Beatles Club Manchester

Welcome to my bit! I've been meaning to do this for a while.

I'll be sharing with you anything Beatles related that happens 'in my life' ( the original title for these ramblings!) whatever that may be. The title changed because as I was bringing this idea together I was listening to Paul McCartney's excellent Memory Almost Full Cd & ofcourse when That Was Me played it seemed a good idea (at the time!) to use that as a title.

So I hope you find these scribblings of interest.

Cheers Ed  

Allan Williams - Original new!

Beatle Week 2008  

Beatles Club Manchester Live At The BBC 14th Aug '08 (well not quite) 

Beatles Day, Liverpool Thurs 10/07 

Beatles Unlimited 200 Up & Other Fanzine Stories  24/01/10

The Calm After The Storm - 6th Oct '08 

John Lennon Songbook, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool Friday 18/07

THE STAR CLUB TAPES April '07 

When Vegas Came To Liverpool 1st Jan 2009

Hi, welcome to Ed's Bit,

Sometimes editing a websitecan seem like painting the Forth Bridge.

Attending Allan Williams' 80th birthday bash at the Grosvenor Ballroom was a priviliedge.

In my eyes Allan was an original, it's probably fair to say he has had his critics over the last 80 years but for every new author that comes along telling 'Beatles' stories but appear to have been born after the Beatles split up, give me an original any day.

Organised by The Merseybeat Story at Perch Rock & Merseycats, the day was a fitting tribute to Allan attended by a capacity audience which included some 50 local Merseybeat celebrities such as Tony Crane, Billy Kinsley, Billy Hatton and a trio of Radio Merseyside Dj's who also happen to be Merseybeat musicians/singers Billy Butler, Frankie Connor & Kenny Johnson.

Bands who played during the day were The Jaywalkers with Cath, Tempest & the Undertakers who were joined by a host of guest singers including Earl Preston, Beryl Marsden & Cliff Roberts.

Since the late 1950's Allan has been responsible for some important musical landmarks in Liverpool music history. He opened the Jacarandra Coffee Bar & The Blue Angel club both haunts of the Beatles & other musicians on the Merseybeat scene & beyond.

He brought Gene Vincent to Liverpool to play the Liverpool Boxing Stadium & after the unfortunate death of Eddie Cochrane filled the bill with local Liverpool bands. He also organised the first open air concert in Britain, B-Day was held at the Stanley Stadium, the show included Billy J Kramer, John Leyton, Alexis Korner, The Searchers, The Hollies and 20 Top-Flight Liverpool Bands. Comperes were Bob Wooler and comedian Kenneth Cope. The Beatles were to play but due to contractual difficulties this was not to be.

Allan also organised the first Beatles convention in Liverpool along with old mate, the sadly missed Bob Wooler.

(Tony Crane, Allan Williams & Billy Kinsley)

Welcome to Ed's Bit,  

Over the years i've subscribed to quite a few Beatles fanzines. Some come & go, only being able to survive a few issues. A handful have established themselves as leaders in that particular field of Beatlefandom.

One of, if not the longest running fanzine in the World is Beatles Unlimited based in the Netherlands having been in existence since 10th April 1975. 

I still subscribe to B.U. & I've just received the 200th copy of their  magazine.

From one who ran a couple of fanzines in the 80's I can understand what an incredible acheivement this is because publishing a fanzine on a bi monthly basis is bloody hard work!  

Congratulations to Beatles Unlimited!

Speaking of 'ran a couple of fanzines'.

Myself & 'Jet Wilbury' were involved in a couple of fanzines in the late eighties, early nineties.

The first fanzine started with name 'Beatles Beat Club' (BBC) before we changed its name to an eye catching 'Twist & Shout'. It ran for 22 monthly issues.

In the mid eighties there wasn't any computers, not in this household anyway, it was the not so sturdy typewriter, pages typed under the burning midnight oil! 

The fanzine was photocopied at work, then collated & sent out the beginning of each month. I remember the postmaster wincing at the sight of me approaching with a bagful of fanzines to be weighed to be sent to all corners of the World!

Twist & Shout was a raw production but so were a number of fanzines in those days.

After nearly two years enough was enough. But once you've been involved in a fanzine the need to be involved again returns again & again.

Enter 'Beatles' an altogether better looking effort.

Beatles ran for 13 bi-monthly issues ending in September 1990.

Over nearly two years it featured interviews with Victor Spinetti, Gerry Marsden &  John Altman (Birth of the Beatles/East Enders). Paul McCartney gig reviews from Hamburg, Liverpool & Brazil. A meeting with Julian Lennon in Manchester & the usual news & reviews. 

It was a much more professionally produced magazine (as we now called it) had numerous contributors & a healthy 150 subscribers.

