Tag: The Beatles

On 16th January 1957, The Cavern Club opened. Discover a rare photograph and the inside story of the world-famous Cavern Club.

“The above is the poster that Tony Booth produced for the Cavern Club during the summer of 2016 in preparation for the club’s 60^th anniversary celebrations in January the following year. It really showcases the range of styles and creativity of a unique, unsung lettering artist who certainly played an important part in the marketing of music history. Posters and flyers were the social media of the sixties and they helped create the legends of the era.”

Debbie Greenberg saw The Beatles at every performance in the ’60s at The Cavern, before her father went on to buy The Cavern. In her book, Cavern Club: The Inside Story, she talks about the opening of the Cavern Club in January 1957.

The Opening of The Cavern Club: 16th January 1957

“Alan Sytner ran The Cavern strictly as a jazz club but starting in 1957 he allowed skiffle groups to play, getting very annoyed if any of them tried to play rock ‘n’ roll. The Quarrymen Skiffle Group, precursor to the Beatles, first played the Cavern on a date no-one can pinpoint in mid 1957 and again on 7^th August 1957, only weeks after John Lennon met Paul at St. Peter’s Church Garden fete in Woolton Village.

John upset Sytner by playing rock ‘n’ roll numbers. Paul didn’t appear with them, though he’d just been recruited. He was away at Scout Camp with his brother Mike in Hathersage, Derbyshire. While at camp, Mike broke his arm when he fell out of an oak tree he was climbing.”

Rare, Unpublished Photograph of The Cavern

Debbie recently uncovered the following photograph of Joyce Lee, showing The Cavern Club in early 1957.

“In 1959, Alan moved to London and left his father, Dr. Joseph Sytner, to run the club until a buyer could be found. Ray McFall was a clerk with the Sytner family’s accountants and occasionally sat in at the Cavern cash desk. His offer of £2,750 to buy the club was accepted, and he officially took over the Cavern on 31^st October 1959.”

The 60th Anniversary of The Cavern Club Opening

On the 60th anniversary of the Cavern Club in 2017, Debbie and her husband Nigel met with the star of the night, 70s pop star Gilbert O’Sullivan, who played a fantastic set in front of an exclusive packed Cavern crowd.

Debbie also posed with former Beatles Fan Club Secretary, Freda Kelly.

The Inside Story of The Cavern

To discover this and so many more amazing stories about the famous Cavern Club, read Debbie’s book:

Cavern Club – The Inside Story

Nigel Greenberg set up Cavern Sound Ltd. Nigel’s connection with the Cavern went way back. “During my teenage years one of my close friends was Franklin Sytner,” he recalls. “We shared an interest in skiffle, and some nights I would tag along with Frank to the Cavern Club, which was then owned by his brother.”

By 1961 the music scene in Liverpool was starting to take off. Hundreds of groups were playing in suburban dance halls and city centre clubs. Most bands were quartets – lead, rhythm and bass guitarists and a drummer. Each guitarist needed an amplifier and the group also needed a public address system with microphones and loudspeakers.

Frank’s older brother, Alan Sytner, had opened the premises in 1957 as a jazz club, but from the early ’60s skiffle groups started playing. Alan eventually sold the Cavern to Ray McFall, who took over on 3rd October 1959, with Mr. Acker Bilk and his band top of the bill.

At The Cavern Club, Mathew Street

After installing a new sound system for Hope Hall, a city centre cinema that doubled as a live music venue, they were approached by Ray McFall and Bob Wooler to discuss a new venture. By 1963 the Beatles had made Liverpool and the Cavern world famous, and now Ray and Bob wanted to open a recording studio in the vacant cellar next door, where local bands could record demo discs. Cavern Sound Ltd was incorporated and the studio opened in late 1964.

25th October 1964: Cavern Sound Ltd. Opens

Nigel explains: “It transpired that Ray’s sound studio idea was a last-gasp attempt to generate additional revenue to prop up the club, which was rapidly going down the drain. He loved the limelight and even accompanied the Beatles on their first trip to the US at enormous cost.

Find Out The Whole Story Now

Read the fascinating story of this little-known period in the Cavern’s history and how Nigel met Debbie many years later on a blind date and realised their paths crossed many years before in The Cavern! It is all in Cavern Club: The Inside Story