The Liverpool Five were a beat group that was part of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

-era of the 1960s. The group played throughout Europe and Asia before achieving the peak of their success in the United States between 1965 and 1967.

Career

Formed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1963 as the Steve Laine Combo, the group comprised Steve Laine (lead vocals), Ken Cox (guitar and vocals), Dave Burgess (bass and vocals), Ron Henley (keyboards, sax and vocals) and Jimmy May (drums and vocals). The Steve Laine Combo played in clubs such as the

Flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

, and were spotted by the owners Rik and Johnny Gunnell. On a tour of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

arranged by the Gunnells in early 1964, the band was signed to a management contract by German impresario Karl Buchmann, who added them to a large-venue tour of Germany and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Following that tour, at Buchmann's suggestion, the group changed its name to The Liverpool Five, to capitalize on the international popularity of

The 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 developmen ...

. Despite the name, none of the group members were 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 populat ...

; all were

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

ers except Burgess, who was from

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. Before leaving Germany, the band recorded an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

for

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an release titled ''Tokio International'', and a single "Tokio" / "SkinnyMinny", the first releases under the name '5Liverpools'. While in

in 1964 the band successfully auditioned to tour Japan, and performed at the Korakuen Arena as part of the Tokyo Olympics. One UK single, "Lum D' Lum D' Lum High" / "

Good Golly Miss Molly In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

", as the 'Liverpool 5', was released on the Pye subsidiary

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

Piccadilly Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brother ...

in 1964. After touring the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

, where few other British rock bands had been, they moved to the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

in March 1965, with an initial base in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

, before settling as residents in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. From their new base, they played all over the US and Canada, by themselves and with acts including

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is an American rock band popular during the mid- to late-1960s. Founded in New York City in 1965 by lead singer/songwriter John Sebastian and guitarist Zal Yanovsky, the band is widely known for a number of hits, including ...

, Stevie Wonder,

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. One of the band's biggest US concerts was as a featured artist on the 'Beach Boys Summer Spectacular' at the Hollywood Bowl in July 1965, alongside

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

and

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

. In the United States, under contract with RCA Victor, the group released a number of singles, together with two albums produced by

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

. In 1966 their recording of

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". Early life Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of ...

's "

Any Way That You Want Me "Any Way That You Want Me" is a song written by Chip Taylor that was first released in September 1966 by Tina Mason as the B-side to her single "Finders Keepers". It has been covered by a number of artists, with the most successful version bein ...

" (b/w Oscar Brown Jr's " The Snake") became their only appearance on the national chart, spending one week on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #98.Whitburn, Joel, ''Top Pop Singles 1955-1996'', 1997, Record Research Inc. They also appeared on television shows such as '' American Bandstand'', ''

Where the Action Is ''Where the Action Is'' is a music-based television variety show that aired in the United States from 1965 to 1967. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon. Created by Dick Clark as a spin-off of '' American Bandstan ...

'' and '' Hullabaloo'', plus many music shows on local stations throughout the US. Local

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

s often sponsored their

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

s. Two albums on RCA Victor, ''Arrive'' (LSP 3583) (1966) and ''Out of Sight'' (LSP 3682) (1967), were reasonably successful, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. The group disbanded in 1968, by which point Fred Dennis from

, later of

the Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspirations to the White Str ...

, had replaced Dave Burgess on bass. Drummer Jimmy May returned to live in England while the others remained in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and embarked on new careers in various professions. Before finally disbanding, they recorded one last single for RCA under the name Common Market (RCA 47-9302). The tracks were the Cat Stevens composition "

I Love My Dog "I Love My Dog" is a song written by Cat Stevens, and was his first single (b/w "Portobello Road"), appearing the following year on his debut album ''Matthew and Son (album), Matthew and Son''. Stevens later acknowledged that he had essentially w ...

" backed with

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ...

's "Wings".

Later years

In 1999, Rockinbeat Records released ''Liverpool Five- Arrive- Out of Sight'' in Europe, a CD containing all tracks from the group's two RCA albums. In April 2008,

Sundazed Records Sundazed Music is an American independent record label based in Coxsackie, New York. It specializes in obscure and rare recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s. In 2000, Sundazed had a staff of 15 and two mixing studios, including a vintage audio ...

released a CD with eighteen of the group's RCA recordings, which were remastered and packaged as ''The Best of the Liverpool Five'' (SC11158). In 2010, the group got together for a long awaited reunion concert in Sacramento, California in order to celebrate the 70th birthday of lead singer Steve Laine. Dennis Moffett joined the band on drums for the first reunion. In 2016, a second reunion concert for the ages took place in Fairfield, California. This time to celebrate the 70th birthday of guitarist Ken Cox, the youngest member of the group. James Grayberg joined the band on drums for the second reunion.

References

External Links

* * {{Authority control Beat groups English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1963 Musical groups disestablished in 1968