Keith Reid is and always has been the lyricist for Procol
Harum, responsible for classic songs like Conquistador,
A Salty Dog, and of course the eternal A Whiter
Shade of Pale. Though it's been many years since Procol
Harum's heyday, the band has continued to tour and release
new material over the decades, and Reid has also
collaborated with numerous other luminaries. It's about time
for a Keith Reid Project.This disc collects thirteen of his non-Procol songs, co-written with big names of pop music like John Waite, Manfred Mann's Chris Thompson, Terry Reid, and Steve Booker (who co-wrote Duffy's recent #1 hit, Mercy). Given the variety of collaborators, and vocals from singers as diverse (though all male) as Waite, Southside Johnny, and Bernie Shanahan, it's no surprise that the disc is uneven in style in quality. But there's plenty to like.
Reid and Thompson's You're the Voice is a powerful, shimmering mini-masterpiece of sleek pop with a message. (The song was a huge hit for John Farnham in Australia and elsewhere 20 years ago.) The Heartbreak House nods towards Americana, as does the folky, haunting Potters Field with music by Michael Saxell. Ninety-Nine Degrees in the Shade grooves with swampy soul under Southside Johnny's gravelly vocals. Terry Reid gives Too Close to Call a touch of Al Green's spirit, while In God's Shadow is a strong mid-tempo rocker featuring Waite in an Eagles-like, seventies-style arrangement.
Other songs fare less well. Venus Exploding drowns in overwrought 80s-style St. Elmo's Fire production, and the title track fizzles out like a Randy Newman throwaway. All Chris Thompson's emoting can't raise the power ballad It Might Be Your Heart above average, though one can imagine a generic R&B singer having a hit with it.
Silver Town is a good one. Co-written with and sung by Booker, it evokes acoustic Springsteen in populist mode: "We built this town from a grain of sand / Far away from the reach of Washington / Now they say they need the land / And bite the hand that feeds the greed of Washington...." but "though the money's all run out / There's a wealth of folk in Silver Town." The closing song, Right About Now, looks back ruefully on a lost relationship and demonstrates, as well as any, Reid's lyrical gifts: "Right about now you'll be waking / And making your breakfast / In the cold grey light of dawn / And right about now you'll see my letter / The one that tells you that I'm not coming home."
So far the disc is available in the US only as an import, but you can hear some of it at the label's website or at Keith Reid's Myspace page.