We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
I jumped the queue with this one due to the death last week of Gary Brooker., the keyboard and front man for the English band Procol Harum died of cancer last week at the age of 76.
In 1971 the band was invited to play a concert in Edmonton Alberta Canada with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Brooker thought that his record label A&M should record the event. They did and the LP became an unlikely hit in April of 1972.
Brooker wrote new orchestral arrangements for some of the band’s songs and the band was also breaking in a new lead guitar player, Dave ball, who replaced Robin Trower.
The success of the LP, which went to #5 on the US album charts, was driven by the first cut on the LP which became a surprise hit, going to #16 on the US charts.
“Conquistador” is kind of an outlier on the LP. It’s more uptempo than the rest of the album. Plus, the orchestra never had a chance to practice the new arrangement. The recording you hear was done live to open the concert with no rehearsal. They nail it. The strings and horns drive the tune, as does the drumming of BJ Wilson. I remember hearing this on the radio and wondering how this could be the same band that did ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale”.
The rest of the LP is ok but certainly doesnt deliver the thrills of the opening cut. Brooker was a talented guy and with Trower, Keith Reid and the other members of Procol Harum, made some really good music in their day.
Here is the track list and the album in its entirety.
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