In August 1990 we were invited by Spencer Leigh to take part in a live quiz on Radio Merseyside. Here's how I reported on the event in the Aug/Sept issue of Beatles magazine. 

It's not everyday that an invitation arrives to appear on a live radio programme but it happened to us when Spencer Leigh, presenter with Radio Merseyside contacted Phil to see if we would represent a team on a live Beatles quiz between 1300-1400 on August Bank Holiday Monday.

We arrived at the station at 1230, Spencer greeted us and led us into the studio with our 'opponents'.

 The quiz was to be competed in a light hearted manner between Team 1 -Beatles Magazine (UK) Team 2 - Good Day Sunshine (U.S.A) Team 3 - Beatles Unlimted (Holland). A real international event!

 The points awarded were normally two for a correct answer and bonus points were awarded at Spencer's discretion!

We were guided through a rehearsal round before the one o'clock news finished & Spencer introduced the teams.

(Spencer Leigh)

There were a number of individual rounds and two team rounds which ranged from 'Name the Intro' to 'You Know My Name, Look Up the Number' where Spencer gave each person a date & a prefix number from a Beatles single or album and you had to answer the meaning of the date and the record title! But the most devious round was when Spencer read the first paragraph of a Beatles related book and asked each person to identify the name of the book and author!

In the end, we actually triumphed in the quiz by 11 points but it was more important to us that we made a few more friends and our thanks to Spencer for an enjoyable if nerve -wracking experience!

When the fanzine finally shut down in September 1990 it left a void which was filled by the monthly meetings organized by the newly formed Beatles Club Manchester.

That was June 1991 and we've never missed a meeting in almost 20 years!

Eddie M

Hi,

A Happy New Year to all & I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. 

We've spent the last two days in Liverpool.

I thought it would be nice to see the new Sam Taylor-Wood film 'Nowhere Boy' starring Aaron Johnson as John Lennon in his hometown.

Nowhere Boy tells the story of John's adolescent years, his struggle at school, the tug of love for him between sisters Aunt Mimi & his mother Julia, the formation of his new band the Quarrymen, John & Paul's first meeting & finally...... well I won't spoil it for you.

Nowhere Boy has received good reviews but some mixed ones as well. However I found the film was excellent.

The performances of  Aaron Johnson (John Lennon), Kristin Scott Thomas (Aunt Mimi) & Anne-Marie Duff (Julia) in the pivotal roles are excellent as are the rest of the impressive cast especially Josh Bolt as Pete Shotton & Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney. 

Of course this time of is a time reflect on 2009 & look forward to what could be happening this year.

The Beatles

2009

What a year for the Beatles. 2009 provided another landmark year with the release of the Remastered Beatles Cd's in both stereo & mono.

The sets were well received by reviewers & fans alike. Superb packaging was only bettered by the Cd's themselves. Global sales were well above expectation & they were bravely launched along with the Beatles Rockband game.

2010

Well speculate as we may but it's a fact that Magical Mystery Tour is in the can so we'll predict an official Apple release as the big Beatles project of 2010 unless the Beatles have a change of mind & allow Apple to release a dvd/blu-ray of the Let It Be film, but don't hold your breath.

John Lennon

2009

It's been quiet year for record releases by John Lennon, in fact the only release was a free Cd from the Mail on Sunday newspaper! But John's art exhibitions are contantly touring the world.

2010

It would be nice to have an official release of John Lennon Live In New York City on Dvd/Blu-ray

Paul McCartney

2009

Another incredible year for Paul McCartney who shows no sign of slowing down his workrate. Sell out tours of the USA (including an appearance with Ringo Starr for the David Lynch Foundation) & Europe culminating in an incredible gig at the 02 Arena in London.  

2009 saw the release of his live Cd/dvd set Good Evening New York City .

2010

Paul will continue his live appearances around the World. We could also very well see a version of the much shelved Hot Hits Cold Cuts. There's rumoured to be a 4 Cd set of his many outtakes in the pipeline.

George Harrison

2009

Following 2008 being designated as the year of the Wilbury's 2009 brought a new remastered George Harrison compilation called 'Let It Roll' joining John, Paul & Ringo compilations in the Itunes library.

2010

One of the projects in the works is the release of George Harrison's 1974 North American tour. A Cd, Dvd, Blu-ray, release would be appreciated.

Ringo Starr

2009

Although Ringo has kept a relatively low profile in 2009, abeit his appearance with Paul McCartney in July. Koch Records have been working overtime on his behalf with Cd & Dvd releases of his 2005 appearance with the Rondheads. 

2010

Well no predictions here, just fact!

Ringo's new album Y Not slated for release this month has now been rescheduled for the 1st February & you lucky people in the USA are to be treated to a new All Starr Band tour, hopefully we might see Ringo in the UK, but no prediction from me there. 

