The Remarkable True Story of the Liverbirds, Britain's First Female Rock Band
January 22, 2024
McGlory and Saunders debut with a jaunty if somewhat disorganized account of growing up in postwar Britain and forming the nation’s “first all-female rock band.” Inspired by a Beatles performance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, McGlory, Saunders, and friends Valerie Gell and Pamela Birch founded the Liverbirds in 1962. They began playing local venues and soon became part of the thriving Liverpool music scene that gave rise to the Beatles, Herman’s Hermits, and the Kinks. Propelled by their energetic covers of songs by Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley—and the novelty of being female performers at a time when “all-girl bands were as rare as UFOs”—the group’s success at home led to a residency at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, where a buzzy music scene forged bonds between English rockers and German fans (“We were a younger generation, trying to dissolve the... divisions that were a hangover from the war,” McGlory recalls). The Liverbirds later toured Europe and briefly Japan before breaking up in 1968 when marriage and childcare responsibilities interfered. Though chapters from McGlory and Saunders’s perspectives alternate in a way that can feel disjointed, and the post-band sections of the narrative tend to meander, for the most part it’s a colorful and energetic look into an electric period of rock and roll history. Classic rock fans will be charmed. Agent: Susan Golomb, Writers House.
February 1, 2024
An autobiography from two members of the Liverbirds, a "girl band" from the same Liverpool background as the Beatles. Bassist and vocalist McGlory and drummer Saunders grew up in working-class families in the 1950s and '60s, and, like many of their contemporaries, fell in love with American popular music. Hearing other bands play in local venues, they began practicing and started their own group. After a few early personnel changes, singers/guitarists Val Gell and Pam Birch were the final additions to the band's lineup. Featuring a repertoire based on tunes by Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and other American blues and rock artists, the Liverbirds moved up to perform at the Cavern Club, where the Beatles made their initial impact. They made the acquaintance of the Beatles, Rollings Stones, Kinks, and other stars of the era. Their career took them to Hamburg, Germany, where they became a fixture at the Star-Club, another early Beatles stomping ground. The Liverbirds stayed together, touring Europe and recording in Germany, until Saunders became pregnant and, on doctors' advice, gave up playing drums. That, except for sporadic reunions, was the end of the group--though McGlory and Saunders remained involved in music and entertainment. The two alternate chapters, recounting their experiences both during the band's glory days and in the years since; accounts of the other two members demonstrate the strength of the bandmates' bonds. "We knew we could rely on each other," writes McGlory. The authors include a discography, and they create a vivid portrait of the '60s music scene, full of good stories about themselves and a surprising number of other celebrities of the era. An utterly charming reminiscence by two members of a band that made its own kind of history in the wake of the Beatles.
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March 1, 2024
The liverbird is a cormorant-shaped mythical creature and the symbol of Liverpool. Appropriately, the Liverbirds was the name of an all-female Liverpool rock band active from 1963 to 1968. The members were bassist and vocalist Mary McGlory, guitarist and vocalist Pamela Birch, vocalist and guitarist Valerie Gell, and drummer Sylvia Saunders. Birch and Gell died in 2009 and 2016, respectively; the two remaining musicians, McGlory and Saunders, have written a lovely memoir of life as one of the few female rock bands of the time. They take turns, going back and forth, writing their respective chapters about their families and youth (after seeing the Jennifer Jones movie, The Song of Bernadette, McGlory initially wanted to be a nun), performing in Hamburg, life after the band broke up, and reunion gigs. This book is full of striking anecdotes: seeing the early Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and meeting them in their dressing room, where John Lennon sarcastically told them, "Girls don't play guitars." They proved him wrong, performing repeatedly at the Cavern and in Germany, Denmark, and Japan and recording two albums. Readers will enjoy learning about the Liverbirds in McGlory and Saunders' sparkling and endearing story about music, family, and the strength of female friendship.
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Starred review from March 1, 2024
The musical crucible that was Liverpool in the 1960s produced a four-piece band called the Liverbirds (pronounced "lie-ver birds"), one of the first all-women rock bands in the world. In alternating chapters, McGlory and Saunders--the band's two surviving members--tell amazing and touching stories about growing up in postwar England, the club scene of the early 1960s, and their experiences at Beatles gigs. They played the Cavern Club, opened for and befriended the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, and eventually played a run of shows at the famous Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. Their time in Hamburg is the focus of the book, as the city became the home base for their touring career and personal lives. There are numerous tales of love affairs and adventures within and outside the music scene. The Liverbirds disbanded in 1968, after marriages, pregnancies, and tragedies. Afterward, they got jobs (in and out of music), raised families, and reunited briefly in 1998. Their story spawned the 2019 British musical Girls Don't Play Guitars, and there's a documentary film on the horizon. VERDICT A fascinating and tender look at the Liverbirds and their extraordinary lives.--Peter Thornell
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