The Liverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England, influenced by 1950s
Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
.
Their work is characterised by its directness of expression, simplicity of language, suitability for live performance and concern for contemporary subjects and references. There is often humour, but the full range of human experience and emotion is addressed.
Poets
The poets most commonly associated with this label are
Adrian Henri
Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...
,
Roger McGough
Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...
and
Brian Patten
Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...
. They were featured in a 1967 book ''The Liverpool Scene'' edited by
Edward Lucie-Smith
John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...
, with a blurb by Ginsberg and published by Donald Carroll.
Although he was born in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
,
Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell FRSL (24 October 1932 – 20 December 2008) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. A former journalist, he became a noted figure on the British Left. For almost half a century he was the foremost poet of the country's Cam ...
shared many of the concerns of the Liverpool poets and is often linked with them in critical discussion.
Other related poets include the Londoner
Pete Brown
Peter Ronald Brown (born 25 December 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 80 Bro ...
(who wrote lyrics for
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
),
Pete Morgan
Colin Peter Morgan (7 July 1939 – 5 July 2010)Miles SalteObituary: Pete Morgan ''The Guardian'', 15 July 2010, retrieved 7 August 2010 was a British poet, lyricist and television documentary author and presenter.
Born in Leigh, Lancashire, ...
and Alan Jackson (both associated with the 1960s
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
poetry scene),
Tom Pickard
Tom Pickard (born 1946, Newcastle upon Tyne, England) is a poet, and documentary film maker who was an important initiator of the movement known as the British Poetry Revival.
Biography
Pickard grew up in the working-class suburbs of Cowgate, Ne ...
and
Barry MacSweeney
Barry MacSweeney (17 July 1948 – 9 May 2000) was an English poet and journalist. His organizing work contributed to the British Poetry Revival.
Life and work 1960s
Barry MacSweeney was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. He left school aged 16, and b ...
(both from
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
),
Spike Hawkins,
Jim Bennett,
Heather Holden,
Mike Evans, Pete Roche and
Henry Graham.
The poets generally came from a working-class background and went to art college rather than university. There was a strong allegiance with pop music, and the values and effectiveness of that in reaching out to a wide audience informed the poetry. Readings took place in a pub or club environment.
The Mersey Sound
The anthology ''The Mersey Sound'' was published by Penguin in 1967, containing the poems of Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten, and has remained in print ever since, selling in excess of 500,000 copies. It brought the three poets to "considerable acclaim and critical fame",
["XIV Modern Literature, section 5", John Brannigan]
Oxfordjournals.org, Accessed April 9, 2006 and has been widely influential. In 2002 they were given the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.
Bands
The Liverpool Scene
The Liverpool Scene was a poetry band, which included
Adrian Henri
Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...
,
Andy Roberts, Mike Evans,
Mike Hart,
Percy Jones and
Brian Dodson. It grew out of the success of ''The Incredible New Liverpool Scene,'' a CBS LP featuring Henri and McGough reading their work, with accompaniment by the guitarist Roberts. Liverpool DJ
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
, who was then working on the pirate radio station
Radio London, picked up on the LP and featured it on his influential late-night
Perfumed Garden show. After Radio London closed down, Peel visited Liverpool and met the band; as a consequence, they were featured in session on his BBC
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
and ''Night Ride'' shows, and in 1968 he produced their first LP.
Four LPs were issued with Henri's poetry heavily featured.
Despite Peel's support the albums achieved little success, although the band did become popular on the UK university and college circuit. Their public performances included
a 1969 tour when they opened for
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
; they also toured the US but did not attract much acclaim from US critics and audiences. Henri was described in performance as "bouncing thunderously and at risk to audience and fellow performers, the stage vibrating out of rhythm beneath him."
The albums were:
*''The Incredible New Liverpool Scene'' (CBS 1967)
*''Amazing Adventures of'' (RCA 1968)
*''Bread on the Night'' (RCA 1969)
*''St. Adrian & Co., Broadway and 3rd'' (RCA 1970)
*''Heirloon'' (RCA 1971)
*''Recollections'' (Charisma 1972)
There were at least three "best of" albums and a single "Love Is" / "Woo-Woo".
