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

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by British

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

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 List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

. It was released in 1974. The cover artwork for the album is by

Jakob Bogdani Jakob Bogdani (6 May 1658 - 11 November 1724), whose names are sometimes spelt Jacob and Bogdány, was a Hungarian and British artist well known for his still life and exotic bird paintings. Biography Bogdani was born in the city of Eperje ...

, a noted Hungarian artist whose paintings centred 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 B ...

's Air London Studios 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 ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''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 ...

. 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 advertise ...

album charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

. 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 A-side and B-side, B-side 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 (born 19 October 1946 Allmusic.com biography by Jason Ankeny/ref>) is a lyricist and songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every song released by Procol Harum that was not previously recorded by someone else, with the except ...

Charts

Personnel

;Procol Harum *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Mick Grabham Procol Harum () were an English 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 over 10 million copies. Although noted for th ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* BJ Cole –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

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 *

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, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

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 A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production

*Produced By Chris Thomas *Engineer:

John Punter John Punter (born 27 January 1949) is a former English record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with many bands and musicians, such as Japan, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Doctors of Madness, Sad Café and Slade. His career in music span ...

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