Show notes
Several years ago, I wrote a time-travel film treatment called “Song Trippers” about a quartet of lonely, damaged people who found solace through music. Each lost soul connects to a song that transports them back in time to the place in their youth when they were the happiest. Of course, we all know that music has magic power. There are songs that can trip my memory far from the here and now to earlier states of joyful wonderment, and sadness, too, if that’s what’s called for. It’s strong medicine.For each episode in this series, I’ll take an 8 Track down from the shelf and share it with you, along with some special memories, bonded by that spiritual epoxy that has forged the framework of my life’s scaffold. - Captain Billy"A FANCY COVER BAND"PROCOL’S NINTH by Procol Harum (Chrysalis, 1975)Gary Brooker passed on recently, and the outpouring of grief for this titan was enormous. It had been a long time since Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale dominated the airwaves, but the baroque timelessness of that tune has stayed in our consciousness throughout the decades, and the chesty rumblings of it’s golden throated frontman definitely had staying power. Moreover, the Reid and Brooker songbook boasts an epic collection of enigmatic narratives that invite repeated listenings. They were a unique outfit with a singular sound and style.I suppose the reason this album suffers by critical comparison to some of the others - is that it plays it safe. Produced by Lieber and Stoller with the goal of producing a hit (which it did with Pandora’s box - the group’s last top 20), it is a spare set: clean, tight, poppy, and mixed well, albeit a little cramped sounding. But, why the flaccid covers? L&S had them record their own I Keep Forgetting, (to which the band reportedly objected) and, God help me), …. a sluggish, tired sounding rendition of Eight Days a Week. There are some decent originals: The Unquiet Zone, and the Final Thrust come to mine, yet it’s interesting to note that two of the Brooker/Reid compositions on the record - Without a Doubt and Typewriter Torment - seem to be about writer’s block, which makes perfect sense: the team was clearly writing about what they were experiencing. To be fair though, the album isn't as bad as had been described, even it the band sounds hand-cuffed, and the production is clean to the point of sterility. Despite this, Procol Harum is still Procol Harum, and that’s ok by me.1 | | Pandora's Box | 3:372 | | Fool's Gold | 4:003 | | Taking The Time | 3:394 | | The Unquiet Zone | 3:405 | | The Final Thrust | 4:376 | | I Keep Forgetting/ 3:287 | | Without A Doubt | 4:318 | | The Piper's Tune | 4:289 | | Typewriter Torment | 4:2910 | | Eight Days / 3:00
