A blog post

In honour of Keith Reid

Posted on the 27 January, 2012 at 9:12 pm Written by in Music

Keith Reid was the poet behind the loosely-assembled ensemble “Procol Harum”. His texts are among the ones that  helped me through the late 60s and early 70s. It never failed. When I was down, I grew more optimistic. Reid wrote texts showing the failures of the “revolution” at that time., and yet the need to go on. “I will blacken your Christmas”. For Procol Harum, Reid wrote for a larger meaning, trying to show the aftermath of the holocaust, cf http://www.procolharum.com/99/kr_holocaust.htm

Listening today, 2012, his rhymes on Home are still often good and his overall effect seems sublime. Allmusic.com presents some of the story behind the album, but misses a main influence – the words, the content, and therefore does not give it enough credit. Come on folks, this is one of the best post-holocaust reflections you will ever get. It is surely worthy of an album pick, at this site.

There is a quite unique – very open – picture enclosed with the original Home LP, showing the two main band influences, Keith and Gary, at each side – the band members in the middle. These include Robin Thrower (below, second left). Yet they all cringe, here, confronted with the two geniuses, Keith (left) and Gary (right), who have quite some distance between them, Gary (like always?) trying to tell the point, while Keith just seems to stand there, listening, hands in his pockets. Yet he was crucial to the whole Procol Harum event.  As Wikipedia says, “Although he did not sing or play an instrument, lyricist Reid was a pivotal element to the long-term success of Procol Harum”. #