PROCOL HARUM - A WHITER SHADE OF PALE (LIVE) | REACTION 

I think Gary's voice has aged like fine wine. I prefer this over the studio version hands down....and I'm an old man...

Chod.. I dunno if you realized that this 2006 performance is like 40+ years *after* the original studio version, and Gary sounds just as good; arguably BETTER than the original 1960s studio version!

One of the most beautiful songs ever written, sung by one of the best rock vocalist ever. Imagine the thrill of hearing this when it was brand new in 1967!

Gary Brooker MBE was an English singer-songwriter, pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Born: 29 May 1945, London - Died: 19 February 2022, Surrey.

Rest in peace, Gary Brooker! 💙 this was a phenomenal performance! But his voice was always phenomenal! He has sadly passed at age 76 on February 19, 2022 😓 ♥️

Pure music gold, sound even better some 50 years later, Brooker can SANG !! 😎

More beautiful than ever.

So glad you finally hit this version. It's among my top five music videos of all time. This is the best version of this song by far. 😊❤

Gary Brooker lead singer for Proco Harum lost his battle with cancer. Rest In Peace. What a voice the world lost today.

RIP Mr. Gary Brooker. The Greatest Song Ever recorded

I saw Procol Harum in 2019. And while I always thought Whiter Shade was a really good song. I was not prepared for the experience. While Gary Brookers voice is deeper and a bit more gruff than in 1967. It was pure and powerful. I not only got goosebumps then. I can not share my experience without getting goosebumps. I have been to hundreds of concerts and I must say. Whiter Shade of Pale live, in person, was the single greatest music moment I have ever experienced.

Just as beautiful as when I first heard it over 50 years ago. Thank you.

Rest in peace Gary...thank you for sharing your talent...

Another Danish National Symphony Orchestra & Choir masterpiece, next level thinking outside the box greatness 👍

An unforgettable performance!

Another great Brit rock musician

Just an amazing version of this song. It is just unbelievable that this version was performed 40 years after the original....and I think his voice was actually even better than in his youth....which sounds crazy to say....lol

Beautiful. Brings me right back to the day.

I once had a dream where I was in a runaway Ford Fairlane, careening through my neighbors backyards, until car and I plunged into our neighbor's swimming pool...with this song playing in the air. But my neighbor didn't have a swimming pool where the car wound up. What freaks me out is that NOW, decades later, there IS a pool right where the car wound up in the dream. Not the first time I've had prescient dreams. This song is as much a part of our culture as the 3 bears. Or was it 4? Ah, no, those were Tops.

one of the great songs of all-time, so uplifting, Gary awesome!!

The smile on your face said it all.

Beautiful!!!

God this is beautiful.

Just watched you again and after the tragic news of Gary's death seeing tth enjoyment he gave you brought a tear to my eyes.Having seen him live 8 times (5 with Orchestra) I can't believe I won't see him again

A HAMMOND B3 organ had a sound of it's own

The original was played on a Hammond 102 Organ. You can pick one up still for around $5K. The sound is just perfect.

47 years between studio and this LIVE show.

His voice sounds better than ever. 40 years later!

Timeless classic!⏰

Believe he was 61 here? crazy how good he sounds, love this version.

RIP GARY BROOKER...incredible voice 😢

Such a beautiful version. The arrangement is outstanding. I love the part in the prelude where the oboe breaks in while strings are playing and becomes a short solo. Just amazing.

Beautiful.

That oboe is one beautiful instrument !!!! The Hammond organ, adds a richness…. My dad bought a Hammond organ ….. took some lessons, he would play, and sing ……. I will never forget that…. RIP dad 🥰

My how his voice is beautiful still after all these years, amazing

Love this song. I actually prefer the studio version from the 60's as it is the one I grew up on. This live version is very good though as it shows how powerful Gary Brooker's voice is even as he got older. "Conquistador" is another great song by Procol Harum.

Just magnificent!

Incredible voice.

Awesome reaction bro 💯🔥...Classic Classic Classic song 👌

Your smile said it all this is an amazing performance by all concerned, a true classic from my favourite band. Thank you for your Procol reactions

What a wonderful performance!!! It takes me back to the good times!!!

Gary my favorite Singer end my favorite band, Procol harum. R i p. Grande Gary.

A really good live performance!✌🏻✨

Gary Brooker, the singer/pianist died a couple of days ago. He left some great music.

He obviously took care of his voice. So incredible.

