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Audio Remasterer: Paschal Byrne. Recording information: Olympic Studios, London (03/12/1977); The Hippodrome, Golders Green, London (03/12/1977); Olympic Studios, London (06/1967); The Hippodrome, Golders Green, London (06/1967). Editor: Dave Meehan. 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. Their signature sound was a tense, often sublime balance of singer Gary Brooker's piano and dark, soul-drenched singing of Keith Reid's elliptical lyrics, Matthew Fisher's alternately haunted and fearsome organ, B.J. Wilson's drumming and -- at least through 1971's brilliant Broken Barricades -- the emergent electric blues guitar playing of Robin Trower. The weave of classical, pop, prog, and R&B was full of a dramatic tension, perverse, often black humor, biting commentary, history, and poetry. It exerted its influence on bands from the Who (Tommy) to Queen (A Night at the Opera) and beyond. Other tracks, including "A Salty Dog," "Whiskey Train," "Simple Sister," and "Conquistador," are also regarded as iconic. England's Esoteric Recordings tells the band's story properly for the first time in this deluxe, 50th anniversary eight-disc box set that compiles studio recordings and live performances. It is comprised of five audio discs and three DVDs. The first three compact discs draw upon key tracks from the band's discography thus far. Opening with the 45 mixes of the first two singles, disc one covers their debut album, Shine on Brightly, A Salty Dog, and Home, along with the rocking B-side "Long Gone Geek" and a 1967 outtake of "Understandably Blue." Disc two picks up with music from Broken Barricades before digging deep into Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Thankfully, Grand Hotel gets its proper respect with five cuts before the disc closes with three from Exotic Birds and Fruit -- disc three commences with two more and moves straight on through Procol's Ninth, 1977's Something Magic, 1991's reunion album (with both Fisher and Trower) The Prodigal Stranger, and subsequent efforts from The Well's on Fire (2003) and 2017's Novum. Personnel changes frequently, and by Novum, even Reid had been replaced by lyricist Pete Brown (who penned lyrics to some of Cream's classic hits). Discs four and five include two full concerts: In 1973 with an orchestra and chorus at the Hollywood Bowl, and without them in 1976 from the Bournemouth Winter Gardens. The three DVDs feature over three-and-a-half hours of (mostly) unissued footage from 1967-1977 include performances from Top of the Pops and BBC Sight and Sound in Concert, Bremen Beat Club, and Radio Bremen. Also included is a 68-page hardback book with a lengthy, authoritative essay by Pat