Eddie M   

Hi,

It might look as though we've been a bit lazy updating the website at Beatles Club Manchester lately but I promise you we've been like a duck in the water, on the surface calm but underneath we've paddling so fast it's untrue .

We've been considering a few changes to the website & now here they are for your enjoyment!

THE WORD

The Word has returned to the popular two months format. The current month on one page & the previous month as a stand alone page.

NEW RELEASES

We've a new page for the new releases - after a month they'll move into the Reviews section.

BEATLES REVIEWS 

This has been the hardest improvement to the website. Let us know what you think. There's still additions to be included in the reviews but we hope you like where they're heading.

We hope to get more original reviews on the website, speaking of which if you think you can contribute either regular or the odd review then email us at eddiem@beatlesclubmanchester.com 

BACKWARDS TRAVELLER (coming soon!)

They say the older you get the more nostalgic to become. Backwards Traveller became an idea when I was looking through some photographs I'd taken over many years!

The idea is to tell the story behind the photograph.

The first article concerns meeting Paul McCartney during his book signing session for 'Blackbird Singing' at WH Smith in Liverpool.

Again if you'd like to share a Beatles related story of a photograph you've taken please email the details for consideration.

THE BEATLES 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

A collection of 12 Beatles Christmas videos from You Tube. If this proves a popular feature we may use this for other Beatles themes.

PAUL McCARTNEY EUROPEAN TOUR 2009 (coming very soon!)

What out for a special tour blog bringing you all the reports from Paul's concerts.

Last but not least, we've actually got a site map.

SITE MAP (coming soon!)

Check here for all the pages on Beatles Club Manchester.

(Mike Byrne of Mike Byrne & the Sunrockers)

Well, its been a long time but I'm back and ready to rock!

Its been a pretty quiet time in the U.K for Beatles related events but in the U.S.A. its been quite a different matter altogether.

There's been Paul McCartney's live appearances at the Hardrock Casino & along with Ringo Starr at the Radio City Hall in New York City.

George Harrison's star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame was unveiled and those who attended included Olivia, Dhani, Paul, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne & Tom Hanks. Talk about rock royalty!

Just recently there was the hughly popular Abbey Road Festival which attracted at least 10,000 Beatles fans and then it was Paul, Ringo, Olivia & Yoko's turn to get together again for the launch of the Beatles Rockband in Las Vegas. Phew!  

Now there's more Paul McCartney gigs to enjoy with two dates confirmed at the new Mets stadium in July with a possible third date pencilled in. How lucky are you.

Anyway, at last, the Beatles scene seems to be coming alive in the U.K.

I had the pleasure of meeting Paul McCartney in mid May when he made a low key visit to his Lipa fame school in Liverpool to do a student masterclass. 

Many thanks for the autograph Macca.

Besides our own monthly Beatles nights, next date Thursday 11th June., there now seems to be a calendar of events emerging.

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band perform at the Meltdown Festival on Sunday 14th June in London

White Feather - The Sprit of John Lennon exhibition opens at The Beatles Story on Wednesday 17th June 

The 2nd Beatles Day in Liverpool is held on the 10th July, culminating in a finale concert at Liverpool Arena.

For George is two concerts held on the 1st August at St George's Hall in Liverpool celebrating George Harrison's life and also includes an exhibition showing the different faces of George.

The biggie! Liverpool Beatle Week begins Wednesday 26th August & culminates Tuesday 1st September with two gigs by The Searchers at the Cavern Club.

So I hope to see you at one or more of the above events & keep on Beatling....

Eddie M

What a fantastic year it has been for Beatles fans with Paul & Ringo playing live & releasing albums and let us not forget also Liverpool celebrating their year as the City of Culture.

Love continues to play The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas and is now in it's third year and it was with envy when you see the 1st Anniversary of Love celebrated in Las Vegas with the appearance of the Beatles royalty, mainly Paul, Ringo, Neil Aspinall, Olivia, Yoko with Sir George Martin & son Giles also attending, so one of the highlights of my and many other Beatles fans year was three days in summer when a bit of Vegas came to Liverpool.  

That's what happened (and more), abeit minus Ringo (who had done his bit in January & will probably never return again!), between Friday 30th May - Sunday 1st June when  the Beatles camp took over Liverpool and give another boost to its Capital of Culture year.

Friday saw the World premiere of 'All Together Now' at Fact. Initially the Dvd of the documentary was to have been released in June but little did we know (but should have expected:-) that the release would be delayed until November giving fans viewing the film a six month exclusive!

Saturday saw a screening of 'Concert For George' a moving tribute to George Harrison while Sunday saw Stella McCartney's fashion show at Lipa & Paul McCartney's triumphant return to Liverpool to play Liverpool's ground in Anfield. He even started with 'Hippy Hippy Shake'!

All this was presented in the presence of Sir Paul McCartney, Olivia Harrison, Yoko Ono, Sir George Martin, Giles Martin, Stella McCartney, Mary McCartney, Sir Peter Blake, Joe Brown & Ray Cooper - The Beatles royalty certainly did Liverpool proud, the weekend Vegas came to Liverpool.   

Another highlight and the highlight of the year for me was PAUL McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) with the RLPO and Choir with soprano Kate Royal,   held on May 1 at Liverpool Cathedral.

The day before Paul had held classes for students at Lipa which fortunately gave the opportunity to obtain an autograph from Paul.

But it was the meeting with him in the Cathedral the following day during rehearsals for Ecce Cor Meum which will live in the memory forever.

He first addressed us to be patient while he went about his work during the rehearsal of Ecce Cor Meum, i mean, it was a privilidge to watch the man at work.

At the end of rehearsals he could see that the throng was still there, patiently waiting. Paul then started to approach us and as fans surged forward to the roped off area he said to be patient & everybody would get an autograph.

Paul was true to his word & duly signed for around 20-30 people. At the end I saw a gap facing Paul & put my hand out. 'All the best Paul', I said, 'Thanks' came the reply & suddenly he was gone.

The film below was taken by our friend Brian from Liverpool. 

                                                                                                                                     Eddie M

Hello there,

It seems a while since we had one of our little chats.

Maybe its because it always seems to be a bit quiet on the Beatle front after the excesses of Beatle Week in Liverpool. Although in other parts of the World mainly the USA Sept/Oct seems to be amongst the busiest months  for Beatle Fests.

The main Beatles event that has happened to us since we last spoke is another appearance on one of our local Radio stations, mainly Radio Manchester, this time live in the studio, how terrifying!

I received a call from Natalie from the station asking if myself & co founder member of Beatles Club Manchester Phil, to go on the Sam Walker Show at 11pm to participate in a feature called 'Join Our Club'.

It went out live after the 11pm news and I'd like to thank everyone at Radio Manchester, especially Sam & producer Gaylon for making us so welcome.

Besides playing a couple of records 'I Saw Her Standing There' & 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', Sam asked us about the club, how we got into the Beatles, why we're still interested and showed a genuine interest in the club

Listen again - THROUGH THE SAM WALKER SHOW - WEDS - 5MINS INTO THE SHOW!  HERE   

Thanks again   

Happy Birthday to us!

http://www.beatlesclubmanchester.com/ has been up & running for two years this month.

Originally the website was set up to publicise our Beatles nights in Manchester but we decided to feature news, reviews & other features.

Looking at the web stats this month in the last 30 days we've been visited by over 50 different countries.

If this isn't proof that the Beatles influence isn't still felt worldwide, I don't know what is. 

So, on this our 2nd birthday month i'd like to say welcome to

UK, USA, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Venuzuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, France, Egypt, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Phillipines, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, France, Israel, Lithuania, Estonia, The Netherlands Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Japan, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Ukraine, Korea & Togo. 

                                                                                                               Welcome to you all

                                                                                                                                 Eddie M

From the moment we arrived at the Cavern Pub on Thursday 21st August to our departure seven days later the city of Liverpool provided the backdrop to a fantastic Beatles Week.

Being a seasoned Beatle Week attendee  I'm always amazed how Cavern City Tours come up with a programme of events to suprise & excite this particular Beatles fan.

Most of the fellow fans we've met down the years still make the pilgrimage to 'the pool' so it was no suprise when it took us four hours to make the 15 minute walk from the Adelphi Hotel to the Cavern Pub! But that's what it's all about, hearing the best music in the company of the best people in the best city in the world!

With so much going on it's impossible to catch everything, and we don't try too, but what were the highlights of Beatle Week?

Well, discovering three new Beatles bands making their debuts at the event in the first 24 hrs wasn't a bad start.

Cavern Beat hail from Liverpool, Illinois. They must have around 200 videos on Youtube but hearing them live they really capture the look, complete with left handed bass player, harmonies & presentation. 

Merseybeat & 4! come from Argentina. Merseybeat have a knack of playing the songs you never hear & did a great version of Honey Pie. 4! are a young Beatles band, great bass player, a Lennon living the dream & they are going to get better & better.

In the Cavern Pub on Thursday they did a set comprised mostly of the Beatles BBC recordings even starting with the theme 'Pop Goes The Beatles' & their version of Besame Mucho was as good as the original (honest!) while in the early hours of the morning  in Crompton's bar in the Adelphi Hotel they did a late Beatles set. Definitely one to watch.

