A Whiter Shade of Pale
	Produced by Denny Cordell
	Released on May 1967
	UK CHART POSITION #1 (RE-CHARTED #13 in 1972) . . . US CHART POSITION #5 (charted June 24, 1967 for 12 weeks) . . . ROLLING STONE TOP 500 SONGS: #57
	Find it at GEMM
45-7507 wo. picture sleeve [high resolution scan]

T hen her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale. Played out with a solemnity rarely seen in rock, Procol Harum’s first single struck the same collective chord as The Moody Blues’ “Nights In White Satin.” Keith Reid’s lyrics offer tantalizing bits of imagery that dissolve on close inspection (shades of Cream’s Peter Brown) while Matthew Fisher borrows a line from J.S. Bach and ends up with something that sounds an awful lot like “When A Man Loves A Woman” as sung by Van Morrison. I was never crazy about this song, and yet inexplicably Harum has never escaped its shadow. The closest they came to the US Top 20 again occurred with the unlikely live version of “Conquistador,” the two songs being released together as part of A&M’s Forget Me Nots reissue series in the ‘70s. For more on “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” visit Songfacts. The original B side, “Lime Street Blues,” is no more than a period piece: slightly psychedelic blues that may appeal to the people who buy Elvis Presley’s film scores. It later appeared on The Best of Procol Harum (undeservedly). Of very minor interest, the Deram #45-7507 single spells Keith Reid's last name as "Reed" and gives no track times for the songs. (In case you're wondering, the A side remains unchanged at a little over four minutes, the B side clocks in around three minutes.)

8559 wo. picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. A WHITER SHADE OF PALE    (Keith Reed/Gary Brooker)
2. LIME STREET BLUES    (Keith Reed/Gary Brooker)
   
   UK Magnifly 7-inch reissue
   
1. A WHITER SHADE OF PALE
2. A SALTY DOG
3. HOMBURG
   
   A&M Forget Me Nots 7-inch reissue
   
1. A WHITER SHADE OF PALE    (Keith Reid/Gary Brooker)    4:10
2. CONQUISTADOR (LIVE)    (Gary Brooker/Keith Reid)    4:16
   
   GER 12-inch picture disc
   
1. A WHITER SHADE OF PALE
2. HOMBURG
3. CONQUISTADOR
   
   UK Old Gold 7-inch reissue
   
1. A WHITER SHADE OF PALE
2. HOMBURG

CREDITS

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