– Procol Harum – In Session for WPLJ-FM – April 12, 1971 – WPLJ – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
A bitter-sweet concert tonight. The last Procol Harum show with lead guitarist Robin Trower in the lineup. He would go off to a stellar solo career, and be replaced for the next year by Dave Ball, formerly of Big Bertha, after answering an ad in Melody Maker. This session was done to promote the release of their fifth album, Broken Barricades.
As always, Procol Harum were one of the most interesting bands to prevail through the late 60s into the 70s and beyond. They provided much of the basis from which Prog-Rock took its cue, and they have often been associated with the beginnings of the Prog-Rock Movement, although they were initially labelled an “Art-Rock” band, because of the borrowings from Bach in their debut single, Whiter Shade Of Pale.
This show was recorded by WPLJ-FM in New York on April 12, 1971. I ran it about 5 years ago on my previous site – but as was the case with all the earlier postings, the sound just wasn’t that good (it wasn’t the original source, it was the player on the site and the crummy bit-rate). This should be a vast improvement if you remember the earlier post.
In either case, here’s to the end of a strange week in history, and the slow decent from Summer into the hopeful promise of Fall.
Enjoy and get ready for the weekend.
