# Gary Brooker of Procul Harum dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, music\ **Created:** [February 23, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980 "2022-02-23T02:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/1 "2022-02-23T02:03:39Z")
Great singer and songwriter. Most notably “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3Gi7Z3-T_qQ/hqdefault.jpg "Procol Harum - A Salty Dog, An Old English Dream live in Denmark 2006") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gi7Z3-T_qQ) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/2 "2022-02-23T05:20:49Z")
He has permanently turned a whiter shade of pale. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/3 "2022-02-23T07:21:12Z")
Damn. Just last night I was telling my wife that Novum (2017 release) pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/4 "2022-02-23T09:42:58Z")
Though he hoped for something to find, he could see no maze to unwind. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/5 "2022-02-23T18:02:06Z")
Not-so-well-known-but-no-less-exceptional Procol Harum songs (sung by Mr. Brooker): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/J9s2hp9i680/hqdefault.jpg "Procol Harum : As strong as samson") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9s2hp9i680) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CPLnwv321wY/maxresdefault.jpg "Procol Harum - Fires (Which Burnt Brightly) [Live 1973]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPLnwv321wY) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cL_vHKENsbc/maxresdefault.jpg "Procol Harum - Pandora's Box (1975)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_vHKENsbc) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/6 "2022-02-23T18:11:11Z")
Was probably still a better singer than 99.99999% of us on his last day. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/7 "2022-02-24T06:43:00Z")
One of the most epic songs of all time. Whiter Shade pulls you in, slows you down, makes you feel humble, even though I’m not sure why. I guess it’s the story: Skipped the light fandango, turn cartwheels across the floor… You just gotta know where the story goes… and I’m not even sure, but we’ve all felt this at some point. RIP, Mr. Brooker. And thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-brooker-of-procul-harum-dies/959980/8 "2022-02-25T13:32:09Z")
The first proper rock concert I went to, back in 1973 was Procol Harum. And they must have become fed up with playing Whiter Shade of Pale, as they didn’t play it, even as an encore! Took me until their 50th Anniversary tour to see them again and this time around they did play it!