''Exotic Birds and Fruit'' is the seventh studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold more than List of best-selling si ...

. It was released in 1974. The cover artwork for the album is by Jakob Bogdani, a noted Hungarian artist whose paintings centered on exotic birds and fruit. In Argentina, the album was titled ''Pájaros Y Frutas Exóticas'' (literally translated as "Birds and Exotic Fruit").

Recording

Collaborating again with producer Chris Thomas, Procol Harum recorded the album at

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producers George Martin, John Burgess (record producer), John Burgess, Ron Richards (producer), Ron Richards, and Peter Sullivan (rec ...

in London. According to singer/songwriter/piano player and bandleader Gary Brooker, the album was recorded in reaction to the two preceding albums which used extensive orchestration. Brooker stated, "We made the live album with an orchestra. We'd then taken the orchestra into the studio for 'Grand Hotel'...we'd had enough of orchestras". The album features the song "Butterfly Boys", written about the founders of the band's record label at the time,

Chrysalis A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages the ...

. The band were unhappy with the terms of their contract and expressed that frustration in song.

Reception

''Exotic Birds and Fruit'' met with a good critical reception but only rose to No. 86 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' album charts. In Denmark, it peaked at #9 upon release, and in early 1975 it re-entered the Top 20 peaking at #19. The album was preceded by the single release of the opening track, "Nothing but the Truth", backed with the single-only

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

track "Drunk Again".

2009 Salvo reissue

In 2009 Salvo reissued Procol Harum's entire discography on CD remastered by Nick Robbins. The reissue for ''Exotic Birds and Fruit'' included two bonus tracks selected by Brooker and Keith Reid. "Drunk Again", the B-side to the single "Nothing but the Truth", appeared on CD along with an alternate mix of "As Strong as Samson".

Track listing

All music by

Gary Brooker Gary Brooker (29 May 1945 – 19 February 2022) was an English singer and pianist, and the founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. Early life Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney ...

, all lyrics by

Keith Reid Keith Stuart Brian Reid (19 October 1946 – 23 March 2023) was an English lyricist and songwriter. He was best known for being the songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every original song released by Procol Harum, with the exception of the so ...

Personnel

;Procol Harum *

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Mick Grabham Mick Grabham (born Michael Grabham, 22 January 1948, Sunderland, County Durham, England) is an English rock guitarist. He played lead guitar for Procol Harum after the departure of Dave Ball, beginning with their album, '' Grand Hotel'' (1973) t ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

BJ Cole Brian John Cole (born 17 June 1946) is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from main ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

track 3 *

Chris Copping Chris Copping (born 29 August 1945 in Middleton, Lancashire, England) is a musician and singer-songwriter who was a member of Procol Harum in the 1970s, and has also composed for TV and film. He predominantly plays organ, piano and bass guitar. ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

Alan Cartwright Alan George Cartwright (10 October 1945 – 4 March 2021) was an English bass player. He was born in London. Before joining Procol Harum in 1972 he played with the Freddie Mack Show together with fellow Harum band member B.J. Wilson and ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

B. J. Wilson Barrie James Wilson (18 March 1947 – 8 October 1990) was an English rock drummer. He was best known as a member of Procol Harum for the majority of their original career from 1967 to 1977. Career Early career Wilson was born in Edmonton, Mi ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Production

*Produced By Chris Thomas *Engineer:

John Punter John Punter (born 27 January 1949) is an English and Canadian former record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with many bands and musicians, such as Spoons, Japan, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Re-Flex, Doctors of Madness, ...

Charts

Release history

References

External links

ProcolHarum.com
– ProcolHarum.com's page on this album {{Authority control Procol Harum albums 1974 albums Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Chrysalis Records albums Festival Records albums Repertoire Records albums