Procol Harum
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I was sixteen and playing lead guitar in a band. Nothing big, only some friends playing together. But we got a few gigs, and had a great time.
A Whiter Shade of Pale had hit the charts almost a year before. I loved it at once, but when the LP came out somebody told me it was not worth listening to. (I couldn’t afford many LPs at that time). So it wasn’t until another friend had discovered the Shine On Brightly album, and played it to me (starting with the Grand Finale), that I finally discovered the wonderful world of Procol Harum’s music. I rushed to the music store and bought both Procol Harum albums available at that time.
What really turned me on was Robin Trower’s majestic guitar solos, riding on the massive backing of Matthew’s Hammond and Gary’s piano (I told you I played lead guitar, didn’t I?). I’ve always imagined that if Trower had been in the band when AWSoP was recorded, there would have been a massive guitar solo in it.
I take it that I don’t have to mention which songs I preferred from my newly acquired music collection. And nobody should be surprised when I say that Repent Walpurgis was one of my absolute favourites.
I tried to play the solos Trower did on the Procol Harum records. But I couldn’t even come close. Then I focused on the drumming. My friend played the organ, and I tried to follow him on the drum kit. I noticed the double kick on the bass drum opening the song. And after some training I could manage to do that. The brilliant drumming throughout, of course, I never mastered.
But something had started within me, I had started listening to the drummers. And I soon realized that this band had a drummer far superior to most others.
I was always intrigued by the mysticism that surrounded Procol Harum. Their name sounds strange, A Whiter Shade of Pale had a strange title, and words absolutely impossible to understand for a young Norwegian boy. To be listened to in the spirit in which it was made, said the cover of their first LP, and that added to the mysticism. To me Repent Walpurgis fitted nicely in among all those incomprehensible words surrounding this wonderful music. And it really set me in a certain mood, only by saying those strange words. Now, of course, I’ve been able to get Matthew’s explanation for this strange title.
My guitar-playing? No, now I play drums. Nothing big, only some friends playing together. But we get a few gigs, and have a great time .. all thanks to BJ Wilson’s drumming on Repent Walpurgis, opening with a double kick on the bass.
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