Thursday, October 11, 2007

Echo Letters, 5th Oct: More to city than Beatles

I MUST reply to the letter headed ‘Murals are a Fab idea’ (ECHO, Sept. 29).
I must point out to Mr Carr and the Liverpool Mural Project that Liverpool is 800 years old and the Beatles have influenced one area of popular culture across a relatively short period.
Could I suggest to the culture company and Mural Project that, if they want to decorate the city for 2008, they produce informal and educational murals not only of interest to tourists but local people and schoolchildren.
Before Liverpool is turned into some sort of Beatles Disneyland, I propose we remember its proud history in literature, sport, cinema, art, theatre, tele- vision, transport, the list is endless.
I also suggest we have a mural that acknowledges, accepts and apologises for the city’s involvement in the slave trade, while another celebrates the work of dockers and shipping merchants, whose endeavour and foresight built the foundations for the city to grow and thrive.
Mr A J Riley, Prescot

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every big city has its proud history of literature, sport, cinema, art, theatre, tele- vision, transport, the list is endless, but not every city has The Beatles, lets paint the 'Fab Four' all over the city and show the world in 2008 that the greatest band came from Liverpool!

Anonymous said...

Give the tourists what they want - The Beatles - and they'll keep coming!

Anonymous said...

All we are saying is give peace a chance

Anonymous said...

Song for Mr A J Riley

He's a real Nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody.
Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command.
He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere Man can you see me at all?

Nowhere Man don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else,
Lends you a hand.
Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere Man please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere Man, the world is at your command.
He's a real Nowhere Man,
Sitting in his Nowhere Land,
Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody.
Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody.
Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody.

Anonymous said...

All You Need Is Love
Nothings gonna change my world
Love Is Here To Stay
It's All Too Much
Half of what I say is meaningless
I should have known better
Say the word LOVE
One day you'll look to see I've gone
I can see that I was blind
Only a fool would doubt our love
It's getting better all the time
I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want
Help yourself to a bit of what is around you
We can work it out
There is no one compared with you
A man must break his back to earn his day of leisure
Money can't buy me love
I could be happy with you by my side
All together now
Don't be cold as ice
You can celebrate anything you want
Remember I'll always be true
If you're lonely you can talk to me
All the children sing
It doesn't really matter what clothes I wear
Because the wind is high it blows my mind
It's getting better all the time
I may be a lover but I ain't no dancer
Nothing is Real
Think for yourself
I've got something I can laugh about
Pride comes before a fall
When I'm with you I want to stay there
Listen to the pretty sound of music
I need a fix cause i'm going down
One and one and one is three
You know how hard it can be
Dig It
I'm not what I appear to be
Many times I've been alone and many times I've cried
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Turn off your mind,relax and float downstream
I'm taking the time for a number of things
I believe in yesterday
The farther one travels the less one knows
It's a love that lasts forever
Everybody's got something to hide
I'd love to turn you on
And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Anonymous said...

All of the Beatles were born in Liverpool, England, which at the time of their birth had the distinction of being the second largest seaport in the United Kingdom. But, World War II ravaged Liverpool. Two-thirds of the city was destroyed.


In 1955, John Lennon formed a two-man band called "Quarry Men." The other member was school mate Pete Shotton. Many boys joined and left Quarry Men. It wasn't until 1957 that Paul McCartney joined Quarry Men. George Harrison joined in 1958. It was in 1960 that the quartet that most of us have heard of as Quarry Men was John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Stuart Sutcliffe. The band had no drummer, and they constantly had to either borrow a drummer or hire a new one. In 1960, Larry Paynes and Allan Williams were auditioning bands to work with Billy Fury (a local boy who made it big.) It was at this audition that Lennon introduced the band as The Silver Beetles. A review in the Heswall and Neston News accidentally referred to them as the Beatles.


In August, The Silver Beatles (Lennon had a dream that they were to be the Beatles with an 'a.'). They had no drummer, Pete Best had played occasionally with the Quarry Men in 1959. Paul called Pete, and auditioned him on August 15th, and Pete became a Beatle on the spot.(Silver had recently been dropped from their name.) The boys departed Liverpool on August 16th to launch themselves as the beatles.


The boys went to Hamburg. Their first gig was at a club called Indra. A sleazy little club, it was the step-child of the more popular Kaiserkeller. It was up to the boys to make the Indra Club as popular as Kaiserkeller. A rowdy club, the Beatles drank beer sent up by the crowd, and by October 3rd the club was shut down by the police. On October 4th, the group played at Kaiserkeller. Ringo Starr was their playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The boys began playing on stage with Tony Sheridan, a violation of their contract. George was then sent home for being underage. After a fire at the Kaiserkeller, the boys were accused of arson. After a jail stint, Paul and Pete were shipped back to Liverpool. Stu moved in with a girl named Astrid, and John returned to Liverpool a few days later by train.


On December 27, the Beatles performed at Litherland Town Hall. They performed in the high energy manner they had in Germany. The teenagers went wild. Instead of dancing, they crowded around the band and screamed. This was unheard of and made news. The Beatles from then on only increased in fame and fortune. This was only the beginning of what would change the music industry forever.