Tag: The Beatles

Liverpool Country Groups & Artists – 1960s onwards

Liverpool Goes Country
Liverpool Goes Country

The famous country artists were Hank Walters & The Dusty Road Ramblers, The Hillsiders and Phil Brady & The Ranchers. However, there were so many country groups and artists around the Liverpool and Merseyside country music scene.

Is this a complete list? I am still compiling it and hopefully can add to it too.

Trying to record all of the country groups on Merseyside is no easy task. The following is the list as it stands so far.
Aberlene
Arcadian Ladies, The
Black Cats, The
Blue Country Boys, The
Blue Mountain Boys, The
Blue Mountain Express, The
Boleros, The
Boot Hill Billies, The
Carl Fenton Four
Carol Western
Carolina Travellers, The
Charlie Lansborough
Cheap Seats, The
Cimmaron
Country Boys, The
Country Comfort
Country Cousins
Country Five, The
Country Sounds, Carl Goldby’s
Countryside
Doreen and the Wranglers
Drifting Cowboys, The
Everglades, The
Fair Enough
Foggy Mountain Ramblers, The
Georgie Cash
Georgie Collins and the Sundowners
Hank & The Drifters
Hank Walters & The Dusty Road
Ramblers
Harvey
Hillsiders, The
Hobo Rick
Idle Hours
Irene & The Sante Fes
Jerry Devine
Jo and Gerry Clark
Joey Rogers and Harry Chambers
Johnny Gold and the Country
Cousins
Kansas City Five, The
Kelvin Henderson
Kenny Johnson & Northwind
Kentuckians, The
Kevin Daniels Band, The
Lawmen, The
Lee Brennan
Little Bernie & The Drifting
Cowboys
Little Ginny Band
Liverpool Country
Lonesome Travellers, The
Miller Brothers, The
Neal Brothers, The
Outlaws, The
Paddy Kelly Band, The
Patsy Foley Band
Phil Brady & The Ranchers
Poacher
Quintones, The
Rainbow County
Ranchers, The
Ramblers, The
Ray Mac’s Trio
Redwoods, The
Saddlers, The
San Antones, The
Sarah Jory
Schooners, The
State Liners, The
Stringdusters, The
Sundowners, The
Stu Page
Tennessee Three, The
Tennessee Five, The
UK Country
Val Sutton
Wells Fargo
Western Union
Westerners, The
Westerns, The
West Virginia
Whisky River

Do you know anybody who is missing from this list? Please message me.

The list will appear in the book, “The Country of Liverpool”, which covers the country roots of The Beatles and Liverpool. Pre-Order yours now.

David Bedford

Liverpool and Country Music: A Rich Heritage

David Bedford, author of ‘The Country of Liverpool’, breaks down how the city became to be known as ‘Nashville of the North’ in the mid-20th century.

Nashville of England

Liverpool Goes Country
Liverpool Goes Country

There was a frontier town in the West, affected by the American Civil War. There were cowboys in saloons singing songs of the lives of those men on the railroads and the prairies. It saw Buffalo Bill, Sioux Indians and Annie Oakley; Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers and Trigger, and was at the heart of country music. This was Nashville: not in Tennessee, but the Nashville of England; the Nashville of the North: Liverpool.

The Beatles and Merseybeat


Everybody knows that The Beatles came from Liverpool and that there was a beat music scene known as “Merseybeat”. But very few people outside of Liverpool know about the country music scene, which was the biggest in Europe. Why in Liverpool? How does it relate to The Beatles and the Mersey music scene?

The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen in their country and western outfits

Skiffle and its Country Roots

The roots of the beat music scene of the 1960s began with Lonnie Donegan’s “Rock Island Line”, which was issued in 1956, beginning the skiffle craze. However, examining the skiffle music scene shows that he roots of skiffle were in country; the roots of John Lennon’s Quarrymen were in country and western, which was reflected in the songs of The Beatles.

Many will be familiar with the famed Lonnie Donegan show at the world-famous Cavern Club. In attendance that night, along with hundreds of other music-mad teenagers, were a young John Lennon and Paul McCartney, whose paths had yet to cross. The Donegan show made a huge impression on the budding musical minds of Liverpool, inspiring a generation of kids to pick up a guitar for the first time.

Liverpool groups were playing a mixture of country, rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm and blues, rockabilly and whatever else it discovered. Groups had to decide which route to take.

Liverpool therefore came to be known as the “Nashville of The North”. This will be explored in the upcoming documentary ‘The Country of Liverpool’. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on production.

David Bedford