Friday afternoon in the Adelphi Ballroom was the scene 1st Beatle Week Hall of Fame with host Neil & house band Tony Skeggs & the Hot Dogs.

Eight bands/artists were inducted into the Hall of Fame including John Keats, Bob Bartey, Rik Allen, Hal Bruce, The Overtures & Ringer.

It was like 'This is Your Beatle Week Life' as they came on to perform a couple of songs each set to photographs from yesteryear on the big screens set either side of the stage. Tony Skeggs & the Hot Dogs provided the perfect backing performing an excellent set of their own between nominees. This was an excellent idea excellently excecuted.

I am the Wirral was another good idea. Three venues, four stages, in close proximity on the Wirral.

The venues were well attended & highlights included 4!, American English,The Blue Meanies & Rolling Stones tribute 'Rocks Off'.

At one point we were sat in the Town Hall at Beatle Week, watching a Rolling Stones tribute band with an Elvis lookalike giving it 'rice' on the dancefloor, surreal or what!

The return of Liverpool lad Gavin Pring provided some great moments over the weekend particularly when performing his George Harry's Son sets.

We managed to take in some Merseybeat on Sunday & Monday.

Karl Terry & the Cruisers gave a great set on the 'Merseybeat' stage on the Monday while in a packed Liverpool pub The Undertakers including three original members in Geoff Nugent, Brian 'saxaphone' Jones & Jackie Lomax gave another great performance.

Joey Molland probably doesn't need reminding that he's the only surviving member of Badfinger & during Beatle Week 2008 was backed by the excellent band The Tearaways.

On Tuesday at the Cavern Club he performed a brilliant set which included Badfinger classics No Matter What, Baby Blue, Day After Day, Come & Get It & a superb version of Suitcase. Come back soon Joey!

So the highlight of Beatle Week 2008 has to go to The Overtures who provided us with two  exhilarating sets at the Mathew Street Festival & the Cavern Club performing their British Invasion Show. 

Their energy is unbelievable & the set includes such classics as Lola, Substitute, Pinball Wizard, Do You Love Me & Party.  

Which leads us across the road to the Cavern Pub party. This is the time for the musicians to have a bit of fun. Hosts Ringer & Tripper performed sets before drunken guests invade the stage.

Tony Johnson from Rocks Off was again superb, Joey Molland played some magnificent guitar as did local hero Paul Kappa.

As the night deteriorated John Keats stepped in to save the morning & was joined by a mystery barmaid with an excellent voice, prompting John to offer her a place in his act! 

We decided to leave at 530am with the party still ongoing.

So overall another magic time in a magic city which continues suprise & excite this seasoned Beatle Weeker.

Roll on 2009!

                                                                                  Eddie M

Enter Beatle Phil who ceased on the opportunity & wrote off in reply (see the letter right) which was printed along with a host of other letters & pictures featuring the sixties.

Enter Mat from Radio Manchester who contacted me through an email expressing an interest in what we did at Beatles Club Manchester. He added that his station would be doing a feature on Fan Clubs in Manchester and wanted to do a few interviews at our meet which would feature on there Breakfast programme.

Mat duly turned up on Thursday and interviewed a number of fans, asking why they liked the Beatles, what drew them to the club & finally their 'Desert Island Disc' choices!

Mat explained that they were to also feature a 'Smiths' club from Manchester in there feature.

I've since received an email from Mat to say the item will be transmitted sometime in September after they have met 'The Smiths'.

So watch this space for the date to hear The Beatles Club Manchester Live At The BBC, well not quite....

Join us

I WAS interested in the letter from Beatles and Stones fan, Crumpsall. We have been holding a Beatles meeting every second Thursday upstairs at Mother Macs, Back Piccadilly, for the last 10 years or so. Whilst we don’t have facilities for dancing, we do enjoy Sixties music as well as the Beatles. It would be nice to meet someone who was around in the Sixties who can tell us any stories of the Manchester clubs. Feel free to come along to our meetings.

(Paul. "I believe that Beatles Club Manchester lot have gatecrashed our radio show".John, "Yeah, I went to the last meeting, it's a good night, you should try it, take Ringo with you, he could do with a night out" ) 

I remember one fan saying to me years agothat its not everyday you get to see a live Beatle, and it's true. As time goes by opportunities become less & less to see the citys favourite sons.  

One opportunity ofcourse is the annual Lipa Graduation.

It's been over two weeks now since we visited Liverpool to catch a glimpse of Paul McCartney outside the Philharmonic Hall for his appearance at the annual Lipa Graduation.

It was great to see so many familiar faces among the ever growing crowd including Brian, Nick, Paul, Kevin, Alison, Pat & Anna.  

