Procul Harum Live in Concert… Review

Procul Harum – Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra

Procul Harum is general – Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in specific creates the type of music that the listener can’t truly appreciate without a certain degree of concentration.

In other words, this LP goes a bit beyond the sometimes primitive goal of shake-yer-ass rock. Likewise, the result is over-and-above the level of quality usually attained by the aforementioned.

November 18th of last year, the date on which the LP was recorded, was not so much a historic date as it was a day of enlightenment. Many, myself included, assumed that any venture of a rock band to unite forces with a full piece orchestra and choir would result in a disastrous self-indulgent excursion. Witness Neil Young’s “There’s a World.”

With this LP, one must be forced to draw different conclusions.

“Conquistador,” by now a solid AM hit, opens the album with a hint of hesitation detectable from pianist Gary Brooker. This hesitation is quickly proved unfounded as the orchestra, captured on 16-track equipment by Wally Heider, falls efficiently and effectively into place.

By the time “Salty Dog” is performed, the band and orchestra find themselves magically on the same level.

Side two is devoted to “In Held ‘Twas I,” a hypnotic blend of lyrical poetry reading and simmering harmonies.

The album is brimming with subtleties that cannot be caught if the listener is doing the dishes while the record plays faintly in the background. If “Salty Dog” is more effective with the use of the sound of seagulls, Procul Harum is the type of band to include them on the album and in live performances. They do. Listen closely.

Courtesy of the Door (aka San Diego Door) – Cameron Crowe –  June 8, 1972  – June 22, 1972