Absolutely LOVE your reaction to this. I’m nearly 70, so I loved this song long ago. This version is fairly new to me…only my 2nd time hearing it…and it is incredible!
I have watched several of these vids now. ( I know its getting a bit obsessive now) but i cant get over the reaction of every single reaction viewers face. They all start out liking the orchestra, and then Brooker starts to sing. There is a dumbfounded expression that takes over everyone's face. Its like nothing ive ever seen. I am a life long 50 year old musician. I play professionally still. This is just astonishing. Cant believe he still had this voice at 61.
I first bought it in the late 1960s and it's obvious what it is about. It's about, er,um, er.....I will come back to you on that as I haven't worked it out in the first 50 or so years :)
Many all time legends including the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Peter Frampton and many others have all said this is their favorite song of all time. Legendary all time classic
I’m 65, I’ve loved this song for as long as I can remember. Your reaction makes perfect sense to me. Whiter Shade of Pale is beautiful to the point of bringing me to tears. It’s a great pleasure for an old man like me to watch someone experience Whiter Shade of Pale for the first time. Thank you for your attention, reaction and appreciation. Best Wishes. ❤️
I loved your reaction!! You hit the nail right on the nail when you said it was “Magical”. That’s pretty much the best descriptive term to use!! I get emotional EVERY time I watch this video. Gary Booker was 61 years old and he sang his face off!! Everything was beautiful and perfect on that day in 2006 and we were fortunate enough to have someone film it ❤❤. I cried when we lost Gary Booker :(. We lost a good one that day ❤❤.
This is 39 years after it was released. Gary Brooker's voice is as strong as it ever was. Absolutey amazing. With the orchestra and choir....absolutely beautiful.
jayy, you have delved back in time to when we all had the radios on, eagerly anticipating that next classic gem, we didnt know who it would be, didn't know what it would be about, but we knew for certain it was coming, somewhere back in the 90's, it died, a glimmer now and then was all we had. It was a magical time, never to be replaced. you were meant to be a child of the 60's.
I saw Procol Harum in some Westchester New York theatre.I think it was the Capital in the late 60's. This song has always been so beautiful and mysterious to me. Gary's voice is supreme.
I love seeing the reaction on people's faces when they hear Gary Brooker's voice for the first time. Priceless. I'm an old dude who was around when this song was a "hit" His voice is even Better in 2006.
Jayy, if you were to listen to the 1967 original recording of this song (no orchestra) and compare it to this, you would hardly (if at all!) hear any difference in Gary Brooker’s voice! The man definitely took care of his voice over the decades. This is an astounding version, but you ought to check the original recording as well.
I got to meet Gary around 2004 in a small NYC club called the Bottom Line, I asked him after the show about how great his voice sounded, and he talked about singing while sitting down (at the piano) and how it avoided him using tricks and strengthened his voice.
LOVE YOUR REACTION..."That's what I'm talking about". I had the same reaction Jayy. This Performance is for the Ages. "Live" as you said no less...!!! EXTRAORDINARY.
hi Jayy! i love your reaction to this song!!! Gary Brooker performed this like FIFTYish years after the original came out. my eyes cry but my heart sings every time i hear it. thanks!!!
I know I’m being redundant cause everyone commented exactly why I’m feeling - I’ve always loved this song and his voice and this is just as amazing, if not more so, then the original recording. He aged like a fine wine, stunning I every way. 🎵💜🎵
Every time I hear this, my heart almost stops. They were so young when this was written/composed and first recorded. His voice, the chorus, the orchestra, the organ. They were just babies. RIP Gary Booker. You are missed.
This is best remake of a hit song by the band that did the original ever. Bar none. A thing of beauty with the addition of the orchestra and choir. Lead singers voice is even better then it used to be. Remarkable, emotional and a thing of beauty Thank you so much for doing this.
well, it ain't exactly the band that did the original, IS IT? -- Gary Brooker and WHO????? -- NOT Matthew Fisher on organ, NOT B.J. Wilson on drums, NOT Robin Trower, on guitar, & probably NOT the bass player (FORGIVE me for forgetting the Knights name) ......... nice TRIBUTE band, with the singer/piano player fronting the TRIBUTE band -- Be honest
RIP Gary Brooker - you are missed. If you listen to the original studio version and compare it to this performance, I think you’ll see how his voice aged like a fine wine. Gary was phenomenal as was the rest of the band. Plus major props to the Danish Symphony Orchestra for their beautiful accompaniment. That female oboist was so very talented. The oboe is an incredibly difficult instrument to play; let alone play at that level. The whole performance was beautiful.
His voice has aged like fine wine. Still has that beautiful finesse, that so many singers lose with age. Grew up listening to this beautiful classic, came out in 1967. Wow, what a incredible voice. Still rocking on. God bless.
