An A+ Album: Procol Harum, A Salty Dog

Behold my first attempt at discussing an A+ (according to Robert Christgau) album! Here are the details:

THE BASIC DETAILS
Artist: Procol Harum
Album: A Salty Dog
Label: A&M
Year: 1969
Length: 40:18

CHRISTGAU AND THE ALBUM
What does Robert Christgau have to say?

A new discovery; haven't stopped playing it since seeing them at the Fillmore.

How many words is that? 13.

How does the A+ grade compare with other albums from the band?
The A+ is an anomaly, because Christgau graded five later Procol Harum albums C+, C, B-, C, and B+.

ANY OTHER NOTABLE INFO?

Amazon: 29 5-star reviews, two 4-star.
Allmusic: 4½ stars, plus reviews of every track on the album.
Pandora:

• "[Procol Harum features] electric rock instrumentation, blues influences, acoustic rhythm piano, extensive vamping and major key tonality."
• Similar artists: the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, and Cream. 
• The first song played was "Wish You Well" (not from A Salty Dog), followed by "For No One" by the Beatles, and "Brain Damage" by Pink Floyd.

YouTube: I found several tracks available for a free listen. There are multiple live versions of the title track, as well.

AND NOW, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?

A Noltier shade of Nolte.

Like most of the world, I'm familiar with Procol Harum based on "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which is one of those monster hits that I lump with "Unchained Melody" in the category I clumsily call "oldies that everyone's heard of despite not necessarily knowing the name of the artist(s) responsible for the song."

My first exposure to that song was probably when I rented New York Stories; Martin Scorsese's segment, "Life Lessons," which featured Nick Nolte as an obsessive painter, used the song like it was a Greek chorus.

For all I knew, that could have been Procol Harum's only song. Little did I know that the band released several albums and is still touring today — hit them up if you plan to be in South Africa in May!

According to Wikipedia, the band "contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock," which surprised me because when I think of "prog rock" I immediately think of Yes, which my wife likes, a fact that surprisingly has not broken up our marriage.

What made A Salty Dog, the band's third album (their 1967 debut contained "Whiter Shade"), a surprising listen was not the fact that only one track (the closer, "Pilgrim's Progress") sounded somewhat like their biggest hit, but that the album in full resembled a sampler of (some) musical styles from (mainly) the late 1960s. As move from track to track, you might wonder whether you're listening to the same band. Some songs, like title track, feature strings or lush orchestration...

...then you're suddenly dropped into a spare but rollicking bluesy tune, "Juicy John Pink":

If you want to learn more about this album, you should check out the Allmusic entry I mentioned earlier. I like when Allmusic selects notable tracks for review, not just the album as a whole. In the case of A Salty Dog, every track is reviewed.

I don't really have much else to say about this album that hasn't been said, but I can imagine what it must have been like to see these guys at the Fillmore (all the songs would probably sound fantastic live) and then wanting to have a keepsake on vinyl to help remember the experience.

Anyway, let's get to the summary.

A PHILISTINE'S SUMMARY OF A SALTY DOG
Without getting all "music critic-y," did you like it? Yes
Which tracks would you consider for your iPod? "A Salty Dog," "Juicy John Pink"
How would you describe and/or recommend this to others? I think almost everyone should hear the title track, and if you're further intrigued or are into any of those Pandora-related bands, you should give the whole thing a spin.

What would you grade this album, based on Christgau's Consumer Guide grading system? Probably an A-. Or maybe an A. Shit, this grading thing is hard.