The Scaffold
The best-known band to emerge was
The Scaffold
The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney, the brother of Paul McCartney), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. ...
(1963–1974), which featured
John Gorman John Gorman may refer to:
* John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director
*John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician
*John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician
*John Gorman (footb ...
,
Mike McCartney
Peter Michael McCartney (born 7 January 1944), known professionally as Mike McGear, is an English performing artist and photographer who was a member of the groups the Scaffold and Grimms. He is the younger brother of former Beatle Paul McCa ...
(brother of
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
) and Roger McGough. Initially
Adrian Henri
Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...
was a member, when they were known as ''The Liverpool, One Fat Lady, All Electric Show''. ("One Fat Lady" is the
bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** Bi ...
term for 8, and they mostly lived in the Liverpool 8 district.)
In January 1968 ''
Thank U Very Much'' (sung with a Liverpool accent) reached number 4 in the charts. A year later ''Lily the Pink'' reached number 1.
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
's bass drum was used; also featured were
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbande ...
from
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
,
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
from
The Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...
and Reg Dwight, later renaming himself
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
. Both hits were in the spirit of cheery and humorous drinking songs.
Grimms
A touring and recording ensemble,
Grimms
GRIMMS was an English pop rock, comedy and poetry group, originally formed as a merger of The Scaffold with core members of the Bonzo Dog Band and the Liverpool Scene for two concerts in 1971 at the suggestion of John Gorman.
The band's ...
(1971–76), contained an ever-changing cast of
Adrian Henri
Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...
,
Brian Patten
Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...
, Roger McGough, John Gorman,
Mike McGear (McCartney),
George "Zoot" Money,
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Mon ...
,
Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall (born Victor Anthony Stanshall; 21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his exploration of the British upper ...
, Michael Giles,
Kate Robbins
Kate Elizabeth Robbins (born 21 August 1958) is an English actress, singer and songwriter. She came to prominence in the early 1980s when she scored a top ten single on the UK Official Charts with "More Than in Love", while she was appearing in t ...
, John Megginson,
Andy Roberts, David Richards,
Peter "Ollie" Halsall, Norman Smedles, Brian Jones,
Ritchie Routledge, Valerie Movie,
Gerry Conway
Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...
, Pete Tatters and Timmy Donald (amongst many others).
Criticism
For
S.N. Radhika Lakshmi observes "the Liverpool poets' approach to poetry differs from that of other poets in that they consistently give the impression of being real people getting to grips with real and pressing situations." She continues:
:Like the French Symbolists, Baudelaire and Rimbaud, 'The Liverpool poets' believe that the effect that a poem produces is more important than the poem itself; a poem should be considered as an 'agent' (that conveys the poet's message), rather than as an 'object'. The poetry of 'The Liverpool poets' is also characterized by the undercurrent of sarcasm, irony and pungent wit, which runs through many of their poems. They are also noted for their directness of expression, simplicity of style, and, (in the manner of Robert Frost), their deft handling of complicated ideas in uncomplicated language.
Adrian Henri was described by Lucie-Smith as "the theoretician of the group" and asserted the need to be in touch with contemporary life, following
T. S. Eliot's dictum "to purify the dialect of the tribe" and pointing out that his tribe included everyone from motor-bike specialists through consultant gynaecologists and
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
fans to admen and peeping toms. His conclusion was:
:the whole post-Gutenberg galaxy of expanding communications ''can'' become the subject-matter of the poet, it's just that most poets are afraid to face up to the consequences of it."
Against
The emergence of the Liverpool poets as pioneers of "pop poetry" in the UK engendered hostility from the literary establishment.
