Liddypod - The Beatles and Liverpool
Liddypod is the podcast about The Beatles from their home city of Liverpool, from Beatles author/ historian David Bedford and Blue Badge Guide/ Broadcaster Paul Beesley. We will be discussing all things Beatles and Liverpool, plus will have special features and exclusive interviews, as well as having some fun along the way.
Liddypod - The Beatles and Liverpool
Liddypod 34 - The Boys of Dungeon Lane and More
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In the latest episode of Liddypod, Bedford & Beesley find themselves having a breakfast - as is the tradition - inside Liverpool Cathedral!
David and Paul talk about Paul McCartney's new album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, so we talk about the importance of Dungeon Lane!
Also, Ringo's new country album is out, but why Country music? David talks about his book, "The Country of Liverpool: Nashville of the North", and the importance of country music in Liverpool. www.davidabedford.com to get your copy.
They discuss news that 3 Savile Row will be opened as a Beatles attraction!
They also talk about off the Beatle track - going over to the Wirral, opposite Liverpool! So many places there of great importance to The Beatles!
And finally - the important facts about the Anglican Cathedral and its Beatles links.
Don't forget to share the podcast and tune in next time!
Welcome to Liddy Pod, Beatles Panzer with Bedford and Beasley.
SPEAKER_01Right, Dave, here we are for another Liddy Pod. Inevitably we had a breakfast, but uh tell our listeners where we've been.
SPEAKER_02For breakfast?
SPEAKER_01Yes, for breakfast.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, where we are. That's a good point. Now, for those who remember and listen carefully, last time we said we were coming to the Anglican Cathedral, and that's exactly where we are in gorgeous sunshine. Sat outside enjoying it, and we've had a lovely breakfast.
SPEAKER_01We certainly have had a lovely breakfast, very big breakfast as well. So we thought we'd sit outside. Uh we'd talk a bit of Beatles uh while we're sitting outside, and then we're gonna have a little wander around inside, and we will take a photograph because we always forget to take a photograph all the time. But Dave, where do we start?
SPEAKER_02There's so much going on in uh in Beetle World, isn't it? It's incredible. Um I think probably that the the biggest news has been that the boys of Dungeon Lane. It's gotta be, you know. Album has just gone up to uh to number one in the charts here. Um and the publicity and stuff, as ever, has been so so good. But it's a good, good product in the end. It's a good album that Paul's released, a lot of nostalgia, which is great. Um, and I I was honoured to be one of um the few gathered at uh the Jacaranda Club, which they renamed the Macaranda for the event, uh, for an exclusive listening party a week before the album was released. Um and it great, we just sat there, and where I was was uh on the the stage area in the basement of the Jacaranda, where of course the Beatles played, and we just got to listen to the album start to finish, and just sitting there trying to think, okay, what's he singing about here? What's the story about here? And of course we we knew what days we left behind, we talked about that one before. But but there's some great, great tracks on the album, and Paul is getting very nostalgic, um, which is great because it's all about Liverpool. Um and Dungeon Lane's a fascinating place, isn't it? With uh a street sign and an issue with the street sign.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, there is an issue with the street sign. We the the street sign hadn't been there for many many years, so when we got wind of the boys of Dungeon Lay, we we contacted the council. Uh say we, the the guides association, and we we we spoke to the person that we uh we almost speak to at the council and he arranged for a sign to be put up, which was great. Uh did it last? No. Now I have to say that if you know Liverpool street signs, and you probably will have seen photographs of the street signs, uh exactly the same street signs have been a penny lane for many, many years and have never been stolen. And I can only think that's because they are theft-proof because I'm sure people have tried to prize them off in the past. Uh, but I think the one at Dungeon Lane, I think uh they came with the correct tools to know exactly what they were doing, so the sign is gone. But you're right, Dave. Um, he's McCartney's become very, very nostalgic, hasn't he, in in recent months?
