While on holiday in Liverpool August 1995

Got up early, it was a beautiful day, I decided to go down to the pier head. Looking at the Mersey river, It looked so blue, with the cloudless sky and the sun blazing down. I walked around Albert dock for around an hour, just mellowing out. Looking up at the liver building clock, I noticed it was almost 10:45am, I was quite thirsty with the heat an-all, so I headed toward Mathew Street. First pub was the Cavern pub (the Lennon statue is just by the door) I had a pint while listening to the fab four. The Cavern Club didn’t open till 1:00pm, so I went to the 'Famous Grapes' and had a couple there while I pondered the day ahead.

I left the grapes after my pondering got me nowhere, and went into the Beatles shop after about half an hour I bought some stuff, I left and crossed the narrow street to 'Flanagan’s Apple', I had a couple there while I looked at the stuff I bought. I decided to go to 'Lennon's lounge' next.

As I entered I passed two men talking, I went to the bar and ordered a pint, the girl noticed I was Scottish! she asked if I was on holiday I said yes, I told her I was a sixties music fan and then she pointed to the two men that I passed on the way in and said, do you know them? I replied no, she said they were allan Williams & Tony Jackson! I could not believe my luck, I got a pen & paper from the girl (who sounded like cilla black), and went over to them, they were very nice and signed no problem, they were just leaving and allan said, 'enjoy your time in the pool', as you can guess I did, and I still do each year.

All Girl Show

Dusty Springfield's birthday is on April 6th, and this is the possible start date of the first all-female artists tour due next year 2004. Billie Davis ('Tell Him') has been working hard to put the superbly-produced show together, supported by Howard Elsom and Anthony Bishop.It will tell a story highlighting the hits of female stars of the era. Also in the show are, Sue Glover and Linda
Gail Lewis, who has been making a name here as Jerry Lee's little sister, but she's not so little!. Look out for 'Sixties Chicks - The Songbirds' when the dates are officially announced later this year. Update November 2003.

Joe's on song
Some exciting news from our special Liverpool correspondent, Joe Robinson.

He has managed to arrange a visit, photos & interview with Beatles Story Director Jerry Goldman, to talk about both The Beatles Story and Fingerprints of Elvis Exhibitions, in Liverpool, as well as exciting new projects they have on the go. As soon as this is completed, he should have some interesting reports for us.
(Used with permission from 'The Beat' mag - see links)

Purple Prose
Last year, the music scene lost Maurice Gibb, Adam Faith, Robert Palmer, Tony Jackson, Johnny Cash and Sheb Wooley. But Wooley had the fastest selling record in the US with, 'Purple People Eater', which sold a half a million copies in nine weeks in 1958, matching The Beatles. His passing was not well recorded, but the singing cowboy also acted in 'High Noon', 'Giant', and the TV series, 'Rawhide' - as Pete Nolan. His hit in 1955 'Are You Satisfied', was recorded just as rock 'n' roll eclipsed his style of hillbilly country music. Wooley never scored another big hit, but, 'Purple People Eater' is still available on, 'Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll Novelty Edition' - Ace Records.

Move singer Carl Wayne dies at 61
Carl Wayne, the lead singer of influential 1960s pop group the Move, has died at the age of 61. He had hits with songs such as Flowers in the Rain - the first song to be played on BBC Radio 1 when it began in 1967 - and I Can Hear the Grass Grow. Wayne died peacefully at home on Tuesday morning, 31st August 2004 after battling cancer. He was born on 18 August 1943 in Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham. After the Move, he enjoyed success with the Hollies when he joined
them in 2000. Carl was one of the music businesses's great characters... It has been an honour to work with him. Bobby Elliot, The Hollies drummer.

Merseybeat Nostalgia
Merseybeat Nostalgia is a truly fab site for anyone who loves the Merseybeat of the sixties. Listen to loads of music and get plenty of facts. See links page, check it out for yourself.

Have a look at 'The Beat' mag site on Links!

John Lennon Portfolio
John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940, during the height of WWII, his father, Fred Lennon, off at sea. His father didn't turn up again until five years later, and when he did he tried to take john away from his mother, Julia, when she refused to restart her life with him. Instead, he grew up in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George Smith, at 251 Menlove Ave, which became nicknamed Mendips. Julia died in 1958, in an automobile accident practically in front of Mendips, when John was seventeen.
Aunt Mimi ran a very strict household. John very quickly became bored at school, preferring drawing and writing about his classmates and teachers rather than his studies. Rebellious at an early age, he had a very rough school history, sagging off from school (going AWOL from classes) and petty stealing. His future looked bleak until Mimi got the headmaster of the Quarrybank school to write a letter of recommendation for John to the Liverpool Art College, because of his drawings.

