They Wrote The Lyrics – Keith Reid (Procol Harum) [VIDEO]

It takes a special mind to write such lyrics as Keith Reid did for Procol Harum.

"We skipped the light fandango
Turned cartwheels cross the floor
I was feeling kinda seasick
But the crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray" (Keith Reid)

Keith Reid, the man behind  "A Whiter Shade Of Pale," the twisted imagery of the 1967 hit by Procol Harum.

The talent of this wordsmith was to be as ambiguous as his dreamy abstraction led him to be.

Keith Reid brought his distinctive vision to the five-decade  of Procol Harum recordings.

Reid's essential songs:

• "A Whiter Shade Of Pale"
• "Conquistador"
• "In Held 'Twas in I"
• "Shine On Brightly"
• "A Salty Dog"
• "Whiskey Train"
• "Simple Sister"

"It's sort of a film, really, trying to conjure up mood and tell a story. It's about a relationship. There's characters and there's a location, and there's a journey. You get the sound of the room and the feel of the room and the smell of the room. But certainly there's a journey going on, it's not a collection of lines just stuck together. It's got a thread running through it." (Keith Reid)

"Whiter Shade of Pale"