Pooka
11-13-06, 07:35 AM
Members of UK rock band Procol Harum are due in court in a dispute over their 1967 hit A Whiter Shade of Pale.
For almost 40 years the number one song has been credited to the lead singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid.
But now the group's former keyboard player Matthew Fisher says he wrote the song's distinctive organ melody and is claiming a share of the copyright.
Mr Fisher and Mr Brooker are expected to play a keyboard brought in to the High Court in London for the case.
Musicologists and people present when the song was written will be called to give evidence.
In a statement on the band's website, Beyond the Pale, Mr Brooker said: "A Whiter Shade Of Pale was written by Keith Reid and me before Matthew even joined the band.
"I am shocked and dismayed that after Matthew had worked with us quite happily over the course of 40 years without him once alleging that his role on A Whiter Shade of Pale was anything other than as a musician, it is only now that he claims he recalls writing part of the song.
"People can draw their own conclusions from this."
But Mr Fisher's solicitor Mike Shepherd said the time between the song's release and the court proceedings was irrelevant.
"My client has always maintained he wrote the parts, or composed the parts, he claims he composed," he said.
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6142290.stm)
For almost 40 years the number one song has been credited to the lead singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid.
But now the group's former keyboard player Matthew Fisher says he wrote the song's distinctive organ melody and is claiming a share of the copyright.
Mr Fisher and Mr Brooker are expected to play a keyboard brought in to the High Court in London for the case.
Musicologists and people present when the song was written will be called to give evidence.
In a statement on the band's website, Beyond the Pale, Mr Brooker said: "A Whiter Shade Of Pale was written by Keith Reid and me before Matthew even joined the band.
"I am shocked and dismayed that after Matthew had worked with us quite happily over the course of 40 years without him once alleging that his role on A Whiter Shade of Pale was anything other than as a musician, it is only now that he claims he recalls writing part of the song.
"People can draw their own conclusions from this."
But Mr Fisher's solicitor Mike Shepherd said the time between the song's release and the court proceedings was irrelevant.
"My client has always maintained he wrote the parts, or composed the parts, he claims he composed," he said.
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6142290.stm)