David Bedford

Meet David Bedford

I grew up in the Dingle area of Liverpool, by the bottom of Madryn Street where Ringo Starr was born. I attended Ringo’s primary school, St. Silas. from 1969. I lived in the area until I was 24, when my wife and I moved out to the Penny Lane area. Our three daughters were all born in the same hospital as John Lennon – Oxford Street. They attended the primary school that John Lennon and George Harrison attended; Dovedale School. I am still the chair of governors there.

In 2000, I was signed off work and never returned to work in Insurance. I was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia, generalised osteoarthritis and osteoporosis (among other things!) My doctor told me to find something to do to occupy myself. I began writing for the London Beatles Fan Club, which became the British Beatles Fan Club.

As well as collaborating on The Beatles Book with official Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, I was the historian and Associate Producer for the documentary feature film, Looking for Lennon.

Liddypool

I began work on the book that, 9 years later, was published as “Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles”. Little did I know how that was going to change my life! Since then, I have been to the US many times, into Europe and around the UK as a guest speaker at Beatles events. Liddypool is in its third edition.

The Fab One Hundred and Four

In 2013, the follow up to “Liddypool” was published: “The Fab One Hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles”. This grew out of Liddypool. It tells of the 104 people in the evolution of the Beatles, from The Quarrymen to The Fab Four. It includes all the musicians in the group, those who taught The Beatles to play and the artists they backed on stage. This contains rare and previously unpublished photos and stories. If you want to know how they went from being The Quarrymen and ended up as John, Paul, George and Ringo, then this is the book for you.

Inspector Rocke – That’ll Be The Day ……That I Die

I have always been a fan of crime fiction, especially Sherlock Holmes. So, I decided to combine my love of crime fiction with my Beatles research. In 2017, I self-published my first crime “faction” book; it is a fictional murder investigated by a fictional detective – Inspector Rocke. The “fact” is that it is based in Liverpool in 1960 and features The Beatles in the story.

This is the first in a series of 6 and has had some great reviews too.

Finding the Fourth Beatle

My next book grew out of the “Fab one hundred and Four”! I had discovered 12 drummers in the story between 1956 and 1962. A friend of mine, Garry Popper – producer of “Looking for Lennon” – suggested we write a book together about The Beatles drummers. From the initial 12 drummers, I unearthed a further 11 drummers up until the Beatles split up in 1970. Yes, 23 drummers! How many can you name?

Within the book, I also managed to solve one of the biggest Beatles mysteries ever; why was Pete Best sacked? I proved that Pete Best was NEVER sacked! This changes Beatles history and is something I didn’t expect to find, but it is right.

Along with the book, we also released a double CD which features as many of the drummers as I could find who recorded. There are 43 tracks on there, including the whole Decca audition, Parlophone audition, first BBC radio appearances and so much more.

The Country of Liverpool

My latest book, released in 2020, is “The Country of Liverpool: The Nashville of The North”. It is the untold story of the country roots of The Beatles and the country music scene in Liverpool from the 1950s onwards, when Liverpool was known as The Nashville of the North. Why? Because we had the biggest country and western scene in Europe!