Replace the cook!

Another one who wants writing credits

Well, not really, but ...

... the excerpt above is from Swedish singer/songwriter Anna Ternheim, chatting last year with readers of aftonbladet.se, Sweden's biggest newspaper. Translation:

"T asks: Which one, of all the songs in the history of the world do you wish you had written? (My choice: Jungleland by Springsteen).
Anna Ternheim says: Whiter shade of pale"

Well, that was before the court case, of course.

Anna Ternheim plays in Paris, Grenoble and Annecy in the next few days (see the concert dates on her web site).

For another Swedish singer that likes A Whiter Shade of Pale - and used the organ melody only: go to this page and scroll down to "Titiyo".

(A little note: Anna Ternheim's new album - released in Sweden i September - is called Separation Road. Any connection to the film Separation, with music by Matthew Fisher, is probably purely coincidental...)

Victorious brass band down under plays A whiter shade of pale

How do you win the Battle of the Bands Entertainment Festival for the third year running? By playing A Whiter shade of Pale, of course.

Read about the success of Australian Warringah Concert Brass in Battle of the Bands Final, 4barsrest.com (claiming to be "the world's most visited brass website". Funny, it looks like it's just made of electrons to me.)

And if you're around Sydney, you might just catch them playing in the coming days.

Hommage a Procol

Although this cover looks like one more variation on the Shine on Brightly-theme, it has a song from another Procol record: on "Hommage Symphonique", keyboardist Erik Norlander (below) plays "Conquistador", and a number of other progressive rock covers, originally recorded by Yes, Tull, Crimson etc.

Will be released on January 30, 2007 in US and Europe on the Think Tank Media label distributed by ProgRock Records, but is said to be available in Japan already.

Obsessed or just curious, you can pre-order your CD from thetank.com.

Procol Harum on Flickr

How many of you are familiar with the public photo web site Flickr?

Quite a lot of Procol materia there ... currently 99 pictures, record sleeves, concert pictures - among them excellent pictures by rosco57 from the concert in Morena, Italy, on October 26, 2006. And even an orchid a lily (thanks, Zoe!). Go have a look!

AWSoP on a paper banjo?

Now, what on earth might this sound like?

"... ending with a lovely, minimalist cover of Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' (played on a fretless paper banjo)"

Read all about singer-songwriter Dan Reeder's "Sweetheart" CD in "German singer finds Sweetheart of a deal in Nashville".

Did anyone hear it?

It's that time again ...!

All hands on deck - it's that time of the year again!

The right honorable captains of the BtP ship, messrs. Roland and Jens are away ... and the ship is now in the hands of the replacement cook, and adrift in Swedish waters ... stay alert!

Alice's restaurant's top choice

The replacemant kitchen soon to be closed for this time - let me just send you over to Alice's restaurant. See which band our maitre d'hotel puts on top of his menu:

"I would turn on the radio and I just kept hearing the same songs over and over. Having lived in the era, I knew how many really great songs there were from back in the '60s and '70s that just weren't being played anymore anywhere. So I said, 'Somebody give me a radio show and let me play what I want to play and let me use my Rolodex to bring some of these great artists on the radio!'

The folks at the New York-based United Stations Radio Network heard his plea. Through them, Alice now shares his bizarre sense humor and favorite classic rock songs with listeners on over 100 radio station affiliates, including X-Rock 103.9.

'I love being able to play Procol Harum, The Yardbirds, Them, Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention and all those artists who are the not 'normal fare,' but who are still great classic rock,' he said."
Northwest Indiana News: Go ask Alice (May 21, 2006)

Band du Lac: the setlist

Update:

Show Begins 8:30

Tequila
Gimme Some Lovin' - Nikki Lamborn
Low Flying Birds - Gary Brooker
How Long? - Paul Carrack
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Andy Fairweather Low
Wide-Eyed and Legless - AFL
I Just Wanna Make Love To You - Tara McDonald
Green Onions - Georgie Fame
Yeh Yeh - GF
(A song about life on the farm by Lyle and Gallagher) - GF
The Living Years - Paul Carrack
Hoots Mon, there' a moose loose in the hoose - All
Knock On Wood - Eric Clapton
Reconsider Baby - EC
Stormy Monday - EC
Wonderful Tonight - EC
Wish You Were Here - Roger Waters and Nick Mason
Confortably Numb - RW & NM
A W S O P - GB
Cocaine - EC
Stand Up For Your Rights - All
Rainy Day Women Nos 12 & 35

Show ends at 10:50 PM

Saturday night, Gary Brooker's Band du Lac supergroup played at Highclere Castle in the UK. No setlist or full report yet; in the meantime, have a look at last year's all-star lineup and a setlist and report from their last performance
(thanks, Robert)

"this almost Procol Harum-like effect"

"At times, Built to spill gets downright eerie - painting its songs with haunting dramatic melodies, swirling organs and moody guitars. Both Traces and Gone are prime examples of this almost Procol Harum-like effect."
Electric City - Sights & Sounds, May 11 2006

Anybody heard Built to spill? No soundclips on their own site, unfortunately; but the songs mentioned above (from the album You in reverse) can be bought from iTunes, of course. Why not give it a try, and come back and write a comment?

Even if you don't agree with this suggested Harumesque almostness, I nevertheless think it's nice that Procol still serves as a kind of yardstick - it means they still define a trace of a feeling in the mind of this writer (and perhaps his readers).

Built to spill will tour the US from June until October this year, btw.

Matthew's lost organ

Matthew's (in)famous lost organ - did it end up in New Jersey? But Otto, if you knew, why didn't you give it back?