Procol Harum at City Winery

Gary Brooker

Born in East London, England, Gary Brooker grew up in Hackney before the family moved to Middlesex. As a child he learned to play piano, cornet and trombone. In 1962, Brooker founded the Paramounts in 1962 and had one hit song, but unable to generate any follow-up success, the group disbanded in 1966. In 1966, Brooker founded the Pinewoods, which in 1967 became Procol Harum, named after a Burmese cat owned by their recording engineer. The band's best-known recording, 1967's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," is one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. After several personnel and style changes, Procol Harum ended in 1977 and Brooker launched a modest solo career in 1979. Although Brooker many times reformed the brand for brief periods, there was no consistency until 1991. The current band of vocalist/pianist Brooker, guitarist Geoff Whitehorn, organist Josh Phillips, bassist Matt Pegg, and drummer Geoff Dunn, has remained stable since 2006. Procol Harum's 13th and most recent studio album, Novum, was released in 2017.

Procol Harum headlined three consecutive nights at City Winery, promising slightly different set lists each night. On the second night, the set list concentrated on the wealth of material during the band's first era, from 1967 to 1975, plus five songs from the current band's 2017 album. The band reached for deep cuts, with "Homburg" and "Simple Sister" as the most recognizable songs in the first set, and "A Salty Dog", "Conquistador" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in the second set. Brooker's soulful, smoky vocals carried the melodies, and then Whitehorn's expanded on the melody with his guitar leads, as Phillips' organ added body and weight to the arrangements. Lightly Baroque, lightly progressive, with a touch of melancholic soul, it was beauty all around.

Setlist

Set 1:

1. I Told on You
2. Pandora's Box
3. Homburg
4. The Unquiet Zone
5. Image of the Beast
6. The Devil Came from Kansas
7. The Only One
8. Simple Sister

Set 2:

1. Bringing Home the Bacon
2. Cerdes (Outside the Gates Of)
3. Shine On Brightly
4. Businessman
5. Neighbour
6. A Salty Dog
7. Grand Hotel
8. Conquistador
9. A Whiter Shade of Pale (introduced with snippets of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," J. S. Bach's "Orchestral Suite N° 3 in D Major," and Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry")