Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. Keith Reid: "Gary Brooker and I, before we formed Procol Harum, when we were just working together as songwriters and getting into it, we had this regular deal where he lived about 40 miles from London near the ocean, and I'd jump on a train once a week and go visit him. He'd have a bunch of my lyrics and he'd play me whatever he had been working on. This particular time, though, I'd got down there and he'd been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea."
In August 1971, Procol Harum was invited to perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Edmonton, Alberta. "Conquistador" was added to the set with little time to spare, and the orchestra had no time to rehearse. Nonetheless, they began the concert with the song, and the concert was captured on the album "Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra", of which "Conquistador" was the lead single.
Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. Keith Reid: "Gary Brooker and I, before we formed Procol Harum, when we were just working together as songwriters and getting into it, we had this regular deal where he lived about 40 miles from London near the ocean, and I'd jump on a train once a week and go visit him. He'd have a bunch of my lyrics and he'd play me whatever he had been working on. This particular time, though, I'd got down there and he'd been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea."
In August 1971, Procol Harum was invited to [perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra](https://hooktube.com/watch?v=GPlf09nVgWk) in Edmonton, Alberta. "Conquistador" was added to the set with little time to spare, and the orchestra had no time to rehearse. Nonetheless, they began the concert with the song, and the concert was captured on the album "Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra", of which "Conquistador" was the lead single.
Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. Keith Reid: "Gary Brooker and I, before we formed Procol Harum, when we were just working together as songwriters and getting into it, we had this regular deal where he lived about 40 miles from London near the ocean, and I'd jump on a train once a week and go visit him. He'd have a bunch of my lyrics and he'd play me whatever he had been working on. This particular time, though, I'd got down there and he'd been working on a tune. He said, 'What does this sound like to you?' And I said, 'Oh, conquistador.' It had a little bit of a Spanish flavor to it. I went into another room and started writing the words there and then. 99 out of 100 of those Procol Harum songs were written the words first, and then were set to music. But that particular one, the words hadn't existed before he had the musical idea."
In August 1971, Procol Harum was invited to perform with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in Edmonton, Alberta. "Conquistador" was added to the set with little time to spare, and the orchestra had no time to rehearse. Nonetheless, they began the concert with the song, and the concert was captured on the album "Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra", of which "Conquistador" was the lead single.