As you drive into Liverpool you will see a sign Liverpool 'Home Of The Beatles', which is absolutely true, but the city's contribution to popular music is far greater than that, covering the years before the Beatles, the Beatle years themselves, and more recent times.
The Wall of Fame in Mathew Street salutes Liverpool's number 1 hit-makers and there is plenty of space for further additions. Compiled and annotated by author and BBC Radio Merseyside broadcaster Spencer Leigh, Liverpool Sounds presents 75 tracks which, by and large, relate to the pre-Beatles area. There are great songs, great comedy and great performances, and every track is here for a reason. There are many hit singles and several number 1s. Even if the Beatles had been born elsewhere, the city would still have made an enormous contribution to modern popular music.
From Lita Roza's (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window (1953) to the Hillsborough Justice Collective's He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (2012), there have been 56 Number 1's from Liverpool. The earliest tracks on 'Liverpool Sounds: 75 Classics From The Singing City' are from the late Thirties, by Dingle-born comedian Arthur Askey; the most recent are 1965 beat recordings made at the Cavern club's Cavern Sound recording studio.
In between you will hear jazz performed by the Merseysippi Jazz Band and George Melly, folk courtesy of Stan Kelly and The Spinners (including the traditional Johnny Todd, the tune of which is familiar as the theme to the long-running Merseyside-based police TV drama series Z-Cars), and pre-rock era popular vocalists like Frankie Vaughan, Lita Roza, Michael Holliday and comedian Ken Dodd. Other popular local sons of Liverpool include rockers Billy Fury and King Size Taylor & The Dominoes, and, inevitably, The Beatles (here in their own right and with Tony Sheridan) as well as beat group contemporaries Gerry & The Pacemakers (archival recordings from 1961) and Howie Casey & The Seniors
As a bonus, you can hear Johnny Gentle (who was backed by the Beatles on a 1960 Scottish tour) reminiscing on John Lennon's hand in creating his song I've Just Fallen For Someone.
Tracklist
CD 1
1-1. The Beatles - Love Me Do. 2:26
1-2. Frankie Vaughan - Give Me The Moonlight Give Me The Girl. 2:46
1-3. Billy Fury - Halfway To Paradise. 2:28
1-4. The Vernons Girls - Lover Please. 2:10
1-5. Russ Hamilton - We Will Make Love. 2:43
1-6. Michael Holliday - The Story Of My Life. 2:16
1-7. Ken Dodd - Love Is Like A Violin. 2:14
1-8. Lance Fortune - Be Mine. 1:53
1-9. The Spinners - Whip Jamboree. 3:19
1-10. Billy Fury - Last Night Was Made For Love. 2:19
1-11. Michael Holliday - Starry Eyed. 2:25
1-12. Lita Roza - Hey There. 3:43
1-13. Howie Casey & The Seniors - The Boll Weevil Song. 2:16
1-14. The Merseysippi Jazz Band - Chicago Buzz. 2:50
1-15. George Melly - Frankie And Johnnie. 4:11
1-16. Clinton Ford And The Merseysippi Jazz Band - Get Out And Get Under. 2:11
1-17. Lyn Cornell - Never On Sunday. 2:54
1-18. Red Price Combo - Theme From "Danger Man". 2:09
1-19. Lita Roza - Allentown Jail. 3:03
1-20. Gerry & The Pacemakers - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On. 2:33
1-21. Michael Cox - Angela Jones. 2:37
1-22. Michael Holliday - The Rose Tattoo. 2:34
1-23. Mal Perry - Make Me A Miracle. 2:16
1-24. Earl Preston's Realms - Daddy Rolling Stone. 2:45
1-25. Lita Roza - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning. 3:08
CD 2
2-1. Billy Fury - Wondrous Place. 2:27
2-2. Frankie Vaughan - The Garden Of Eden. 2:35
2-3. The Vernons Girls - You Know What I Mean. 2:16
2-4. Tony Sheridan And The Beat Brothers (Beatles) - My Bonnie. 2:45
2-5. The Beat Brothers (Beatles) - Cry For A Shadow. 2:26
2-6. The Crescents - Wrong. 2:00
2-7. Howie Casey & The Seniors - I Ain't Mad At You. 2:43
2-8. King Size Taylor & The Dominoes - Roll Over Beethoven. 3:00
2-9. Frankie Vaughan - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. 2:18
2-10. Ken Dodd - Pianissimo. 3:05
2-11. The De Laine Sisters - It Might As Well Rain Until September. 2:04
2-12. The Spinners - The Champion Of The Seas. 1:49
2-13. Michael Allen - Trains And Boats And Planes. 2:16
2-14. Billy Fury - Jealousy. 2:49
2-15. Clinton Ford And The Merseysippi Jazz Band - Oh By Jingo. 2:16
2-16. George Melly & Mick Mulligan's Magnolia Jazz Band - After You've Gone. 1:55
2-17. The Spinners - Johnny Todd. 1:48
2-18. Alma Warren - Young At Heart. 2:48
2-19. Lita Roza - (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window. 2:17
2-20. Arthur Askey - The Bee Song. 2:40
2-21. Michael Holliday - The Runaway Train. 2:12
2-22. Red Price - The Sneeze. 2:09
2-23. Norman Vaughan - Swinging In The Rain. 2:48
2-24. Michael Holliday - Four Feather Falls. 2:11
2-25. Russ Hamilton - Little One. 2:40
CD 3
3-1. Frankie Vaughan - The Green Door. 2:49
3-2. The Vernons Girls - The Loco-motion. 2:09
3-3. Gerry & The Pacemakers - What'd I Say. 3:18
3-4. Lance Fortune - This Love I Have For You. 2:27
3-5. Billy Fury - I'd Never Find Another You. 2:39
3-6. Frankie Vaughan - Tower Of Strength. 2:11
3-7. Arthur Askey - Have A Bit Of Pity On The Crooner. 3:09
3-8. Michael Holliday - Dear Hearts And Gentle People. 2:30
3-9. Lita Roza - The Man In The Raincoat. 3:03
3-10. Russ Hamilton - Rainbow. 2:47
3-11. Billy Fury - Collette. 1:53
3-12. Billy Fury - Fury's Tune. 2:11
3-13. The Crescents - Baby, Baby, Baby. 2:17
3-14. Mal Perry - That's When Your Heartaches Begin. 2:42
3-15. Michael Cox - Sweet Little Sixteen. 2:20
3-16. Lyn Cornell - The Sweet Life (La Dolce Vita). 2:59
3-17. Stan Kelly & Leon Rosselson - Greedy Landlord. 2:55
3-18. Russ Hamilton - Gonna Find Me A Bluebird. 2:31
3-19. Michael Holliday - Keep Your Heart. 2:28
3-20. Alma Warren - Stealin'. 2:23
3-21. Frankie Vaughan & Marilyn Monroe - Incurably Romantic. 5:08
3-22. The Vernons Girls - Funny All Over. 2:03
3-23. Johnny Gentle - Wendy. 2:35
3-24. Johnny Gentle - Talks About Writing I've Just Fallen For Someone. 1:36
3-25. Darren Young - I've Just Fallen For Someone. 1:53
3-26. The Beatles - PS I Love You. 2:05
