#b.j. wilson

[transpondster]

Procol Harum, A Salty Dog, c1971

Let no one leave alive

(There must be a story behind the false start on this. The facial expressions being exchanged at the start are an excellent representation of what it’s like to be in a band.)

[spilladabalia]

Procol Harum - Piggy Pig Pig

[spilladabalia]

Procol Harum - The Devil Came From Kansas

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Procol Harum - Something Magic (Expanded & Remastered)

When it came out in 1977, Something Magic, the 10th - and final - album of Procol Harum’s initial run, represented the sound of a band running on creative fumes.

Filled out with the side-long (18 minutes) “The Worm & the Tree,” an orchestral, spoken-word treatise on greed, it has but a few high-quality tunes, including the symphonic title track.

Remastered - brighter and with more high end - and expanded with studio cuts, including the uncharacteristic bluegrass of “This Old Dog” with organist Pete Solley on fiddle, and a terrific BBC Radio 1 concert, the Something Magic reissue is worth a 21st-century revisit for the bonus material.

The live performance finds the band playing much of its classically tinged music - “Something Magic,” “Conquistador,” “Grand Hotel,” et al. - sans strings, leaving vocalist Gary Brooker and Solley to recreate those parts on piano and organ, respectively. This sets the songs in unique arrangements and allows the band - not to mention Brooker on the mic - to show off its formidable musical chops.

“Wizard Man,” meanwhile, foreshadows every rock ‘n’ roll song Bruce Springsteen would pen for The River and “A Whiter Shade of Pale” proves this Procol incarnation - despite having only Brooker and drummer B.J. Wilson, plus non-performing lyricist Keith Reid, from the original lineup - capable of recapturing decade-old magic just before the end of the line.

Grade card: Procol Harum - Something Magic (Expanded & Remastered) - B

3/30/21

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Procol Harum - Hits‘n’Flips 1967-1970

A good introduction for newcomers with tantalizing bait for long-timers, Procol Harum’s latest compilation serves dual purposes.

Hits‘n’Flips 1967-1970 collects the band’s earliest A and B sides and augments them with an Italian version of “Shine on Brightly” called “Il Tuo Diamonte” and stereo mixes of “Homberg,” “Lime Street Blues” and its signature song, the sweeping, balladic “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” all of which also appear in their original form.

Die-hards will relish the updated mixes for their readily apparent differences, particularly “Homberg,” which runs seven minutes and is finally shed of its unnatural fade. For the uninitiated, the LP provides a rare, unchallenging, opportunity to discover Gary Brooker’s exquisite vocals, Keith Reid’s quirky lyrics and the beginning of Robin Trower’s blossoming as a guitar god on “Long Gone Geek.”

It would be nice if there were more than eight unique titles among its 11 cuts and if the album showcased some of the band’s more adventurous material; however, Hits‘n’Flips 1967-1970 is so named for a reason.

And it more than lives up to its billing.

Grade card: Procol Harum - Hits‘n’Flips 1967-1970 - A-

5/10/19

[krispyweiss]

Procol Harum Rebuilds ‘Broken Barricades’

Procol Harum’s Broken Barricades is getting the deluxe-reissue treatment.

The 1971 LP will be remastered and expanded to three discs with 32 previously unreleased studio and live tracks that mark Robin Trower’s departure from the band and the beginning of Dave Ball’s short tenure as lead guitarist.

Disc one features the original album and associated studio outtakes; disc two is comprised of one of Trower’s final Procol performances from April 12, 1971, in New York City; and the final disc features live recordings for the BBC on Oct. 6 and in Stockholm on Oct. 16, 1971.

Out May 31, the set also includes an illustrated book with material from Gary Brooker’s archives and commentary from Brooker, Trower and lyricist Keith Reid.

4/11/19

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Procol Harum - Exotic Birds and Fruit (Expanded Edition)

In 1974, Procol Harum were busy touring and promoting the then-new Exotic Birds and Fruit LP.

