Gary Brooker, MBE, (born 29 May 1945, Hackney, East London), is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder of the rock band Procol Harum. Brooker was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on June 14, 2003 in recognition of his charitable services. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1899 to 1965. ... The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST, internally called HT-7U) is a project being undertaken to construct an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, in eastern China. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A singer is a musician who uses their voice to produce music. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Procol Harum is an English rock band, formed in the 1960s, who built a heavy foundation for what would become progressive rock. ... The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... The honours system of the United Kingdom is a means of rewarding personal bravery, achievement or service to the country. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A charitable organization (also known as a charity) is a trust, company or unincorporated association established for charitable purposes only. ...

Career

Brooker grew up in the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, as did most of the other founding members of Procol Harum. Southend-on-Sea is a resort town in Essex, England. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

He founded The Paramounts in 1962 with his guitarist friend Robin Trower. The band gained respect within the burgeoning 1960s British R 'n' B scene, which yielded The Beatles, The Animals, The Spencer Davis Group, The Rolling Stones, and many others. The Stones, in particular, were Paramounts fans, giving them guest billing on several memorable shows in the early 1960s. the very definition of a guitarist is cody allen and taylor hines because of there un ending guitar skills and awsomnes. ... Robin Leonard Trower (born March 9, 1945 in Catford, South East London, England) is a preeminent English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the leader of his own Hendrixesque power trio. ... In music, a band is a company of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising a musical arrangement on different musical instruments. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... For other uses, see Rhythm and blues (disambiguation). ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... The US edition of The Animals self-titled debut album. ... The Spencer Davis Group was a mid 1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, founded by Spencer Davis (born 17 July 1939, Swansea, Wales). ... “Rolling Stones” redirects here. ... A classical music concert in the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne 2005 Kasia Kowalska concert in Warsaw A concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. ...

In 1966, Brooker founded Procol Harum. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the worldwide hit that Procol Harum is best known for, but Brooker's melancholy vocals and emotive, eclectic piano playing were a key part of Procol's musical mix for the entire course of the band's career. In the early years Brooker, Hammond organist Matthew Fisher, and Trower were the guiding musical forces behind the band, but after disparities in style became too much and Fisher and Trower left, Brooker was the clear leader until the band broke up in 1977. A Whiter Shade of Pale is a song released in 1967 by the band Procol Harum. ... In popular music, a chart-topper is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a ranked list—a chart—of top selling or otherwise judged most popular releases. ... The human voice consists of sound made by a human using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying and screaming. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Matthew Fisher in Cannes in 2000. ...

In 1979, Brooker joined friend and neighbour Eric Clapton's band. With Brooker in the lineup, they released Just One Night, a live recording from Japan and the studio album Another Ticket. Clapton fired the entire band in 1981, but he and Brooker have remained good friends since. Brooker has joined Clapton for several one-off benefit gigs over the years. They still remain neighbours in Ewhurst Surrey UK. Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born 30 March 1945), nicknamed Slowhand, is an Grammy Award winning English guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer. ... Just One Night can refer to: a 1980 album titled Just One Night by Eric Clapton a 1991 album titled Just One Night by Samantha Fox a 1992 album titled Just One Night by McBride & the Ride a PBS program about drunk driving titled Just One Night a film starring... Another Ticket is an album by blues rocker Eric Clapton, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music. ... Ewhurst could be Ewhurst, East Sussex Ewhurst, Suffolk This article consisting of geographical locations is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Not to be confused with Surry. ...

Brooker sang lead vocal on the Alan Parsons song "Limelight", on their 1985 album, Stereotomy. This article is about the collective named The Alan Parsons Project. ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Stereotomy is the penultimate regular album by The Alan Parsons Project. ...

A new incarnation of the Procol Harum, led by Brooker, and including Fisher for most of the tours from 1991 through 2003, has continued touring the world. Brooker also toured with Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band in 1997 and 1999, and he was also a member of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings for several years, appearing on three of their albums and touring with the band. Richard Starkey Jr, MBE (born 7 July 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an Academy Award and Grammy Award winning English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the drummer of The Beatles. ... Bill Wyman (born William George Perks on 24 October 1936) was the bassist for the English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones from its founding in 1962 until 1993. ...

In November 2002 he was among musicians and singers participating in the George Harrison tribute concert, Concert for George, at which he took vocals on their version of "Old Brown Shoe". For other persons named George Harrison, see George Harrison (disambiguation). ... DVD Cover For the released album, see Concert for George (album). ...

In April 2005, as the Gary Brooker Ensemble, he played a sell-out charity concert at Guildford Cathedral in aid of the Tsunami appeal, playing a mixture of Procul Harum and solo songs and powerful arrangements of classical and spiritual songs. His guests and supporting artists included Andy Fairweather Low and Paul Jones exManfred Mann. , For other places with the same name, see Guildford (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Tsunami (disambiguation). ... Procol Harum is a British progressive rock band, formed in the early 1960s. ... Andy Fairweather-Low Birth Date: 8th August 1950 Born Hengoed, Wales Guitarist and vocalist with Amen Corner in the late 1960’s They released 5 singles with Deram (part of Decca) record label in 1967 and 3 singles with the Immediate label including the Number One hit “If paradise is... Paul Jones (born February 24, 1942) is an English singer, actor and radio presenter. ... Cock-A-Hoop Manfred Mann was a British R&B and pop band of the 1960s, named after its keyboard player, who later led the successful 1970s follow-on group Manfred Manns Earth Band. ...

Discography

Solo albums

• 1979: No More Fear Of Flying
• 1982: Lead Me To The Water
• 1985: Echoes In The Night
• 1996: Within Our House (live album)

// Many successful recording artists release at least one live album at some point during their career. ...

Singles

• 1979: "Savannah"
• 1979: "Say It Ain't So Joe"
• 1979: "No More Fear of Flying"
• 1982: "Cycle (Let It Flow)"
• 1982: "Low Flying Birds"
• 1982: "The Angler"
• 1984: "The Long Goodbye"
• 1985: "Two Fools In Love"

External links

• ClassicBands.com - Procol Harum
• ProcolHarum.com - Fan website
• AirMail.net - 'Ringo Starr's All Starr Band 1997 Tour: Gary Brooker'