As you know if you’ve read Tune In, Mark Lewisohn’s peerless history of the Beatles’ pre-fame years, the Fab Four were hardly the only musicians blazing new trails in and around Liverpool in the U.K. in the early 1960s. Hundreds of groups were vying for fame while creating the genre that came to be called Merseybeat (after the river that runs through northwest England). Also known as British beat and beat music, the genre combines the influences of pop, skiffle, and R&B with a large dose of the American rock and roll that many of its purveyors adored.
A fascinating new three-disc anthology called Let’s Stomp! Merseybeat and Beyond 1962–1969 covers the best of this music (aside from the Beatles, who are excluded due to licensing constraints). It also features tracks issued by Liverpool-area acts from the mid-sixties, when the Merseybeat craze started to fade, through the rest of the decade.
Listening to these CDs will remind you that like most musical genres, Merseybeat is a bit of a catch-all term for material that in fact varies widely in style. It will also demonstrate that whatever you call their songs, the acts that came out of this time and place produced a heck of a lot of good music.
Don’t look to this set for the British Invasion’s best-known numbers. The 93-track program does make room for a few Top 40 U.S. hits, such as the Swinging Blue Jeans’ “Hippy Hippy Shake,” the Searchers’ “When You Walk in the Room,” and Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas’ “Bad to Me,” but much of this material will likely be unknown to many listeners on both sides of the Atlantic. Its freshness only adds to the pleasure.
Quite a few of the tracks have links to the Beatles. The set includes four John Lennon/Paul McCartney compositions, for example, among them “I’m in Love,” by the Fourmost, a group that played the Cavern Club with the Fab Four; the above-mentioned track and another number by Kramer, who was under contract to Beatles manager Brian Epstein; and two selections by Cilla Black, who had also been signed by Brian Epstein. Also featured are Gerry and the Pacemakers, another act Epstein handled; Focal Point, who were named by Epstein and signed to Apple Publishing; future Apple artist Jackie Lomax; Beryl Marsden, who performed at the Cavern Club and supported the Beatles on their last U.K. tour; and Lee Curtis and the All-Stars, who featured ex-Beatle Pete Best. Here, too, are the Big Three’s version of “Some Other Guy,” a song the Beatles recorded early on; and “Lend Me Your Comb,” by Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a group that employed a drummer by the name of Ringo Starr.
American rock and roll, however, looms even larger in this program than the Beatles. There are covers of hits by many U.S. bands, including the Contours’ “Do You Love Me” (performed here by Faron’s Flamingos), the Marvelettes’ “Beechwood 4-5789” (by Ian & the Zodiacs), Ruby & the Romantics’ “Our Day Will Come” (by the Merseybeats), Dobie Gray’s “The In Crowd” (by the Fourmost), the Jaynetts’ “Sally Go Round the Roses” (by Lyn Cornell), and Clyde McPhatter’s “Lover Please” (by the Vernons Girls). Some of these covers—such as the Cryan Shames’ Joe Meek–produced version of the Drifters’ “Please Stay”—are arguably even better than the excellent American hit versions.
The set comes with a 24-page booklet that inexplicably fails to identify the composers of many of the tracks. However, it does offer copious notes about each number as well as a wealth of color photos.As is usual with any Cherry Red release the fully annotated booklet that accompanies the compilation does provide an excellent source of information.The liner notes are crammed with information, each song’s character is examined and explained by Sixties expert, Jon Harrington. It’s the perfect accompaniment.
