Keith Reid, Procol Harum Lyricist and ‘Whiter Shade of Pale’ Co-Writer, Dies at 76
variety.comProcol Harum and co-writer of the iconic 1960s hit “Whiter Shade of Pale,” died on March 23 after a battle with cancer, according to a post on the band’s website.
He was 76. Reid’s acclaim with Procol Harum — from its eponymously-titled 1967 debut album until 2003’s “The Well’s on Fire” — came from his unusual turns of phrase and influences from classical literature on songs such as “A Salty Dog,” “Conquistador,” and most famously “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” an unusually lengthy and unlikely hit that has gone on to become one of the most commercially successful songs in history.
Combining a funereal organ hook borrowed from Bach’s Suite No. 3 in D Major, swinging jazz drums, singer Gary Brooker’s soulful yet maudlin vocal and Reid’s surreal lyrics about a breakup, the song topped the U.K.
singles chart and reached No. 5 in the U.S. in the summer of 1967, sold more than six million copies globally, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and, with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” was jointly recognized as the “Best British Pop Single 1952–1977″ at the BRIT Awards as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee.
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