Trust Your Heart

Larry Pennisi on another Reid collaboration

By any other name ... Keith Reid ... a man of mystery. In the nascent days of Procol Harum it was Keith who was the guiding force. It seems that he had a pointed idea about what Procol Harum should be.

Or did he? It appears that Procol is quite the result of a few fortunate accidents, crossovers in the time / space continuum ... however you choose to perceive it, Procol Harum is a hybrid of the rarest kind. And so it is with 'one eye on the future and the other on the past' that this article presents a rather rare set of Keith's words outside of Procol Harum.

Trust Your Heart: Cavaliere / Biancaniello / Reid: published by Bluebeard Music Ltd, 1994 (record name, label and so on?) The CD is on MCA records but was released on what appears to be Felix's own record label, Karambo'lange Records: MCAD11062. It would be interesting to find out how the collaboration began. Who approached whom ... was it a hit anywhere? While not an unlikely pairing, it is interesting to note the distinctly American flavor to his words. While downright Top 40, they work well enough within the context of the song I suppose.

Keith actually did a fine job of 'adjusting' his words to Felix Cavaliere's style. It works on that level. Far from the awe and mystery of Cerdes, A Christmas Camel or Shine On Brightly, it is nonetheless a workable set of words. Set to a finely produced Felix Cavaliere song, while not awesome as either song or wordset, its median tempo and highly-crafted pop approach, with a tasty Cavaliere organ snippet in mid-song make it appealing enough. High gloss ... smooth, silky: Top 40 at its best.

Special thanks to my long-time friend and fellow musician Ted McCallion for supplying the taped song and the typed words. Thanks agin' matey!

Larry Pennisi (1967?)

More Reid songs, non-Procol