Bob Stanley Presents Liverpool Sunset: The City After Merseybeat 1964-69.
Label: Ace.
Format: CD.
By 1969, many of the artists and groups from the Merseybeat era were no longer enjoying the same commercial success. When they released new singles they failed to trouble the charts. It was changed days for The Searchers, Billy J Kramer and Gerry and The Pacemakers. Just three years earlier they were huge stars.
The musical landscape had changed in Liverpool. Back in 1965, Iron Door club, which was where The Searchers once called home, decided to host soul all-nighters. These were popular, and often, local groups like The Chants featured.
Meanwhile, it was all change what was once Liverpool’s most famous club, The Cavern. The club where The Beatles and many of Liverpool’s top bands took to the stage was now hosting Ben E King, Solomon Burke and Stevie Wonder. It was changed days.
Still new artists and groups were emerging and releasing singles. They released everything from beat and pop to freakbeat, R&B, soul and psych. However, many of these singles didn’t come close to troubling the charts and for some formerly successful artists and bands their search for a hit continued.
For others, the dream was over. They were dropped by their record labels, and returned to the mundane grind of 9 to 5 life. In years to come, they could be found sitting in their local pub telling anyone who would listen how close they came to finding fame and fortune.
Over the years, there’s been countless compilations of tracks from artists and bands from Liverpool that weren’t hits. They’re usually billed as hidden gems, lost classics and the ones that got away. In reality that’s often stretching the truth. Sometimes it’s a case of the barrel being badly scraped.
Not every Liverpudlian artist or band who released a single in the sixties was blessed with talent. Often record labels took chances hoping to find the next big artist or band. A year later they were back working in a bank, Boots or on a building site. Their one and only single had bombed, and it looked like it had been consigned to the dustbin of history. It was back to the real world for them.
However, over the next six decades countless compilations of music from the Merseybeat and post-Merseybeat era have been released. The latest is ‘Bob Stanley Presents Liverpool Sunset: The City After Merseybeat 1964-69.’ It claims to contain “two dozen lost gems; 60s Liverpool classics once hidden now uncovered.” Is that the case?
Opening the compilation is The Kirkbys’ single ‘It’s A Crime.’ It was released on RCA Victor in September 1966, and was the only single they released in the UK. It’s a single that looks to the past combining elements of the Merseybeat sound. Especially the harmonies. They’re combined with a tough and edgy mod production as the group reference, and pay homage to both The Who and The Pretty Things. However, the big criticism is the lack of originality. It was a fusion of two existing and established genres. There’s nothing new or innovative about the single.
In 1963, The Dennisons were regulars at the Cavern Club, and had just signed to Decca. They enjoyed a minor hit with ‘Be My Girl’ in later that years. That was as good as it got for the group. When they release ‘Nobody Like My Babe’ it failed to trouble the charts. That’s not surprising as it’s a mediocre example of Merseybeat.
Johnny Gustafson had originally been a member of The Big Three. However, when they split-up he joined The Merseybeats. A year later, he signed to Polydor and embarked upon a solo career. He released an impassioned reading ‘Just To Be With You’ in 1965. Sadly, Gustafson’s time at Decca wasn’t particularly successful. Success came is way when he spent three years as Roxy Music’s bassist, playing on their albums ‘Stranded,’ ‘Country Life,’ ‘Siren’ and ‘Viva!’
Originally, ‘You Don’t Have To Whisper’ was meant to be The Dimensions’ debut single. However, it was wrongly relegated to the B-side, to with ‘Tears On My Pillow’ being chosen as the single. When it was released on Parlophone in 1965 the single flopped. It turned out to be the group’s one only single, and is a case of what might have been.
Don’t Let A Little Pride (Stand In Your Way) by Billy Fury was released on Decca in 1966. By then, he had been a familiar face on the British music scene since the late-fifties. However, he was no longer enjoying the same commercial success as he once had, and the single failed to trouble the top fifty. If it had been released a few years earlier things would’v been different for Fury. Instead, the single is regarded by some as one that got away.