Gary Brooker sang this at 22 in 1967..😊With his band back then. Hippie era then and you should hear the original then. ( No orchestra but very very good version ).Believe he was 64 or 65 singing it with this great orchestra. Today Gary Brooker is 76 and probably still singing this iconic ( and my favorite ) song ….. somewhere.👍
I hope he'll be singing it in London next February, as I have a ticket to see Procul Harum at the London Palladium! I've seen a video of him singing with The Alan Parsons Project on the Blue Cruise in 2019 - the sound quality's not brilliant, but I think he sounds all right, certainly once he gets into it!
Thank you for reacting to this song and it's amazing to see your heartfelt and emotional response. Your heart and soul are just beautiful, only a true human feels so much emotion from the music and lyrics. One of my all time favourite songs and watching you feel it gave me a whole fresh enjoyment. You are a lovely person, don't change a thing,-- Love, Mark from Australia XXX
I was waiting for you to do this masterpiece. It was recorded in 1967 and here we are 54yrs later and Gary's voice is still the same. What makes this great is that B-3 Hammond Awesome reaction Jayy keep them coming
There's singers, there's performers, and then there's LEGENDS. Singers, obviously sing. Performers, sing, dance, and perform(ie Alice Cooper). Then there are LEGENDS, who's talent touch the soul eternally.
My dear it's easy to C yr love for music. The area of this kind of music was a magical time in history. Seems like a very high level of raw talent was let loose from the heaven above. We need more of it right because we are sinking into he'll right here on earth. Just for the record I am about to turn 74 yrs of age in Nov. The first song I ever heard that made me cry was Smoke Gets in Yr Eyes. By the platters. I was 5 yrs of age. My mom didn't get it.
It was so great when you said it was a magical piece before he even started singing, then your eyes got so wide, like you couldn’t believe it got even better!
You nailed it with your description on it. Its pure magic. Music is spiritual and when music is done right, it elevates the human soul to magical new heights.
Our music was not just music but they were masterpieces. Oh how I miss the music of my generation from the 70’s & 80’s. Pure true talent is what we had.
Jayy your facial expression and eyes SAY IT ALL. You appreciate talent from God I can tell. When i watch the creavity of people regardless of if they have faith or not it is to me a clue that we have creative talent that defies human understanding and comprehension.
RIP B.J.Wilson, Gary Brooker and Keith Reid!! Procol Harum lives in our memories and the music will never die. I was taken with this song and the band instantly on hearing this incredible 1st song which jumped fast to become No 1 for 6 weeks in the summer of '67. Loved this band since. Matthew Fisher (organist) is still an amazing musician, as was Gary Brooker.
This was one of my faves of the 60's in my teens. What you just watched is a true MASTERPIECE. They took the original song and kept layering more and more with strings and winds, then choir, then brass. What an arrangement and what an orchestra. Gary's voice sounds even better than he did 40 years earlier. This is even better than the original, something I would never have thought possible.
LMAO!!!! Watching your reaction was CLASSIC!!!!! Everyone Claps!!!! Standing ovation!!!! One of gods of Rock n' Roll: Procol Harum......and this is done when they are older........which sounds better than it did in the 60's.
You said it better than most young lady. I was 10 years old when I first heard the original version. So Gary Brooker has to be in his 70's now. The orchestra is amazing too. He has a very soulful voice.
The lead singer is Gary Brooker. Procol Harum released this song in May of 1967 when I was Junior in high school. It was part of the sound track of my teen years. This performance is brilliant. Brooker was in his 60s when he did this--his voice is still amazing, in fact, maybe even better than when he was in his 20s. I'm so glad you appreciated Brooker and this song.
My dad would drive me around in the 70's listening to The Grand Hotel by Procol Harum --and I would just listen and daydream to the music and lyrics...
Jayy, you are such an appreciative reactor! The organ soars and feels so magnificent! And this is 40 years after the studio version. Sadly, Gary Brooker died this week. I'm so glad I was already hooked on this version. RIP, Gary Brooker! ❤️
Thank you for reacting to my favorite song and favorite performance of A Whiter Shade of Pale...the song is beautiful and so are you and I enjoyed your reactions to this masterpiece
While the Beatles dominated the Summer of Love in the album charts, you could say Procol Harum symbolized the psychedelic age in singles. Vocalist/pianist Gary Brooker was tinkering away on the keys, absent-mindedly picking out Bach's infamous 'Air on the G String' when he made a mistake and the trademark organ melody of the song was born. Commenting on it later, he noted that the 'beat boom' had been going for a couple of years by then and that it was no exaggeration to say that 'the world was waiting' for something like 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' to hit. And hit it did, topping the UK charts in June 1967 and making No.5 in the US Billboard Chart.
that's the c kind of music when I was growing up. real music, no computers, nothing to help voices sound better, just talent. I would put this as blue eyed soul.
Over 50 years ago this song took England and then the world by storm even though nobody had any idea what it was about. People were expected to fill in the blanks for themselves. It's a piece of music history.
To think this was first released in 1967 when Gary Brooker was only 22. In this concert he's 61 and sounds even better! One of those 60s tunes my Dad used to love when I was only 5. Conquistador next please from this same concert. Thanks Jayy
