Welcome to Liverpool Beat, reliving the fabulous sound of the 60s and bringing together all the bands who are still playing. This site is dedicated to MerseyBeat musicians past and present, a site for the groups and performers. This is an altruistic site keeping the music alive in the few short years we have left to see the original heroes of the Mersey Sound in action.

Pictured right.. The Beatles At The Majestic Birkenhead (Pete's last performance)

The Swinging Blue Jeans - From Jazz to MerseyBeat

The Swinging Blue Jeans were not your every day MerseyBeat band, in fact the first time I saw them at I think Reeces Ballroom, they played Trad jazz and had a banjo in the band. As the MerseyBeat scene evolved they morphed into the standard three guitar/drum line up and became one of the most successful rock bands to come out of Liverpool during the 60s. The Swinging Blue Jeans story is now complete  Please read on.

The video below shows the boys playing at the 1964 New Musical Express Awards concert.

Liverpool Beat World Exclusive - The Dennisons

New Dennisons Tracks Uncovered

In the late nineties Radio Merseyside celebrated their 25th anniversary and one of the tracks featured on their anniversary CD featured Ray Scragg from the Dennisons. Ray was the one with that great deep voice featured on their hit "Walkin The Dog". Mike Rudzinski who is currently playing bass with Karl Terry & The Cruisers called Ray up and asked if he would like to record a few tracks with Mike's band. The result was seven tracks of pure quality MerseyBeat. The track list is:

With Ray, Mike reformed the Dennisons and they played as a band until Ray's untimely death in 2000. These tracks have never been heard  before and here's just a couple of them. , so enjoy.

Sunny - The Dennisons      

6345789 - The Dennisons

See our feature on The Dennisons

Breaking News!!!!

Its Show Time at The Hard Day Night Hotel

The line up for the first Liverpool Beat show at the Hard Days Night Hotel can now be revealed with two of the greatest Liverpool bands from the 60s, The Undertakers and Karl Terry & The Cruisers topping the bill. Karl Terry and the Boys are probably the longest serving band in Liverpool having kicked off in 1957. For the Undertakers it is 50 years this year, since they first launched their thunderous playing style on the unsuspecting public and what a way to celebrate. Both bands will be playing two 40 minute sets. The Undertakers and Karl Terry & The Cruisers  will be supported by The Bumblies who started off in 1964 and reformed last year and Beat Club one the best Beatles tribute bands in Liverpool. For quieter moments in Hari's Bar we have booked a fabulous Acoustic duo "The Cheerful Sinners".

Full Show Previews coming soon with Videos and Artist Interviews, please check back

Book Now - ONLINE 200 Tickets only.

Buy Your "Back To The 60s" Tickets online (£7.00 plus £1.50 P&P). Tickets will be available from the Hard Days Night Hotel reception and the Hard Days Night Shop shortly.

Here's Karl Terry from Karl Terry and The Cruisers on stage last Xmas with Brian Jones of the Undertakers. More videos of Karl and The Undertakers coming up.

Don't Miss Beat Club at the HDN

I'm A Believer -Beat Club

Rory Storm & The Hurricanes - The King of Liverpool

Rory Storm was called 'the Golden Boy' and 'Mr Showmanship. Why wasn't Rory a superstar, he had all the attributes, Tall, Good Looking, Great voice. What happened? Well, its an opinion but as the Liverpool Rock 'N' Roll scene evolved the 50s bands with a singer and backing musicians became "Old Hat". The new look was for bands that all played and sung. The lead singer was a throw back to the Elvis generation and Rory was locked in this time warp. The fashions changed and yet Rory still sported the Elvis quiff, the gold lame suits and in the rush for success he got left behind. Read on...

