Lorel

Formed as a British folk ensemble, Lorel featured cult singer/songwriter Duncan Browne alongside fellow singer/songwriter Davy Morgan, who had already cut a Joe Meek-produced single in 1965, with speculation that Browne’s girlfriend at the time participated as well. Around 1967 the group landed a deal with Andrew Oldham’s Immediate label and cut demos under the supervision of Michael d’Abo of Manfred Mann. Liner notes for the CD reissue of Browne’s Give Me Take You recount that Lorel completed an unreleased single with d’Abo, one that apparently incorporated the same Bach-derived motif Procol Harum had drawn upon for their era-defining hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Lorel disbanded before Browne launched his solo career with the 1968 Immediate album Give Me Take You, so no recordings by the group ever appeared. The A-side of that unreleased single, the Browne-Morgan composition “Here and Now,” finally surfaced on the 2004 Duncan Browne anthology Journey: The Anthology 1967-1993; although it bore no obvious resemblance to “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” the track was a baroque pop-folk number whose harmonies reflected a Beach Boys influence.