‘Imagination’ was the B-Side to The Clayton Squares’ sophomore single ‘There She Is.’ This cover of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s song was released on Decca in 1966. Those that flipped over to the B-Side found a stomper that combined rock, soul and brassy horns with a powerhouse of a vocal from Denny Alexander.
Tony Jackson released ‘Never Leave Your Baby’s Side’ on CBS in 1966. It was the second of three singles he released for the label. It’s got a tough and sometimes trippy sound, with sweeping harmonies and punchy horns accompanying the vocal. Sadly, the single wasn’t a commercial success, and it’s a welcome addition to the compilation.
‘So Much To Love’ is a track from McGough and McGear’s eponymous Parlophone album released in 1968. It’s a decidedly average example of British psychedelic pop, even despite Jimi Hendrix’s contribution.
By the late-sixties, The Swinging Blue Jeans were yesterday’s men. Music had passed them by. They had committed the cardinal sin of failing to stay relevant. However, they were still recording new music. This included laidback and wistful sounding ‘Summer Comes Sunday.’ It made its debut on ‘The Best Of The EMI Years’ in 1992. Thirty-three years later it returns for a well-deserved encore.
After listening ‘Abyssinian Secret’ by the late Liverpudlian warbler and former Cavern Club cloakroom attendant, Cilla Black. I’m tempted to reach for a bottle of absinthe to erase the memory of what’s a truly dreadful track. It’s 2.13 of my life I’ll never get back. The track was featured on her ‘Time For Cilla’ EP which was released by Parlophone in 1968. It’s no surprise that the EP wasn’t a commercial success.
Hooks haven’t been spared on ‘Come On,’ a delicious dancer by The Carrolls. It was the B-Side to their single ‘Ever Since,’ which was released on CBS in 1968. It’s an oft-overlooked hidden gem that’s stood the test of time.
Closing the compilation is ‘Into My Life She Came’ by The Penny Peeps. This example of the British baroque sound was written by lead single Denny Alexander, and the group recorded this demo version in the late-sixties. It first featured on Psychedelic Jumble Volume One: What’s The Rush, Time Machine Man? The compilation was released in 2007, and eighteen years later it closes Bob Stanley Presents Liverpool Sunset: The City After Merseybeat 1964-69.
This recently-released compilation features twenty-four tracks from the post-Merseybeat era. They’re a mixture of singles that failed to trouble the charts, B-Sides plus tracks from EPs and albums. There’s even a track from a best off and another from a compilation.
Over the years, there’s been many compilations that focused on music released by artists and bands from Liverpool. It’s a well trodden path. The result is a compilation with some tracks that disappoint. This includes the contributions from The Kirkbys, The Dennisons, McGough and McGear and Cilla Black to name but four.
Some of the tracks would’ve sounded dated when they were released. They were looking back, not forward, and the music wasn’t new and innovative. Even some of the those who tried to innovate, the music they released was a pale imitation of the music being release across the Atlantic.
A case in point was McGough and McGear. Like footballers released by Liverpool and Everton and going down the leagues to join Tranmere Rovers, the pair later found their level releasing novelty records. Their number one novelty single ‘Lilly The Pink’ was akin to Tranmere Rovers winning the Football League Trophy, and was never to be repeated. I
Having said all that, for anyone interested in the post-Merseybeat era Bob Stanley Presents Liverpool Sunset: The City After Merseybeat 1964-69 may be of interest to them. There are some “lost gems” and oft-overlooked rarities from the post-Merseybeat era. However, “lost 60s Liverpool classics” may be pushing it though. There will be many music fans who remember the Merseybeat and post-Merseybeat sound fondly. This compilation may be of interest to them, and bring back memories of their younger days and the music to their youth. For other music fans, it’s a case of caveat emptor.
Bob Stanley Presents Liverpool Sunset: The City After Merseybeat 1964-69.