The Real Dr Feelgood

People say to me, "but surely MerseyBeat was just a scouse version of US Rock 'n' Roll". No,no, no, somehow there was a special feeling for the music. OK, we stole the American tunes, but our renditions were unique and hugely different. When did the sound emerge? Well we talked before about the early bands such as Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and Karl Terry & The Cruisers. These bands were true to the Rock 'n' Roll spirit but for me the first really "Ouch" sound came to me one day in 1960 (could have been 61) at Butlins Holiday Camp in Pwhelli  in North Wales about 100 miles from Liverpool. The song was a little blues number called Dr Feelgood played by upcoming Liverpool band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.  Penned by William "Willie" Lee Perryman who was usually known professionally as "Piano Red" and later in life as Dr. Feelgood, was an American blues musician, the first to hit the pop music charts. He was a self-taught pianist who played in the barrelhouse blues style (a loud percussive type of blues piano suitable for noisy bars or taverns). His performing and recording careers emerged during the period of transition between completely segregated "race music" and "rhythm and blues," which was marketed to white audiences. Some music historians credit Perryman's 1950 recording "Rocking With Red" for the popularisation of the term rock and roll in Atlanta. His simple, hard-pounding left hand and his percussive right hand, coupled with his cheerful shout brought him considerable success over three decades. I don't know where Rory Storm first heard the song, but its ironic that the roots of the term Rock 'n' Roll were also tied to the roots of the musical genre we now know as MerseyBeat. Here's the Doctor's original and Rory's great version later covered by a band called Dr Feelgood. Now there was a MerseyBeat covers band, if ever there was one!!!

Piano Red "Dr Feelgood"

Rory Storm & The Hurricanes "Dr Feelgood"

Y NOT? The Other Side of Liverpool

Ringo's Childhood Friend Marie Maguire Talks about The Dingle

David Bedford talks to Ringo’s Childhood Friend, Marie Maguire This interview is from the book, "Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles" by David Bedford. Read on...

70 Years Of John Lennon

This year marks the 70th birthday of John, yes folks its 30 years since he was assassinated by that madman. Over the coming months we will be running a number of features about the legend, including a look at his personal jukebox, stories from some of our Liverpool legends and showing the memorabilia lined up to celebrate the occasion.

Rare Video/Audio Of John Singing Buddy Holly

See Our Special Feature The John Lennon Diaries

Below is a sneak preview of one of the yet to be released John Lennon 70th anniversary T Shirts featuring designs incorporating John's original artwork. There are eight designs in the collection, all officially approved by Apple. We believe the price will be around 20 pounds sterling. If you would like to be informed when they arrive at the Hard Days Night Shop please email us at info@liverpoolbeat.com

Searchin at The Blue Anchor

We popped down to Aintree in Liverpool to see Searchin, one of our favourite local bands. The joint was packed with people of all ages and everyone a great night.

Not the ideal venue to get a good sound, but with the help of Steve the soundman, the band produced a great show, even singing in Scottish for a young lass who was celebrating her Birthday. You can see Searchin along with a whole bunch of MerseyBeat bands at the Cavern on 14th March.

The Shakers at The Cavern

Tony from the Shakers has reminded me the band are now appearing regularly at the Cavern Pub in Mathew Street every Thursdays @ Cavern Pub and Shakin' Sundays @ Cavern Club EVERY week.  You can visit the Shakers website for more details

New Sponsor for Liverpool Beat

As you know we run this site just for the bands and unfortunately it costs money. We are therefore very pleased to announce that we have secured a sponsor for the site in the form of The Hard Days Night Shop at No.1 Mathew Street Liverpool. The HDNS is part of the complex that houses the world famous Hard Days Night Hotel and is the no.1 place for officially licensed  Beatles memorabilia along with many other famous bands. In return for their support, we ask that you support them and buy some of their Fab gear for yourself, your family and your friends. They have over 700 products to choose from, so don't delay visit their site now.

 The Hard Days Night Shop

Liverpool Greatest Bands - Faron's Flamingos

Faron - "The panda-footed prince of prance"

Everyone is biased when it comes to an opinion on the high points of popular music and kids today will argue that their bands are just as good , if not better than Dad's bands. What do I think? In most cases they are wrong. The music might be good, the skills of the players may be better than the old rockers, the kit is certainly better, but deep down I think a lot of today's rock fans come away from concerts disappointed.

Why do I say that?. Two words....Stage Presence. Talking to Horst Fascher in January 2010 I asked him why the Beatles were so special...his answer was simply they "Mak Show". They performed, they infused personality and visual excitement into the act.

