A Whiter Shade of Pale

"A Whiter Shade of Pale"

A-side label of the UK vinyl single
Single by Procol Harum
from the album Procol Harum
B-side "Lime Street Blues"
Released 12 May 1967
Format 7-inch record
Recorded Olympic Sound Studios, London
Genre
Length 4:03
Label Deram Records
Songwriter(s) Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher
Producer(s) Denny Cordell
Procol Harum singles chronology
"A Whiter Shade of Pale"
(1967)		 "Homburg"
(1967)

"A Whiter Shade of Pale"
(1967)		 "Homburg"
(1967)

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British rock band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967 and stayed there for six weeks.[1] Without much promotion, it reached number 5 on the Bilboard pop chart in the United States.[2] One of the anthems of the 1967 Summer of Love, it is one of fewer than 30 singles to have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.[3]

With its haunting Bach-derived instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics – by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Keith Reid[4] and Matthew Fisher – "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached No. 1 in several countries when released in 1967. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic. It was the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK (as of 2009),[5] and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognised it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.[6] Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" 57th on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In 1977, the song was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody") of "The Best British Pop Single 1952–1977" at the Brit Awards.[7] In 1998 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[8] More than 1000 recorded cover versions by other artists are known.[9] The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films, including The Big Chill, Purple Haze, Breaking the Waves, The Boat That Rocked and notably in Martin Scorsese's segment of New York Stories and most recently in a key scene in Roland Emmerich's 2015 drama Stonewall. Cover versions of the song have also been featured in many films, for example, by King Curtis in Withnail and I and by Annie Lennox in The Net.

The original writing credits were for Brooker and Reid only. On 30 July 2009, Matthew Fisher won co-writing credit for the music in a unanimous ruling from the Law Lords.

Recording and personnel

The song was performed and recorded at Olympic Sound Studios in London, England, with Gary Brooker providing the vocals and piano, Matthew Fisher on a Hammond M-102 organ, David Knights on bass and Ray Royer on guitar. Drums were by session drummer Bill Eyden. A few days later, the song was re-recorded with the band's then newly recruited drummer Bobby Harrison, but that version was discarded, and one of the original mono recordings was chosen for release.

Producer for the record was Denny Cordell, and Keith Grant was the sound engineer.[10] The song was included on the US release of the Procol Harum album, in September 1967, but not on the later UK version.[11]

Lyrics

Reid got the title and starting point for the song at a party. He overheard someone at the party saying to a woman, "You've turned a whiter shade of pale", and the phrase stuck in his mind.[12][13] The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth.[14] The author of Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale, Claes Johansen, suggests that the song "deals in metaphorical form with a male/female relationship which after some negotiation ends in a sexual act".[13] This is supported by Tim de Lisle in Lives of the Great Songs, who remarks that the lyrics concern a drunken seduction, which is described through references to sex as a form of travel, usually nautical, using mythical and literary journeys.[15] Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.[12]

Contrary to the above interpretations, Reid was quoted in the February 2008 issue of Uncut magazine as saying:

I was trying to conjure a mood as much as tell a straightforward, girl-leaves-boy story. With the ceiling flying away and room humming harder, I wanted to paint an image of a scene. I wasn’t trying to be mysterious with those images, I was trying to be evocative. I suppose it seems like a decadent scene I’m describing. But I was too young to have experienced any decadence, then. I might have been smoking when I conceived it, but not when I wrote. It was influenced by books, not drugs.

Structurally and thematically, the song is unusual in many respects. While the recorded version is 4:03 long, it is composed of only two verses, each with chorus. The piece is also more instrument-driven than most songs of the period, and with a much looser rhyme scheme. Its unusually allusive and referential lyrics are much more complex than most lyrics of the time (for example, the chorus focuses on Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale"). Thus, this piece can be considered an early example of progressive rock.

The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries.[16][17][18] As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song.[19] It has also been heavily paraphrased, in forms like "an Xer shade of Y", to the extent that it has been recognised as a snowclone[20][21] – a type of cliché and phrasal template.

Composition

The song's distinctive, Bach-inspired organ part was played on a Hammond M102.

