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Who was the first Merseybeat band?

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Contrary to popular belief, the Liverpool music scene thrived long before The Beatles came along. In the 1950s, some of the city’s most creative innovators were testing the waters with sounds that blended classic American rock ‘n’ roll with elements of jazz, classical, and funk, laying the groundwork for the explosive boom that occurred with the British invasion. At the crux of this was Merseybeat, a uniquely Liverpudlian sound largely revolutionised by the Fab Four themselves.

In the early 1960s, many musicians in Liverpool were inspired by the lively sounds of rock ‘n’ roll originators from across the pond, including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and others, utilising these pioneers within their own thriving cultural scene. While many were testing the waters with folk-inspired music that sounded and felt quintessentially British, the term Merseybeat came to the fore more aggressively from 1963 onwards, in other words, coinciding with The Beatles’ major breakthrough.

Merseybeat, on its own, referred to the Liverpool music scene and became a more solidified term once the Fab Four established the city as a serious contender in the global music race. After which, Merseybeat became a catch-all term for singers and musicians from Liverpool, with The Beatles effectively kicking down the door for countless others in the pursuit of making music that altered the course of history.

While the origin of the term itself is uncertain, it seemed to bubble from the ‘beat’ aspects adopted by rhythm and blues musicians before becoming the core of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, later becoming synonymous with the British invasion and, more specifically, those from Liverpool. Therefore, while others from the city sought to twist the sounds echoing from America’s lively scenes long before The Beatles’ reign, the authentic inception of the Merseybeat boom itself well and truly started with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison.

So, what does Merseybeat sound like?

Beyond the typical sounds of The Beatles, the Merseybeat sound largely centred on two main characteristics: a strong beat and a heavy reliance on all the beats of 4/4 bar. Many researchers and historians often point out the simplicity of The Beatles’ music, especially in the beginning, so it’s no wonder that they toyed with the stripped-back nature of what would later define the Merseybeat sound.

Even in the 1950s, when countless bands were experimenting with skiffle, the sound had begun to place Liverpool as a central musical hub, not just by reimagining the sounds coming from America but also serving as a port that bridged the gap between the two worlds. As a result, ‘beat’ bands were majorly influenced by the rock scene from America while placing their own subtle British spin on the genre.

When The Beatles finally came along, the ‘beat’ scene was already thriving, but their presence helped transition a music scene lingering in America’s shadow to one with more of a solid presence, even deriving their name from The Crickets to centre on the quintessential ‘beat’ aspect of their appeal, aptly becoming The Beatles. Thus, not only did they signal a new era for Liverpudlian creatives, they also reinvented what it truly meant for British artists to break America.

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