Keith Reid, lyricist for 1960s pop group Procul Harum died last week while undergoing cancer treatment.
The 76-year-old, non-playing member of the chart-hitting group, wrote the words to all their original songs, including their only No.1, A Whiter Shade Of Pale and fellow top-ten hit Homburg.
He formed the band with lead singer Gary Brooker (who died last year) back in 1967, but while he attended all their recording sessions, he never played on any tracks, instead contributing just the lyrics.
And they got off to the best possible start when their debut single, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, hit the top spot in the charts, going on to sell over 10 million copies (hitting No.1 in 19 countries) and becoming one of the most iconic songs in British musical history.
Brooker told Classic Rock a few years ago: “Keith had written the lyrics and posted them to me. I’d been working on a musical idea, which until then had been purely instrumental, when I opened the post and A Whiter Shade Of Pale was on the top of other lyrics.
“I was immediately taken with the immense length of the original four verses with a chorus on each, and the narrative form it took, with its mysterious characters and goings-on.”
The Reid co-written Homburg then climbed to No.6 despite numerous line-up changes, with Brooker and Reid being the only constants in an ever-rotating formation, that ultimately affected their progress, despite releasing a couple of well-received albums in A Salty Dog (which reached 27 on the UK charts) and Home (only getting to 49), for which Reid penned a plethora of lyrics.
Reid, who was the son of Holocaust survivors, born in Welwyn Garden City, continued to write lyrics for the group until the band disbanded in 1977. They reformed in the 1990s and he again wrote all their lyrics until 2003.
He also co-wrote John Farnham’s 1986 hit You’re The Voice, which was a smash in Australia, before moving to New York and founding a a management company.
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He died on March 23 in a London hospital and had been receiving cancer treatment for the past two years.
The band said via their record label: “It is with the deepest sadness that we must announce the passing of the lyricist Keith Reid, who died suddenly on 23 March 2023.
“Keith was the co-founder and lyricist for Procol Harum, notably penning their biggest hit A Whiter Shade of Pale, which contains some of the most enigmatic lyrics of all time. He always said that, at the end of his life, he would explain what it all meant: but sadly he didn’t get this opportunity.
"His family would like to thank numerous well-wishers for their very kind messages. A private funeral will be held, and this page will be updated soon with details for those who would like to make a donation in his memory.
“Keith will be greatly missed.”
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