It’s at these same docks, today revitalized as Liverpool’s historic quarter, that you should probably begin your journey through these places that had their moments. Only through their unique access to the brightest new records from the US did groups such as The Beatles, Gerry And The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas and The Searchers evolve the sound that came to take the world by storm as Merseybeat. Skiffle groups, such as John Lennon’s Quarrymen, migrated quickly to rock’n’roll, at first meeting resistance from the likes of Cavern Club owner Ray McFall, who would pass notes up to the formative Beatles, reminding them that his best of cellars was a jazz club.īut before long, McFall, like the rest of Liverpool’s club owners, embraced this new music. These records would then infiltrate the culture back in Liverpool, where a beat boom was born based on the sweet sounds from across the sea. Perhaps cheapest and easiest of all were the early rhythm’n’blues and rock’n’roll records that soundtracked their high times in the Big Apple. From fridge freezers to Wrangler jeans, they loaded up with whatever they could afford and carry. America seemed like a Technicolor marvel compared to the dreary reality of the hard life they experienced at home, and they sought to bring as much of that vibrancy back with them. These men who worked in the “merch” became known as Cunard Yanks, after the liners aboard which they ferried back and forth to New York. In the 50s, the Merchant Navy offered employment and adventure to a generation of young men growing up in a post-war climate of austerity and unemployment. Liverpool, especially in the years when The Beatles were born and raised there, was dominated by its docks and the associated companies for whom the route to the world offered opportunity, such as the insurance firms in and around the Liver Buildings, not to mention the acres of warehouses, and the distribution network that traded their goods. Indeed, it’s unlikely they could have come from anywhere else in the country. That The Beatles came from Liverpool is not insignificant in their development. Beatle-themed rooms can also be had for the night at the Penny Lane Hotel, among many other options. So if you’re planning a visit, the first issue is: where to stay? There are a number of cracking Beatle-themed accommodation options, from the exclusive Yellow Submarine (actually a rather swanky houseboat with a price tag to match) in the city’s Albert Dock, to the luxurious – and rather more affordable – Beatles-themed Hard Day’s Night Hotel (the Lennon suite comes complete with white piano – imagine!), just around the corner from the legendary Cavern Club in the city center. A guide to The Beatles’ Liverpool Where to stay in Liverpool?
The Beatles’ legacy is reported to be worth over £80 million to Liverpool’s economy, and is said to support more than 2,300 jobs. Today, some 800,000 people a year are reported to visit sites such as the historic Cavern Quarter, home to an increasing number of Beatle-themed hang-outs. What Beatle City had demonstrated, however, was that there was an appetite for Beatles tourism – a fact not lost on the people behind the then-burgeoning Cavern City Tours enterprise, who have been behind most major Beatle-related projects in the city for 35 years. But that museum was plagued by financial difficulties and so closed its doors for the last time after less than two years.
That museum boasted the greatest collection of Beatles memorabilia ever brought together – the prize exhibit was the original Magical Mystery Tour bus, restored to its psychedelic glory, which offered tours of the former Fabs’ family homes, and various other places of interest in and around the city. Things changed when, in 1984, a dedicated museum to the group – Beatle City – opened on Seel Street, in the city center. Even as recently as the 80s, visitors to Liverpool could have been forgiven for not realizing they were in the birthplace of The Beatles.
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