It was at Liverpool Art College, in 1956, a friend played him Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel, and John's musical interest was piqued. Then he heard Lonnie Donegan's Rock Island Line on Radio Luxembourg, and became part of the new Skiffle craze by begging his Aunt Mimi until she broke down and bought him a guitar, although she forever told him he would never get anywhere with it. He had already learned to play the harmonica during his childhood, and he taught himself the guitar by applying banjo chords that his mother had taught him.

In 1955 he started his own band, the Quarrymen, with his long time pal and fellow troublemaker Pete Shotton, singing all the popular songs, sometimes making up the words when he couldn't get them all off the radio. Also in the Quarrymen were Nigel Walley and Ivan Vaughan, the rest of John's gang. It was Ivan Vaughan who introduced John to his friend, Paul McCartney, in 1957.

John married his girlfriend of four years, Cynthia Powell, in 1962. She was pregnant with their son Julian at the time, who was born in April, 1963.

In His Own Words

About his time in art school, John said:
"My whole school life was a case of 'I couldn't care less'. It was just a joke as far as I was concerned. Art was the only thing I could do, and my headmaster told me that if I didn't go to art school I might as well give up life. I wasn't really keen. I thought it would be a crowd of old men, but I should make the effort and make something of myself. I stayed for five years doing commercial art. Frankly, I found it all as bad as maths and science. And I loathed those. The funny thing was I didn't even pass art in the GCE. I spent the exam time doing daft cartoons. I got into art school by doing some decent stuff and taking it along to show them."
On musical differences:
"From our earliest days in Liverpool, George and I on the one hand and Paul on the other had different musical tastes. Paul preferred 'pop type' music and we preferred what is now called 'underground'. This may have led to arguments, particularly between Paul and George, but the contrast in tastes, I'm sure, did more good than harm, musically speaking, and contributed to our success."

Wonderful Radio London
Offshore radio was an integral part of 60’s music in and around Europe. The notion of pop being broadcast from the North Sea via stations dubbed ‘pirates’ by the media, captured the public’s imagination. The stations’ staff were never truly pirates, because the ships and forts from which they operated were located in international waters. Between 1964 - 1967, most teens went around clutching a ‘tranny’..(transistor radio) tuned to the pirates, as if it were an arm extension. Radio was fun for the first time and the offshore stations were giving us the non-stop music we craved.Radio London became the most successful station, by bringing the US-style Top 40 format to the UK, on 266 metres medium. It was the first time the Brittish public had heard a radio jingle, but those catchy sounds were an instant hit with listeners. The station known affectionately as Big L, also brought us young DJ’s such as Kenny Everett, and Dave Cash who made us laugh by doing whacky things on the air. For myself, merseybeatlover1 I wish we could get back that magical era of 60’s music radio.
Thanks to Mary Payne ,The Beat Mag see links

Click Radio London logo to enter site

Bob Wooler
A compare, stage manager and promoter, born in Liverpool on 19 January 1932. Immediately following his National Service, he began work as a clerk in a local railway dock office in 1952 and was based in the Garston area of Liverpool. In 1957 Bob initially became involved in the music scene when he managed a skiffle group called Kingstrums. They hailed from a tough area of Garston, nicknamed "under the bridge". Bob recalls entering the group in a skiffle contest at Gateacre Labour Club. The contest was won by The Mars Bars, who later evolved into Gerry and the Pacemakers. He says: "At the Labour club I remember the Kingstrums coming into direct competition with John Lennon's skiffle group The Quarry Men. Because they came from posh places like Woolton and Aigburth, the Quarry Men were considered to be snobs !

When the Kingstrums disbanded, Bob began comparing shows locally for promoters such as Wally Hill of Peak Promotions, at venues such as Holyoake Hall in Smithdown Road. He also co-promoted dances at Hambleton Hall, Huyton with Vic Anton. Bob became one of the major figures on the Mersey Scene and did much to help the various groups, and the Beatles in particular. He had a mellifluous voice, great wit and an extensive knowledge of the local scene. Bob was Liverpool's equivalent of Sam Goldwyn when it came to coining phrases which became established among the music fraternity - they were referred to as "Woolerisms". He called the Cavern "The best of the cellars", Brian Epstien was referred to as "The Nemperor".

