Matthew Fisher (born Matthew Charles Fisher, 7 March 1946, Addiscombe, Croydon, England) is an English organist and singer-songwriter, and was responsible for the organ sound on the 1967 single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.
In addition to his work with Procol Harum, he was producer to Robin Trower, James Dewar and Tir Na Nog (among others); and enjoyed a solo career,[1] being especially popular in Greece, where his 1980 song "Why'd I Have To Fall In Love With You" is considered a classic.[2] His solo albums include Journey's End (1973), I'll Be There (1974), Matthew Fisher (1980), and Strange Days (1981).
Two of the albums he produced for Trower, Bridge of Sighs (1974) and For Earth Below (1975), have been certified gold by the RIAA,[3] whilst "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has enjoyed multi-platinum status. Fisher's Hammond organ playing on pianist David Lanz's instrumental version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" from his 1988 CD, Cristofori's Dream, helped that album go gold as well. The year before, Fisher produced (for Primitive Records)and performed on the 12" single "All Washed Up" by Northampton Band 'Magnolia Siege' (singer Richard Jones or Rik Ramjet), playing honky-tonk piano on the B-side end of record reprise.
Fisher co-wrote and performed on the soundtrack of the 1968 avant-garde film, Separation, which was released on DVD in the UK in July, 2009 and in the USA in March, 2010. Fisher's instrumental "Theme From Separation" on his album Journey's End is from that film, and the soundtrack also included an alternate arrangement of the piece for Hammond, bass and harpsichord.[4]
Fisher co-produced an album by the group Prairie Madness in 1972, on which he also played organ and harpsichord. This was a piano-guitar duo with an accompanying band, but it achieved limited success. He has also played keyboards for Screaming Lord Sutch on his 1972 album, Hands of Jack the Ripper and played piano on David Bowie's tour in June and July 1972, with The Spiders from Mars.
Fisher quit Procol Harum in 1969 after the release of their third album, A Salty Dog, which he also produced. He rejoined the band in 1991 for the album The Prodigal Stranger and released two more albums with them, One More Time - Live in Utrecht 1992 and The Well's on Fire. In addition he appeared on two concert DVDs, Live in Copenhagen and Live at the Union Chapel, but quit the band again in 2004. He is currently a computer programmer in Croydon, London.
In 2009, the House of Lords found Fisher to be joint-author and co-owner of Procol Harum's iconic song 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' by virtue of his contribution to the song in the form of his organ solo, despite waiting nearly 40 years since its release to make a claim.
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