Chris Copping (born 29 August 1945 in Middleton, Lancashire, England) is a musician and singer-songwriter who was a member of Procol Harum in the 1970s, and has also composed for TV and film. He predominantly plays organ, piano and bass guitar.
In 1960 he joined a group called The Paramounts as a guitarist but left in December 1962 to go to study chemistry at Leicester University. Diz Derrick replaced him in the group until they split up in October 1966.
From 1963 until 1966 he studied at Leicester University, receiving an honours degree in chemistry. From 1966 to 1969, he worked for the government and studied for a PhD. During this time his first marriage had broken up and he had returned to playing music, initially playing the organ in a pub, then playing traditional German music. In 1969, he was invited by Robin Trower to replace Matthew Fisher on organ and David Knights on bass in Procol Harum (at which point that band consisted entirely of ex-The Paramounts musicians). [1]
Between December 1969 and March 1977 Copping recorded seven albums with the group and toured extensively. During this time Copping alternated between bass guitar and Hammond organ as other musicians joined the group. After recording the album, Something Magic , he left the group and was replaced by Dee Murray for the accompanying tour, after which the group broke up.
In 1978 he moved to Australia where he continues to play and compose. In recent years Copping has worked with artists such as Mark Hilton, JoJo Leslie and Astrid Munday, as well as composing music for a number of short films (Miss Fortune, The Web and Slim Pickings).
Procol Harum are an English rock band formed in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music is described as psychedelic rock and proto-prog.
Gary Brooker is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.
The Prodigal Stranger is the tenth studio album by Procol Harum, released in 1991.
Home is Procol Harum's fourth album, released in 1970. With the departure of organist Matthew Fisher and bassist David Knights and the addition of the remaining musicians' former bandmate bassist/organist Chris Copping from The Paramounts, Procol Harum was, for all intents and purposes, The Paramounts again in all but name. The purpose of bringing in Copping was to return some of the R&B sound to the band that they had with their previous incarnation.
Broken Barricades is the fifth studio album by English rock band Procol Harum, released the same week they began their U.S. tour, on 3 April 1971. The UK release was on 11 June 1971. It was guitarist Robin Trower's last recording with the group until The Prodigal Stranger (1991).
Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, by the English band Procol Harum together with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, was released in 1972; it was recorded at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on 18 November 1971. The album reached No. 7 in Canada and was very successful on the Billboard Top 200, peaking at No. 5. It is the band's best-selling album, certified Gold by the RIAA. The live version of "Conquistador" from this album became a popular hit on both pop and progressive radio in the United States and reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Grand Hotel is the sixth studio album by Procol Harum. Released in 1973, it signalled a change of direction for the band. Guitarist Dave Ball, who had joined the band for their live album the previous year, left shortly after the photo shoot for the proposed album's cover, to be replaced by Mick Grabham. Grabham's head was superimposed on the front and back cover of the album on Ball's body. Although the band had gone through significant personnel changes in previous years, the band would enter its most stable phase with this lineup.
Exotic Birds and Fruit is the seventh full-length studio album by British progressive rock band Procol Harum. It was released in 1974. The cover artwork for the album is by Jakob Bogdani, a noted Hungarian artist whose paintings centred on exotic birds and fruit.
Procol's Ninth is the eighth studio album by Procol Harum, and was released in September 1975. Produced by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Procol's Ninth featured a slightly different direction from the previous album, with a much starker sound than Chris Thomas's more elaborate productions. According to an interview with guitarist Mick Grabham, conducted by Roland Clare for the 2009 reissue, Leiber and Stoller focused less on the production sound and more on "the structure of the songs". The band appeared on the cover of the album in a straightforward unassuming photograph, mirroring the sound of the album itself. The cover featured simulations of each band member's signature.
Something Magic is the ninth album by Procol Harum, and was released in 1977.
The Long Goodbye was released in 1995. Strictly speaking, this is not a Procol Harum album; it was produced by Gary Brooker with various guest musicians many of whom are or were members of Procol Harum. For example, Robin Trower and Matthew Fisher appear on only one track – "Repent Walpurgis," which Fisher composed.
Matthew Charles Fisher is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his longtime association with the rock band Procol Harum, which included playing the Hammond organ on the 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", for which he subsequently won a songwriting credit. In his later life he became a computer programmer, having qualified from Cambridge University.
Barrie James "B. J." Wilson was an English rock drummer. He was best known as a member of Procol Harum for the majority of their original career from 1967 to 1977.
David Knights is a British musician who was the original bass guitarist in the band Procol Harum. He played bass on the hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale". He was in the band long enough to play on their first three albums. He departed in 1969, to be replaced by Chris Copping. When he was in Procol Harum he used a Gibson EB-0 bass.
Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About is an album of rock and roll songs recorded in 1970 by the members of Procol Harum under the name Liquorice John Death. It was not released until 1997.
Alan George Cartwright was an English bass player.
"Conquistador" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum. Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. It was later released as a single from the band's 1972 live album Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the band's most famous and popular songs and their third Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 16.
Peter Solley is an English Grammy-nominated musician and record producer. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Jo Jo Zep, Peter Frampton, The Sports, Wreckless Eric and many others.
The Paramounts were an English beat group, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They had one hit single with their cover version of "Poison Ivy", which reached No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964, but are primarily known as the forerunner to Procol Harum.