Electing to work with producers Ron and Howie Albert when Leiber and Stoller (who had produced the band's preceding album) were not available, Procol Harum flew into Miami with more than enough material for their album. However, the Alberts rejected more than five of these tracks, leaving only four from the material the group had intended to use. Vocalist/composer/piano player Gary Brooker then offered up the epic "The Worm and The Tree", a piece by lyricist Keith Reid that Brooker had been toying with on and off for several years. Under mounting pressure to complete the musical composition and orchestral arrangements for the 19-minute epic (which according to Reid was about "how the press tried to break up the band") Brooker turned to local Miami arranger Mike Lewis to complete the orchestral arrangements for the title track "Something Magic", and band member Chris Copping to complete the woodwind arrangement for "Skating on Thin Ice".