On the Mersey Beat


Book Description

A different kind of police history, this book tells the story from below -- from the rank and file officers trapped between the authoritarian dictates of their superiors and a realistically distrustful public. Historically, the major police mission has been to keep the streets clean of any group (young people, vagrants, bookies) that challenged by their presence and demeanor the moral mandate of policing. According to this oral testimony, police work in Britain was traditionally one of "policing strangers by strangers." Recent accounts of "community policing" have no historical pedigree. This account of between-the-war policing dicusses the effects of the Police Strike of 1919 on its participants, considers the ramifications of policework on family life, and documents the tedium of lonely beat work. It discusses the relationship between City Police, industrial workers and ethnic minorities, and recounts in individual testimony police interaction with bookies and prostitutes and the pettiness of CID work. This in-depth study will be of interest to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, history, and police studies.




The Cavern Club


Book Description

This is the story of the Cavern Club - the most famous club in the world. The Cavern saw the birth of the Beatles and Merseybeat, and more. Respected author, music journalist and Merseybeat historian Spencer Leigh - with a little help from Sir Paul McCartney, who provides the Foreword - tells the Cavern's history by talking to the owners, hundreds of musicians who played at the club, the backroom staff and fans. Spencer paints a vivid picture of the Cavern, from its days as a jazz club, through the Beatles years to the present




From a Storm to a Hurricane


Book Description

The complete inside story of one of the biggest bands of the Merseybeat era.




Bigger Than the Beatles


Book Description

Highly-respected author Bill Harry goes on the record with his unique inside knowledge of the Liverpool music scene.




Beat Waves 'Cross the Mersey


Book Description

An updated and revised version of The sound with the pound.




Rock 'n' Roll Unravelled


Book Description




The Beat Goes on


Book Description

In 2001 the Guinness Book of Records declared Liverpool the “City of Pop” for producing more hit records than any other city. The Beat Goes On is a historical account of popular music in Liverpool that explores the contextual, creative, and geographical factors that have contributed to the city’s status as a major center of musical creativity. With contributions from experts in popular music history, cultural geography, ethnography, and musicology, alongside essays and interviews with Liverpool musicians and rare archival images, this volume offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the city’s unique place in the realm of popular music.




The Beatles


Book Description

Profiles the Casbah club and its owner, Mona Best. Looks at the Mersey beat music scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and 1960s.




The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia


Book Description

The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive book about Paul McCartney ever written. By best-selling author and Beatles expert Bill Harry, this A-Z of over half a million words will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about one of the greatest songwriters of the twentieth century. What is the truth behind his relationship with Yoko Ono? What was George Harrison's attitude toward him? Why did he decide to dissolve the Beatles? Did he and John Lennon come to a reconciliation? What was his opinion about taking LSD? What was Paul's life like behind bars in Japan? Why has his former council house become a shrine? With almost 2000 entries covering his family history from birth, his many love affairs, his opinions about drugs, his songs, records, concerts and honours bestowed upon him over the years, together with a full discography and bibliogaphy, this book is packed with new material and unique insights into the life of Paul McCartney. Over 2000 seperate entries and 500,000 words make this the definitive book on Paul McCartney. Bill Harry is the leading authority on the Beatles and founder of the music paper Mersey Beat, that helped launch the Beatles.