Matthew Fisher

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Matthew Charles Fisher (born 7 March 1946) is an English musician, songwriter and producer.

He is best known for playing the Hammond organ on the 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum, for which he subsequently won a songwriting credit.

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Early life and career

Fisher was born and grew up in Addiscombe, Croydon. He attended Selhurst Grammar School. He began playing bass guitar as a youth but after hearing The Animals and Georgie Fame, he decided to become an organist instead. He briefly considered teaching music for a short time. He registered for classical study at the Guildhall School of Music but after a year, he dropped out, obtained two Vox Continental organs, and used them on tour with The Gamblers, Billy Fury's backing band. He played with various local clubs before joining Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers in 1966.

Ian McLagan, organist with Small Faces, became captivated with the Hammond M102 organ and Leslie speaker that McLagan used while on tour, and became captivated with the music. He purchased the same model of Hammond and began advertising for gigs in the Melody Maker after borrowing money from his grandmother. "Having a Hammond put him in great demand as a writer," he said, and by the end of the year, he began working with Screaming Lord Sutch's support group The Savages, playing alongside Ritchie Blackmore. Consequently, Gary Brooker and Keith Reid were keen to recruit him for Procol Harum, and they decided to visit him at his Croydon home to investigate the band's formation.

Fisher joined Procol Harum at the start of 1967, but he stayed with Sutch for a short time. Although all the musicians had performed in other bands, Fisher was the only one with formal music instruction. He recalls that "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was originally four verses and ten minutes long, with solos performed in between by Fisher and Brooker in between. When it came to recording the album, it was cut to two verses, and it was decided that Fisher should do all the solos.

In addition,, he felt, after hearing the sheet music to "A Whiter Shade of Pale," that he deserved a co-composition award for assisting with the well-known introduction and solo passages throughout the song. Brooker and Reid, who had drafted the basic framework of the song before recruiting Fisher, declined.

Although "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was a big success, peaking at number one in the UK charts for many weeks, Fisher doesn't recall the time as being a happy one for the band. They were not used to having a hit single, and he was unimpressed with the band's early gigs, despite the band's early gigs.

Robin Trower, a guitarist, and drummer B.J. Wilson's move from Procol Harum to Procol Harum in mid-1967 seemed to bring some stability to the band. Fisher's first formal songwriting credit on the band's debut album was for the instrumental "Repent Walpurgis," which was influenced by Trower's classically influenced organ lines. However, Fisher wanted to leave Procol Harum due to his father's death in 1965 and his inability with co-writing credits (particularly over "A Whiter Shade of Pale"). Despite being denied of it, he'll continue to try to leave the band on several occasions over the next two and a half years until finally ending at the end of 1969.

Fisher, although no longer involved in recording and touring, continued as a producer for the group. Trower returned to the band after leaving in 1971 for a solo career, with bandmate Chris Copping taking the lead onto bass. He was dissatisfied with the band's finances, and with Trower's replacement, Dave Ball, he was sent by the band's replacement, and so he's now working as a full-time producer for CBS.

He was also a producer to Robin Trower, James Dewar, and Tir Na Nog (among others); and he had a solo career, being particularly popular in Greece, where his 1980 hit "Why I Have to Fall in Love with You" is considered a classic. Journey's Conclusion (1973), I'll Be There (1974), Matthew Fisher (1980), Strange Days (1981), and A Salty Dog Returns (1990) are among his solo albums.

The RIAA has two of his albums, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has been certified gold, and "Forte Below" has been released as gold by the RIAA, with Bridge and Sighs (1974) and Foregoing Earth Below (1975), while Foregoing Black Bottoms (1974) and Fore Below (1975), although For Human Beings (1976) have been nominated for gold, while On the other hand, two of Trower's albums have been given gold by the — Fisher's Hammond organ performed on pianist David Lanz's instrumental version of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" from his 1988 CD, Cristofori's Dream, helped the album go gold as well. Fisher performed (for Primitive Records) and appeared on the 12" single "All Washed Up" by Northampton Band 'Magnolia Siege' (singer Richard Jones or Rik Ramjet), playing honky-tonk piano on the B-side in the B-side finale.

Fisher co-wrote and performed on the soundtrack of the 1968 avant-garde film Separation, which was released on DVD in the United Kingdom and in the United States in March, 2010. Theme From Separation" on Fisher's album Journey's Conclusion is from the film, and the album also includes an alternate version of the piece for Hammond, bass, and harpsichord.

Fisher co-produced an album by the name of Prairie Madness in 1972, on which he also performed organ and harpsichord. This was a piano-guitar duete duo with an accompanying band, but it had no success. He has performed keyboards for Screaming Lord Sutch's 1972 album, Hands of Jack the Ripper, and appeared on David Bowie's tour in June and July 1972 with The Spiders from Mars. Fisher appeared on Roderick Falconer's album "New Country" (1976), which he designed and assembled as well as playing keyboards.

Fisher left Procol Harum in 1969 after the debut of their third album, A Salty Dog, which he also produced. He reformed the band in 1991 with the album The Profund Stranger, and he has released two more albums with them, One More Time - Live in Utrecht 1992 and The Well's On Fire. He appeared on two concert DVDs, Live in Copenhagen, and Live at the Union Chapel, but he reformed the band in 2004.

Fisher, who studied computer science at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and graduating in 1995, became a full-time computer programmer, designing databases.

The High Court found Fisher to be joint-author and co-owner of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in 2006, despite waiting nearly 40 years since its debut. Fisher was granted 40% of the composer's share of the music copyright, rather than the 50% he requested and was not allowed royalties until 2005.

Later career

Fisher left Procol Harum in 1969 after the release of their third album, A Salty Dog, which he also produced. He joined the band in 1991 for the album The Prosecutors and released two more albums with them, One More Time - Live in Utrecht 1992 and The Wells on Fire. In addition,, he appeared on two concert DVDs, Live in Copenhagen, and Live at the Union Chapel, but he left the band in 2004.

Fisher began working as a full-time computer programmer at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and graduating in 1995.

Despite waiting almost 40 years since the court announced that Fisher to be joint-author and co-owner of Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in 2006, the court found him to be joint author and co-owner of the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by virtue of his contribution to the project in the form of his organ solo. Fisher prevailed on the case on December 20, 2006, but the composer received 40% of the music copyright rather than the 50% that he was seeking and wasn't not granted royal rights prior to 2005.

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