The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney, the 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 ...

), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer

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 ...

Career

Overview

From as early as 1962, the members of The Scaffold were part of a performing revue group known as The Liverpool One Fat Lady All Electric Show. ("One Fat Lady" is the bingo term for 8 and the performers mostly lived in the Liverpool 8 district.) McGough's fellow Liverpool poet Adrian Henri was also a founding member of this early configuration. Working almost exclusively as a trio under the name The Scaffold from 1964, Gorman, McGear and McGough performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough (as evidenced on their 1968 live album), and they released a number of singles and albums on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

and EMI between 1966 and 1971, with several more on

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

, Warner Bros. and

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

thereafter. Their best known recording is " Lily the Pink" which topped the UK charts in 1968. The group also composed and sang the theme tune to the popular BBC TV comedy '' The Liver Birds'', which aired from 1969–1978. Although each of them was a talented composer and distinctive vocal performer, only McGear could even loosely be described as a professional musician and their more musical endeavours were usually augmented with contributions by

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

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 ...

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 disband ...

and

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 ...

were among the session musicians who performed on The Scaffold's early records.

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

, who was at that time an assistant to their producer Norrie Paramor, also contributed backing vocals to some of their material. Additionally, although not officially credited as a permanent member of the group during its heyday, guitarist Andy Roberts was a frequent musical collaborator from as far back as 1962, acting as musical director and arranger in a live setting throughout their career and playing on a large number of their releases. The Scaffold achieved Top 10 success in the UK with: *" Thank U Very Much" (No. 4), composed by McGear. (McGear has been reluctant to explain the reference in the song to "Aintree Iron".) *" Lily the Pink" (No. 1), based on a traditional song about Lydia Pinkham. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. *"Liverpool Lou" (No. 7) (written by Dominic Behan), recorded during the 1974 '' McGear'' sessions with

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

. In addition to the

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s, The Scaffold's output included four albums: ''The Scaffold'' on Parlophone in 1968, ''L. the P.'' on Parlophone in 1969, ''Fresh Liver'' on Island in 1973, and ''Sold Out'' on Warner Brothers in 1975. As a rule their early albums contained a higher ratio of live material and were less musically-driven than their singles, often focusing on McGough's poetry and Gorman and McGear's extended comic vignettes. Their debut album was an entirely live affair, and their second album featured a side of live tracks paired with a side of studio recordings. The three members also recorded and toured extensively outside the confines of the original trio: In 1968, even before the release of The Scaffold's own debut album, McGough and McGear recorded an album without Gorman (the prosaically-titled ''McGough and McGear'') that featured rock-driven musical backing from

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

and

Mitch Mitchell John Graham "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 194612 November 2008)In his book about the Experience, Mitchell states he celebrated his 21st birthday while on tour on 9 July 1967, which makes his birth year 1946.Mitchell's obituaries in ''Billboard' ''T ...

among others, and in 1971 the trio joined forces with former members of

The Bonzo Dog Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, ...

and The Liverpool Scene to form the loose coalition of performers known as Grimms (an outfit that would go on to regularly tour the country and release three albums of its own during the early 1970s). McGear also found time to record two solo albums in 1972 and 1974. The Scaffold's first greatest hits album, entitled ''Singles A's & B's'', was released on

See for Miles Records See for Miles Records (SFM) was a British record label which was one of the first British re-issue specialists predating the emergence of compact discs. See for Miles reissued most of the records of many labels including Dandelion Records on ...

in 1982. This was followed by a second greatest hits collection, the first on Compact Disc, ''The Scaffold: The Songs'', in 1992. Three additional compilations of the band's Parlophone tracks have since been released (two of which also include the Warner Bros. "Liverpool Lou" track).

The 1970s

In 1970 The Scaffold starred in their own popular weekly BBC children's television series, ''

Score with the Scaffold ''Score with the Scaffold'' is a BBC children's programme, which ran during 1970–71. It starred the pop group The Scaffold. It was a quiz programme, although interspersed with various material including musical numbers and sketches. It ran f ...

