Album: Procol Harum (1967)

Charted: 22 16

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Songfacts®:

• Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid told us the story behind this song: "Gary Brooker and I, before we formed Procol Harum, when we were just working together as songwriters and getting into it, we had this regular deal where he lived about 40 miles from London near the ocean, and I'd jump on a train once a week and go visit him. He'd have a bunch of my lyrics and he'd play me whatever he had been working on. This particular time, though, I'd got down there and he'd been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea."
• Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers who set out to conquer the Americas after their discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
• This became a hit when Procol Harum recorded it live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra on November 18, 1971. It was released in 1972 on the aptly titled album Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. When we spoke with Gary Brooker in 2010, we asked him what he considered to be his best vocal performance. Brooker replied: "I would say something off of the Edmonton Symphony Live album. I don't mind which one, really. But it always gives one a great deal of pleasure if you know that when you sing live, that you sing as well or better than you did in the studio. And, of course, when you get excited, when you're playing on stage, a bit more adrenaline, it always fits well in with the feeling. When we played in Edmonton with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra that first time, it was a very inspiring evening, and there was a lot of good music going on from everybody, and the vocals had to get over it all." (Check out our interview with Gary Brooker.)

Comments: 13

• Ekdave from Vancouver, BcAureole finally makes sense of that line. The other line that stumps me is usually given as:
  "I could see no maze to unwind". That just strikes me as a misheard lyric. I have watched videos and can't tell what is the actual line.
• Snowdog from MarylandI found this info on a YouTube comment (for the song) and believe it to be correct:
  Many lyric interpretations say that the phrase is "I see there is no, only all...", which makes no sense. It is aureole. "I can see there is no aureole."
  the word aureole means a bright light around a holy figure. A halo is an aureole, and if you look at medieval religious paintings you will often see that the entire figure of the holy one is surrounded by a brighter light than the rest of the painting. Even some modern paintings
• Mark from IndianapolisWhat the heck does
  
  "I see there is no, only all"
  
  ...mean?
• Jidis from VirginiaAnybody know if there's more than one mix of the studio version? I had my Alexa play it earlier today and I swear it sounded different than the one I've always listened to from the PH album. Most notable were the keyboard leads that kick in after the last verse.
• Riverman from PennsylvaniaI think it is a meta for about willy loman middle class types who grew out of great depression and thought they were conquering business world, only to die with no close friends or family, but had great suit and lots of toys.
• Nancy Lavalley from Right Now OregonOne of the greatest albums of all time. I was 19 when I originally heard Procol Harum Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. I was in Miami driving and the DJ played the whole album. I was so blown away that I had to stop the car and pull over to listen to it. To this day I listen to it often.
• Libby E from Louisville KyGreat song; unusual intreptation of the all conquering conquistadors.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn July 5th 1972, Procol Harum appeared in concert at the Golden Hall in San Diego, California...
  At the time the British quintet's "Conquistador" was at #22 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eighteen days later on July 23rd it would peak at #16...
  {See next post below}...
  Appearing with Procol Harum was the newly formed group the Eagles, and at the time their debut Top 100 record, "Take It Easy", was at #17 on the chart.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn May 21st 1972, "Conquistador" by Procol Harum entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #84; nine weeks later on July 23rd, 1972 it would peak at #16 {for 1 week} and it stayed on the chart for 13 weeks...
  It reached #7 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart...
  The British quintet had two other Top 100 records; "A Whiter Shade of Pale" {#5 in 1967} and "Homburg" {#34, also in 1967}.
• Martin from Fresno, CaThe live version is definitely superior. A great production piece.
• Dave from Fernandina Beach, FlThis, in my opinion, is a far better piece than WSOP. Nothing makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up than when the Hammond organ lights off a full-throated scream against the Edmonton Orchestra in the final verses. There have been other well-done fusions of rock and orchestra but this, in my humble opinion, is at the apex of the list.
• Lester from New York City, NyProcol Harum spawned Robin Trower, who I will see in concert for about 35th time on June 12th. But Procol Harum was my favorite group up until Trower left. Check out PH's 2nd album 'Shine On Brightly', although their fitst album may be better.
• Reg from Kemptville, On, -In Canada this song gets more airplay than "Whiter Shade of Pale" due to 'Can-con' requirements -- radio stations must play a prescribed amount of Canadian-content on the air.
  The flip side of the 45 is great too: "A Salty Dog"
  (I still like 'Whiter Shade of Pale'/ 'We Skipped the Light Fandango' much more.)

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