Live 40yrs after the studio recording!

Thanks for sharing this. I so love listening to real instruments playing. And this one is a great experience.

The most important thing is he still sounds incredible live and it’s 40 years later.

An early 70's classic song made more classical. Brilliant.

"This man doesn't need this" you never spoke a truer word

This is greatness. I want this version on vinyl. Please Record Industry do this !!!!!!

Also recommend, by Procol Harum, Conquistador, Salty Dog, Homburg, Repent Walpurgis. That last one may be a lot better on drugs, so grain of salt on that recommendation.

AMAZING ! Step 1 - Orchestra prelude Step 2 - Gary Brooker and orchestra Step 3 - Gary Brooker + orchestra + band (Procol Harum) + choir “A WHITER SHADE OF PALE” was released by Procol Harum in 1967 and it was their first single ❤ RIP Gary Brooker 1945 - 2022 *PROCOL HARUM is a latin expression that means "beyond these things"

This takes your spirit soaring to new heights!🎙🎼🎶👊

You might want to just get a drink light one up turn off the lights and watch the whole concert it's absolutely perfect 🎸🎶

IMO, this is the best song to come from the 60’s.

This song originally came out in 1967. Gary Brooker was 68 in this performance, yet his voice is still sounds fantastic. I absolutely love this grand rendition, the orchestral arrangement with the choir backing up Gary’s vocals.

RIP GARY BROOKER!!!

This song, and PH's original organ player Matthew Fisher, started my love of the Hammond organ. The original studio track is some of the most beautiful Hammond organ sound ever. I have wanted a Hammond M102 (or later a B-3) with the Leslie Cab ever since but not yet possible. The organ just weaves thru this song and around Gary's voice and it just gives me goosebumps every time. I too almost always like live over studio but on this is one I love the studio. Thanks for doing this one!!!

They had to sound phenomenal 🤣 Can you imagine an entire professional orchestra and choir just waiting for “some band” to screw up 🤣🤣

Loved watching your face while you watched, I know you loved it...that smile said everything.

One of my favorite songs. My mom had a lol at me once for listening to it over and over while working, she said that during the 70s a muzak version of it would play during movie intermissions

Sadly he passed away in February this year from Cancer. RIP Gary Brooker 1945-2022 #amazingvoice

WONDERFUL! Nothing more has to be said. Thank you.

Great reaction.

I've never seen you in such a state of awe.

Pure talent…!

Everybody should have a giant pavilion to drum in!

This is perfection. Incredible sound. Especially for being outside.

Great reaction video! First time viewer here (🤔 just might have to subscribe if you do more of this quality) 👍 I have some comments, interpreting the lyrics of this song which gives it even a deeper dimension - I will share that at the end of this - (and sorry for this detailed commentary, but I think you will find it helpful if you listen to the song again and/or share it with others). Gary Brooker’s incredible singing in this live performance matched - or perhaps even exceeded - the quality of the original 1967 recording that took place 40 years earlier. The band’s name comes from a couple of possible sources. One of the band members in ‘67 had a cat named Procol Harum. This is Latin for “Far beyond these things”…. Personally, I think they named the band after the cat. 😁 This song and about 3 or 4 others defined the sound and the scene that was the “Summer of Love”. Unfortunately, that beautiful era only lasted about three years…. Innocence lost - marked by another outdoor concert in December ‘69 at Altamont - The Rolling Stones - they hired the Hells Angels motorcycle gang to be their “security” force - 4 people died that night. However, great music continued to come out from the late 60s all through to the mid 90s. But 1967 through Woodstock 1969 was magic. There has been much debate/misunderstanding regarding the lyrics. I believe I can unlock the mystery for you. The lyrics are mostly metaphorical. The song is about a young couple who are attending a party perhaps at a ballroom - maybe even on a ship. They were either entertainers for the crowd, or they were just part of the crowd dancing….”We skipped the Light Fandango” but instead did cartwheels across the floor, implying that they were having a great time, perhaps even on their way to getting drunk. The room seem to be shaking apart as they “ordered another drink”, but the waiter brought a tray of many drinks. As the night wore on, the young man was fast becoming interested in having a more private intimate time with this young girl…. But yet even through her near drunkenness, she sensed it, and became frightened. As the young man shuffled through his “playing cards” - a metaphor for looking for that winning hand to convince her to go with him - she again was unable or unwilling to give into him. Even as he told her stories, and lies about himself to impress and take advantage of her she knew she was potentially headed for trouble as “The truth was plain to see”. The vestal virgin metaphor clearly implied that she was young, inexperienced, and not ready for what she feared was his ultimate intent. But he kept on with his tales and lies, and he “would not let her be”…..ramping up the pressure on her to give in. This frightened her tremendously. I have heard, but I cannot confirm, that Gary Brooker and his cowriter actually wrote two more verses, that were never recorded. We will probably never hear the end of that story. Again, I want to say your reaction video was wonderful and genuine. Well done.

