The Liverbirds were an English all-female

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band 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 ...

, active between 1963 and 1968. The group consisted of vocalist and guitarist Valerie Gell, guitarist and vocalist Pamela Birch, bassist and vocalist Mary McGlory, and drummer Sylvia Saunders. They were one of the very few female bands on the Merseybeat scene, as well as one of the first all-female

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

bands in the world. They took their name from the fictional

liver bird The liver bird is a mythical creature which is the symbol of the English city of Liverpool. It is normally represented as a cormorant, and appears as such on the city's arms, in which it bears a branch of laver seaweed in its beak as a furth ...

, which is the symbol of their native Liverpool. They were mostly a cover band, except for three of their songs being written by Pamela Birch.

History

Gell, Saunders, and McGlory formed the band in 1963,Rohkohl, Brigitte: ''Rock Frauen'' ( Rowohlt 1979) along with guitarist Sheila McGlory (Mary's sister) and vocalist Irene Green, both of whom quickly left to join other bands and were replaced by Birch. According to Bruce Eder, the group formed in early 1962 as the Debutones. Irene Green left to join Tiffany's Dimensions and Sheila McGlory to the Demoiselles. They achieved more commercial success in Germany than their native Britain. Early in their career, they followed in the footsteps of fellow Liverpudlians

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 ...

and made their way to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, where they performed at the

Star-Club The Star-Club was a music club in Hamburg, Germany, that opened on Friday 13 April 1962, and was initially operated by Manfred Weissleder and Horst Fascher. In the 1960s, many of the giants of rock music played at the club. The club closed on 3 ...

after the Beatles' own tenure and were billed as "the female Beatles".

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

of the Beatles infamously told the group that "girls" were unable to play guitars. Regardless, the Liverbirds became one of the top attractions at the Star-Club and they released two albums and several singles on the Club's own label. One of those singles, a cover of

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

's "

Diddley Daddy "Diddley Daddy" is a song by Bo Diddley. The song was issued as a single on Checker Records in June 1955. His second single, it followed on the heels of the success of the eponymous "Bo Diddley." The song spent four weeks on the Billboard R&B c ...

", reached No. 5 on the German charts. The group broke up in 1968, just after finishing a tour of Japan. They briefly reunited in 1998. Three members of the band settled in Germany permanently. Saunders moved to Spain, settling in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

with her husband, John (died 2 April 2017). Sylvia Saunders is now living in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. McGlory runs a Hamburg-based company called Ja/Nein Musikverlag ("Yes/No Music Publishing") which she founded with her husband, German songwriter

Frank Dostal Frank Dostal (16 December 1945 in Flensburg, (Germany) – 18 April 2017) was a German songwriter and music producer. In the late 1960s, he was a singer with the rock band The Rattles, who were consistently successful in Germany during the 1960s ...

(died April 2017), who was one of the band's former colleagues from the Star-Club and later vice-chairman of the German performance rights organization GEMA. Birch also settled in Hamburg and worked for many years in the city's clubs. She died at the

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on 27 October 2009, at the age of 65. Gell, who settled in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

but later returned to Hamburg, died on 11 December 2016, aged 71.

Members

* Valerie Gell, vocalist and guitarist (1963–1968, 1998), died 2016 * Mary McGlory, bassist and vocalist (1963–1968, 1998) * Sylvia Saunders, drummer (1963–1968, 1998) * Sheila McGlory, guitarist (1963) * Irene Green, vocalist (1963) * Pamela Birch, guitarist and vocalist (1963–1968, 1998) (replaced Sheila McGlory and Irene Green), died 2009

Releases

;Albums *''Star-Club Show 4'' (1965) **A1 - " Johnny B. Goode" (

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

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You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (alternatively "You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover") is a 1962 song by rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley. Written by Willie Dixon, the song was one of Diddley's last record chart hits. Unlike many of his ...

