Suited to Sorrow

WHEN the Merseybeats walked away from a contract with the legendary Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein following a row over a set of new suits, founder member Tony Crane is aware that the band turned its back on a string of hits from John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

The band still left an indelible mark on Sixties music, with sell-out concerts bound for Darlington, York and Sage Gateshead and greatest hits tours going back 15 years, but 64-yearold Crane admits that he’ll always have nightmares about their “stupid” dispute with Epstein.

“One of the stupidest things we ever did was walk out because he wouldn’t buy us new suits. It was ridiculous because all these songs were lined up for us. We’d only played about with writing ourselves and John and Paul had all these songs ready for us to record. Quite a few went to Billy J Kramer instead and John and Paul were disappointed because it fell apart when we walked out on Brian. He did say he’d get us suits but not yet because he was a bit busy with the Beatles. But they kept coming out with all these brand new suits, which they never liked incidentally,” he explains.

The Merseybeats went on to have hits like It’s Love That Really Counts, Mr Moonlight and Wishin’ and Hopin’ but split up in 1966 with Crane and cofounder Billy Kinsley recording the Sixties classic, Sorrow, as The Merseys. But it took until 1993 for the Merseybeats to re-emerge on stage – although John Crane and the Merseybeats did tour during the Seventies.

Back in the Sixties they’d started a fashion trend of frilly shirts, bolero jackets and tight trousers. “We’d always like the look of the toreadors and we got criticised at first for looking like four women, but then the Merseybeats’ frilly shirts were in all the papers,” Crane says.

“We do the Solid Silver 60s tour about every two years for Flying Music, but we used to adore coming up to the North-East in the Sixties because we’d always come up for two weeks and do something like 30 shows. Some days we’d do an early social club, finish around 11pm and then go somewhere like the La Dolce Vita in Newcastle and do a midnight spot. Sundays we’d do an afternoon show as well.

“We always stayed at the Roker Park Hotel in Sunderland and so did all the other acts that were in the area. So we’d meet up at 2am and there’d be comedians and magicians and we’d just sit around talking and drinking tea,” he laughs adding “and it was tea in those days”.

“The only trouble was getting the ‘North-East throat’ which was a mixture of the North Sea air and Newcastle Brown, but they were fabulous times,” says Crane who points out that the only change in touring these days is that the bands now play theatres instead of clubs.

“We did a tour at the end of 1979, which was the Liverpool Explosion tour, and it was the first time they put all the Liverpool acts, like Billy J Kramer, Gerry And The Pacemakers, the Fourmost and Swinging Blue Jeans on the same show. The promoter was a bit of a crook and booked the tour, ran away with all the money and moved abroad. So hardly anyone got paid. He didn’t realise how much money he could have made by putting on a tour every year “Every year it amazes me with the attendances. Almost every theatre is sold out, even the matinees. This tour there’s 56 theatres and that’s a lot of shows. It’s great to see the Solid Silver 60’s album high in the charts and it’s great because we’re on that,”

He is particularly delighted when the lights go up at a theatre and the audience can sing along with all the songs. “Everyone knows all the songs and that’s probably the strongest thing about the Sixties,” he says.

Crane is also pleased that John Walker of the Walker Brothers is on the bill this year and recalls that the Merseybeats broke the rules by allowing the then unknown threesome into the Philips Studios to listen to a recording session. “They ended up doing a demo and that’s how they got a recording contract. So it’s been lovely reminiscing with John. There was always a lot of camaraderie in the Sixties,” he says recalling regular meetings with the Beatles – the Merseybeats hold the record for making the most appearances alongside the Fab Four.

“When we did The Cavern sometimes it was the Beatles’ guest night and we’d be on and then it would be the Merseybeats’ guest night and the week’s guest was the Beatles. There’s a famous poster in London where they’ve blown up an advert which looks weird because it has Starring The Merseybeats in big letters and in little letters ‘this week’s guests the Beatles’,” recalls the performer who now runs a recording studio with his son, Adrian, near his home in Hoy Lake.

Of the original line-up from the Sixties, Crane and Kinsley are still part of the band. Drummer John Banks died in 1988 and rhythm guitarist/vocals Aaron Williams, Crane’s brother-in-law, now runs his own business. Lou Rosenthal, Bob Packham and Dave Goldberg form the remainder of the current Merseybeats’ line-up.

■ The Merseybeats plays Darlington Civic Theatre on Tuesday with the Solid Silver 60’s Show, Box Office: 01325-486-555, then York Grand Opera House, next Thursday, 0870- 606-3595 and The Sage, Gateshead, May 16, 0191-443-4661
■ Adrian Crane is currently touring with his band, Hudson Fall