David Bedford
www.davidabedford.com
Author of “Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles”, “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles” and “Looking for the Fourth Beatle”. Also collaborated on Hunter Davies’ “The Beatles Book” and Associate Producer and historian of the TV documentary, “Looking for Lennon”
I have grown up in working-
As a fan of Sherlock Holmes as a teenager, and every television detective of the last 30-
Liverpool in the 1960s became the place to be, because of The Beatles. From late 1963 onwards, anything Liverpool was en vogue, from the accent to comedians and singers. Brian Epstein created this super pop group from working-
But before they became famous, they went through dozens of different musicians, played anywhere that would pay them, including coffee bars, church halls, community centres and the occasional strip club. Liverpool had a music scene unlike any in the country, and not just around pop music. There was jazz, country and western, folk, doo-
Liverpool had a cosmopolitan mix of cultures, from the Chinese, Scandinavians, Italians to the visiting US servicemen based at Burtonwood Airbase. Rocke, like so many Liverpudlians, has Irish roots, which brings out the strengths of music and family, plus the religious differences between the Catholics and the Protestant Orange Lodge, similar to Belfast and Glasgow. With historical links to the slave trade, Liverpool has a multi-
With a background like this, there is an infinite scope of possibilities for fights, conflict, racial tension, religious animosity, jealousy and drama unlike anywhere else at that time.