On 20th May I flew out to Germany with Rod Davis from the Quarrymen.
Rod, like many people, didn’t realise that I play guitar and sing a bit too! So he suggested that ge would do a talk with songs, I would do my talk, and then we would sing some songs together. What an honour that was for me and we had so much fun too!!
Have a look at the video I’ve just uploaded to our YouTube channel and I hope you forgive the camera work from those watching and my singing too!
The Country of Liverpool is an exhaustive work linking Country and Western and Rock’n’Roll, between America and Liverpool.
John Lennon biographer Jude Kessler has reviewed “The Country of Liverpool” for Culture Sonar:
“For 50 years, the well-worn tale of 1950s American music imported into the port city of Liverpool, England, via the Cunard Yanks has been the standard explanation for the “rise of the Beatles.” But in his new book, The Country of Liverpool, author David Bedford (Liddypool, The Fab One Hundred and Four) views this simplistic theory as a bit like putting the cart in front of the horse.”
Jude concludes that:
“The Country of Liverpool is an exhaustive work linking Country and Western and Rock’n’Roll, between America and Liverpool. Bedford’s book proves that long before The Beatles set foot on the Ed Sullivan Stage on 9 February 1964, the United States and Liverpool were already joined by a common love affair with Irish-inspired Bluegrass, Folk, Skiffle, and Country and Western, all of which led directly to the birth of Rock’n’Roll and the Mersey Beat.
This is that complete story.
-Jude Southerland Kessler (author of The John Lennon Series)”
Liddypod is back after a short absence during the coronavirus pandemic and we have started with this new episode. My partner in podcast, Paul Beesley, interviews me as we discuss my upcoming new book, “The Country of Liverpool”. We have a good old chinwag about the country music scene in Liverpool, skiffle, The Quarrymen and The Beatles and how their roots are firmly in country music.
With the upcoming book The Country of Liverpool due out soon, here is a short film where I explain what the book is about and what exciting photographs and stories are in the book.