''. The opening and closing theme tune was usually a shortened variation on their earlier single "2 Day's Monday". By this point the group had also recorded enough tracks for a new studio album, but apart from a few songs that found their way onto singles that year, much of this material remained unreleased until it was included on a 1998 compilation, ''The Scaffold at Abbey Road 1966-1971''. In early 1971 The Scaffold provided some catchy tunes for inclusion in a television publicity campaign heralding the introduction of

decimal currency Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

to the UK. In this series of informative five-minute programmes, titled ''Decimal Five'' and shown on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

, their songs included such relevant lyrics as "Give more, get change" and "Use your old coppers in sixpenny lots". In the same year, in order to broaden their musical palate further the trio and erstwhile collaborator Andy Roberts merged into the expanded line-up of Grimms with performers such as

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 M ...

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 ...

and

Zoot Money George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was draw ...

, alongside McGough's fellow Liverpool poets Adrian Henri 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 Confessio ...

. Innes and Stanshall can also be heard contributing to The Scaffold's final release for Parlophone, ''Do The Albert'', which also featured

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

and Les Harvey. During the same period The Scaffold also recorded the darkly humorous theme tune to the British horror movie Burke And Hare, a version of which saw eventual release on ''The Scaffold at Abbey Road 1966-1971'' (both versions of the song feature a prominent backing vocal from Vivian Stanshall, suggesting that the session may feature the same lineup of musicians as ''Do The Albert''). In 1972, the group made a half hour musical movie entitled ''Plod'' based on an earlier stage production that centred around Gorman's long-running "P.C. Plod" character. The film was made on location in Liverpool, and included boys from the Liverpool Institute High School, earlier attended by the McCartney brothers and Beatle

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

. The film was long thought lost but recently appeared on a DVD of How I Won The War featuring

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 ...

. McGear also released his first solo album, ''Woman'' with some of the musical performers from Grimms, and Grimms as a unit continued with their exhaustive tours of the UK. By early 1973 The Scaffold had transferred to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

and released ''Fresh Liver'', their first full album of new material since 1969, and from which no singles were released (aside from "W.P.C Hodges" which was credited to Gorman as a solo artist). The new album again featured most of the musical performers from Grimms and as such, like the earlier ''McGough And McGear'' album, it relied less heavily than usual on purely spoken-word material. The trio then concentrated on their work as part of Grimms, until the end of the year when McGear left that group after frayed tempers on another demanding UK tour led to an altercation with Brian Patten. After recording his next solo album '' McGear'' and the 1974 success of the one-off Scaffold single "Liverpool Lou" recorded with

and

(B-side "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam", also featured a musical backing composed by Paul and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

and performed by Wings), McGear reunited The Scaffold to tour and record their final album, ''Sold Out''. Following the template set by ''Fresh Liver'' of more music and less speech, ''Sold Out'' was released early in 1975 on Warner Bros. Records. After McGough and Gorman temporarily decamped to participate in the final Grimms LP ''Sleepers'' in 1976 and Gorman released his solo album, ''Go Man Gorman'', The Scaffold moved to the

Bronze Records Bronze Records was an independent English record label founded in 1971 by record producer Gerry Bron on Oxford Street in London, eventually relocating to Chalk Farm. History Bron had been producing Uriah Heep for Vertigo Records, and he set up ...

label and continued touring and releasing singles through 1977. After that the group amicably disbanded (although there have been occasional reunions over the years, mostly for live performances).

After The Scaffold

After releasing a few more singles, McGear retired from the music business in the 1980s. Having proven himself artistically, he reverted to using his family name and has since carved out a career as a professional photographer and author. Gorman remained in the public eye through his regular appearances on such children's television programmes as '' Tiswas'' throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. He continued to perform and record, and later moved into theatrical direction and production. Meanwhile, in 1978, McGough released his spoken-word solo album ''Summer With Monika'' (based upon his celebrated poetry collection of the same name). Since then he has arguably maintained the highest-profile and most sustained post-Scaffold career, still appearing regularly as a vocal performer on British radio and television, and continuing to be a highly regarded poet and author. A reunion occurred in 2008, to record a reworking of

The Lightning Seeds The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...