The song is in moderate time in C major and is characterised by the bassline moving stepwise downwards in a repeated pattern throughout. In classical music this is known as a ground bass. The harmonic structure is identical for the organ melody, the verse and the chorus, except that the chorus finishes with a cadence. The main organ melody appears at the beginning and after each verse/chorus. But it is also heard throughout, playing variations of its theme and counterpointing the vocal line. As the chorus commences "And so it was, and later ...", the vocal and organ accompaniment begin a short crescendo, with the organist running his finger rapidly down and up the entire keyboard. The final instrumental fades out to silence – a common device in pop music of the time.

Classical music expert Maarten 't Hart calls "A Whiter Shade of Pale" an "original adaptation" of Johann Sebastian Bach's Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156. Besides, the Hammond organ line of the song came from Bach's "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String", both of which use a similar stepwise bass motion. The similarity is referred to in the 1982 play The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard and 1991 film The Commitments. A yet closer melodic influence that is seldom cited can arguably be found in the organ choral prelude "O Mensch bewein dein' Sünde groß" (O Man, Lament Your Sin So Great), BWV 622, from Bach's Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book). The music also borrows ideas from "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge.[22]

Release and reception

The single was released on 12 May 1967 in the United Kingdom by Deram Records and entered Record Retailer's chart (later the UK Singles Chart) on 25 May. In two weeks it reached number 1, where it stayed for six weeks. Writing in 2005, Jim Irvin of Mojo said that its arrival at number 1 on 8 June 1967, on the same day that the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the national albums chart, marked the start of the Summer of Love in Britain.[23]

According to music journalist and author Harvey Kubernik, in the context of the Summer of Love, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was the "one song [that] stood above all others, its Everest-like status conferred by no less than John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who were enthralled by the Chaucerian wordplay and heavenly Baroque accompaniment".[11] Kubernik also writes that, amid the search for higher consciousness during the flower power era, the song "galvanised a congregation of disaffected youth dismissive of traditional religion but anxious to achieve spiritual salvation".[24]

In the United States, the single reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1 million copies. It also peaked at number 22 on the soul charts there.[25] In the Netherlands, the song entered the chart at number 1 in June 1967 and again reached number 1 in July 1972. A May 1972 re-release on Fly Records stayed in the UK charts for a total of 12 weeks and peaked at number 13.

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" has continued to receive critical acclaim. Along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was jointly recognised as "The Best British Pop Single 1952–1977" at the BRIT Awards, part of Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. In 1998 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it appeared at number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". British TV station Channel 4 placed the song at number 19 in its chart of "The 100 Greatest No. 1 Singles".[26]

Promotional films

One of the clips for the song was filmed at Witley Court, part of which was gutted by fire in 1937.

The first promotional clip for "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was shot in the ruins of Witley Court in Worcestershire, England.[27] It features four of the five musicians who played on the hit single: Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, David Knights and Ray Royer, in performance and walking through the ruins. Only the drummer in the video isn't on the record: early band member Bobby Harrison is seen miming to session man Bill Eyden's drumming. The film was directed by Peter Clifton, whose insertion of Vietnam War newsreel footage caused it to be banned from airplay on the BBC's Top of the Pops TV show.[28]

Procol Harum subsequently made a second promotional clip, using "Scopitone" technology. By this time, Robin Trower and B.J. Wilson had replaced Royer and Harrison in the band, so only three of the five musicians on the recording are represented. No performance footage appears in this film – only scenes of the five musicians cavorting around London and running across fields. The same lineup, with Fisher wearing a monk's cowl, mimed to the song on Top of the Pops, although Brooker sang live. Black-and-white footage of the performance has been shown online. The song represents 1967 in the 2004 release Top of the Pops 40th Anniversary 1964–2004 DVD.

