Santana and Steve Winwood team up on a cover of Procul Harum's 'Whiter Shade of Pale'

22 September 2021, 10:07 | Updated: 5 October 2023, 11:55

Santana and Steve Winwood in concert
Santana and Steve Winwood in concert. Picture: Getty

By Mayer Nissim

The hook-up will appear on Santana's new album Blessings & Miracles, but you can listen to it now.

Santana and Steve Winwood have joined forces on a cover of Procul Harum's classic song 'A Whiter Shade of Pale'.

The original track topped the UK singles chart for six weeks in 1967 and reached number five in the US, eventually selling over 10 million copies and inspiring over a thousand covers.

The most recent take on the song will feature on Santana's Blessings & Miracles album, which is released on October 15 and available for pre-order now.

Santana, Steve Winwood - Whiter Shade of Pale

It follows the previous singles 'Move', a collaboration with Rob Thomas, and 'She's Fire', featuring rapper G-Eazy.

Blessings & Miracles will be Santana's 26th studio album and the first from the Carlos Santana-led band since the Rick Rubin-produced Africa Speaks in 2019.

Steve Winwood, who previously toured with Santana in 2010 and joined them on stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2014, has not released a solo album since 2008's Nine Lives.

The full tracklisting of Blessings & Miracles is as follows:

  1. Ghost of Future Pull/New Light
  2. Santana Celebration
  3. Rumbalero (Santana & Salvador Santana & Asdru Sierra)
  4. Joy (Santana & Chris Stapleton)
  5. Move (Santana & Rob Thomas & American Authors
  6. Whiter Shade Of Pale (feat. Steve Winwood)
  7. Break (feat. Ally Brooke)
  8. She's Fire (Diane Warren & G-Eazy & Santana)
  9. Peace Power (feat. Corey Glover)
  10. America For Sale (feat. Kirk Hammett & Marc Osegueda)
  11. Breathing Underwater Santana & Stella Santana & Avi Snow & MVCA)
  12. Mother Yes
  13. Song For Cindy
  14. Angel Choir/All Together (feat. Chick Corea & Gayle Moran Corea)
  15. Ghost Of Future Pull II

𝕬 π–‚π–π–Žπ–™π–Šπ–— π•Ύπ–π–†π–‰π–Š 𝕺𝖋 π•»π–†π–‘π–Š - π•»π–—π–”π–ˆπ–”π–‘ π•³π–†π–—π–šπ–’

Read more: This Procol Harum performance of 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' in 2006 is absolutely stunning

The original 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' combines rock and classical, riffing on Bach's 'Air on the G String'. It was recorded in just two takes without overdubs.

At the 1977 Brit Awards, it was named the joint Best British Pop Single from 1952 to 1977, an honour it shared with Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

Past covers have included versions by Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve, Annie Lennox, Joe Cocker and Michael Bolton.

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