SPEAKER_02He has, and it's I mean it's great for us as tour guys and as Beatles fans, you know, for people coming to Liverpool. Here's Paul talking about growing up in Liverpool again, um, and those early days in the Beatles as well. Um and it's nice. I like the the song Down South, which is good, which is Paul remembering going hitchhiking with George. Um, and even though it's not in the song, one of the stories that Paul's been telling is that they hitchhiked so far on lorries, and then they were on a milk float. And I think Paul said, Let's see, we had electric vehicles back then. But he said that the way they were sat, it just worked out that um Paul was in the seat, milkman's driving, and George was sat on top of the electric battery, and then suddenly George leaps up and goes, ow! And apparently his uh his zip had caused a spark with the battery, and he got a he got a burn on his bum. Um and Paul was saying he uh he was telling Olivia that story, and Olivia said, George told me you're the one who got the burn on the bum. He said, No, no, no, no, it was definitely George, it was definitely George. Um, so that's nice, just the two of them, you know, and talking about how they they met on the bus, uh, and talking about guitars and talking about music and everything. So, again, just more glimpses into the childhood, and yeah, there's some lovely songs on there, um, but there's some good rocking songs on there as well. Uh, and Andrew Ost deserves a lot of credit for getting the best out of Paul. Um, but I think probably favourite track has got to be Our Hometown, you know, with the duet with Paul and Ringo. At first, never done a duet before, and both voices are really good, and both singing about our hometown. Um, and I think in one of the times when Paul's talking about Dunjolaine and growing up, and you know, you know, he's got quite a refined voice, he had some elocution lessons when he was younger. But he said, uh, we grew up on this council place in Speak, and then like a the four or five K's you then think nah he still is a scruffer and speak, so that that that was good as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's there is some lovely music on there, and I think it's just been nice the whole way it's been put together, teased, released. You know, you went to that listening party uh in in the Macarandad as it as it as it was called. Um, and I think I think he has become, and we've been so many mints interviews we've seen with him recently as well, and even just little snippets on TikTok and Instagram and things like that. And you can see it clearly see that he recognises too that he's in he's in his twilight years, you know. He's gonna be 84 in a week's time. Maybe by the time this podcast comes out, if I don't get Rad's wedded, he will Paul will be 84. Uh, so I think he it's a nice way to sort of just come into land, so to speak, you know, and uh and I think it's uh it's gone to number one as well. His 24th number one album. It's just unbelievable, isn't it? To think that is absolutely incredible. Uh, but yes, some really good music on there, and the whole and and we've still got more to come, you know. We've got we've got the the Hamburg days coming up on TV. You're involved with the project with German television about Hamburg as well, and then of course, whether it be 27, 28, whenever it is, we've got the Sam Mendes Biopics as well. There's so much that's putting the Beatles, McCartney, and Ringo back out there in the limelight.
SPEAKER_02It is, you know, because Ringo's just had yeah, another great country album, Long Long Road, and it's great. You look at the cover, and he's wearing a shirt from the 60s, and it still fits him. The guy's doing so well. I wish I was as fit as he is. Um, and it's a great, great album. So it's not just, oh, they're the old guys, they used to be good, chucking any old rubbish out. No, it's good quality music coming out, um, and it's nice.
SPEAKER_01It's funny when when uh I was speaking to some friends uh and some wear colleagues, and they were saying, Oh, but Ringo's brought a country album out. Why has he brought a country album out? So I jumped in immediately and told them about your book, Dave.
SPEAKER_02Look at that, seamless. I'll I'll pay you later. Um well that's people don't realise how important country music was here in Liverpool. We were known as the Nashville of the North, with the biggest country in Western scene in in the UK, probably in Europe. Um it was massive because of so many reasons. The roots of country music aren't in America. Hate to uh break that one on you. Roots of country music are in early British and particularly Celtic folk music, and really it was the Ulster Scots who left Northern Ireland and went over to the Appalachian Mountains. That came down as the Appalachian music, and that becomes the roots of country music. Um and so actually because we've got such a big Irish population and Scottish and Welsh, etc., here in Liverpool, it was no surprise there was so much of the original folk music, and country music just sort of blended in with that, and that was all happening in the city as the Beatles are growing up, you know, and Ringer was always the biggest fan of country music, but all of them love country, and you think of all their musical heroes, all had their roots in country music as well, so it's no surprise they were heavily influenced by country, and lots of the songs they recorded, whether they were covers or particularly original, have all got country music roots.
SPEAKER_01And I think I think Dave, you even mentioned to me once, didn't you, that one of their early early business cards actually listed amongst the genres they play country.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's one of the first um business cards the quarry men had, and it said um country, rock and roll, and skiffle. So it wasn't just oh it was accidental. No, that was part of the music they played. You know, if you go into the roots of what skiffle music is, a lot of it is there, it's American folk music, but a lot of it is roots in country, probably little bits of bluegrass as well, as elements of trad jazz. Uh but country is very much in the first music the quarrymen were playing. Um so yeah, the country of Liverpool National of the North, just to get the mention in there for the book. Um so which Beatles album, and here's one for you in the the comments. Okay, you've got to tell us this one. Which Beatles album did John refer to as their country and western album? Okay, we want to hear from you from that one, okay?
SPEAKER_01That is a really good one, Dave. Dave, just be we're gonna move inside the cathedral in just a few moments, have a little look around here. Um, question for you Do you think this will be the last major project that McCartney will work on?
SPEAKER_02Not a chance. I mean, we've had two documentaries already this year, haven't we? You know, Man on the Run and the The Lost Bass. And he's still creative and he's obviously still bringing out quality. You know, it's like he's not just throwaway stuff, there's good quality music coming out here. So the worst thing anybody like him could ever do is retire. And he's not going to retire. And if that's what he's working on, bring it on. Brilliant.
