The Music Court

Today’s song of the day is brought to you by the original blue-collar rocker. A man, who with his silver bullets, re-shaped blue-eyed soul into the heartland rock and roll we now know. His timeless classic, “Old Time Rock and Roll,” continues to crowd radio airwaves. He is the one and only Bob Seger.

From the wide collection of music written and sung in Seger’s raspy voice let us dig a little recently for today’s song. “Simplicity,” off of his last release “Face the Promise,” sees Seger delve into harder rock while singing about a subject that has made his music so loved over all of these years. Keep it simple. Seger longs for the basics, the oldies, the Little Richard and the Elvis Presley. He was inspired by this simple music time and he has carried this message throughout his entire career. What makes “Simplicity,” so interesting though is its pairing. Yes, the hard-rock guitar riff is simple and the saxophone lick is, as well, quite simple, but the song interestingly moves a little away from normal simplicity. Seger’s niche is more along the lines of heartland rock. Yet, even though the song approaches hard-rock his grunts by the end of the song truly bring back that simpler feel and demonstrate to the listeners that Bob Seger really has not changed much. And, that is a good thing.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieIn1qFd9uU

           Happy Birthday Mr. Gary Brooker. At 66, your enduring classic “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” with your old band Procul Harum is still one of classic rock’s more melodic hits and today it has the unparalleled honor of being The Music Court’s song of the day.

        “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” was released by Procul Harum as a single on June 8th, 1967. Gary Brooker took lead and in his haunting croon bellowed out the lyrics written by friend and poet Keith Reid. Now, one must understand the lyrics of this song are not like a usual rock classic. The lyrics are understandably wierd. Reid is a poet and it shows. Lyrics like:

And so it was that later
as the miller told his tale
that her face, at first just ghostly,
turned a whiter shade of pale.

        Yet, the reason behind the songs success is the miraculous pairing of the lyrics by Reid, the voice of Brooker, and the Bach like hammond organ of Matthew Fisher who, while having a suitable name (the song is about the sea), also had a keen ability to create a whistling ocean-like feel to the song. If one had to put a soundtrack to the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Coleridge this is what it would sound like and The Ancient Mariner would, of course, be Brooker. For this song strikes on a musical rarity. Brooker, Reid, and Fisher lull you into a mystical state where you feel entrapped by the music and the story and you cannot release yourself from its grasp until the four minutes come to a close.

Must Check Out This Video, Old Time Performance of “Whiter Shade of Pale”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWULu5_nXI