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Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial was followed by a posthumous pardon, the first in New York state history. His open, free-style, dangerous and critical form of comedy which brought in politics and religion and sex in a heady mix, combined with his devil may care attitude, his epic consumption of drugs, sex and alcohol, his messy, desperate life in which he conned money in order to keep his wife from having to work as a stripper, makes him a compelling figure. He paved the way for future outspoken comedians, and he paved the way for freedom of speech. His trial for obscenity for saying the word "cocksucker", in which – after being forced into bankruptcy – he was eventually found not guilty is seen as landmark trial for freedom of speech.^[7]

Early life[link]

Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider in Mineola, New York, grew up in nearby Bellmore, and attended Wellington C. Mepham High School.^[8] His parents divorced when he was five years old, and Lenny moved in with various relatives over the next decade. His mother, Sally Marr (née Sadie Kitchenberg), was a stage performer who had an enormous influence on Bruce's career.^[9] After spending time working on a farm, Bruce joined the United States Navy at the age of 17 in 1942, and saw active duty in Europe. In May 1945 he reported to his ship's medical officer that he was experiencing homosexual urges.^[10] This led to his Dishonorable Discharge in July 1945. However, he had not admitted to or been found guilty of any breach of naval regulations and successfully applied to have his discharge changed to "Under Honorable Conditions ... by reason of unsuitability for the naval service".^[11]

After a short stint in California spent living with his father, Bruce settled in New York City, hoping to establish himself as a comedian. However, he found it difficult to differentiate himself from the thousands of other show business hopefuls who populated the city. One locale where they congregated was Hanson's, the diner where Bruce first met the comedian Joe Ancis, who had a profound influence on his approach to comedy. Many of Bruce's later routines reflected his meticulous schooling at the hands of Ancis.^[12]

In 1947, soon after changing his last name to Bruce, he earned $12 and a free spaghetti dinner for his first stand-up performance in Brooklyn, New York.^{[citation needed]} He was later a guest—and was introduced by his mother, who called herself "Sally Bruce"—on the Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts show, doing a "Bavarian mimic" of American movie stars (e.g., Humphrey Bogart).^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Bruce's early comedy career included writing the screenplays for Dance Hall Racket in 1953, which featured Bruce, his wife, Honey Harlow, and mother, Sally Marr, in roles; Dream Follies in 1954, a low-budget burlesque romp; and a children's film, The Rocket Man, in 1954. He also released four albums of original material on Berkeley-based Fantasy Records, with rants, comic routines, and satirical interviews on the themes that made him famous: jazz, moral philosophy, politics, patriotism, religion, law, race, abortion, drugs, the Ku Klux Klan, and Jewishness. These albums were later compiled and re-released as The Lenny Bruce Originals. Two later records were produced and sold by Bruce himself, including a 10-inch album of the 1961 San Francisco performances that started his legal troubles. Starting in the late 1950s, other unissued Bruce material was released by Alan Douglas, Frank Zappa and Phil Spector, as well as Fantasy. Bruce developed the complexity and tone of his material in Enrico Banducci's North Beach nightclub, "The hungry i," where Mort Sahl had earlier made a name for himself.

His growing fame led to appearances on the nationally televised Steve Allen Show, where he made his debut with an unscripted comment on the recent marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Eddie Fisher, wondering, "will Elizabeth Taylor become bat mitzvah?"^{[citation needed]} He also began receiving mainstream press, both favorable and derogatory. Syndicated Broadway columnist Hy Gardner called Bruce a "fad" and "a one-time-around freak attraction",^{[citation needed]} while Variety declared him "undisciplined and unfunny".^{[citation needed]} On February 3, 1961, in the midst of a severe blizzard, he gave a famous performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. It was recorded and later released as a three-disc set, titled The Carnegie Hall Concert. In the liner notes, Albert Goldman described it as follows:

This was the moment that an obscure yet rapidly rising young comedian named Lenny Bruce chose to give one of the greatest performances of his career. ... The performance contained in this album is that of a child of the jazz age. Lenny worshipped the gods of Spontaneity, Candor and Free Association. He fancied himself an oral jazzman. His ideal was to walk out there like Charlie Parker, take that mike in his hand like a horn and blow, blow, blow everything that came into his head just as it came into his head with nothing censored, nothing translated, nothing mediated, until he was pure mind, pure head sending out brainwaves like radio waves into the heads of every man and woman seated in that vast hall. Sending, sending, sending, he would finally reach a point of clairvoyance where he was no longer a performer but rather a medium transmitting messages that just came to him from out there — from recall, fantasy, prophecy. A point at which, like the practitioners of automatic writing, his tongue would outrun his mind and he would be saying things he didn't plan to say, things that surprised, delighted him, cracked him up — as if he were a spectator at his own performance!

Personal life[link]

Bruce met his future wife, Honey Harlow, a stripper from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. They were married that same year, and Bruce was determined to have her end her work as a stripper.^[13]

In 1953, Bruce and Harlow eventually left New York for the West Coast, where they got work as a double act at the Cup and Saucer in Los Angeles, California. Bruce then went on to join the bill at the club Strip City. Harlow found employment at the Colony Club, which was widely known to be the best burlesque club in Los Angeles at the time.^[14]

In late 1954, Bruce left Strip City and found work within the San Fernando Valley at a variety of strip clubs. As the master of ceremonies, his job was to introduce the strippers while performing his own ever-evolving material. The clubs of the Valley provided the perfect environment for Bruce to create new routines: according to Bruce's primary biographer, Albert Goldman, it was "precisely at the moment when he sank to the bottom of the barrel and started working the places that were the lowest of the low" that he suddenly broke free of "all the restraints and inhibitions and disabilities that formerly had kept him just mediocre and began to blow with a spontaneous freedom and resourcefulness that resembled the style and inspiration of his new friends and admirers, the jazz musicians of the modernist school."^[15]

Honey and Lenny's daughter Kitty Bruce was born in 1955.^[16] In 1959, Lenny's divorce from Honey was finalized.^[17]

Legal troubles[link]

This desire to end his wife's stripper days led Bruce to pursue schemes that were designed to make as much money as possible. The most notable was the Brother Mathias Foundation scam, which resulted in Bruce's arrest in Miami, Florida later that year for impersonating a priest. He had been soliciting donations for a leper colony in British Guiana (now Guyana) under the auspices of the "Brother Mathias Foundation", which he had legally chartered – the name was his own invention, but possibly referred to the actual Brother Matthias who had befriended Babe Ruth at the Baltimore orphanage to which Ruth had been confined as a child.^[18] Bruce had stolen several priests' clergy shirts and a clerical collar while posing as a laundry man. He was found not guilty because of the legality of the New York state-chartered foundation, the actual existence of the Guiana leper colony, and the inability of the local clergy to expose him as an impostor. Later, in his semifictional autobiography How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, Bruce revealed that he had made about $8,000 in three weeks, sending $2,500 to the leper colony and keeping the rest.

On October 4, 1961, Bruce was arrested for obscenity^[19] at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco; he had used the word cocksucker and riffed that "to is a preposition, come is a verb", that the sexual context of come is so common that it bears no weight, and that if someone hearing it becomes upset, he "probably can't come".^[20] Although the jury acquitted him, other law enforcement agencies began monitoring his appearances, resulting in frequent arrests under charges of obscenity.

Bruce was arrested again in 1961, in Philadelphia, for drug possession the same year, and again in Los Angeles, California, two years later. The Los Angeles arrest took place in then-unincorporated West Hollywood, and the arresting officer was a young deputy named Sherman Block, who would later become County Sheriff. The specification this time was that the comedian had used the word schmuck, an insulting Yiddish term that is an obscene term for penis.

In April 1964, he appeared twice at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village, with undercover police detectives in the audience. On both occasions, he was arrested after leaving the stage, the complaints again pertaining to his use of various obscenities.