Paul arrived at the 'Phil' around 4pm & duly signed around fifteen autographs, (see Christine's video left) this was from a man who a few years ago vowed to never sign another autograph!

It's always great to see Paul in Liverpool, it's well documented how proud he is of the city & its people. 

As we waited for him to re-emerge from the Philharmonic the crowd had grown considerably so I decided to concentrate on taking a few photographs with mixed results! 

Around 4pm Paul appeared & signed a number of autographs before being whisked away by John, his driver, being pursued by over eager youngsters on foot & 'I should know better' adults in cars. Let's hope this doesn't deter Paul from making these rare public appearances 'up North' like the fan said, its not everyday you get to see a live Beatle!

I presume you've seen reports of Paul & Nancy's vacation along the famous 'Route 66'. Is it a coincidence that he's picked that particular road. Route 66 at the age of 66? The highway takes you I believe from Illinois to California. Imagine if he'd done the English version to impress Nancy.

According to Wikipedia (I can't believe i've quoted them!) Paul & Nancy would have started off at Simister Island, passed along the eastern edge of Whitefield before passing underneath the East Lancashire Railway before entering the suburbs of Bury. Then on to the east of Ramsbottom and the East Lancashire Railway (again) and it ends near Edenfield. Well maybe not....

                                                                                   Eddie M

Spencer Leigh is to Merseybeat what Mark Lewisohn is to the Beatles - the genres leading author and broadcaster.

The latest Merseybeat Story at Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton featured a rare opportunity to see Spencer have the tables turned on him & be interviewed by Beatles/Merseybeat expert Dave 'the Rave' Ravenscroft, the day also featured live music by The Shakers & the induction of the late Freddie Marsden , drummer with Gerry & the Pacemakers into the Merseybeat Hall of Fame by Sam Leach with Freddie's wife Margaret present to receive the induction certificate.

(Dave the Rave & Spencer Leigh)

The afternoon began with the Spencer Leigh interview. He explained how he had been how he had been at Radio Merseyside 'more or less as long as it had been open' presenting various Radio shows including 'On the Merseybeat' & his present show 'On the Beat'.

He first began researching Merseybeat for a radio series called Let's Go Down The Cavern' in 1979/80 interviewing over a hundred Merseybeat musicians.

This evolved into the classic book of the same name published in 1984 to critical acclaim & is now a much sought after classic exchanging hands at around £20 on Ebay!

(Spencer shows a set list for the The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers & The Dominoes)

Spencer has published many books over the years but has returned to his favourite subject including 'The Best Of Fella's The Story of Bob Woller, Liverpool's First Dj, Twist & Shout! Merseybeat,The Cavern, The Star Club & The Beatles & the lastest publication to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cavern Club entitled The Cavern The Most Famous Club In The World.

He also discussed the many slleve notes he has written & Dave the Rave brought along the full collection of Edsel LP's fraturing Merseybeat artists to illustrate the point.

I could have listened to Spencer all day, his knowledge of Merseybeat is undisputed and his recollections are told with great humour.

After Spencer was the induction of the late Freddie Marsden into the Merseybeat Hall Of Fame by Sam Leach.

Sam recalled stories of Freddie in the presence of his wife Margaret there to collect the framed induction certifiate.

(Dave, Margaret & Sam)

Also paying tribute were fellow drummers Harry Prytherch (Remo Four/Group One) & Allan Schroeder (Black Knights). Finally Sam paid a final emotional tribute to Freddie.

(The Shakers take a bow)

To finish the afternoon were local band The Shakers who had returned from Buckinghamshire Sunday morning at 530am but still managed to play a fantastic set of Beatles & Merseybeat numbers. Dave 'Billy Fury' Chevron joined The Shakers for a great version of 'Ain't Nothing Shakin'.

The Merseybeat Story held at Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton the 3rd Sunday of every month. Admission is £5 - Check out our Merseybeat pages for further details.  

                                                                              Eddie M  

Liverpool's Capital  of Culture programme had previously included contributions by The Beatles (All Together Now documentary premiere), Paul McCartney (Liverpool Sound concert), George Harrison (Concert For George film) & Ringo Starr (Opening ceremony & Liverpool Arena concert).

The idea behind the 'John Lennon Songbook' concerts at the Philharmonic Hall was to ensure there was also a contribution from John Lennon.

The plan was to present John's songs with a full orchestra backing with arrangements by Andrew Cottee.

(Mark McGann, Claire Martin & Conductor John Wilson on stage at the Philharmonic Hall)

The concerts featured Mark McGann as narrator & vocalist, with singers Claire Martin & Curtis Stigers backed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Wilson.

(Mark McGann as 'Lennon; 1985/86)

Mark had previously played John in the acclaimed 'Lennon' play in 1985/86 and also in the, it has to be said, pretty awful 1985 film 'John & Yoko - A Love Story'.   

