Mersey sound

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:Merseybeat redirects here. For the television series, see Merseybeat (TV series)

:''For the poetry book with Henri, McGough and Patten, see The Mersey Sound

Mersey Sound (also known as the Liverpool Sound and Mersey Beat) is the name the media gave to the music created by Merseyside groups between 1958 and 1964. The most popular line-up comprised lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus drums, as popularized by The Beatles and The Searchers. Merseybeat is typified by the synchronization of the bass guitar (usually playing only the root and fifth notes of the chords) and the bass drum to form a "back beat."

The style originated in Liverpool, England, with help from Hamburg, Germany (where many groups honed their skills) and is a fusion of rock and roll, skiffle and R&B. It remained popular only locally until the breakthrough success of The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers and Cilla Black, among others. The name is derived from the River Mersey, flowing through Liverpool.

A newspaper called Mersey Beat was founded and edited by Bill Harry, and it was the first publication in journalistic history to have The Beatles on the cover.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} The paper closely documented the growing Liverpool scene in the early 1960s. One of the most popular Mersey bands was also called The Merseybeats.

Of particular significance was the band Gerry & the Pacemakers, led by Gerry Marsden, who had success with "How Do You Do It?" and "I Like It", but is perhaps better known for popularising "You'll Never Walk Alone", subsequently the anthem for Liverpool Football Club. Another song that Marsden's band released, which became synonymous with the ‘Mersey Sound’, was "Ferry Cross the Mersey", covered in the mid-1980s by fellow Liverpudlians Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Other bands

Most Mersey Sound bands came from Liverpool. The most revered Liverpool bands included The Undertakers, The Big Three, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, The Swinging Blues Jeans and The Fourmost. Among the first non Liverpool bands from this scene to chart were Freddie and the Dreamers (who had hits with "If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody", "I'm Telling You Now", "You Were Made For Me" and "I Understand") and The Hollies both of whom came from Manchester.

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Mersey sound

Other bands

See also