A three-judge panel presided over his widely publicized six-month trial, prosecuted by Asst. Manhattan D.A. Richard Kuh, with Bruce and club owner Howard Solomon both found guilty of obscenity on November 4, 1964. The conviction was announced despite positive testimony and petitions of support from – among other artists, writers and educators – Woody Allen, Bob Dylan, Jules Feiffer, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, William Styron, and James Baldwin, and Manhattan journalist and television personality Dorothy Kilgallen and sociologist Herbert Gans.^[21] Bruce was sentenced, on December 21, 1964, to four months in a workhouse; he was set free on bail during the appeals process and died before the appeal was decided. Solomon later saw his conviction overturned; Bruce, who died before the decision, never had his conviction stricken.^[22] Bruce later received a full posthumous gubernatorial pardon.

Last years[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Despite his prominence as a comedian, Bruce appeared on network television only six times in his life. In his later club performances Bruce was known for relating the details of his encounters with the police directly in his comedy routine. These performances often included rants about his court battles over obscenity charges, tirades against fascism and complaints that he was being denied his right to freedom of speech.

He was banned outright from several U.S. cities, and in 1962 was banned from performing in Sydney, Australia. At his first show there, Bruce took the stage, declared "What a fucking wonderful audience" and was promptly arrested.

Increasing drug use also affected his health. By 1966 he had been blacklisted by nearly every nightclub in the United States, as owners feared prosecution for obscenity. Bruce did have a famous performance at the Berkeley Community Theatre in December 1965. It was recorded and became his last live album, titled "The Berkeley Concert"; his performance here has been described as lucid, clear and calm, and one of his best. His last performance took place on June 25, 1966, at The Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, on a bill with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. The performance was not remembered fondly by Bill Graham, who described Bruce as "whacked out on amphetamines"; Graham thought that Bruce finished his set emotionally disturbed. Zappa asked Bruce to sign his draft card, but the suspicious Bruce refused.

At the request of Hugh Hefner and with the aid of Paul Krassner, Bruce wrote an autobiography. Serialized in Playboy in 1964 and 1965, this material was later published as the book How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. Hefner had long assisted Bruce's career, featuring him in the television debut of Playboy's Penthouse in October 1959.

Death and posthumous pardon[link]

On August 3, 1966, Bruce was found dead in the bathroom of his Hollywood Hills home at 8825 W. Hollywood Blvd.^[23] The official photo, taken at the scene, showed Bruce lying naked on the floor, a syringe and burned bottle cap nearby, along with various other narcotics paraphernalia. According to legend a policeman at the scene said, “There is nothing sadder than an aging hipster” which itself possibly was one of Lenny Bruce’s lines.^[24] Record producer Phil Spector, a friend of Bruce's, bought the negatives of the photographs to keep them from the press. The official cause of death was "acute morphine poisoning caused by an accidental overdose."^[25]

His remains were interred in Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California, but an unconventional memorial on August 21 was controversial enough to keep his name in the spotlight. The service saw over 500 people pay their respects, led by Spector. Cemetery officials had tried to block the ceremony after advertisements for the event encouraged attendees to bring box lunches and noisemakers. Dick Schaap eulogized Bruce in Playboy, with the memorable last line: "One last four-letter word for Lenny: Dead. At forty. That's obscene."

His epitaph reads: "Beloved father – devoted son/Peace at last."

Bruce is survived by his daughter, Kitty Bruce (born Brandy Kathleen Bruce), who lives in Pennsylvania.^[26][27]

At the time of his death, his girlfriend was comedienne Lotus Weinstock.^[28]

Bruce's grave

On December 23, 2003, 37 years after his death, New York Governor George Pataki granted Bruce a posthumous pardon for his obscenity conviction.^[29][30]

Legacy[link]

Bruce was the subject of the 1974 biographical film Lenny directed by Bob Fosse and starring Dustin Hoffman (in an Academy Award-nominated Best Actor role), and based on the Broadway stage play of the same name written by Julian Barry and starring Cliff Gorman in his 1972 Tony Award winning role.

The documentary Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth, directed by Robert B. Weide and narrated by Robert De Niro, was released in 1998.