In Liverpool in the sixties there was one guy who could "Mak Show" better than any act and that guy was Billy Ruffley or to give him his stage name Faron... Read on

See If She Cares - Faron's Flamingos 1964 

The Liverpool Beat Forum Update

 NEW!!! You can now post Youtube videos on the forum.

We have justed added video functionality to the forum, which enables you to include videos clips from You Tube in your posts. If you have something you want to say, the forum's the place. It can be serious, fun or just plain frivolous. Go to www.liverpoolbeat.com/forum/. and try it out its fun.

If you would like to buy the book, click the image

The Big Three... Hugely loud and featuring Liverpool's best guitarist of the era, Brian "Griff" Griffiths. Some people will disagree with me, quoting other eminent players such as Colin Manley of the Remo Four amongst others, but for me no one could have prised "That Sound" out of a humble old Hofner Colorama. Here's a surprising taste of Brian's skills. recorded recently at his home in Canada.

"Ain't That Somethin'"

Last year I was fortunate to be invited to play at the Cavern and it was my first time back in 40 odd years. OK it wasn’t the real Cavern, but it was the next best thing. Having packed up my axe for over forty years I freely admit I’m a newcomer when it comes to “miked up” PA driven systems that are now the norm. In the sound check, the desk guy was setting the levels he wanted by asking each of us to play a little piece and it was then that it struck me...

Listening to the Big Three at the Cavern was an awesome experience, the walls shook, the paint peeled off the ceiling and the sheer energy of the band created an atmosphere that few of us would ever forget. Fast forward to the studio and the band they recorded on those Decca sessions was far removed from the “animals” of the Cavern. Read on...

 The Karl Terry Story ...

Funny old world this Rock 'n' Roll business. Who decides who makes it and who doesn't...Who knows. One performer who should certainly have made it was Karl Terry, one of the most accomplished performers to come out of Liverpool since the WW2 and yet he was totally overlooked by the impresarios and managers of the 60s. This, despite being voted No.7 top band in a MerseyBeat poll in 1961. Karl's story is an ongoing one, and he has lost none of his enthusiasm for the music. Hopefully Karl will be one of the stars for new Liverpool Beat Tour which hits the road in 2010. Karl's story begins here and more stuff will be added over the next few days. Hope you enjoy some of the rare shots. Incidentally Karl has the distinction of being the only guy in the world to have played with The Beatles and Gerry and Pacemakers at the same time, when the bands got together for a special one time only performance at Litherland Town Hall as the "The Beatmakers, with Karl on Vocals.

The Karl Terry & The Cruisers Story

The Undertakers Story ...

The Undertakers another of our great bands are still playing and I'm fortunate to be on the same bill with them Saturday 19th December. I could have filled twenty pages with all the info I've got, but the fine detail of their story is covered elsewhere and some of it can be seen on the forum. I managed to get hold of some never before published photos and an interview with Jackie Lomax talking about his recording of Sour Milk Sea with George Harrison. Hope you enjoy it.

The Undertakers Story

Video Section Expanded

Take a look at the new layout on the right for videos which now shows the bands divided into bands of yesteryear with some rare clips, highlights of the Liverpool Beat road shows and clips of some of the bands still playing today. If you have any rare video footage please email me at fergy@liverpoolbeat.com

The Bumblies Movie

Early in 2009,we got the band back together for one last go. I met up with Charlie Gallagher one of the originals and two new member s were added. Keith Turner who I had jammed with a few times at the MerseyCats and Steve Maloney who plays with Beat Club and Free Spirit. Steve is probably one of the best guitarists in Liverpool and we are very fortunate to have him on board and because he is a touch younger than the rest of us, we call him "Baby Bumblie" which you will see from the photos is a somewhat inappropriate title. We had a few practices and on August 30th were invited to play at the Hard Days Night Mathew Street Festival Gig organised by MerseyCats the Children's R&R charity. In total 14 MerseyBeat bands played that day including the Fabulous Undertakers and Karl Terry & the Cruisers who brought the house down with their special brand of early Rock’n’Roll. I thought it might be fun to make a movie of the occasion and include some nostalgic moments of the Liverpool Beat scene of the 60s. . Is it the beginning of the comeback? ...we will have to wait and see. I hope you enjoy it. Fergy

 The Bumblies at The Hard Days Night Movie

 The Ian and The Zodiacs Story ...

