[4] Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music is described as psychedelic rock and proto-prog with hints of the blues, R&B, and soul.

[7][8] Their frontman Gary Brooker decided to retire from performing and focus on songwriting, and his old friend Guy Stevens introduced him to lyricist Keith Reid.

Wilson agreed to stay on and rehearse for the new group and auditions brought them bassist David Knights and two members of George Bean and the Runners, Richard Brown (guitar) and Alan Morris (organ).

[11] They next teamed with organist Matthew Fisher, who had left Screaming Lord Sutch's backing group The Savages and advertised for work.

[12] Guitarist Ray Royer was chosen after the group placed an advertisement for players and were inundated, so the band "really grilled the applicants" to find "someone with the right state of mind.

[19] Procol Harum played their first live gig at London's Speakeasy club on the day "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was released on 12 May 1967.

Jimi Hendrix was an early vocal supporter of the band and attended their first show where, at the start of their performance of Rose's "Morning Dew", he went on stage, took Knights' bass and joined in.

Fisher later said that the major issue for the split with Weston was when he organised an extensive UK tour for Procol Harum too soon after the release of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", resulting in the group performing "for £60 per night instead of £500.

[23] The departures brought about what Brooker described as "great lawsuits and expense" from Royer, Harrison, and Weston, and initial session drummer Eyden filed his own suit.

Finding themselves labelled as one-hit wonders in their home country, while in the US their reputation as a live act only continued to improve, for the next several years Procol Harum spent most of their time touring America.

The title track in particular gained a good deal of US FM radio airplay, and the album is now considered a rock classic, appealing to fans of The Beatles, The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd.

Procol Harum were asked to perform at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969, but were unable after Trower's wife was expecting a baby and needed to return to England.

He was replaced by Dave Ball,[8] while Alan Cartwright (a former bandmate of Wilson's in Freddie Mack's band) took over bass from Copping, who remained on organ.

Released in April 1972, Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was met with commercial success when it peaked at No.

The band returned to its hard rock roots with their seventh studio album Exotic Birds and Fruit, released in April 1974.

[30] In April 1977, during the promotional tour for Something Magic, Copping joined Frankie Miller's band and was replaced in Procol Harum by Elton John's former bassist Dee Murray.

[37] After nearly a year of inactivity, Procol Harum performed a handful of shows in May and June 1993, with former Diamond Head keyboardist Josh Phillips filling in for Fisher and former King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace in place of Brzezicki, who had rejoined Big Country.

[42] In July 1997 fans arranged the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the success of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and invited the then-inactive band to play a concert at Redhill, Surrey.

The band played a one-off show in celebration of the 30th anniversary of "A Whiter Shade of Pale", with the regular lineup joined on several songs by former members Mick Grabham, Peter Solley, Alan Cartwright, Dave Bronze and Chris Copping.

Since 2001 the band, comprising Brooker, Fisher, Geoff Whitehorn (guitar), Matt Pegg (bass) and Mark Brzezicki (drums), has made several tours of mostly Europe, but also Japan and the US.

Long-time organist Matthew Fisher left the band in June 2004 due to "unresolved matters", with former stand-in Josh Phillips taking his place on Hammond again, leaving Brooker as the only original performing member.

[44] These matters were later revealed to have been a lawsuit filed by Fisher against Brooker and the band for songwriting credits and a share of royalties on "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which he won in December 2006.

In October 2009 with Brooker fully recovered, the band performed four concerts  – in Hagen (Germany), Drammen (Norway), Moscow and St Petersburg.

They described this loyal Finnish audience as "the best in the world" and played a unique three-verse version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with a guitar solo from Geoff Whitehorn.

He was due to have performed with his band at GrandWest Arena on the 30th, with fellow Brits 10cc and The Moody Blues, in a tour billed as the 'British Invasion' and then again in Johannesburg on Friday 1 June 2012.

In 2012 the Japanese artist Yumi Matsutoya came to London to record "A Whiter Shade of Pale" with Procol Harum, a band she considered an inspiration for her work.

Yumi and Procol Harum then played a series of December concerts in major Japanese cities, one of which was recorded for a later television showing (on 31 March 2013).

[49] In September 2012 Procol Harum was among fifteen final nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2013 (induction 18 April 2013).

The band also played a five-song set at Kenney Jones' Rock'n'Horsepower charity event at Ewhurst, Surrey in June, on a bill including Alvin Stardust, John Lodge, Nik Kershaw, Mike Rutherford, Judie Tzuke and The Who.

He played a guitar solo in the first extended, orchestrated version of Keith Reid's 9/11 tribute song "Blink of an Eye", dedicated by Gary Brooker to the brave firefighters of the 8th Avenue station who the band often talked with after gigs in New York.