In 2004, Comedy Central listed Bruce at number three on its list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All-Time, placing above Woody Allen and below George Carlin.^[31]

In popular culture[link]

• Lenny is pictured in the top row of the cover of the Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

• The clip of a news broadcast featured in "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" by Simon & Garfunkel carries the ostensible newscast audio of Lenny Bruce's death. In another track on the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert MacNamara'd Into Submission)", Paul Simon sings, "... and I learned the truth from Lenny Bruce, that all my wealth won't buy me health."

• Tim Hardin's fourth album, released in 1968 Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert, includes his song Lenny's Tune written about his friend Lenny Bruce.

• Nico's 1967 album Chelsea Girl includes a track entitled "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce", written by Tim Hardin. In it she describes her sorrow and anger at Bruce's death.

• Bob Dylan's 1981 song "Lenny Bruce" describes a brief taxi ride shared by the two legends. In the last line of the song, Dylan recalls: "Lenny Bruce was bad, he was the brother that you never had."

• Grace Slick sings the song "Father Bruce" on the album "Conspicuous Only in Its Absence" by the band The Great Society.

Alternative rock band R.E.M. mentioned Bruce twice in the 1987 song "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," including the line, "Lenny Bruce is not afraid."

English alternative rock band The Boo Radleys had a song called "Rodney King (Song for Lenny Bruce)" on their 1993 album Giant Steps.

Christian Slater while playing "Hard Harry" the pirate radio host in the 1990 movie Pump Up the Volume, checks out the book "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" from the school library. The movie deals with themes of restricted freedom of speech in modern America.

He is referenced in the Genesis song "The Broadway Melody of 1974" in the line, "Lenny Bruce declares a truce and plays his other hand."

The chorus for the song "Imaginary Friends" on the 2005 Nada Surf album The Weight is a Gift includes the line, "Lenny Bruce's bug eyes stare from an LP, asking me just what kind of fight I got in me."

During the song "La Vie Boheme A" in the musical Rent, Lenny Bruce is listed among the influences upon underground culture alongside Langston Hughes.

Scroobius Pip mentions Lenny Bruce in the song Introdiction on the album Distraction Pieces by saying "but all that was covered by Lenny Bruce back in the day" while describing the controversy that can arise from the use of certain words.

American indie pop duo Joy Zipper mentions Bruce in the 2005 song "For Lenny's Own Pleasure" including lyrics such as "Lenny Bruce selling movies, video movies with Nicky and Donna" and "Lenny's smoking a bowl for his own pleasure"

Books by or about Bruce[link]

• Bruce, Lenny. Stamp Help Out! (Self-Published pamphlet, 1962)
• Bruce, Lenny. How to Talk Dirty and Influence People (Playboy Publishing, 1967)

By others:

• Barry, Julian. Lenny (play) (Grove Press, Inc. 1971)
• Bruce, Honey. Honey: The Life and Loves of Lenny's Shady Lady (Playboy Press, 1976, with Dana Benenson)
• Bruce, Kitty. The (almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce (1984, Running Press) (includes a graphically spruced up reproduction of 'Stamp Help Out!')
• Cohen, John, ed., compiler. The Essential Lenny Bruce (Ballantine Books, 1967)
• Collins, Ronald and David Skover, The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall & Rise of an American Icon (Sourcebooks, 2002)^[32]
• DeLillo, Don. Underworld, (Simon and Schuster Inc., 1997)
• Denton, Bradley. The Calvin Coolidge Home For Dead Comedians, an award-winning collection of science fiction stories in which the title story has Lenny Bruce as one of the two protagonists.
• Goldman, Albert, with Lawrence Schiller. Ladies and Gentlemen—Lenny Bruce!! (Random House, 1974)
• Josepher, Brian. What the Psychic Saw (Sterlinghouse Publisher, 2005)
• Kofsky, Frank. Lenny Bruce: The Comedian as Social Critic & Secular Moralist (Monad Press, 1974)
• Kringas, Damian. Lenny Bruce: 13 Days In Sydney (Independence Jones Guerilla Press, Sydney, 2010) A study of Bruce's ill-fated September 1962 tour down under.
• Marciniak, Vwadek P., Politics, Humor and the Counterculture: Laughter in the Age of Decay (New York etc., Peter Lang, 2008).
• Smith, Valerie Kohler. Lenny (novelization based on the Barry-scripted/Fosse-directed film) (Grove Press, Inc., 1974)
• Thomas, William Karl. Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet (first printing, Archon Books, 1989; second printing, Media Maestro, 2002; Japanese edition, DHC Corp. Tokyo, 2001)

