Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About

Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About
Studio album by Liquorice John Death
Released 1997
Recorded 1970
Genre Blues rock
Producer Chris Thomas
Procol Harum chronology
The Long Goodbye
(1996)The Long Goodbye1996		 Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About
(1997)		 One More Time – Live in Utrecht 1992
(1999)One More Time – Live in Utrecht 19921999

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.

History

Strictly speaking, this is not a Procol Harum album; it was recorded shortly after the band had finished working on their 1970 album Home. During these recording sessions, producer Chris Thomas asked the band to play some old favourites while he set up the equipment for recording. The band enjoyed playing these older songs, so a few months later Thomas booked the Abbey Road recording studio, and the band recorded all the tracks on this album in a single night. "We staggered out at dawn, having attempted about 45 songs. We didn't finish them all. I think the drummer collapsed half way through with laughter." [1] "Well, I..." is the only song they played that was written by the group, and is drummer B.J. Wilson's sole song writing credit.[2][3][4]

Although some tracks from the recording session were played by disc jockey Roger Scott on Capital Radio, to whom a tape was given, the fifteen-inch master tape was lost. The quarter-inch copy given to Scott also disappeared until the end of the 1990s, when it turned up in a box of tapes returned to the band by EMI-Chrysalis.

Title

A friend of the musicians called Dave Mundy was responsible for the name of the band and of the album, as well as for the album cover. In the early 1960s, the musicians had performed these songs around Southend as The Paramounts, a name given to them by their manager. Mundy had objected to this name, and devised one of his own for them, Liquorice John Death. After his suicide in 1970,[5] it was found that Mundy had left all his possessions to Robin Trower, guitarist in The Paramounts and Procol Harum. These included a painting of an album cover for Liquorice John Death's Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About. When the band found themselves able to release the album, they felt that there was no alternative but to use Mundy's ideas and cover.[6]

Mundy is remembered in the song "For Liquorice John" (think 'Fall Icarus John') on Procol Harum's 1973 album Grand Hotel.

Track listing

  1. "High School Confidential" (Ron Hargrave, Lewis) – 2:17
  2. "Kansas City" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 3:40
  3. "Lucille" (Albert Collins, Richard Penniman) – 3:21
  4. "Brand New Cadillac" (Vince Taylor) – 1:37
  5. "Matchbox" (Carl Perkins) – 2:28
  6. "Breathless" (Otis Blackwell) – 2:59
  7. "Everything I Do Is Wrong" (Rich) – 3:11
  8. "Old Black Joe" (Stephen Foster, arranged by Brooker, Trower, Wilson, Copping) – 3:07
  9. "Shopping for Clothes" (Harris) – 3:33
  10. "Well, I..." (Brooker, Trower, Wilson, Copping, Mundy) – 6:30
  11. "I'm Ready" (Domino, Lewis, Bradford) – 2:51
  12. "The Girl Can't Help It" (Bobby Troup) – 2:07
  13. "Keep a Knockin'" (Richard Penniman) – 1:24

Personnel

Notes

  1. ↑ Gary Brooker, quoted in notes to CD by Chris Welch, 2002
  2. ↑ Johansen, Claes (2000). Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale. London: SAF. pp. 130–131. ISBN 9780946719280. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Eder, Bruce. "Liquorice John Death: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Scott-Irvine, Henry (2012). Procol Harum: The Ghosts of a Whiter Shade of Pale. Music Sales Group. ISBN 9780857128027. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  5. ↑ GRO Death Indexes, Oct-Dec 1970,
  6. ↑ Smith, George (24 June 2003). "Death Rides A Pale Shade". Village Voice. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
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