Procol Harum - 1973 - Grand Hotel

Genre: Proto-Prog
Country: United Kingdom
Format: MP3/320 Kbps
Size: 87340 KB
Released: 1973
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Covers included

You can't deny Procol Harum their important place in rock's scheme of things. They were the first to bring together the energy and mood of American rhythm and blues and the intensive bigness of European romantic music. At their height, they were as mysterious and as powerful as any artist, black or white (I thought at the time that "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was Percy Sledge's follow-up to "When a Man Loves a Woman" until I was told it was some English guy stealing from Bach). Their first and third albums, Procol Harum (just reissued by A&M as A Whiter Shade of Pale) and A Salty Dog, contain some of the most stirring moments in popular music.
The ultra-pompous title track says it all, in fact: a beautiful, romantic keyboard intro, grandiose lyrics ('tonight we sleep on silken sheets' and suchlike), orchestrated arrangements and quotations from waltzes and 'Otchi chyornije' (one of the few well-known Russian gypsy songs, if you're not familiar). The quotations might seem somewhat banal and out of place, but the melody itself, along the lines of 'A Salty Dog' but still somewhat different, is gorgeous - nobody could pull off such pomp and totally get away with it like good old Procol. Everybody knows how hard it is to write a bombastic, orchestrated ode and make it impressive as well. But these guys were really really talented, and Brooker has an amazing talent of dealing with classical music without any special education.

Track List

1. "Grand Hotel" - 6:10
2. "Toujours l'amour" - 3:31
3. "A Rum Tale" - 3:20
4. "TV Caesar" - 5:52
5. "A Souvenir of London" - 3:23
6. "Bringing Home the Bacon" - 4:21
7. "For Liquorice John" - 4:27
8. "Fires (Which Burnt Brightly)" - 5:10
9. "Robert's Box" - 4:45

The Band

Chris Copping - organ
Alan Cartwright - bass guitar
B.J. Wilson - drums
Mick Grabham - guitar
Gary Brooker - piano and vocals
Keith Reid - lyrics
Christiane Legrand vocals for "Fires (Which Burnt Brightly)"


Watch openning track ''Grand Hotel''

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1DExUH7bj8

Enjoy!