Such a moving rendition of this classic song about a classic tale.

This beautiful song is about a tragic love story. The lyrics are about a man and woman on a ship, in some kind of stage act, they were dancing.... "We skipped the light fandango🕺💃....turned cartwheels across the floor...I was feelin' kinda of sea sick🤢, but the crowd called out for more"... We ordered another drink "but the waiter brought a tray"....."One of 16 Vestal Virgins" (Vestal Virgins or Vestals were priestesses of Vesta, ie: a virgin goddess👸or a beautiful young woman). "I wandered through my playing cards, and would not let her be". He was in love 💗and persistent and most likely was intimate with one of the 16 beautiful young women on the ship. The young women were most likely in a group traveling together) to the coast.... "16 Vestal Virgins that were leaving for the coast"....." And although my eyes were open they might just as well been closed".....meaning it was plain to see that they could never be together but he was blinded by love, passion, and desire...Later on in life, she finds out that he had died (most likely of a broken heart) and never loved another...."And so it was that later as the miller told his tale, that her face, at first just ghostly, turned a whiter shade of pale".....She finds out her lover had died of a broken heart💔. So now you know why the music is so sad, and melodic, and melancholy, and just beautiful!!!!!.

'Conquistador' from the same concert is also very enchanting.

Insanely brilliant 👏

I really wish you would play A Salty Dog. The greatest song about Pirates ever.

Twin peaks of beauty, but I'm partial to the original because I've been hearing it for 50 years and and it's always a joy.

This is a beautiful version of a sensational song and the singing performance is so emotionally heartfelt. I love how every musician involved had such a look of extreme respect on their face for this song, like it was pure reverence for a genuine masterpiece. Luv that woman on the Oboe.. I love the original and probably the only thing better on that version is the organ.. But this version is holy..and I luv it to bits..

Their performance of “ Conquistador” at this concert was crazy good 👍🏻

The reaction was pretty straight forward. Bliss :)

RIP Gary 💙

Everybody does 'Shade of Pale'. Try, 'Simple Sister'.

Wow! What a phenomenal aspect the oboe illuminated in the intro! I have always loved the musicality of this song and its performance by Procol Harum.

Gary Brooker wrote this song and his performance was absolutely fantastic 👏. Hard to believe its 54 years old. A year older than me. My mum played it whilst I was in the womb. What an emotional performance this is.

R.I.P ; (

Garry Brooker passed away a few days ago R.I.P.

A magic song and a magic old band.

☮️💙💙💙🎶🔥

Listen to A Salty Dog from this same concert. It is one of my favorite songs.

Great reaction. Loved it! Did you hear that just a few weeks ago Gary Brooker passed away 😪

A great performance of a beautiful song by all parties concerned. That Hammond organ line became hardwired into my synapses decades ago. Magnificent.

Beautiful reaction Chod…great song! I do feel however that their song CONQUISTADOR is one that I prefer. It was performed in this same concert as well and I’d love for you to react to that one too. It’s a faster song, and epic like A WHITER SHADE OF PALE is.❤️

This is such a great, great performence......

Gary Brooker reminds of Ray Charles! High or Low the raspyness in his voice stays tight and even! You've got a nice channel here!

Dude's got Game

The "live vs. original version" debate, IMO, really varies with each song. But I say unequivocally that this live version is so phenomenal, I can't even listen to the original anymore. I'll take this one every time.

☮️💜

Pure Quality right there Chod. R.I.P. Gary Brooker.

The ,melody is BACH Air on a G-String and Sleepers Wake

That is a hard song to play Imo. It's like they took a bunch of chords in that specific key, threw them up in the air and however they landed, that's the order you play them in. The song "Poncho and Lefty" (Emmylou Harris version) is like that also. But they make it work perfectly somehow. You're right, that man can sing. A beautiful performance.

This was the end a 20 song set at 61 yrs old