We attended the second night of John Lennon Songbook on Friday 18th July.     

The songs were performed against a backdrop of John Lennon photographs complete with narration from Mark but it was the songs that were the winners tonight. 

The twenty one song set began with Mark McGann singing a solo version of the classic 'In My Life'.

Mark, Claire & Curtis performed either solo, as a duo or all together. It worked perfectly besides a few mistakes with the words on a couple of songs but if there has been a better live version of Yes It Is as performed by Curtis Stigers then I've yet to hear it. His saxaphone playing took the song to a new level.

Other highlights included Clair Martin's version of Come Together & Mark's wonderful rendition of Free As a Bird, it was so great to hear this song performed with full orchestra backing.

They really put the audience through the emotions finishing with excellent performances of Love, Jealous Guy, Beautiful Boy, Free As A Bird & Imagine before returning for a joyous encore of All You Need Is Love performed for the second time of the night but it still had the crowd on its feet.

Everybody connected with the John Lennon Songbook should be congratulated.

John would have certainly been delighted with his contribution to the Liverpool's Capital Of Culture 2008.  

                                                                                      Eddie M

We've just got back from Beatles Day in Liverpool.

This was the first Beatles Day to be held in Liverpool & it's their intention to make it an annual event.

The date 10th July was chosen because it was '44 years ago today' that the Beatles returned home from a triumphant tour of the U.S.A. 

In 1964 thousands of fans lined the route to the City Centre where they attended a reception at the Town Hall & also the Northern premiere of A Hard Day's Night at the Odeon cinema.

Beatles Day 2008 promised live Beatles bands on the roofs celebrating the Beatles rooftop concert, live bands, pub quizzes & a finale concert at Liverpool Arena featuring bands from the Merseybeat era through to the present day with house band the Backbeat Beatles. .

But did Beatles Day deliver?  

Beatles Day had started with a gig by the Backbeat Beatles on the Mersey Ferries between 7am - 9am, Chris O'Neill & the boys were entertaining the commuters going to work & school, remember these lads were headling a concert at the Arena due to finish around 11pm!

We arrived in Liverpool in time to see the Shakers, a great Liverpool tribute band who perform Merseybeat material as well as Beatles classics, at the 08 Place. The Shakers were performing a number of sets during the day.

After a few drinks & a bite to eat in the 'Beatles pub' The Grapes we ventured over to the Hard Day's Night Hotel where we had been told there was live music all day.

Downstairs in a packed room in the Hard Days Night hotel we were treated to a set by a band which incuded Ozzie from 'The Hideaways' & guest Beryl Marsden.

They gave a great performance. I'd seen Beryl & Ozzie in seperate bands a few times. Beryl is a superb singer & spent time in Shotgun Express in the sixties along with a certain vocalist named Rod Stewart!

Ozzie was in the Hideaways, a second wave Merseybeat band who played the Cavern more times than the Beatles. When the Cavern closed in 1966 they were the last group to play there & when the club reopened in 1973 they were the first band to play a few notes on the Cavern stage.

Ozzie does a great version of 'A Little Piece of Leather, also the Hideaways used to sing the Beatles 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' at the Cavern Club changing the words to 'You've Got To Love Your Hideaway', apparently it was a success with the ladies! He performed the song & encouraged the audience to do the same but without much success!

After the Hard Day's Night Hotel it was off to the legendary White Star pub for a few drinks before a taxi to the Arena to enjoy the Beatles Day finale concert.

The concert was hosted by Ricky Tomlinson & Billy Butler and also procedds from the day went to Liverpool charities.

The line up featured 'house band' The Backbeat Beatles & an array of Liverpool artists from original Merseybeat bands through to new artists from today's Liverpool music scene all performing Beatles songs.

Stand out performances?

Well it has to be said that the Backbeat Beatles led by Chris O'Neill held everything together superbly performing by themselves or backing other artists.

Of the Merseybeat artists, the imitable Karl Terry & the Cruisers 'Matchbox', The Undertakers 'Money', Ray Ennis of the Swinging Blue Jeans 'Hippy Hippy Shake' & Gerry ('it's in E!) Marsden 'I Saw Her Standing There' gave superb performances .

While O.M.D. 'Across The Universe', John Power (I didn't realise this wasn't a Beatles song until this morning) of Cast 'Working Class Hero', Ian McNabb 'I Am A Walrus' & performance of the night by Amsterdam's Ian Prowse who gave a rousing version of 'Back In The USSR' were also stand out

Ofcourse as the Liverpool Echo reported in the end the songs were always going to be the winners but everybody contributed to a superb night to commemorate the first Liverpool Beatles Day. 