' single " Three Lions", titled "3 Shirts on a Line", for '' Liverpool – The Number Ones Album'', a compilation album commemorating Liverpool being the European Capital of Culture. McCartney and Gorman represented The Scaffold in the Number One Concert in the 10,500-seater

Echo Arena Liverpool Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the M&S Bank Arena, and previously Echo Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The venue hosts live music, comedy performances and sporting events, and ...

, receiving a standing ovation from the capacity audience. In 2009, the classic lineup was reunited in

Ronnie Scott's Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sco ...

London Jazz Club for a BBC TV programme, and in October 2010, they reconvened for a Gala Concert in Shanghai, to celebrate the end of the Liverpool Pavilion as part of the World Expo. They shared the concert with the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

, OMD and the Liverpool Chinese Children's Pagoda Orchestra. In August 2013, McCartney and Gorman played to an international audience in the O2 as part of the Liverpool Music Festival. In October 2013 and 2014, the two played at the Heswall Arts Festival with musician and poet Keith Wilson, an occasional member of the line-up since 2008. The trio put on a concert to raise funds for the Nordic Church and Cultural Centre in Liverpool in October 2018. McCartney and Gorman negotiated with promoters in Japan for appearances in Tokyo in 2015. On 9 April 2020, the original members of the Scaffold released a re-worked version of "Thank U Very Much" in support of the British

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. They recorded the new vocals on their I-Phones and these were then put on the original backing track, the master of which McCartney had found in his attic.

Discography

Albums

UK releases

* ''McGough and McGear'' (Parlophone PMC 7047

ono ONO, Ono or Ōno may refer to: Places Fiji * Ono Island (Fiji) Israel * Kiryat Ono * Ono, Benjamin, ancient site Italy * Ono San Pietro Ivory Coast * Ono, Ivory Coast, a village in Comoé District Japan * Ōno Castle, Fukuoka * ...

PCS 7047 tereo PMay 1968 * ''The Scaffold'' (Parlophone PMC 7051

PCS 7051 tereo PJuly 1968 * ''L. the P.'' (Parlophone PMC 7077

PCS 7077 tereo PMay 1969 * ''Fresh Liver'' (Island ILPS 9234) PMay 1973 * ''Sold Out'' (Warner Bros. K 56067) PFeb. 1975 * ''The Scaffold Singles A's and B's'' (See For Miles CM 114) POct. 1982 ompilation, containing 22 EMI and Warner Bros tracks* ''McGough and McGear'' (Parlophone PCS 7332) PApr. 1989 eissue of the 1968 album* ''McGough and McGear'' (EMI CDP 7 91877 2) DApr. 1989 eissue of the 1968 album* ''The Best of the EMI Years: The Scaffold, The Songs'' (EMI CDP 7 985022) DFeb. 1992 ompilation, containing 20 EMI tracks* ''The Very Best of The Scaffold'' (Wise Buy WB 885572) DFeb. 1998 ompilation, containing 12 EMI and Warner Bros tracks* ''The Scaffold at Abbey Road, 1966–1971'' (EMI 7243 496435 2 9) DAug. 1998 ompilation containing 27 EMI tracks, including seven previously unreleased* ''The Very Best of The Scaffold'' (EMI Gold 7243 5 38474 2 5) DMar. 2002 ompilation, containing 26 EMI and Warner Bros tracks* ''Live at The Queen Elizabeth Hall 1968'' (Él ACMEM63CD) DJan. 2006 eissue of the 1968 album, ''The Scaffold'', recorded live on 10 February 1968* ''Liverpool – The Number Ones Album'' (EMI 50999 5 19522 2 8) DFeb. 2008 ulti-artist commemorative album, including one newly recorded track by Scaffold

US releases

* ''Thank U Very Much'' (Bell 6018) PSept. 1968 * ''McGough and McGear'' (Real Gone Music RGM-0025) DFeb. 2012 eissue of the 1968 album

