When historians consider the Beatles’ vast musical influence, they invariably highlight such touchstones as the band’s performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964 or the cultural juggernaut ignited by "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the Summer of Love. But for the Liverbirds, a pioneering British quartet, Ground Zero occurred in Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1962.
For 16-year-old Mary McGlory, the Liverbirds’ bassist, the sight and sound of the Beatles made for an originary moment. From her earliest days, she had planned on becoming a nun, but in one indelible evening, she saw a new future laid out before her. In "The Other Fab Four: The Remarkable True Story of the Liverbirds, Britain’s First Female Rock Band," McGlory and bandmate Sylvia Saunders have compiled a fascinating memoir that explores the liminal spaces occupied by female musicians in an often unforgiving male-dominated field.
Along with Saunders, the Liverbirds’ drummer, McGlory formed the group in 1963, rounding out the foursome with guitarists Pamela Birch and Valerie Gell. The band’s name derived from the mythical liver bird, the iconic symbol of their native Liverpool’s heritage. In short order, they became known as “the female Beatles” on the local Merseybeat music scene. When it came to finding their mettle, they stoked the fires of their ambitions after John Lennon infamously remarked that “girls” couldn’t compete when it came to electric guitar pyrotechnics.
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The Liverbirds went on to prove Lennon wrong by following in the Beatles’ vaunted footsteps and becoming a headlining act in Hamburg’s seedy Reeperbahn. Largely a cover band with a penchant for American R&B, they went on tour with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and the Kinks. They even went on to enjoy commercial success in West Germany, where their cover version of Bo Diddley’s “Diddley Daddy” scored a top-five hit. Unlike the Beatles, longevity wasn’t on the Liverbirds’ side. They broke up in 1968 after touring Japan.
But the real story of "The Other Fab Four" isn’t really about fame and fortune, but rather, friendship. McGlory and Saunders’ book affords readers with a heartwarming story involving family, addiction and tragedy as the Liverbirds pursued their dreams in an era that largely wasn’t ready for them.
John Lennon Paul McCartney George Harrison and Ringo Starr rehearse their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. February 1964. (Staff/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)In other Beatles-related book news, readers of the vast literature associated with the band and their circle will also enjoy Ivor Davis’ 60th-anniversary edition of "The Beatles and Me on Tour." A foreign correspondent for London’s Daily Express, Davis enjoyed a bird's-eye view of their inaugural North American tour in 1964.
In its finest moments, Davis’ book takes readers on an intimate journey at the heart of the Beatles’ unprecedented, otherworldly success as they crisscrossed the continent. Davis’ portraits of the Fab Four and his impressions of their first brushes with mega-fame make for a captivating and charming read. Highlights include Davis’s retellings of the Beatles coming into close proximity with the glitterati of the day — household names like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and Muhammad Ali. In Davis’ skillful hands, the Beatles’ heady early days of North American fame come vividly to life.
"The Other Fab Four: The Remarkable True Story of the Liverbirds" and "The Beatles and Me on Tour" are both available now.
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