Procol Harum, 40th Anniversary Edition [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

Procol Harum's first album has had a checkered history on both sides of the Atlantic. We were luckier in the States than our UK cousins because Deram/London issued the LP in the early fall of 1967, when AWSOP was still relatively fresh and Homburg was just being released. Our version featured AWSOP but omitted Good Captain Clack (which appeared as the flip of Homburg, on A & M Records). I first heard the disc in its dreadful "rechanneled for stereo" version; later, I swapped that for the pristine mono version that was simultaneously released. A & M Records reissued the LP after the success of the orchestral version of Conquistador in 1972, this time with both AWSOP and Captain Clack.
When CDs first made their appearance, I waited in vain for the release of this marvelous music. I finally located it in the UK on a Cube Records disc sometime in the late '80s. The sound was adequate and the songs were sometimes slightly different versions than those found on my old LP. Around the time of the 30th anniversary of AWSOP, first the Repertoire and then Westside reissues appeared as imports in the US. I preferred the Westside disc, partly due to its more generous selection of bonus tracks. Westside also released a selection of tracks in stereo produced at the time of the first LP's sessions.
Which brings us to the present, and the release of this new reissue. The sound is an improvement over both the Repertoire and Westside discs, probably due to the utilization of the original master tapes as source material. The music sounds both brighter and sharper than on previous issues without any attendant loss of bass; there is some slight echo or reverb detectable on some of the vocals that was present on the LP but not on any of the CDs until now, and the soundstage is fuller with more atmosphere than previously.
The bonus tracks are as impressive as the LP tracks, and the inclusion of the "new" track Understandably Blue is icing on a very rich cake. The Italian version of Shine On, Brightly (previously issued by Westside), includes an introduction and tagline in Italian, adding to its curiosity value.
If you don't know Procol, this is the place to start; if, like me, you've followed them for over 40 years, this is still the CD version to have of that first miraculous album.

I did not know that the summer of 1967 would soon be remembered as the "Summer of Love." I recall being transfixed by repeated listening to Radio Caroline's airplay of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale".

Listening to a sound so appealing and yet so different from anything else released at the time. Worldwide success was a deserved reward for such an innovative composition. I HAD to have that single, and I also bought the first LP which appeared a few months later. Eventually, I bought all the group's albums up to "Procol's Ninth". You could say that I am a long-time fan.

After their smash hit, the group was soon under pressure to record the material for their first LP in-between many live gigs. There is some controversy regarding who played on the single but, anyway, Gary Brooker band mates from the "Paramounts" (Robin Trower and B. J. Wilson,) were soon called upon to play guitar and drums, respectively.

Luckily, original material was not a problem. Since the moment that Gary Brooker focused on song writing, material had been worked upon. Keith Reid, as a lyricist, had obviously been influenced by mid-sixties Bob Dylan but his cryptic lyrics stood on their own and were a valuable contribution to the material.

As a result of the availability of original material, of the high level of musicianship from those involved and of their great interplay, the short time afforded to the recording process did not affect the overall quality of the album whose original content appear in mono.

Gary Brooker's excellent, soulful, blues-tinged voice was a remarkable instrument in its own right. His piano playing proved fresh, perfectly meshing with the bloom of Matthew Fisher's always tasty organ work. Obviously, Brooker included classical influences in the music.

But the rock elements were there as well. From the start, Robin Trower appeared as a guitarist to be reckoned with. He could be subdued or rock harder according to the needs of any song. The bass and drums are excellent throughout.

My own favourite tracks from the original album are: "Conquistador", "She Wandered through the Garden Fence", "Cerdes (Outside the Gates of)", "A Christmas Camel" and "Repent Walpurgis".

At the time of release, the band's label, made two mistakes. It did not use "Conquistador" as a single (it would later be a hit in a live version with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra). They also excluded the big hit from the album (unlike what was done in the USA). Although common in the UK, this practice was highly ineffective as far as "marketing strategy" is concerned (US labels were smarter on that count.)

This album has always been in print since his original release. The first CD releases suffered from awful remastering. Things improved somewhat with the Repertoire releases, which also added additional tracks. Those were superseded by the Westside reissues. Kudos to Salvo for remastering these songs from the original master tapes, with the active help from Gary Brooker and Keith Reid. Like the Salvo remasters of the "Move" material, this CD sounds definitive as far as sound quality goes. At long last, this essential Procol Harum material is presented with the excellent sound quality it fully deserves.

The CD comes in a three-fold LP style case (135 mm x 135 mm). The original Italian cover (which uses pink, white and blue colours) replaces the original UK black and white sleeve. I will add that I much prefer the Digipak used by Salvo on the 2-cd "Secrets of the Hive" Procol Harum compilation because a CD is much more secure in the latter packaging type.

The inserted colour 20-page booklet, depicting the black and white sleeve, is very detailed and provides the proverbial icing on the cake. It includes excellent, extremely informative notes by Henry Scott-Irvine (who had also worked with Westside but was not happy with the way his material was used). There is also a lot of delightful memorabilia including photos of the band, of record sleeves, etc. The title list is quite detailed too. However, the comment implying that the stereo (!) version of "Alpha" was recorded at the same session as "AWSOP" is way out of line as this early session was recorded in mono.

Total play exceeds 72 minutes and eleven bonus tracks are included (when compared to the original UK release).

The very best of those includes, of course, the single versions of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" [AWSOP] and of "Homburg" (as well as their respective B-sides).

Some mono tracks also appear in excellent stereo versions (most notably "Homburg" and "Conquistador").

As regards the "new" tracks, "Il Tuo Diamante" is a previously unreleased demo version of "Shine on Brightly" sung in Italian. "Alpha", described as a new remix of the track already issued by Westside, is one of the very first Brooker/Reid compositions.

There are also two "genuine" previously unissued tracks. "Understandably Blue", featuring only Brooker's voice and piano backed by a string arrangement, is quite appealing. One (out of two) early, instrumental-only version of "Pandora's Box" is included, featuring the original arrangement. This song would become a top 20 hit after being re-arranged and re-recorded (with vocals) by the group in 1975.

Interestingly, an early recording of "Quite Rightly So" was tucked at the end of the production master for the CD under review. This version can be found as track 18 on Salvo's release of the "Quite Rightly So" album.

The reissue under review enables one to listen to the expanded classic first Procol Harum as it should have sounded so long after the advent of quality CD remastering. The bonus material, as a whole, is invaluable.

Procol Harum (40th anniversary series) Forgot how good they were. This album does the trick.