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Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

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Boudleaux Bryant Felice Bryant (born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto; August 7, 1925 – April 22, 2003) and Diadorius Boudleaux Bryant (; February 13, 1920 – June 25, 1987) were an Americans, American husband-and-wife country music and pop songwriting team. They ...

) **A4 - "Talking About You" (

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Janie Bradford Janie Bradford (born June 2, 1939 in Charleston, Missouri, United States) is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)", originally recorded by Barrett Strong, and t ...

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Too Much Monkey Business "Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released by Chess Records in September 1956 as his fifth single. It was also released as the third track on his first solo LP, ''After School Session'', in May 1957; and as ...

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) **B4 - "

Hands Off "Hands Off" is a 1955 song written and recorded by Jay McShann. The single, on the Vee-Jay label, was the most successful Jay McShann release on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. "Hands Off", with vocals performed by Priscilla Bowman, was number one o ...

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Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson (trumpeter), Bernard A ...

Priscilla Bowman Priscilla Bowman (born Priscilla I. Mills, May 30, 1928 – July 24, 1988) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues singer, who had a No. 1 hit single on the ''Billboard'' magazine R&B chart in 1955 with the song " Hands Off". She was the lea ...

) **B5 - "

Before You Accuse Me "Before You Accuse Me" (also known as "Before You Accuse Me (Take a Look at Yourself)") is a song written and recorded by American musician Bo Diddley in 1957. The song was originally released as the B-side to Diddley's "Say Bossman" and included ...

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)) **B6 - "Leave All Your Old Loves" (Pamela Birch) **B7 - "

Got My Mojo Working "Got My Mojo Working" is a blues song written by Preston "Red" Foster and first recorded by R&B singer Ann Cole in 1956. Foster's lyrics describe several amulets or talismans, called ''mojo'', which are associated with hoodoo, an early African ...

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, William Robinson) **CD Bonus Track - "It's Got To Be You" (Pamela Birch) *''More of the Liverbirds'' (1966) **A1 - "Peanut Butter" (Cliff Goldsmith, Fred Smith,

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Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...

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) **B1 - "Down Home Girl" ( Artie Butler,

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) **B4 - "Why Do You Hang Around Me" (Pamela Birch) **B5 - " He's About a Mover" ( Douglas Sahm) **B6 - "Long Tall Shorty" (

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) **CD Bonus Track - " Loop de Loop" (Joe Dong, Teddy Vann) **CD Bonus Track - "Bo Diddley Is a Lover" ( Ellas McDaniel (Bo Diddley)) ;Singles * "

"/"It's Got To Be You" (1964 or 1965) * "

"/"Leave All Your Loves In The Past" (1965) * "Peanut Butter"/"Why Do You Hang Around Me" (1965) * " Loop de Loop "/"Bo Diddley Is A Lover" (1966) ;Compilation *''From Merseyside to Hamburg - The Complete Star-Club Recordings'' (CD,

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as ...

CDWIKD 290, 2010) **Features the 29 songs above, though not in the order on the studio albums. *** Possible Songs tablyrics.com lists some songs that aren't known outside of the site. Their existence is unknown. * The Past * Nobody But You * Baby I Dig Love * Tell Me

In other media

The story of the Liverbirds is the subject of the 2019 musical, ''Girls Don't Play Guitars'', written by Ian Salmon and directed by Bob Eaton at the

Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre located at 1 Roe Street in Liverpool, England. The current Royal Court Theatre was opened on 17 October 1938, after fire destroyed its predecessor. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style and soon became Liverpool's ...

. Founding members McGlory and Saunders have been involved with the production and join in the cast on stage for the encore. Also in 2019, ''The New York Times'' produced a sixteen-minute documentary about the band called ''We're Britain's First Female Rock Band. This is Why You Don't Know Us. , 'Almost Famous' by Op-Docs''. It featured surviving members Mary McGlory and Sylvia Saunders. It is also known as ''The Other Fab Four''.

References

External links

Web.archive.org
*

Allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...