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CD 1
01. Lee Curtis And The All Stars - Let’s Stomp
02. The Searchers - Farmer John
03. Gerry And The Pacemakers - Slow Down
04. The Swinging Blue Jeans - Hippy Hippy Shake
05. The Big Three - Some Other Guy
06. Johnny Sandon And The Remo Four - Lies
07. The Chants - I Don’t Care
08. Wailin’ Howie Casey And The Seniors - Double Twist
09. The Undertakers - Just A Little Bit
10. Billy J. Kramer With The Dakotas - Bad To Me
11. The Fourmost - I’'m In Love
12. Faron’s Flamingos - Do You Love Me
13. Ian & The Zodiacs - Beechwood 4-5789
14. Freddie Starr And The Midnighters - Peter Gunn Locomotion
15. The Vernons Girls - Lover Please
16. The Chants - Come Go With Me
17. The Searchers - Sweets For My Sweet
18. Jeannie & The Big Guys - Sticks and Stones
19. The Dennisons - You Don’t Know What Love Is
20. King Size Taylor - Somebody’s Always Trying
21. Billy Fury - Nothing Shakin’ (But The Leaves On The Trees)
22. Glenda Collins - I Feel So Good
23. Howie Casey and The Seniors - I Ain’t Mad At You
24. Denny Seyton and The Sabres - House Of Bamboo
25. Cilla Black - Love Of The Loved
26. Lyn Cornell - Sally Go Round The Roses
27. The Merseybeats - Our Day Will Come
28. Wellington Wade (Ian & The Zodiacs) - It Ain’t Necessarily So
29. The Kinsleys - Do Me A Favour
30. The Big Three - What’d I Say (Live At The Cavern)
31. Earl Preston And The TTs (Featuring Cy Tucker) - Bony Moronie
32. Rory Storm and The Hurricanes - Lend Me Your Comb
33. Savva And The Democrats - Shakin’ All Over
34. Mike and The Thunderbirds - Web Of Love
CD 2
01. The Mojos - Everything’s Al’right
02. Gerry and The Pacemakers - Why Oh Why
03. The Liverbirds - Talking About You
04. The ’Takers (The Undertakers) - If You Don’t Come Back
05. Tony Jackson With The Vibrations - Bye Bye Baby
06. The Searchers - When You Walk In The Room
07. The Swinging Blue Jeans - Make Me Know You’re Mine
08. The Black Knights - I Gotta Woman
09. Earl Royce and The Olympics - Shake A Tail Feather
10. Beryl Marsden - Music Talk
11. The Fourmost - The In Crowd
12. The Trends - The Way You Do The Things You Do
13. The Breakaways - That’s How It Goes
14. Four Just Men - Things Will Never Be The Same
15. Tommy Quickly and The Remo Four - Wild Side Of Life
16. The Pathfinders - Lonely Room
17. Jason Eddie And The Centremen - Come On Baby
18. The Koobas - Somewhere In The Night
19. The Eyes - She
20. The Connoisseurs - Make Up Your Mind
21. Greta Ann - Sadness Hides The Sun
22. The Roadrunners - Cry, Cry, Cry
23. The Cryin’ Shames - Please Stay
24. Mark Peters - Don’t Cry For Me
25. Earl Preston’s Realms - Daddy Rolling Stone
26. The Richmond Group - - Cops ’N’ Robbers
27. Michael Allen - I Can’t Stand It
28. Them Calderstones - What’cha Gonna Do About It
29. The Four Originals - You Won’t Be Leaving
30. The Newtowns - Tomorrow
CD 3
01. Tony Jackson With The Vibrations - Fortune Teller
02. The Kirkbys - It’s A Crime
03. The Koobas - A Place I Know
04. Paddy, Klaus & Gibson - No Good Without You Baby
05. Paul & Ritchie And The Cryin’ Shames - Come On Back
06. Billy J. Kramer With The Dakotas - We’re Doing Fine
07. Johnny Gustafson - Take Me For A Little While
08. Eddie Cave And The Fyx - Fresh Out Of Tears
09. Chris Curtis - Aggravation
10. The 5 a.m. Event - I Wash My Hands In Muddy Water
11. The Clayton Squares - Imagination
12. The Merseys - Sorrow (Alternative Version)
13. The Thoughts - All Night Stand (US Version)
14. The Maracas - The Drummer
15. Lomax Alliance - You Better Get Going Now
16. Wimple Winch - Rumble On Mersey Square South
17. The Seftons - I Can See Through You
18. Bill Kenwright and The Runaways - I Want To Go Back There Again
19. The 23rd Turnoff - Michael Angelo
20. Focal Point - Girl On The Corner
21. The Swinging Blue Jeans - Keep Me Warm (’Til The Sun Shines)
22. Samantha Jones - This Is The Real Thing
23. The Remo Four - Heart Beat
24. Lomax Alliance - Give What You Take
25. The Perishers - Bye Bye Baby
26. The Merseys - So Sad About Us
27. The Quotations - Cool It
28. Satin Bells - I Stand Accused (Of Loving You)
29. Cilla Black - Step Inside Love
Music Reissues Weekly Let's Stomp - Merseybeat and Beyond PDF
Thanks Cor for this
Thank you Dmitrich.
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