer to all of society's problems. But those who live long enough to see the real horrors of war, see the rust and tarnish on the dream. They KNOW that war, once again, is NOT the solution to ANY problem. Alas, it seems each generation has to learn this lesson all over again, and history continues to repeat itself..."
Conquistador your stallion stands
(Continues)
(Continues)
Contributed by Alessandro 2008/8/6 - 08:55
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Lyrics by Keith Reid
Music by Gary Brooker
Lorriane Schneider (1925-1972), a doctor’s wife, mother of four and printmaker, created one of the most emotionally charged posters of the Vietnam War era out of concern that her eldest son would be drafted into the army. At the time, given Lyndon Johnson and General William Westmoreland’s increased troop build-up, one need not be a fortune-teller to predict the inevitable consequence. But when the poster was issued in 1967, few could foresee that Schneider’s petition for peace would become the ubiquitous anti-war icon it was then or is today, almost 40 years later.
In 1967, Schneider entered a small print titled “Primer” to a miniature print show at Pratt Institute in New York. The only entry criterion was each submitted work could not exceed four square inches. With the war uppermost on her mind, Schneider made what she called her own... (Continues)