Keith Reid passed away on March 23rd. He was co-founder of Procol Harum with Gary Brooker and they hold the distinction of their first song being their best song….after co-writing 100+ songs for the band even though Keith didn’t play an instrument. Robin Trower joined the band in 1968, and I think this is him playing their biggest hit that was one of the signature songs of the flower-child movement in the 1960s:
Procol Harum played their first live gig at London’s Speakeasy club on the day “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was released. They performed a set of mostly Brooker/Reid songs mixed with covers of Bob Dylan, The Rascals and Tim Rose tunes. Jimi Hendrix was an early vocal supporter of the band and attended their first show where, at the start of their performance of Rose’s “Morning Dew”, he went on stage, took Knights’ bass and joined in.