Japanese releases

* ''Sold Out'' (Muskrat RATCD 4228) DAug 2004 '' eissue of the 1975 album' * ''Fresh Liver'' (Island UICY 94110) DMay 2009 '' eissue of the 1973 album'

Singles

UK releases * "2 Day's Monday" / "3 Blind Jellyfish" (Parlophone R 5443) May 1966 * "Goodbat Nightman" / "Long Strong Black Pudding" (Parlophone R 5548) Dec. 1966 * " Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Parlophone R 5643) Nov 1967 * "Do You Remember?" / "Carry On Krow" (Parlophone R 5679) Mar. 1968 * "1–2–3" / "Today" (Parlophone R 5703) June 1968 * " Lily the Pink" / "Buttons of Your Mind" (Parlophone R 5734) Oct. 1968 * "Charity Bubbles" / "Goose" (Parlophone R 5784) June 1969 * " Gin Gan Goolie" / "Liver Birds" (Parlophone R 5812) Oct 1969 * "All The Way Up" / "Please Sorry" (Parlophone R 5847) June 1970 * "Bus Dreams" / "If I Could Start All Over Again" (Parlophone R 5866) Oct 1970 * "Do The Albert" / "Commercial Break" (Parlophone R 5922) Oct. 1971 * "W.P.C. Hodges" / "I remember" - Two tracks from "Fresh Liver" credited to John Gorman (Island Records – WIP 6151) 1973 * "W.P.C. Hodges" / "B Side Yourself With Plod" - Picture Sleeve with same catalogue number as above, but credited to "P.C. Plod" (Island Records – WIP 6151) 1973 * " Lily the Pink" / "Thank U Very Much" / "Do You Remember?" (EMI 2085) Nov. 1973 * "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros K 16400) May 1974 * "Mummy Won't Be Home For Christmas" / "The Wind Is Blowing" (Warner Bros K 16488) Dec. 1974 * "Leaving of Liverpool" / "Pack of Cards" (Warner Bros K 16521) Mar. 1975 * "Wouldn't It Be Funny If You Didn't Have A Nose" / "Mr. Noselighter" (Bronze BRO 33) Oct. 1976 * "How D'You Do" / "Paper Underpants" (Bronze BRO 39) Apr. 1977 * " Lily the Pink" / "Thank U Very Much" / "Do You Remember?" / "Gin Gan Goolie" (EMI 2690) Oct. 1977 US releases * "Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Bell 701) Jan 1968 * "Do You Remember?" / "Carry On Krow" (Bell 724) May 1968 * " Lily the Pink" / "Buttons of Your Mind" (Bell 747) Dec. 1968 * "Charity Bubbles" / "Goose" (Bell B-821) Aug. 1969 * "Jelly Covered Cloud" / "Liver Birds" (Bell B-849) 1969 * "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros WBS 8001) July 1974 Canadian releases * "Thank U Very Much" / "Ide B The First" (Capitol 72524) Feb. 1968 * " Lily the Pink" / "Buttons of Your Mind" (Capitol 72562) 1968 * "Liverpool Lou" / "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros WBS 8001) July 1974

Discography notes

* The album, ''McGough and McGear'', is by Roger McGough and Mike McGear. All other releases by The Scaffold. * Tracks which were first released from 1973 onward show the artist as Scaffold (rather than The Scaffold). * See also Mike McGear Discography. * See also Grimms Discography. * There were probably other albums released in Japan. The two above are included because they have not been released on CD in the UK. * There has been considerable debate as to the meaning of the place, item, person or event described in the lyric of the song "Thank U Very Much" as the Aintree Iron. The songwriter himself, Mike McGear, has apparently refused to divulge its identity.

References

External links

Scaffold; Airbrushed from history?
– Independent article on the history of The Scaffold. Endorsed by the band members. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scaffold, The English pop music groups British comedy musical groups British musical trios Musical groups from Liverpool Parlophone artists Island Records artists Comedy rock musical groups Mike McGear