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聴き比べ『青い影(A Whiter Shade of Pale)』をジャズで

今日の「聴き比べ」は『青い影(A Whiter Shade of Pale)』です。

この曲は今更語る必要もない、言わずと知れたプロコル・ハルム(Procol Harum)のデビュー曲で世界中で大ヒットした、今や神格化された不朽の名作と言われています。

1967年、前身のパラマウンツ(The Paramounts)を解散したゲイリー・ブルッカー(Gary Brooker)マシュー・フィッシャー(Matthew Fisher)らと設立したバンドがプロコル・ハルムです。ツイン・キーボードによるクラシカルなロックの先駆けとなりました。そして発表されたデビュー曲が『青い影』でした。詳しくは過去の記事をご覧ください。

lynyrdburitto.hatenablog.com

f:id:lynyrdburitto:20190821103346j:plain

 

A Whiter Shade of Pale

by Gary Brooker,Matthew Fisher & Keith Reid

 

We skipped the light fandango

Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

I was feeling kinda seasick

But the crowd called out for more

The room was humming harder

As the ceiling flew away

When we called out for another drink

The waiter brought a tray

 

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

 

She said, there is no reason

And the truth is plain to see

But I wandered through my playing cards

And would not let her be

One of sixteen vestal virgins

Who were leaving for the coast

And although my eyes were open

They might have just as well've been closed

 

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

 

She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,'

Though in truth we were at sea

So I took her by the looking glass

And forced her to agree

Saying, 'You must be the mermaid

Who took Neptune for a ride.'

But she smiled at me so sadly

That my anger straightway died

 

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

 

If music be the food of love

Then laughter is its queen

And likewise if behind is in front

Then dirt in truth is clean

My mouth by then like cardboard

Seemed to slip straight through my head

So we crash-dived straightway quickly

And attacked the ocean bed

 

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

 


A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum

 

このプロモーション・ビデオが懐かしいです。

 

この曲は「過去75年UKで最もプレイされた曲ベスト10」の堂々1位に選ばれています(Wikipediaより)。

ということはそれだけカバー曲も多いということですが、今日は珍しいところでジャズ・ヴォーカルでカバーしたバージョンを紹介ます。キンクスの「サニー・アフタヌーン」でも取り上げましたヘイリー・ロレン(Halie Loren)です。彼女の2008年のファーストアルバム『They Oughta Write A Song... 』に収録されました。彼女の気だるいヴォーカルが何とも言えません。

 


Halie Loren - A Whiter Shade Of Pale

 

この曲はイージー・リスニング分野でもかなりレコード化されました。ロック以外にも多くの分野で演奏された珍しい曲でした。

 

それでは今日はこの辺で。