Procol Harum were formed on 1967 by initiative of singer / pianist Gary Brooker. It’s from the same year the release of A Whiter Shade of Pale, a single which reached soon #1 of the chart in England, beating all previous sales records for a single, and reached the top of the US chart (as a matter of curiosity: the single was re-edited on 1972 reaching again the top places in the charts).
Maybe unprepared to such a big popularity Procol Harum suffered soon many line-up changes but released after a few months an album and a second single: Homburg.
In this case too the success was enormous and the single reached the top of the European and US [sic] charts. Thanks to these two milestones they entered in the rock history as the founders of classic-rock (remarkable their live album with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra).
In Italy we can’t forget the two excellent cover released by the Dik Dik (Senza Luce) and the Camaleonti (L’ora dell’amore) who lived in the Italian chart together with the UK originals. Procol Harum’s recording work continued in the years with excellent results (one for all A Salty Dog) that in any case never reached the same popularity of their first hits.
Today the line-up is composed by Gary Brooker (piano and voice), Matthew Fisher [sic] (Hammond), Geoff Whitehorn (guitar), Matt Pegg (bass), Mark Brzezicki (percussion). Procol Harum continue their concerts with great success in the main theatres and sport palaces all over the world and certainly their appearance at the 2004 edition of Verona Beat will not fail to cause enthusiasm.
(Not only is the line-up printed incorrectly, the picture features only one player from the concert, and is about 33 years out of date)