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Partial Discography[link]

Audio/video[link]

• "Come and Gone/Thank you, Mr. Masked Man!", My KPFA – A Historical Footnote (1961 Jazz Workshop performance and two 1963 performances)
• Video Clips Relating to the Trial of Lenny Bruce as assembled by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• "JSTOR: College English: Vol. 38, No. 5, Literacy and Basics (January, 1977), pp. 517–519". http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-0994(197701)38%3A5%3C517%3AO%22BWT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1. Retrieved 2007-07-06. 
• "Lenny Bruce: Britannica Concise". http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9358140/Lenny-Bruce. Retrieved March 27, 2006. 
• "Bruce, Lenny – The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001–05.". http://bartelby.org/65/br/Bruce-Le.html. Retrieved March 27, 2006. 
• "Lenny Bruce: A Who2 Profile". http://www.who2.com/lennybruce.html. Retrieved March 27, 2006. 
• "Lenny Bruce". http://www.nndb.com/people/406/000022340/. Retrieved March 27, 2006. 

External links[link]

United States Navy portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lenny Bruce

• The Official Lenny Bruce Website
• "Famous Trials: The Lenny Bruce Trial, 1964", University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law. Includes Linder, Douglas, "The Lenny Bruce Trial: An Account", 2003. WebCitation archive.
• Azlant, Edward. "Lenny Bruce Again", Shecky Magazine, August 22, 2006
• Gilmore, John. "Lenny Bruce and the Bunny", excerpt from Laid Bare: A Memoir of Wrecked Lives and the Hollywood Death Trip (Amok Books, 1997). ISBN 978-1-878923-08-0
• Harnisch, Larry. "Voices", Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2007. (Reminiscences by saxophonist Dave Pell)
• Kaufman, Anthony. Archive.org archive of "Robert Weide's 'Lenny Bruce': 12 Years in-the-Negotiations" (interview with Swear to Tell the Truth producer), Indiewire.com, April 16, 2008
• Hentoff, Nat. "Lenny Bruce: The crucifixion of a true believer", Gadfly March/April 2001
• Smith, Daniel V. "The Complete Lenny Bruce Chronology" (fan site)
• Lenny Bruce at Find a Grave
• Appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts radio show, 1949 (mp3), November 27, 2011
• "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet" Memoir and pictures from Bruce's principal collaborator, Media Maestro 2001.
• The Pot Smokers, a satirical article by Lenny Bruce, reprinted in The (Almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce
• Idioms for Marijuana Cigarettes, by Lenny Bruce, reprinted in The (Almost) Unpublished Lenny Bruce

"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart^[1] on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well. It is one of the fewer than 30 all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) copies worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

With its haunting Bach-flavoured instrumental melody, soulful vocals, and unusual lyrics—by the song's co-authors Gary Brooker, Keith Reid,^[2] and Matthew Fisher-- "A Whiter Shade of Pale" reached #1 in several countries when released in 1967. In the years since, it has become an enduring classic. It was the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK (as of 2009),^[3] and the United Kingdom performing rights group Phonographic Performance Limited in 2004 recognised it as the most-played record by British broadcasting of the past 70 years.^[4] Also in 2004, Rolling Stone placed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" #57 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

More than 1000 recorded cover versions by other artists are known.^[5] The song has been included in many music compilations over the decades and has also been used in the soundtracks of numerous films, including The Big Chill, Purple Haze, Breaking the Waves, The Boat That Rocked and notably in Martin Scorsese's segment of New York Stories. Cover versions of the song have also been featured in many films, for example by King Curtis in Withnail and I and by Annie Lennox in The Net.