SPEAKER_00This is Liddy Pod, Beatles banter with Bedford and Beasley.
SPEAKER_01Dave, another piece of news that broke since the uh the last time we met was uh about Savile Row. Now, this isn't very it's not in Liverpool as as we know, it's in London, but nevertheless, very exciting for Beatles fans.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's great. Um, because I've been down there when it was uh so Abercrombie and Finch with the in the old uh Apple headquarters. But now the news is that um Apple's moving back into there, and as fans, we're going to be able to visit. So we'll be able to see the basement where they had the studio. A lot of that great work on we saw with the get back documentary was filmed in the basement there, where they finished the album off. Their offices all the way through the building, and then of course, we'll be able to stand on the rooftop where that famous gig was at the end of January 1969. I think that's a place I want to be. So that is so exciting. So I suppose, in addition to the requests we get here, yeah, we want to see the cavern, we want to see Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, and Abbey Road. Then we have to tell people no Abbey Road's in London. Um, do you think we're going to be asked if we can go to Saville Row as well?
SPEAKER_01But I think I think in terms of performance venues, um, I'm clearly the Caspar and the Cavern Club are the two big ones, but now with the fact that that very, very final performance was on the roof, that probably has to be the the third in that list, isn't it, of of iconic performance venues by by the Beatles, you know. And I think it's gonna be it's gonna be massively popular when it's open. Well, I mean it is gonna be because it's in London anyway, but it it again, even though it's not in Liverpool, it just adds to the whole jigsaw, the whole tapestry of the Beatles' legacy.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. So if you haven't been to Liverpool and London yet, you've got to come here. That's the great thing, that's the the joy we have as tour guides is people coming here, particularly if it's a trip of a lifetime, which it often is, they're only going to do it once. You know, come and experience this place. Um, and so many people come here and they only do it a day. Say, no, we should be here for two or three days at least. So and you're right, there is so much to see in Liverpool.
SPEAKER_01And Dave, over breakfast, we were talking one of the private tours you've done recently, and you do this regularly, uh, is the Wirral Peninsula. Now, for those people who don't know the geography of the Liverpool area, the Whirl is not part of Liverpool, it's on the other side of the river. It is, as the name suggests, a peninsula. It's a separate council, uh, and it's a beautiful area, loads of working farms and and and what have you. But bizarrely, it has so many connections with the Beatles and so many firsts with the Beatles as well. And it it's it it's it is a place that real Beatles fans should should go and see.
SPEAKER_02It definitely is, and uh, we're gonna make sure uh we go over there soon and we'll do uh a lydiopod from there, from the place where Ringo made his debut as a member of the Beatles.
SPEAKER_01Fabulous, and we can eat there, it's great, it's great, and quite possibly, Dave, we're gonna do it on the very day that Ringo made that venue.
SPEAKER_02We're going back in time to 1962. Wow, that gizmo is good. Yeah, we're gonna go there on the 18th of August and talk about that day in one of the most bizarre locations and one of the most beautiful locations where you just wouldn't think, Oh, what the Beatles doing here in the middle of a Victorian model village. Well, but it's a very clean place.
SPEAKER_01It is a very clean place as well. And you know what, Dave? I uh without giving too much away, we'll talk about it on the day. I can guarantee, whenever people are listening to this this podcast, I can guarantee that every single one of you listening will have a product in your house connected to the place where Ringo made his debut, his full debut with the Beatles in August 62. We'll reveal that when we get to the uh to the place uh in August. Uh Dave, shall we move inside? Let's go and have a look at the cathedral.
SPEAKER_00You're listening to Liddy Pod, Beatles Banter with Bedford and Beasley.
SPEAKER_02So we've moved from where we had our breakfast. Um it took us that long to move because it was such a good breakfast. Um, come into the the body of the church. And if you've never been to the cathedral, it's just a phenomenal open space inside, but incredible history as well. So, Mr. Paul, tell us all about it.
SPEAKER_01There are two cathedrals in the city. Uh, we're inside the Anglican, uh, the Church of England Cathedral, which is just down as Liverpool Cathedral, and we're inside uh the largest cathedral in the United Kingdom, and the fifth largest cathedral of any denomination anywhere in the world. And when people see it from the outside, especially if they're looking from, you know, maybe a hundred, a couple of hundred yards away, and even when they come in, I mean I've had people say to me, Oh, you know, how old is this building? Five, six hundred years, something like that. It's a 20th century building. It was only started in 1904 and only completed officially in 1978 when it was opened by the Queen. Uh, so it took 74 years to build, spanned both World Wars, especially the Second World War when Liverpool was very heavily bombed. Uh, and it is an amazing building. Um, but when you really look into it, you know, you look at the the architect, uh guy called Giles Gilbert Scott, later knighted to become Sir Charles. He was only 22 years of age when he won the competition. Uh, and this was pretty much his first building, you know. So what a what a what a way to start. Um but he was also responsible, and a lot of people, if you're from overseas, you you will be very aware of this because it's such an iconic feature of the United Kingdom. Uh, he also designed one of the versions of the British red telephone box. Uh, he actually designed two of them, but the one the main one you'll see still on the streets is the K6 version. And there is a red telephone box, isn't there, Dave, inside the cathedral.
