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| Organist wins Procol Harum battle | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Matthew Fisher, a founding member of 1960s rock group Procol Harum, has won a High Court battle over who wrote their hit song A Whiter Shade of Pale. | Matthew Fisher, a founding member of 1960s rock group Procol Harum, has won a High Court battle over who wrote their hit song A Whiter Shade of Pale. |
| Fisher went to The High Court in London to prove he wrote the distinctive organ melody in the 1967 worldwide hit. | |
| For almost 40 years, the song has been credited to lead singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. | For almost 40 years, the song has been credited to lead singer Gary Brooker and lyricist Keith Reid. |
| Fisher is claiming about £1m in back royalties for the song, which has sold more than 10 million copies. | |
| Now a computer programmer living in Croydon, Fisher said he was inspired by classical composer Bach but said he also had "his own ideas in his head." | |
| The 60-year-old said he made chord changes to the original Brooker sequence and added to the work with a counterpoint to the song melody. | |
| Brooker defended his claim to be the sole writer of the tune, which still provides him with royalties - boosted by its recent popularity in the mobile ringtone market. | |
| Mr Justice Blackburne, who studied both music and law at Cambridge - followed a transcribed music score during the several occasions the song was played in the High Court. |