Matthew Fisher
|
Matthew Fisher in Cannes in 2000. |
For the Canadian journalist, see Matthew Fisher (journalist).Matthew Charles Fisher,
Hammond organist,
singer-songwriter, and the man responsible for the sound of
A Whiter Shade of Pale, was born
March 7,
1946 in
Addiscombe,
Croydon,
Surrey,
England.
He was a founding member of
Procol Harum, producer to
Robin Trower,
James Dewar and
Tir Na Nog (among others), and enjoyed a
solo career, being especially popular in Greece [
1]. Two of the albums he produced for
Trower,
Bridge of Sighs (
1974) and For Earth Below (
1975), have been certified Gold by the
RIAA[
2], while
A Whiter Shade of Pale has enjoyed multi-platinum status. Fisher's Hammond organ playing on pianist David Lanz's instrumental version of "
A Whiter Shade of Pale" from his
1988 CD, "
Cristofori's Dream," undoubtedly helped that album go
Gold as well.
Matthew Fisher co-produced an album by the group "
Prairie Madness" in
1972, on which he also played organ and
harpsichord. This was a piano-guitar duo with an accompanying band, and it achieved limited success.
Fisher quit
Procol Harum in
1969 after the release of their 3rd album "
A Salty Dog", which he produced. He rejoined the band in
1991 for the album "
The Prodigal Stranger" and released 2 more albums with them, "One More Time" and "
The Well's on Fire" and 2 concert DVDs "Live in Copenhagen" and "Live at the Union Chapel," but quit the band again in
2004. He is currently a computer programmer in
London.
In
2005, Matthew Fisher filed suit [
3] in the
Royal Courts of Justice against Procol Harum pianist, lead singer and founder
Gary Brooker and his publisher, claiming that Fisher co-wrote the music for
A Whiter Shade of Pale.
*
Matthew Fisher's fan page - at procolharum.com
*
Prairie Madness (band)*
Procol Harum
