The Blog of Less Renown, celebrating under-appreciated unusual, unique, sick or strange Singers, Songwriters and Songs
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
PROCOL HARUM 1992 Free Kick in the Balls
Here, fitting on one CD if you care to burn it that way, is an 80 minute "essential Procol Harum live" package, all from a Nuremberg radio broadcast in 1992.
You'll hear such favorites as:
"Conquistador," "Bringing Home the Bacon," "Shine on Brightly," "Homburg," "Grand Hotel," "Whisky Train," "A Salty Dog," "All Our Dreams are Sold," and a rare "complete" version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale."
The first time the band recorded it, they skipped a fandango, and cut a verse. They left it out of almost all live shows too, a stanza that includes some obscure ponderings: "If music be the food of love, and laughter is it's queen. Likewise if behind's in front and dirt in truth is clean..."
"All Our Dreams are Sold" was on their comeback album, "Prodigal Stranger," which they were trying to support via this free radio concert.
Lead singer Gary Brooker ends this song by saying:
"All our dreams are sold. Believe it. Ain't nothin' you get for free except a kick in the balls."
We all get our music free. That's a kick in the balls for the musicians. It tells them we don't value what they do and don't care if they making a living or not.
But, in this case, this was a free radio show, not a live CD sold in stores, so offering it here shouldn't cause Mr. Brooker to reach for the aspirin or a protective fur-lined jockstrap. But yes, generally the difference between the professional and the amateur is payment, which is also a sign of respect and appreciation. It's a sign of desperation to have to give it away free, and quite demeaning when the choice is made for you by someone else.
In this case Procol felt that the trade-off for giving a free concert was that it might bring in sales for their new album. Did it work? "Prodigal Stranger" didn't sell enough copies, and Procol Harum did not get another record deal for twelve years.
PROCOL in NUREMBERG (Sorry, Rapidshare timed this one out for not having enough downloads in a month)
And still around
Procol Harum concert in Hell
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