| Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1970 | |||
| Studio | Abbey Road Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Producer | Chris Thomas | |||
| Procol Harum chronology | ||||
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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.
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 songwriting 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.
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 .
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Procol Harum are an English rock band formed in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music is described as psychedelic rock and proto-prog.
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. One of the anthems of the 1967 Summer of Love, it is one of the most commercially successful singles in history, having sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. In the years since, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has become an enduring classic, with more than 1000 known cover versions by other artists.
Robin Leonard Trower is an English rock guitarist and vocalist who achieved success with Procol Harum throughout 1967–1971, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio known as the Robin Trower Band.
Gary Brooker is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.
Procol Harum is the debut studio album by English rock band Procol Harum. It was released in September 1967 by record label Deram in the US, following their breakthrough and immensely popular single "A Whiter Shade of Pale". The track doesn't appear on the UK version of the album, but was included on the US issue. The UK version of the album was released in December 1967 by record label Regal Zonophone.
Home is Procol Harum's fourth album, released in 1970. With the departure of organist Matthew Fisher and bassist David Knights and the addition of the remaining musicians' former bandmate bassist/organist Chris Copping from The Paramounts, Procol Harum was, for all intents and purposes, The Paramounts again in all but name. The purpose of bringing in Copping was to return some of the R&B sound to the band that they had with their previous incarnation.
A Salty Dog is the third studio album by English rock band Procol Harum, released in 1969 by record labels Regal Zonophone and A&M.
Broken Barricades is the fifth studio album by English rock band Procol Harum, released the same week they began their U.S. tour, on 3 April 1971. The UK release was on 11 June 1971. It was guitarist Robin Trower's last recording with the group until The Prodigal Stranger (1991).
Grand Hotel is the sixth studio album by Procol Harum. Released in 1973, it signalled a change of direction for the band. Guitarist Dave Ball, who had joined the band for their live album the previous year, left shortly after the photo shoot for the proposed album's cover, to be replaced by Mick Grabham. Grabham's head was superimposed on the front and back cover of the album on Ball's body. Although the band had gone through significant personnel changes in previous years, the band would enter its most stable phase with this lineup.
Something Magic is the ninth album by Procol Harum, and was released in 1977.
The Long Goodbye was released in 1995. Strictly speaking, this is not a Procol Harum album; it was produced by Gary Brooker with various guest musicians many of whom are or were members of Procol Harum. For example, Robin Trower and Matthew Fisher appear on only one track – "Repent Walpurgis," which Fisher composed.
Matthew Charles Fisher is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his longtime association with the rock band Procol Harum, which included playing the Hammond organ on the 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", for which he subsequently won a songwriting credit. In his later life he became a computer programmer, having qualified from Cambridge University.
Keith Stuart Brian Reid is a lyricist and songwriter who wrote the lyrics of every song released by Procol Harum that is not instrumental or a cover, with the exception of their most recent 2017 album Novum.
Barrie James "B. J." Wilson was an English rock drummer. He was best known as a member of Procol Harum for the majority of their original career from 1967 to 1977.
David J. Ball was an English guitar player.
"Conquistador" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum. Written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. It was later released as a single from the band's 1972 live album Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the band's most famous and popular songs and their third Top 40 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 16.
Chris Copping is a musician and singer-songwriter who was a member of Procol Harum in the 1970s, and has also composed for TV and film. He predominantly plays organ, piano and bass guitar.
The Paramounts were an English beat group, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They had one hit single with their cover version of "Poison Ivy", which reached No. 35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964, but are primarily known as the forerunner to Procol Harum.
Freedom was an English psychedelic rock band, active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, formed initially by members of Procol Harum.
