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Fact #105884

When:

Short story:

Procol Harum release a new single, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, in the UK on Deram Records.

Full article:

Joe Boyd (Manager, Elektra Records UK) : When I was running the Elektra London office a guy came in off the street. He might have called me beforehand. I have a feeling that reception rang through and said someone was here to see me and it was Keith Reid and he said he wanted to make a record.

I said, 'Can I hear you play or do you have a tape?', and he handed me this piece of paper with lyrics on and I said, 'Yah' but it was like, then what?

He said, 'These are great lyrics and I can make a hit with these lyrics' and I was very polite but treated him as a kind of nutter. (Interviewed by Lois Wilson for Mojo, 2007)

Gary Brooker (vocalist/keyboardist, Procol Harum] : Procol Harum started off with Keith Reid and myself writing songs in late 1966.

Denny Cordell (producer) : Keith Reid came to see me with some lyrics written on a scrap of paper. He couldn't sing a note but the lyrics looked good. I suggested he try to get a tune together. Anyway, I didn't see Keith again for a while but David Platz, my partner in the music company and new Breed Productions, did. By now, Keith had joined forces with ex-Paramount Gary Brooker and completed some songs. David flipped over the combination. They'd recorded some demos and made a beautiful match. The demos were tremendous. So tremendous that money was found for them to get a group together. (Beat Instrumental, 1967)

Gary Brooker : Keith was very well-read. By the time he was fourteen he'd read everything. We wrote a song for Dusty Springfield and one for The Beach Boys, without any luck, so it was a bit disheartening. In the end, Keith suggested that as nobody else was going to sing our songs, I'd have to.

We sat down and thought about the type of band we needed. It was kind of like the stuff we'd been listening to