HOMBURG & OTHER HATS: PROCOL HARUM'S BEST

For my age -37- or older it's quite obvious to know the music of Procol Harum; if not the whole albums, at least their biggest hits: 'Whiter Shade of Pale', 'A Salty Dog', 'Shine on Brightly', etc. But how is it with younger generations? Lately I heard a young man in a record store phoning to his friend, asking what kind of stuff is Procol Harum, holding their DVD in his hand. That amused me a bit. I could have given him a short introduction, probably starting with a question if he really ever hadn't heard 'Whiter Shade', then saying something like "an arty rock band who were at their biggest, even pioneers, in the late sixties. A sort of Proto-Prog with lots of piano and organ, with elements ranging from blues to classical music". It would have been up to his tastes whether the DVD would have been a good investment for him. Well, I didn't see the conclusion of that case...

Anyway, this compilation CD is a very suitable introduction for a new listener. Those who have heard most albums, probably wish some changes on the track list. There are some songs I would consider mostly as fillers, a joke-like 'Souvenir of London' from Grand Hotel or 'The Devil Came from Kansas' from A Salty Dog, for example, while there are lots of great music remaining on their earliest albums. Especially for their most progressive side this compilation does little justice. Also the songs sung by others than Gary Brooker are ignored here. But as a start, this is fine. A proghead is firmly adviced to listen to especially Shine On Brightly from 1968, which includes a mighty epic 'In Held 'twas in I'. One could see it as a missing link between Beatles' Abbey Road suite and the 'real' prog epics like 'Supper's Ready' by Genesis.