SPEAKER_02It's the only place I think you can find uh a listed building inside a listed building that we got um because it's the eight panes of of glass you can see. And um I I was asked on a tour here recently, said, Why is there a telephone box inside here? I said, Oh no, you've got to come and see it. Come and experience said, because, as you're saying, the architect that was the architect of this amazing, amazing building.
SPEAKER_01And there is a there are actually a couple of Beatles connections to this cathedral as well, aren't there, Dave? I mean, all the or most of the sandstone up till pretty much about three-quarters of the way down the building, most of that sandstone came from Woolton Village. Uh, the quarry, mentioned that word, quarry bank, quarry men, uh, came from uh the main quarry in Wilton Village, which now sort of backs onto the graveyard, really, where John and Paul would have seen each other for the first time. Um, and also, um, a quirky little fact is in 1953, at the age of 11, uh, one of the young boys trying out for the cathedral choir for an audition was Paul McCartney. And he failed the audition. Uh, which the the choirmaster who failed him, sadly no longer with us, uh, did say that you know, uh, I think everyone should be thanking me uh because had I accepted him into the choir, he might have grown up to be a sweet little choir boy instead of a rock and roller. So, you know, maybe we should thank the choir master. Uh, but also Paul um performed his his very first classical piece of music here as well, didn't he, Dave?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, he's the Liverpool Oratorio. Um and again, it it just harks back to what an incredible musician Paul is. Um, in fact, he came up with the classical piece, having the world premiere here inside the this cathedral, and it was just the perfect setting for it. Um, you know, because it was filmed and it was just yeah, just a beautiful place. And again, we're talking about Paul getting nostalgic now, but we're going back all those decades, and Paul was getting nostalgic about Liverpool in his oratorio, probably more in that than he had been in his songwriting at that point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it it's funny, isn't it? Looking back now, you're right. And to be honest, I never really thought about that, but he was nostalgic even at that time, wasn't he? Which is which is really funny. But yeah, so the Beatles connections here with the cathedral, um through definitely through McCartney, but it is an amazing place, and you know, and it's I think uh sometimes when people there's there's two jaw-dropping moments with this cathedral. One when you see it for the first time, yeah, and if you're approaching it, and you just turn you, you know, you you walk around the corner or you turn a corner in a vehicle, and it's there in front of you, and it's huge. And then the second moment, and we see this all the time, don't we, Dave? People walk into the building, you come up the side aisle, and then when you get to the main, the the great space as they call it, you do physically see people look up, and just the jaw just absolutely drops.
SPEAKER_02It's just it's it's a mind-blowing space, and don't say you put Nelson's column inside that space. Um, it's it's just it's incredible. And if you've got the weather and without calling it a hoosong, you go up there, you can see for miles and miles. The the view is phenomenal. Uh, you need a bit of a head for height for the the last bit of the staircase, it has to be said. Um, but when you get up to the top of the cathedral, because we're at the highest point in the Liverpool City Centre as well, on a clear day, you can just see for so far. And I love going up there and just looking over Liverpool. It's one of the greatest views for me, anywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_01And the the strapline that they often use here, which is absolutely spot on, you know, they say that this cathedral was built by the people, for the people, to the glory of God. And this is probably one of the most well-used religious buildings, certainly in the country and possibly in the world, because you know, it has three services every single day, five on a Sunday, so you know it's a religious building, but it's used for so many other things. You know, they they'll have lots of corporate and conference dinners here, they'll have fashion shows, pop concerts, uh theatre productions. Yeah, they even have uh Dave a couple of times a year a rave night in the uh the cathedral as well. Um, anyway, uh service is about to start, uh, which doesn't stop people moving around the cathedral. It's a great place where people uh can go to a service, but visitors can come in at the same time. Lots of religious buildings would not allow that to happen. But here it does happen at the cathedral. Dave, tell us where we're gonna do the next Liddy Pod.
SPEAKER_02Ah well, coming up this month of June is Stuart Suckcliffe's birthday, so we thought let's go somewhere with a connection to Stuart Sutcliffe, which is a bit of a hidden gem on the Beatles Trail. So breakfast.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Thanks, Dave.
SPEAKER_00You've been listening to Liddy Pod, Beatles Panter with Bedford and Beasley.