Procol Harum 1977

Of the legendary bands Great Britain birthed during the 1960s, none sound remotely like Procol Harum. From their emergence with the single version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" months before the world heard the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, they were prog before prog, psychedelic before the world knew what it was, and a rocking R&B outfit…

The fourth album by Procol Harum was released as the band was in the midst of a significant shift. With the departure of organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Robin Trower stepped more to the fore. The two-keyboard approach was still being utilized, with singer Gary Brooker's piano being joined on some selections by the organ playing of multi-instrumentalist Chris Copping. However, the stately grandeur that had been previously applied with grace and subtlety gave way to a band that rocked much harder…

Despite the departure of organist Matthew Fisher, Procol Harum survived, and this album is ample proof. Fisher was one of the prime architects of the Harum sound, and his work on such classics as "Shine on Brightly" and, of course, "Whiter Shade of Pale" underline that. Procol continued as a four-piece, and it was indeed a good thing that they decided not to replace Fisher…

Shine on Brightly was influential in the development of progressive rock by breaking all pop and rock music standards with the 17-minute epic "In Held Twas In I", which marked the beginning of the lengthy progressive rock suites that would occur later in the 1970s…

When Procol Harum's ninth studio album, Something Magic, was released in March 1977, it sold poorly and was largely dismissed, with the group breaking up at the end of the promotional tour for it. After its previous album, Procol's Ninth, produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Procol Harum might have been expected to go back to a more conventional approach; instead, the group hired the hot studio of the day, Criteria in Miami, and its hot resident producers, Ron and Howie Albert. When the band arrived in Florida and played the songs intended for the album, the Albert brothers threw half of them out. That left half of an album to fill, which led singer/pianist/composer Gary Brooker to turn to a parable-like poem written years earlier by his lyric partner Keith Reid, "The Worm & the Tree," and - in a move anticipating This Is Spinal Tap - writing a musical suite around it to fill up side two…

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of a new re-mastered 2 CD edition of the classic album “Something Magic” by PROCOL HARUM. First released in March 1977, the album introduced a new band line-up of GARY BROOKER (vocals, piano), B.J. WILSON (drums), CHRIS COPPING (bass), MICK GRABHAM (guitar) and PETE SOLLEY (organ, synthesiser) and was recorded in Miami with producers Ron and Howie Albert.

Streetmark was founded 1968 in Düsseldorf, when Dorothea Raukes, who had studied Classical Music and played keyboards, met the Brothers Thomas and Bernd Schreiber, both guitarists. Dorothea and Thomas formed the nucleus of the band. In the beginning Streetmark played mainly covers of The Beatles, Jon Mayall and Deep Purple. In 1969 they refused a proposal for a record deal. In the following five years Streetmark developed their own style mainly based on the compositions of Dorothea and Thomas, influenced by Procol Harum, Focus and ELP. Finally in 1975 Streetmark recorded their debut record "Nordland" for Sky.
"Nordland" was a brillant debut record, the band had taken the time to play the compositions live and to work them out. ..