Tony Davis, of The Spinners, last night paid tribute to his friend: "He was a smashing bloke, a delightful man. "He was great fun and always had a quip. He never had a bad word to say about anyone." The youngest of 14 children, Mr McGovern was born in Regent Street in the docklands north of Liverpool city centre. When the house was bombed in the 1941 Blitz, he went to live with his older sister in Hunts Cross. He passed his 11-plus to get into St Edward's College, West Derby, but had to leave for Queen Elizabeth's school, Anfield, after his family could not afford to buy him cricket whites. After leaving school, he took a series of jobs in Liverpool before following his future wife to London where she had found a job in the National Union of Railwaymen. There, in 1950, he became a wheel-tapper, starting a career on the railways that would last 42 years. The couple soon returned to Liverpool to marry, and Mr McGovern found work as a labourer on the tracks, rising through the ranks to become a safety manager. The father-of-two, who also leaves a daughter, Maureen, was one of the figureheads of the Liverpool folk music scene in the 1960s. He ran the Wash House club in London Road with Audrey and his lifelong friend, Billy Moore. He wrote In My Liverpool Home in two nights in 1962. Since then, the original four verses have been embellished by an estimated 100 new ones, composed and sung to mark such occasions as the opening of the Garden Festival in 1984, and Sir Paul McCartney's knighthood. In 1991, he organised a marathon 60-verse sing-along on Spencer Leigh's Radio Merseyside show, with a host of celebrities including the late poet Adrian Henri and radio personality Wally Scott. A passionate trade unionist, Mr McGovern continued to work for the community following his retirement in 1992, serving 14 years as secretary of the Merseyside Pensioners' Association. But friends said it was the humour underpinning his songs, such as Rent Collecting in Speke, that was the secret to his success as a campaigner. Spinner Hughie Jones said: "He was a ball of fun. Nothing seemed to faze him. He was very politically-minded but he would never preach. "His songs pointed out social difficulties, but with a laugh. And that is the best way to get a point across." graham.davies@liverpool.com In My Liverpool Home >>> | 
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