page_title: Procol Harum
section_title: "A Whiter Shade of Pale", commercial success and debut album (1967)
hierarchical_section_title: Procol Harum / History / "A Whiter Shade of Pale", commercial success and debut album (1967)
caption_attribution_description: English: British rock group Procol Harum, in 1967. Band members are: Gary Brooker (lead vocals, piano), Robin Trower (guitar, backing vocals), David Knights (bass), Matthew Fisher (organ, guitar, backing vocals) and B. J. Wilson (drums, percussion)
context_page_description: Procol Harum is an English rock band formed in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music is described as psychedelic rock and proto-prog.
  In 2018, the band was honoured by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was inducted into the brand-new Singles category.
context_section_description: At Olympic Studios, southwest London, with session drummer (and non-Paramount) Bill Eyden, producer Denny Cordell and sound engineer Keith Grant, the group recorded "A Whiter Shade of Pale", and it was released on 12 May 1967. With a structure reminiscent of Baroque music, a countermelody based on J. S. Bach's Orchestral Suite N° 3 in D Major played by Fisher's Hammond organ, Brooker's vocals and Reid's lyrics, the single reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Canadian RPM Magazine chart. It did almost as well in the United States, reaching No. 5 on 29 July 1967. In Australia, it was No. 1 for many weeks, setting a record of 8 weeks in Melbourne.
  After "A Whiter Shade of Pale" became a hit, the band set out to consolidate its studio success by touring, with new official drummer Bobby Harrison added to the line-up; its live debut was opening for Jimi Hendrix in 1967. The group's follow-up single, "Homburg", with a line-up change of former Paramounts B. J. Wilson on drums and Robin Trower on guitar (replacing Harrison and Royer, respectively, who exited to form the band Freedom), reached No. 6 in the UK, No. 15 in Canada, and No. 34 in the US.
  The group's eponymous debut studio album was recorded between the two hit singles, and was released in early September in the US, but was held back until December 1967 in the UK. A series of singles charted poorly in the US and UK, though rarely both at the same time.
caption: The group in late 1967
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