"The footnotes for my nineteenth book. This is my standard procedure for doing it. And while I compose it, I'm also reviewing it"-Jeremy Hillary Boob Ph.D
beloved artifacts that you or has been passed down to you in your attic!
Keep your calendar open if you're in the Liverpool area this coming October - 26 of October to be exact.
If you have any Beatles memorabilia this maybe your shot to see how much it's worth; although, I am sure that in any Beatles collectors eyes, everything is priceless! The Beatles Story is hosting an amazing event as they hold Memorabilia Day with the help of Julien's Auction, whom are well known for smashing world records when it comes to selling Beatles artifacts. Some of their many success are;
“We are very excited about what we might un-cover during this special visit to where it all started for The Beatles" Says, Darren Julien, CEO and founder of Julien's Auctions.
For seven hours, two to nine at night, the event will proudly take place. It is hard to find someone who is not excited about what can be rediscovered. The Beatles Story, Martin King, states;
"We want to encourage members of the public to unearth those hidden gems, which could end up being sold for a significant sum at auction. This special event that we are hosting with Julien’s Auctions will provide a fantastic opportunity for people to have their items valued by some of the world’s most well respected experts in celebrity memorabilia.”
Think about the possible rare, artifacts that could be in the homes of fans just like you and I? Especially, with the event taking place in The Fab Four's hometown of Liverpool!
1960s Beatles artifacts
You can sign up for a free valuation here . For further information, be sure to check out The Beatles Story.
Last week, 9 January, 2015 ( feel's weird writing/reading 2015 doesn't it? ), we lost a true music legend who is often over looked; Ray McFall. Some of us have never even heard of his name but we've all heard of the legacy he established; a little club in a warehouse cellar called The Cavern Club. Also, yesterday, 16 January, 2015 (still weird), we celebrated the fifty-eight year anniversary of the club it's self. With all this being said, it's only fitting to write about McFall's story and his role in Cavern history.
Alan Sytner, born in Liverpool in 1935, was brought up with vacations in Paris where his music influence flourished and nurtured the melodies of jazz. At age twenty-one Sytner received a generous amount of money from a life insurance policy, four-hundred pounds, which he used towards bringing the swinging jazz sound to his home on the Merseyside. After being inspired by a jazz club called Le Caveau De La Huchette, from his Paris days, Alan went on to pursuit his love for the art and bought an old air-raid shelter of World War II and tunnel system on Mathew Street, Liverpool England.
The property was located near a market and tucked away in an alley way at the proud address of number Ten. Sytner put a lot of effort into opening his new club, from installing toilets, coatrooms, snacks, and even a stage made of wood in the far end, but finally on the cold January day 1957 the club was opened to the public and soon became a well-renowned Jazz club, with the opening night's act Merseyippi Jazz Band, Wall City Jazzmen, Ralph Watmough Jazz Band, and Coney Island Skiffle Group. It wasn't until that coming June that McFall would accept any other music genres to play at his club when he hired Gin Mill Skiffle Group.
Hiring a Skiffle Group, a kind of music based off of the roots of folk and rock'n'roll, attracted more young audiences and more bands, including the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, who made their debut on 31 July, 1957 with their beloved drummer, Richard Starkey (bet you can't guess who that is). That coming August, another local group called The Quarrymen, made their first appearance at the club with members, John Lennon, Len Garry, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, Pete Shotton, and Eric Griffiths- unfortunately their lead guitar player at the time, Paul McCartney, was away on a boyscout trip. During their lunch-time set, Lennon received a note from Sytner thinking it was a request or a 'great job' message, but when he unraveled he paper and squinted he made out the words 'Cut out the rock!'.
McFall is the one with the hat
From many different jazz musicians like Ronnie Scott, Mr. Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band... performed under the roof of the dingy, dim, and damp club, things were about to change in 1959.
3 October, 1959 The Cavern Club was bought out by Ray McFall for 2,750 pounds, after Alan Sytner moved to a more popular club in London, The Marquee Jazz Club.
Ray McFall was born 14 November, 1926 in Garston, Liverpool to a sea merahnt. His family and himself then moved to Maghull where he would sit behind a desk at St Mary's Roman Catholic College, Crosby. From time to time he found himself working at the Clock Face Colliery and then as a clerk as an accountant. He later found himself working as a cashier part-time for Alan Sytner at The Cavern Club and the rest went like this...
McFall opened his night with two blues musician's, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Unlike Sytner, McFall understood that times were changing and skiffle and rock'n'roll were making their way into the hearts of the young Liverpudlians and The Cavern began to change, starting with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, who provided high energy levels anytime they performed by their lead singer, Rory Storm, and their loveable drummer, Richard Starkey, who would later be known as Ringo Starr.
