Procol Harum: The Ghosts of a Whiter Shade of Pale

Formed in the 1960s, progressive rock band Procol Harum are best known for their multimillion-selling single 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' which is the most played record by a British artist of the last 70 years. Procol Harum's extraordinary career now spans almost 50 years. This major biography traces their roots back to 1964 when they were an R&B covers band called The Paramounts whom The Rolling Stones cited as their favourite British group at the time. With its song writing partnership of Keith Reid and Gary Brooker, the new band would soon become associated with a particularly soulful brand of progressive rock and enjoy a massive international hit with 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in the summer of 1967. A succession of Billboard Top 100 albums followed but Procol Harum's future would also be marked by a 14-year retirement, a successful re-formation and one of the costliest and most bitterly fought cases in British legal history. With specially written material by Martin Scorsese, Sir Alan Parker and author Sebastian Faulks, the book's stellar list of interviewees includes the band members themselves, producer Chris Thomas, Cream's Pete Brown and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. Their insights illuminate what must surely be the gold standard biography of a unique and highly influential band.