The original writing credits were for Brooker and Reid only. On 30 July 2009, Matthew Fisher won co-writing credit for the music in a unanimous ruling from the Law Lords.

Recording and personnel[link]

The song was performed and recorded at Olympic Studios in London, England with Gary Brooker providing the vocals and piano, Matthew Fisher on a Hammond M-102 organ, David Knights on bass and Ray Royer on guitar. Drums were by session drummer Bill Eyden. A few days later, the song was re-recorded with the band's then newly-recruited drummer Bobby Harrison. That version, though, was considered inferior^{[citation needed]} and one of the original mono recordings was chosen for release.

Producer for the record was Denny Cordell and Keith Grant was the sound engineer.^[6]

The song was included on the original U.S. release of the Procol Harum album, but not on the UK version.

Lyrics[link]

Reid got the title and the starting point for the song at a party. He overheard someone at the party saying to a woman, "You've turned a whiter shade of pale," and the phrase stuck in his mind.^[7][8] The original lyrics had four verses, of which only two are heard on the original recording. The third verse has been heard in live performances by Procol Harum, and more seldom also the fourth.^[9] The author of Procol Harum: beyond the pale, Claes Johansen, suggests that the song "deals in metaphorical form with a male/female relationship which after some negotiation ends in a sexual act."^[8] This is supported by Tim de Lisle in Lives of the Great Songs, who remarks that the lyrics concern a drunken seduction, which is described through references to sex as a form of travel, usually nautical, using mythical and literary journeys.^[10] Other observers have also commented that the lyrics concern a sexual relationship.^[7]

Structurally and thematically, the song is unusual in many respects. While the recorded version is 4:03 long, it is composed of only two verses, each with chorus. The piece is also more instrument-driven than most songs of the period, and with a much looser rhyme scheme. Its unusually allusive and referential lyrics are much more complex than most lyrics of the time (for example, the chorus focuses on Chaucer's The Miller's Tale). Thus, this piece can be thought of as a forerunner to the progressive rock that would reach its zenith about ten years later.

The phrase a whiter shade of pale has since gained widespread use in the English language, noticed by several dictionaries.^[11][12][13] As such, the phrase is today often used in contexts independent of any consideration of the song. (See ^[14] for many annotated examples complete with links to original sources.) It has also been heavily paraphrased, in forms like an Xer shade of Y--this to the extent that it has been recognised^[15][16] as a snowclone – a type of cliché and phrasal template.

Composition[link]

The song is in moderate time, in C major, and is characterised by the bassline moving stepwise downwards in a repeated pattern throughout. In classical music this is known as a ground bass. The harmonic structure is identical for the organ melody, the verse and the chorus, except that the chorus finishes with a cadence. The main organ melody appears at the beginning and after each verse/chorus. But it is also heard throughout, playing variations of its theme and counterpointing the vocal line. Both the vocal and the organ accompaniment reach a crescendo at the beginning of the chorus "And so it was, and later ..."; where the organist rapidly runs his finger down and up the entire keyboard. The final instrumental fades out to silence - a common device in pop music of the time.

The Hammond organ line of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String" - both of which use a similar stepwise bass motion. But contrary to popular belief, the song is not a direct copy or paraphrase of any music by Bach,^[17] although it makes clear references to both pieces. This similarity is referred to in the 1982 play The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard and the 1991 film The Commitments. A yet closer melodic influence that is seldom cited can arguably^{[weasel words]} be found in the organ choral prelude "O Mensch bewein dein' Sünde groß" (O Man, Lament Your Sin So Great), BWV 622, from Bach's Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book). The music also borrows ideas from "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge.^[18]

Reception[link]

The single was released on 12 May 1967 by Deram Records and entered the UK charts on 25 May. In two weeks it reached number one where it stayed for six weeks, and on the UK chart for a total of 15 weeks. A May 1972 re-release on Fly Records stayed in the UK charts for a total of 12 weeks, and reached number 13 as highest. In the US, it reached #5 and sold over one million copies. In the Netherlands it entered the chart at number one in June 1967 and again reached number one in July 1972.

