Procol Harum - Something Magic (1977)
Tracklist front / back album covers
1. Something Magic
2. Skating on Thin Ice
3. Wizard Man
4. Mark of the Claw
5. Strangers in Space
6. Worm
7. Part One - Introduction-Menace-Occupation
8. Part Two - Enervation-Expectancy-Battle
Something Magic is the ninth album by Procol Harum, and was released in 1977.
Electing to work with producers Ron and Howie Albert when Leiber and Stoller (who had produced the band's preceding album) were not available, Procol Harum flew into Miami with more than enough material for their album. However, the Alberts rejected more than five of these tracks, leaving only four from the material the group had intended to use. Vocalist/composer/piano player Gary Brooker then offered up the epic "The Worm and The Tree", a piece by lyricist Keith Reid that Brooker had been toying with on and off for several years.
Under mounting pressure to complete the musical composition and orchestral arrangements for the 19-minute epic (which according to Reid was about "how the press tried to break up the band") Brooker turned to local Miami arranger Mike Lewis to complete the orchestral arrangements for the title track "Something Magic", and band member Chris Copping to complete the woodwind arrangement for "Skating on Thin Ice".
With work completed on "The Worm and The Tree", Brooker previewed it for co-producers Ron and Howie Albert who approved of the piece (a surprise, given that it had a lot in common with the epic orchestral/progressive rock piece, "In Held Twas I" from Shine on Brightly). Guitarist Mick Grabham offered up his only composition, set to Reid's "The Mark of the Claw", to help fill out the album (on the 2009 Salvo reissue, Grabham is incorrectly credited with writing the single "Wizard Man" with Reid). The Alberts insisted that the band's steady drummer B.J. Wilson use a click track for the album, an unusual demand given his work on the band's previous releases. After this album was released, Copping left the band. Dee Murray (Elton John's bassist) replaced him for the North American tour promoting this album.
