The Heroes of The Golden Age of Merseybeat

The Undertakers

The first in a series of performances from the top bands of the golden era proving once again they are good enough to feature on any stage in any part of the world. This week we feature The Undertakers performing earlier this month at Brian "Sax" Jones' wedding with guest 2nd Sax Gaz Gaskell.

Gerry Talks on Canadian Radio

An interview with Gerry Marsden who recalls the days of the golden age of Merseybeat.

Mersey Beat Heroes : Chris Huston

Chris Huston lead guitarist in the 60s with The Undertakers now lives in the US and runs a very successful business. Chris was brought up in an orphanage in North Wales towards the end of World War II and grew up in Wallasey, near Liverpool. As a teenager he began studies at the Liverpool College of Art, where he became friends with John Lennon and, like Lennon, began copying the American R&B music imported through the city. He was a founding member of the Undertakers, having been the lead guitarist with Bob Evans & his Five Shillings and then Bob’s Vegas Five. It was as Bob’s Vegas Five that he played Litherland Town Hall as The Undertakers owing to a printers error in the Liverpool Echo.  If you would like read Chris's complete recording history  click this link

The Undertakers released a string of singles in the early 1960s and toured widely, but had little chart success. They split up in the USA in 1965, and Chris stayed behind. Initially he toured as a member of Joey Dee and the Starliters, before linking up with The Young Rascals to start a new career as a producer and engineer.

As engineer, he won a gold disc for the Rascals’ "Groovin’", and in the late 1960s engineered a string of successful and innovative albums with artists including The Who, Led Zeppelin, Todd Rundgren, Patti LaBelle and H.P. Lovecraft.

He worked particularly extensively with Eric Burdon and War on their albums through the 1970s and 1980s, winning a Grammy for “The World Is A Ghetto” (1973). He also worked with James Brown, Ben E. King and many others.

Chris is now a leading consultant and lecturer on acoustics, building design, recording techniques and record production, based near Nashville.

www.chrishuston.com