Liquorice John Death

The Dave Mundy connection

Gary Brooker writes the following in the liner to Ain't Nothing to Get Excited About

Dave Mundy was at Westcliff High School for boys with Gary Brooker from the late 50s to early 60s and became one of the great eccentrics of the Southend area while still a teenager. He was a familiar sight around town in his Bo Diddley check jackets and wild hair-styles, but above all he loved his rock & roll, R&B and comic books and was a fanatical supporter of the fledgling Paramounts, about whom he loved everything except the name! He was always trying to get them to change it to Liquorice John Death and his All Stars.

In his early twenties Dave suffered mental problems and was kept in Rumwell Mental Home for long periods. Diz Derrick, bass player with the Paramounts at the time, would sign him out occasionally to come to gigs or failing that he would escape: these sorties became great highlights in his life.

In late 1969, by which time Procol Harum was made up of four former Paramounts, Dave wrote a lyric for them – Well I ... . During rehearsals for the Home album the band wrote a riff to the words and recorded it at the Abbey Road session a few months later. He loved it and within days had delivered the artwork and title for the album which was not to surface for years.

On a dark day in 1972 Dave escaped from Rumwell but was unable to contact any friends around town. He flew from the roof of a 15 storey building and found peace. The loss is remembered in For Liquorice John from Procol's Grand Hotel.

Ain't Nothin' to Get Excited About is dedicated to the memory of Dave Mundy.