See you next year guys....                                                                                          Eddie M

It seems a while ago since we had one of our little chats.

We've been busy updating the website & it's an ongoing process while at the same time keeping the site updated with all the latest Beatles news.

I hope you've noticed we've been updating the reviews pages (we're upto Paul McCartney's Cd's as we speak!) but with the number of reviews on our site its taking a while to get it together but we'll get there eventually! 

Since Ringo is back on the road for his 10th All Starrs Tour we hope you are enjoying our Ringo blog. You'll find it on the homepage and the blog will be updated with live reviews from Ringo's tour & also contain extra articles than on the news pages, so keep checking the blog! - remember you can also add your own (clean) comments - if you've been to see Ringo on tour it would be great to hear from you.

As you are probably aware, one of the main enjoyments of the website is contact from the outside world!

I'd like to thank the many fans who have left kind or amusing comments on our guestbook.

Hello to;

Mystery Man, Middlesborough (or is that London?) - yes I am guilty, sorry responsible for this website.

Nueabv - It must have been great experiencing the arrival of the Beatles in the USA!..

Aldo Arenas - Thanks for letting me know about your radio programme "Beatles.ar" - you can check it out at http://www.radiomanantialfm.com.ar/

Jude Kessler - We finally made contact - check out Jude's new John Lennon book on our John Lennon review pages.

Anna - Thanks for your news from the Beatles hometown Liverpool. See you soon!

Tony Regan - Sorry I haven't been in touch yet. Check out Tony's band Backbeat.

Tony Yeager - Another Beatles fan with a band. Check out Tony's band Meetrevolver.

Miller Brothers - Hope to see you in August.

Nick, Brian, Paul, Alison & Kevin - See you soon in the Pool!

There's many other fans who have taken the time to leave kind messages about the site & i'd like to thank you for your support. Unfortunately space prevents me from thanking you all personally but thanks! 

Peace & Love Eddie M

When the The Beatles Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany 1962 was released by the Bellaphon label in Germany in April 1977 it was expected to bring a lawsuit by the Apple Corps but because of German copyright laws fortunately the release couldn't be stopped.

The following month (25th May 1977) the double vinyl album was very bravely released in the U.K. through the Lingasong label. Apple immediately filed an injunction to prevent it seeing the light of day but the judge overruled the injunction stating that the tapes were of historical interest & this was clearly stated on the cover of the album.

It was an exciting release for Beatles fans who were now able to hear the legendary recordings of The Beatles Live at the Star Club 1962 with the added bonus that on the night these tapes were recorded by Kingsize Taylor (of Kingsize Taylor & the Dominoes) Ringo Starr was guesting as drummer to cover for Pete Best's absence. 

Ofcourse, the reality was that the sound quality of the recordings wasn't great but to hear the Beatles live in the Star Club was fantastic and we thank you judge!

The Beatles Live at the Star Club 1962 contained twenty six tracks but it was known that thirty or more songs were recorded and another four tracks originally released in the U.S.A. but not in the U.K. were later included on what became known as the  'Silver Album'.

Ofcourse what followed the 'official' releases was cheap repackaging after repackaging including 'Rare Beatles', 'Early Beatles' most with awful LP covers, two or three volumes, spelling mistakes in the song titles & a promise of superior sound quality! I bought most of them (D'oh!). 

The first Star Club release to feature all thirty releases on the same double album was Audiofidelity Enterprises 'The Beatles Historic Sessions' but even they had Stuart Sutcliffe listed on the cover as being on the recordings when unfortunately Stuart had died in April 1962.  

The first Star Club release on Cd was in 1985 by the Overseas label which brought together all the available Beatles Star Club songs under one great package!

Considering the importance of these recordings they're a real thorn in the Beatles side or should that be maggot in the Beatles Apple!  

You see, Apple don't own the recordings  so every release is challenged in court, notice that no Star Club tracks were used on the Anthology Cd releases.  

(John & Paul @ the Star Club 1962)

Apple say that due to their poor sound quality the recordings show the Beatles in a bad light & if a music fan made these recordings their first Beatles purchase it could tarnish the Beatles reputation. What a load of bad Apples!

Just as the home recordings recorded in Paul's front room in 1961 which featured on  Anthology 1 & widely avaiable on bootleg are of historical significance so are the Beatles Live at the Star Club tapes complete with raw but exciting sound. Everyone starts somewhere!

Fast forward twenty-three years, thirty one years after their original release on  the German Bellaphon label & sadly Apple are back in court this time to stop a Cd release by Fuego Entertainment of further unreleased Star Club recordings.

Well c'mon Fuego! If you want my advice go to Germany & release them, they can't touch you there!   

                                                                                                                                  All the best

                                                                                                                                       Eddie M