Ian Hamilton said:
:A lot was going on that we were in opposition to: there was the Group; there was pop poetry; there was the Liverpool Scene. And when Lucie-Smith, arch-organiser of the Group, went off and edited a book called The Liverpool Scene, praising those people to the skies we thought: 'Treasonable clerk. This is the sort of thing you'd expect from these corrupt, opportunistic, careerist-type figures.' So we went at them. As for nurturing talent, the talent that was around we... nurtured.
Al Alvarez
Alfred Alvarez (5 August 1929 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez.
Background
Alfred Alvarez was born in London, to an Ashkenazic Jewish mother and a ...
wrote about "the fashion for the diluted near-verse designed for mass readings and poetry-and-jazz concerts", linking it with pop lyrics as "the logic of a traditional form at its weariest", scolding "the poet resigns his responsibilities" and concluding, "what he offers is not poetry", a criticism remarkably similar to that made by F. Dalton in ''
The Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...
'', on 31 June 1917 about "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock": "The fact that these things occurred to the mind of Mr. Eliot is surely of the very smallest importance to anyone, even to himself. They certainly have no relation to ''poetry''...".
Legacy
The Liverpool poets paved the way for a subsequent flourishing of performance and pop-based work by poets such as
John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with sev ...
,
Attila the Stockbroker
John Baine (born 21 October 1957), better known by his stage name Attila the Stockbroker,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 208 is an English punk poet, multi instrumentalist musician and songwriter. He pe ...
,
John Hegley
John Richard Hegley (born 1 October 1953) is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter.
Early life
He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. He was brought up i ...
and
Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...
.
The Liverpool poets were a strong influence on the late 1970s Kent group
The Medway Poets
The Medway Poets were founded in Medway, Kent, in 1979. They were an English punk based poetry performance group and later formed the core of the first Stuckists Art Group. The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Robert Earl, Bill Lewis ...
(some of whom later founded the
Stuckists art group), and were also involved in reading with them.
Alan Bleasdale
Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...
said, "The poetry of Henri, Patten and McGough has stayed with me for 35 years. The beauty is its accessibility."
Roger McGough
Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...
in a 2019 interview said, "I like to think that young poets on Merseyside will see me as one of their own, a poet they can get along with"
See also
*
The Mersey Sound (book)
''The Mersey Sound'' is an anthology of poems by Liverpool poets Roger McGough, Brian Patten and Adrian Henri first published in 1967, when it launched the poets into "considerable acclaim and critical fame".
*
British Poetry since 1945
''British Poetry since 1945'' is a poetry anthology edited by Edward Lucie-Smith, first published in 1970 by Penguin Books. The anthology is a careful attempt to take account of the whole span of post-war British poetryMiddleton, Peter (2004"The ...
*
English poetry
This article focuses on poetry from the United Kingdom written in the English language. The article does not cover poetry from other countries where the English language is spoken, including Republican Ireland after December 1922.
The earliest ...
*
Culture of Liverpool
The culture of Liverpool incorporates a wide range of activities within the city of Liverpool, England. The city is an important centre for culture not just in the northwest of England, but also the United Kingdom more broadly. Its contributions ...
*
Merseybeat
Notes and references
Further reading
*Ed. Edward Lucie-Smith (1970), ''British Poetry Since 1945'', Penguin Books. (Includes theoretical writing by Alan Alvarez and Adrian Henri).
*Ed. Stephen Wade (2001), ''Gladsongs and Gatherings: Poetry and Its Social Context in Liverpool Since the 1960s'', Liverpool University Press.
*Simon Warner (2007) 'Raising the consciousness? Re-visiting Allen Ginsberg's 1965 Liverpool trip' in ''Centre of the Creative Universe: Liverpool and Avant Garde'', edited by Christoph Grunenberg and Robert Knifton, Liverpool University Press & Chicago University Press
External links
{{Wikiquote, Roger McGough
Article on Adrian Henri''The Scaffold'' and ''Grimms''National Portrait Gallery
English poetry
English literary movements
Culture in Liverpool
1960s in Liverpool