Ian Edwards and his band the Zodiacs were yet another secret of the MerseyBeat boom. Hugely popular in Germany, but somehow it didn't happen in the UK and the US. Nevertheless those of us who were fortunate to see Ian perform live enjoyed a great live performer who was right at the heart of the Liverpool sound. Ian's wife Betty has let me have some of her personal photos and copies of Ian's records.

A rare recording of Ian and band's rendition of the standard

"All Of Me"

I hope you enjoy... The Ian and The Zodiacs Story

  Ian Howe's Story - A Liverpool Beat Special Feature

Ian Howe drummer with The Delrenas and The Motifs tell his story of those crazy times. Pictured below is a rare photo of over 100 Liverpool bands pictured outside St Georges Hall in Liverpool. A German TV programme was in Liverpool to make a documentary on the MerseyBeat and offered a £1 for every muso that turned up. It obviously wasn't enough as the other 200 didn't bother to turn up. If you look closely you can see Ian complete with The Motifs bass drum on the extreme left of the picture. See if you can spot Rory Storm.

Ian's Story

Delrenas page published

The Delrenas were a great harmony band, their page includes some videos and audios for your enjoyment. Shown below are some ads featuring the band from 1962.

The Delrenas Page

Brian Jones Wets A Few Knickers

 Brian Jones one of the greats from the Undertakers shown here recently in Germany. Its not quite Merseybeat...but a load of fun.

I Read The News Today...Oh Boy

 Kingsize Taylor and The Dominoes Page ...

Who founded the Mersey sound? Where were the original roots? How did it come about ? We could have answered some of these questions in a new entry about one of the original great Liverpool bands - Kingsize Taylor and The Dominoes. Ted (Kingsize) Taylor who now lives in Hamburg has been in touch to say the article is spot on and has sent over the graphic you see here. Ted, if you are reading this, could we have a bigger one for the page.

The KingSize Taylor & The Dominoes Page

 Greatest Liverpool Band Histories

KingSize Taylor and The Beatles

(L to R)Ted (KingSize) Taylor, John Frankland, Sam Hardie, Ken Shalliker and Dave Lovelady (Crouching)

Although the site is not officially open for a couple of weeks we will be uploading stuff as we complete it. Over the first few months we will be focusing on Liverpool's greatest bands from the era and revealing loads of new info. The first few article on the groupss are now published and where else could we start than with The Beatles. There has been so much written about them (much of incorrect) that we will be concentrating on the early days and the information will be straight from "The Horses Mouth" or rather from group members who were there when it all kicked off. Much of what you see will be controversial and no doubt generate comments and discussion, but that's fine, subscribe to the forum and let us know anything you thing is relevant to the era. The new Forum is now launched and again we are in the process of building it, so be patient. The feature Photo shows one of the Great Liverpool groups who played the Star Club even before the Beatles, KingSize Taylor and The Dominoes. Take a look at the Beatles page and you will see stuff about the Dominoes.

The Beatles - The Inside Story

 LiddyPool The Birth of The Beatles

The Beatles page is now live with an interesting slant on the early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. We've included some great rare audios from the late fifties through the early sixties and we put to rest the on all conjecture about where they got their name from. 

David Bedford has spent the last nine years compiling what is probably the definitive book on the era. More details click here.

The Searchers Story ...

The second of the all time great Liverpool Beat bands. Again its an ongoing story with more exclusive info to follow. The page contains some never before seen photos of the band, videos from the 60s and the Searchers performing live in 2008.

I have also included a never before seen photo of the final live performance of the late Chris Curtis.

The Searchers Page 

 The Dennisons Story ... 

The Dennisons were probably my favourite band and their story is a short one. None of the band members have survived which is sad but the few years they gave will be long remembered. At one time they rivalled the Beatles in the Liverpool popularity stakes. I have been unable to find any videos of the band, but I do have most of their tracks which I will adding over the next few weeks.

The Dennisons Page