There was also a film shot as part of Joel Gallen's Deja-View music video series.[29] Originally airing on various networks in late 1985 through 1986, this video starred Harry Dean Stanton and Bernie Taupin, but featured no member of the band. It has also aired on VH1 Classic, and has recently surfaced online.[30][31]

Authorship lawsuit

In 2005, former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher filed suit in the High Court against Gary Brooker and his publisher, claiming that he co-wrote the music for the song.[32] Fisher won the case on 20 December 2006 but was awarded 40% of the composers' share of the music copyright, rather than the 50% he was seeking and was not granted royalties for the period before 2005.[33]

Brooker and publisher Onward Music were granted leave to appeal, and a hearing on the matter was held before a panel of three judges during the week of 1 October 2007. The decision, on 4 April 2008, by Lord Justice Mummery, in the Court of Appeal upheld Fisher's co-authorship[34] but ruled that he should receive no royalties as he had taken too long (38 years) to bring his claim to litigation. Full royalty rights were returned to Brooker.[35]

On 5 November 2008, Fisher was granted permission to appeal this decision to the House of Lords.[36] Lawyers say it is the first time the Law Lords have been asked to rule on a copyright dispute involving a song.[37] The appeal was heard in the House of Lords on 22–23 April 2009.[38]

On 30 July 2009 the Law Lords unanimously ruled in Fisher's favour. They noted that the delay in bringing the case had not caused any harm to the other party; on the contrary he had benefited financially from it. They also pointed out that there were no time limits to copyright claims under English law. The right to future royalties was therefore returned to Fisher.[39][40] The musicological basis of the judgment, and its effect on the rights of musicians who contribute composition to future works, has drawn some attention in the music world.[41]

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1967) Peak
position
Australia Go-Set 1
Austria 4
Belgium 1
Canada[42] 1
France 1
Germany 1
Ireland 1
Italy 1
Netherlands 1
New Zealand (Listener)[43] 1
Norway 3
Poland 2
Spain 1
United Kingdom 1
United States 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1967) Ranking
Australia [44] 14
Canada [45] 27
United States[46] 38

Annie Lennox version

"A Whiter Shade of Pale"
Single by Annie Lennox
from the album Medusa
B-side "Heaven"
"(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear"
Released May 1995
Format CD single
Genre Pop
Length 5:15
Label Arista
Songwriter(s) Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Keith Reid
Producer(s) Stephen Lipson
Annie Lennox singles chronology
"No More "I Love You's""
(1995)		 "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
(1995)		 "Waiting in Vain"
(1995)

"No More "I Love You's""
(1995)		 "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
(1995)		 "Waiting in Vain"
(1995)

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" was covered by Annie Lennox for her 1995 album Medusa. It was released as the second single in May 1995 and became a top-forty hit in Europe and Canada.

Charts

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[47] 56
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[48] 48
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[49] 16
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[50] 37
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[51] 2
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[52] 45
France (SNEP)[53] 17
Germany (Official German Charts)[54] 77
Ireland (IRMA)[55] 25
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[56] 39
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[57] 11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[58] 26
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[59] 16
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[60] 1
US Hot Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[61] 2
US Hot Singles Sales (Billboard)[62] 66

