A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum

Procol Harum's debut album, listed here under the name of the single that made them, came out in September 1967, the same year the band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, and hard on the heels of "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Denny Cordell produced, and the players included Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower, David Knights and Barrie James Wilson. The American edition carried the hit; the British one, which followed in December, left it off.

What you get is a band that sounds like it wandered out of a cathedral and into a blues club: stately baroque and classical airs, a haze of psychedelia, and R&B and soul humming underneath, with "Conquistador" among the songs. The single that opened the door went on to sell more than 10 million copies, and in 2018 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted it in its new Singles category.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.