Those sales efforts included a March appearance on BBC Radio One's "In Concert" program and a July performance for Dallas' KZEW-FM. Both of these mini-concerts - the latter previously unreleased - make up the bulk of the bonus material on a new, expanded reissue of the band's seventh studio LP.

As Exotic Birds and Fruit is one of the band's weaker efforts, and remastering can’t change that, it's the live material that makes this reissue most appealing; however, without a large audience to egg them on and with constant interruptions from the show hosts slowing any momentum, each of these performances pales when compared to the band's in-concert recordings.

There are a handful of repeats in the two in-studio sets including "Conquistador," "Bringing Home the Bacon" and the Exotic tracks "As Strong as Samson" and "Butterfly Boys,” which don’t merit multiple listens so close together. But standout performances of earlier, superior songs such as “Simple Sister," "Homberg," "Grand Hotel," "Cerdes (Outside the Gates Of)" and "Mable" show off the band's hard-rocking, balladeer, anthemic and playful sides, respectively. And guitarist Mick Grabham's recitation of a vulgar rhyme he saw on a studio wall is priceless and must have made the Dallas radio-station operators cringe.

Through it all, Gary Brooker sings like only he can; B.J. Wilson proves himself one of rock's most underrated drummers; and keyboardist Chris Copping gets to show off his banjo chops on "Beyond the Pale."

Procol Harum fans are always trying to turn people on to the band’s magic; however, this reissue is not the place to start. Like the original Exotic Birds and Fruit, this expanded edition is well-suited only for the most exuberant, existing Procol provocateurs.

Grade card: Procol Harum - Exotic Birds and Fruit (Expanded Edition) - B-

10/26/18

[krispyweiss]

Album Review: Procol Harum - Grand Hotel: Remastered & Expanded

Procol Harum don't need no stinking orchestra and choir to make majestic music.

Alternative versions of the title track and "Fires (Which Burn Brightly)" included on the 2018 remastered-and-expanded edition of 1973's Grand Hotel make this clear. Stripped of their classical accompaniment, the songs reveal the power of guitar, piano, organ and a rhythm section.

"Grand Hotel," in particular, goes a long way toward showing the prowess behind Procol's instrumentalists - as drummer B.J. Wilson, bassist Alan Cartwright and organist Chris Copping's work gains new prominence. Copping, meanwhile, lends a harpsichord to “Fires,” which benefits from erasure of the annoying choir vocals that appear on the standard version of the track.

Grand Hotel was a transitional album for Procol Harum, with Cartwright making his first studio appearance and guitarist Dave Ball - who stepped in for Robin Trower, and like Cartwright debuted on ’72’s Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra - already gone and replaced by Mick Grabham. Ball finally does get to enter the Grand Hotel with this reissue; however, as alternative versions of "Robert's Box," "Toujours L'amour" and "Bringing Home the Bacon" - the latter of which is loose, playful and far from finished - feature his work.

Although Grand Hotel has many differences from Trower-era Procol releases - less guitar-based blues and rock; none of Matthew Fisher’s sweeping instrumentals; only one vocalist in Gary Brooker - it also contains some similarities, including soaring interplay between piano and organ; a drinking song in "A Rum Tale;" ornate orchestral pieces like the title track and the deliberately misspelled "TV Ceasar;" and the STD novelty "A Souvenir of London," which features spoons and calliope to make the music as tongue-in-cheek as the words.

Want to keep it confidential/but the truth is leaking out/got a souvenir in London/there's a lot of it about, Brooker sings.

With wordplay courtesy of Keith Reid, this track - like every other Procol song with words - illustrates why the non-performing lyricist was a full-fledged member of the band and why the group was able to retain the gist of what made it so unique even when he, Brooker and Wilson were the only remaining original members.

Grade card: Procol Harum - Grand Hotel: Remastered & Expanded - B+

8/30/18