Ray then hired a stage manager and announcer, Bob Wooler, who began advertising for young rock'n'roll groups, McFall was successful when Wooler finally closed the deal with a charming mother, Mona Best, and hired her son's band, The Beatles, to play. In 1961, The Beatles, featuring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe, and Pete Best started their fame at The Cavern. Prior to their Mathew Street productions, the band were frequently playing in Best's basement, after his mother decided to open up a club in their home called The Casbah.
In total The Beatles played 292 time sat The Cavern earning about twenty-five shillings per act. The group became The Cavern's top act with lines flooding up the turning staircases and onto the street. If girls weren't getting all dolled-up in the bathrooms they would either be fantasizing about The Beatles or fighting for a closer spot, and even fighting over the boys affections. Despite the fighting, damp, dark, and awful mixture of spoiled fruit from the market and sweat, The Beatles were untouchable. The following video is The Beatles performing "Some Other Guy" at The Cavern, 1962;
Amongst The Beatles other acts such as, The Searchers, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes (whose drummer, Ringo Starr, joined The Beatles in 1962, which lead to a HUGE upset amongst Beatles fans- but that a story for another post), Gene Vincent, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Swinging Blue Jeans, and others. Even in the later years after The Beatles took off, broke out of Liverpool and started the worldwide trend called "Beatlemania" (maybe you've heard of it), bands like The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, The Kings, John Lee Hooker... would make their debut at the city's now over populated club.
With his success came a dreadful ending in 1966. The Beatles had been gone for nearly four years, the sewage system went and McFall didn't have enough money to put fix it and had to declare bankruptcy. The Cavern Club closed on 28 February, 1966 but was reluctantly repaired by Alf Geoghegan and Joe Davey and was officially reopened with a souvenir shop, coffee lounge, eatery, and even a new entrance, by British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson on 23 July, 1966.
After selling The Cavern Club, Ray and his family, wife Shirley Wilkins and their six children, moved to a southern London town called, Balham where he did a number of jobs, from selling insurance to adding machines, to joining an office business. On 8 January, 2015, we said goodbye to Ray McFall, at age eighty-eight.
St Luke's Church stands proudly at 41 meters (133 feet) tall, 18 meters (60 feet) wide, and 54 meters (177 feet 6 inches) long on the corner of Berry Street and Leece Street in the heart of Liverpool. Designed by John Foster Sr and John Foster Jr in the early 1800s, the building was complete in 1832 becoming an Anglican Parish church becoming known as "the doctor's church", being near Rodney Street, home of many local doctors. Through 1832 St Luke's was not only used for religious purposes but as a venue of celebrations as well as a concert hall until 1849 when the Philhamronic Hall opened on Hope Street. To many Liverpudlians this church is known as 'The Bombed Out Church', due to the Liverpool Blitz on 6 May, 1941. During this brutal bombings St. Luke's suffered from an incendiary device causing a rapid fire. As fire spread, the interior turned to ash while the exterior and shell still stand today. In 1952 the church became known as a Grade II building, being defined as "particularly important buildings of more than special interest" (English Heritage,Listed Buildings).
Yes, yes, I know, the name of this website is "The Fab Four Blog", so why am I telling you about a church?
Two days ago, Sunday 5 October, 2014, it was announced that Sir James Paul McCartney is helping the Bombed Out Church's Crowdfunder campaign and Club Freeze to preserve this "international legend" (says Curator of St Luke's, Ambrose Reynolds). After Crowdfunder raised over £20,000 towards the church, Club Freeze dance music promoter's turned to one of Liverpool's most iconic productions, Paul McCartney, who was delighted to help;
"St Luke's Church - better known as 'The Bombed - Out Church' to the people of Liverpool- is a place that encourages people to express themselves. The people of Liverpool should do everything possible to keep this venue open for the use of the people and run by the people. It is a place that is regularly staffed by students from LIPA and every-day people of all ages, religions and backgrounds. It would be a terrible shame if we lost this cultural icon." -Sir James Paul McCartney via PaulMcCartney.com
Not only has Paul McCartney taken a step towards helping a Liverpool treasure, but John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, who had taken a keen interest in the church, even making it part of her "Skyladder" art work this past March. As part of her work she stated that the idea was for her husband John, Lennon that is, who was "very proud of Liverpool". After her husbands passing she had the urge to visit Liverpool and start a public art display of stepping ladders inside The Bombed-Out church for anyone to bring a ladder that "takes you a bit closer to the sky." (Yoko Ono, Yoko Ono: Skyladders ).
Skyladders
Along with her art display Yoko Ono takes her own part in spreading awareness to raise money for the struggling church via Twitter where she wrote