References

  1. ↑ "EveryHit.com". everyHit.com. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books.
  3. ↑ "Procul Harum Signer Gary Brooker Wins A Whiter Shade of Pale Royalty Court Battle". The Mirror. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "Show 49 - The British are Coming! The British are Coming!: With an emphasis on Donovan, the Bee Gees and the Who. [Part 6] : UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "Whiter Shade 'most played' song". BBC News. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Procol Harum Shades Rivals in UK Survey". Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  7. ↑ The BRITs 1977". Brits.co.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Grammy.org Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "A Whiter Shade of Pale Versions – Martin's Collection". Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Procol Harum Beyond The Pale" by Claes Johansen, pp. 68, 86, SAF Publishing, London, 2000.
  11. 1 2 Kubernik 2017, p. 191.
  12. 1 2 Paul Simpson, The rough guide to cult pop, Page 249. Rough Guides, 2003, ISBN 1843532298. 15 December 2003. ISBN 978-1-84353-229-3. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  13. 1 2 Claes Johansen, Procol Harum: beyond the pale, pp. 57–62. SAF Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-946719-28-4. 2000. ISBN 978-0-946719-28-0. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  14. ↑ "Miscellaneous Keith Reid words". Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  15. ↑ Lives of the Great Songs, Tim de Lisle, Trafalgar Square, 1995, ISBN 1-85793-374-5.
  16. ↑ Knowles, Elizabeth (editor), ed. (2007). "Reid, Keith & Brooker, Gary". Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920895-1.
  17. ↑ Knowles, Elizabeth (editor), ed. (2004). "Reid, Keith". The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860720-5.
  18. ↑ Ratcliffe, Susan, ed. (2006). "Reid, Keith". Oxford Dictionary of Phrase, Saying, & Quotation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280650-5.
  19. ↑ "'A Whiter shade of pale' in common parlance". Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  20. ↑ "The Snowclones Database". Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  21. ↑ Pullum, Geoffrey K; Liberman, Mark (2006). Far from the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from the Language Log. Wilsonville, Or.: William, James & Co. ISBN 978-1-59028-055-3.
  22. ↑ Holm-Hudson, Kevin (2008). Genesis and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7546-6147-4. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  23. ↑ Irvin, Jim (Summer 2005). "The Beatles: After Pepper". Mojo. Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
  24. ↑ Kubernik 2017, pp. 149, 191.
  25. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 473. ISBN 0-89820-160-8.
  26. ↑ "THE 100 GREATEST No.1 SINGLES". Retrieved 21 September 2006.
  27. ↑ "Hereford and Worcester - Places - Witley court". BBC. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  28. ↑ Robinson, Alan (November–December 2009). "Procol Harum". Shindig!. p. 55.
  29. ↑ Noel Holston (12 December 1985). "Deja View Looks Into The '60s". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  30. ↑ "A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Harry Dean Stanton - Procol Harum". Youtube. 21 February 2009.
  31. ↑ "Deja View". Internet Movie Database.
  32. ↑ "A Whiter Shade of Pale authorship lawsuit". Retrieved 21 September 2006.
  33. ↑ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Organist wins Procol Harum battle.
  34. ↑ "Judgment in the AWSoP lawsuit appeal, 4 April 2008". Procolharum.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  35. ↑ BBC - Procol Harum ruling is overturned.
  36. ↑ BBC News, 6 November 2008, Lords House to hear Procol battle; www.bbc.co.uk.
  37. ↑ "Law Lords hear Harum song battle". BBC News. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  38. ↑ Bowcott, Owen (22 April 2009). "A Whiter Shade of Pale: House of Lords asked to rule in copyright wrangle". London: Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  39. ↑ "Victory for Whiter Shade organist". BBC. 30 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 July 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  40. ↑ "Judgments – Fisher (Original Respondent and Cross-appellant) v Brooker and others (Original Appellants and Cross-respondents)". 30 July 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
  41. ↑ Gendelman, David. "Blogs :: Crawdaddy:: Paste". Crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  42. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 7, No. 24, August 12 1967". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  43. ↑ Flavour of New Zealand, 11 August 1967
  44. ↑ "Go-Set Magazine Charts". www.poparchives.com.au. Barry McKay. January 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  45. ↑ "RPM 100 Top Singles of 1967". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1967/Top 100 Songs of 1967". Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  47. ↑ Ryan Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  48. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale..." (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  49. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale..." (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  50. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2736." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  51. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2743." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  52. ↑ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  53. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale..." (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  54. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale...". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  55. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Annie Lennox". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  56. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale..." (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  57. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1995-06-11". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  58. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Annie Lennox – A Whiter Shade of Pale...". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  59. ↑ "Annie Lennox: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  60. ↑ "Annie Lennox – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for Annie Lennox. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  61. ↑ "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  62. ↑ "Hot Singles Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2016.

Sources

Preceded by
"Silence is Golden" by The Tremeloes		 UK Singles Chart number one single
8 June 1967–18 July 1967 (six weeks) 		Succeeded by
"All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles
Preceded by
"Black Velvet Band" by Johnny McEvoy		 Ireland 1967 number one single
22 June 1967–19 July 1967 (five weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Black Velvet Band" by Johnny McEvoy
Preceded by
"This is My Song" by Petula Clark		 Australia 1967 number one single
8 July 1967–28 July 1967 (three weeks) 		Succeeded by
"All You Need is Love / Baby, You're a Rich Man" by The Beatles

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