Chart positions: # 1 (UK), # 1 (the Netherlands), # 1 (Germany), # 1 (Ireland), # 1 (Australia), # 1 (World), # 3 (Norway VG-lista), # 5 (USA Hot 100). "A Whiter Shade of Pale" also managed to peak at number twenty-two on the soul charts in the U.S.^[19]

Over time, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has earned extensive critical acclaim:

• John Lennon was a great fan of the song and was known to have played it repeatedly in his Rolls Royce. When it was released in England, Lennon (and friends in his circle) reportedly confused Brooker's soulful vocals with Steve Winwood, who had popularity at the time with The Spencer Davis Group.
• It was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also uses the word 'fandango') of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT Awards, part of Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee.
• #57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
• British TV station Channel 4 placed the song at #19 in its chart of the 100 greatest number one singles.^[20]

Authorship lawsuit[link]

In 2005, former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher filed suit in the High Court against Gary Brooker and his publisher, claiming that he co-wrote the music for the song.^[21]

Fisher won the case on 20 December 2006 but was awarded 40% of the composers' share of the music copyright, rather than the 50% he was seeking and was not granted royalties prior to 2005.^[22]

Gary Brooker and publisher Onward Music were granted leave to appeal, and a hearing on the matter was held before a panel of three judges during the week of 1 October 2007. The decision, on 4 April 2008, by Lord Justice Mummery, in the Court of Appeal upheld Fisher's co-authorship^[23] but ruled that he should receive no royalties as he had taken too long (38 years) to bring his claim to litigation. Full royalty rights were returned to Brooker.^[24]

On 5 November 2008, Matthew Fisher was granted permission to appeal this decision to the House of Lords.^[25] Lawyers say it is the first time the Law Lords have been asked to rule on a copyright dispute involving a song.^[26] The appeal was heard in the House of Lords on 22–23 April 2009.^[27]

On 30 July 2009 the Law Lords unanimously ruled in Fisher's favour. They noted that the delay in bringing the case had not caused any harm to the other party; on the contrary they had benefited financially from it. They also pointed out that there were no time limits to copyright claims under English law. The right to future royalties was therefore returned to Fisher.^[28][29] The musicological basis of the judgment, and its effect on the rights of musicians who contribute composition to future works, has drawn some attention in the music world.^[30]

Video[link]

The first video for the song was shot in the ruins of Witley Court in Worcestershire, England.^[31] The Witley Court video features four of the five musicians who played on the hit single: Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, David Knights and Ray Royer, in performance and walking through the ruins. Only the drummer in the video isn't on the record: early band member Bobby Harrison is seen miming to session man Bill Eyden's drumming. According to Shindig! Magazine's Procol Harum cover story by Alan Robinson (November–December 2009 issue – page 55), the video was directed by Peter Clifton whose insertion of Vietnam War newsreel footage caused it to be banned from airplay on the "Top of the Pops" TV show. The band subsequently made another video using "Scopitone" technology, but by this time, Robin Trower and B.J. Wilson had replaced Royer and Harrison in the band, so only three of the five musicians on the recording are represented, and no performance footage included – only the five musicians cavorting around London, running across fields, etc. This lineup, with Fisher in a monk's cowl, also mimed to the song on Top of the Pops, (though Gary Brooker sang live) and black and white footage of this performance has been shown online, perhaps constituting the third video of the song from 1967. (See also its inclusion on the 'Top of the Pops 40th Anniversary 1964–2004 DVD'.)

There was also a video shot as part of Joel Gallen's Deja-View music video series.^[32] Originally airing on various networks in late 1985 through 1986, this video starred Harry Dean Stanton and Bernie Taupin, but featured no member of the band. It has also aired on VH1 Classic, and has recently surfaced online.^[33][34]

References[link]