He contributed a column to Mersey Beat, "The Roving I", in which readers would delight at his colourful, alliterative style of writing in which he described the Beatles as "rhythmic revolutionaries" and shady agents as "those characters from consville". Bob was particularly knowledgeable about the music the young Merseysiders wanted to hear and his record collection inspired a number of bands in their choice of repertoire. He also advised bands on their stage presentation and was probably the most efficient organizer of shows on Merseyside.

Inspired by the Top ten Club in Hamburg, Allan Williams opened a rock n' roll club called the Top Ten at 100 Soho Street, Liverpool, in November 1960. Allan had talked the 28 year old Wooler into giving up his job as a railway clerk to work as a full time disc jockey / compؘ at the new venue. At 11.30pm on Tuesday 6 December, only eight days after it opened, the venue burned down, Bob found himself out on a limb without a job. He still had compؘ work to do for promoters such as Brian Kelly and he talked Kelly into booking the Beatles at Litherland Town Hall, the gig that brought them to the attention of the Liverpool fans for the first time. When Ray McFall started to book local bands at the Cavern he employed Bob to become the Caverns full time compؘ. Bob's familiar "Hello Cavern dwellers, welcome to the best of cellars", was his trademark and it was bob who began to organize lunch time sessions. He recommended that Ray booked the Beatles during the lunch time gigs as they didn't have any daytime jobs and would be readily available. The group made their first lunchtime appearance on Tuesday 21 February 1961 and they continued to play there regularly until Saturday 3 August 1963. Bob reckoned that the total number of occasions he introduced the Beatles on stage at the Cavern was 274, but also believed that, counting all the other Mersey venues, the number of times he compaired their shows was nearer 400, an achievement which ensures his place in Beatlelore.

While Wooler was introducing them on stage at the Cavern once, John Lennon told the audience that he was his long lost father who he had not seen for 15 years, and the audience believed him!

When Brian Epstein arranged for the Beatles to meet him and Alistair Taylor at his NEMS offices to discuss his management proposals, they asked Bob to join them and to give his opinion. The date was Wednesday 3 December 1961 and Bob and the Beatles initially went to the Bridge pub for drinks to discuss strategy. They arrived late, which irked Epstein - particularly since Paul wasn't with them. Paul arrived half and hour late. When Epstein wanted to know who Bob was, Lennon said, "This is me dad". Bob was indeed a father figure for many groups and his knowledge and advice proved invaluable to Epstein. A few days after the meeting between the Beatles and Brian Epstein, Wooler was able to reveal to Epstein that the group were indeed on the lookout for a manager.

Although Bob was a champion of the Beatles, he is perhaps unfairly more known because of an incident which took place at Paul McCartney's 21st Birthday party on 18 June 1963. Bob made a remark to John which resulted in John giving him a beating. Lennon and Epstein had just returned from a weekend in Spain and Wooler made a remark hinting at a homosexual relationship. John was to tell Cynthia "He called me a bloody queer so I bashed his ribs in". Bob had to be taken to hospital and Epstein immediately set out to repair the damage, ordering his solicitor Rex Makin to pay Bob £200.00 in damages. John refused to apologize, so Brian sent him a telegram in Johns name: "Really sorry Bob. Terribly sorry to realise what I had done. What more can I say?

Bob remained at the Cavern until 1967. He compared a radio show from the club and also managed a few local groups. He was married to Brian Epstein's secretary Beryl Adams. At that particular time the Marine Offences Bill had put paid to the pirate radio stations and the BBC was in the process of setting up Radio 1. Bob had an appointment with the head of Radio 1 with the opportunity of becoming a regular disc jockey at the radio station. Bob travelled to London, but failed to turn up for his appointment.

It seemed he wanted to remain in Liverpool. His marriage ended and he became a bingo caller. In succeeding years he continued to promote local events with Allan Williams, appeared regularly at the Liverpool based Beatle conventions and often escorted visitors on special Beatle tours.

Bob Wooler will always be remembered as the DJ who first introduced The Beatles to the World - Gone but not forgotten.

Extract from The Encyclopedia of Beatles People by Bill Harry, Blandford Publications -

Till the next time,

Brian Smith
merseybeatlover1