10 Rock Bands Who Blatantly Copied Other Artists
3. Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
Towards the mid '60s, the rock world was starting to get a whole lot more adventurous than the fun music started by Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Starting with the Beatles' experimentation on albums like Revolver, bands were popping up left and right with their own forms of psychedelia, where Procol Harum rose to prominence with White Shade of Pale. Whereas others found their inspiration in acid though, these guys found their rock and roll dreams during classical music practice.
When discussing the creation of the classic organ line, Gary Brooker had talked about practicing his classical pieces before screwing up Bach's classic Air on a G String. Instead of just relearning what it sounded like, Brooker decided to just carry on improvising before coming up with the classic opening of what is now a White Shade of Pale. As such, the whole song feels like it has some sort of regal scope about it, almost like it's floating above the clouds whenever it starts.
They didn't even bother to hide it too much either, considering the opening chords are still verbatim from the Bach piece. So next time you think that classical music is too pure and clean for rock and roll, just remember one of the foundational moments of '60s rock would be incomplete without some help from ol' J.S.B