#dave knights

Friday Flashback: Procol Harum - “Long Gone Geek”

Black and white and lip synching, Procol Harum appeared on German television in 1969 to mime “Long Gone Geek.”

A full-tilt rocker from A Salty Dog, this number - like every Procol song but “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and, perhaps, “Conquistador” - was not a hit. But it’s a doozy, featuring crunchy riffing from Robin Trower, a typically spirited organ solo from Matthew Fisher and fabulous vocals from Gary Brooker as he pretends to sing Keith Reid’s four verses about “weird goings on in the county jail:”

The door flies open, in strides Geek/looking like the front page of Newsweek/he says to Lou in a voice of glee/‘what’s the matter, ain’t you glad to see me?’

Procol Harum fans - all seven of us - will be thrilled to see this archival footage. It’s just too bad the band wasn’t allowed to actually play the damn song.