The Beatles
Tony Bolland was just 16 when he got a job at Plug In, a rock shop in Liverpool. The store was part of Hessy’s Music, the famous store which sold instruments to the Beatles in the early part of their career. Tony loved music retail and in fact later managed the main Hessy’s Music store, which was...
Dave McCluskey was like so many of his peers growing up in Liverpool after the Beatles who joined a rock band. He started off on guitar but switched to bass. In 1988 he landed the perfect job that allowed him to gig at night, while working in music retail during the day. Dave was a salesman for...
Frankie Connor was an original member of the Liverpool based band The Hideaways, which enjoyed success since first forming in 1963. A few of the bands’ career highlights include playing at The Cavern Club more than any other band, recording an instrumental song for a television Timex commercial,...
Brian Farrell was an original member of Colonel Bagshot, a Liverpool based band which was formed in the 1960s. Brian played guitar in the band and wrote several songs recorded by the band including “Six Days.” Like so many who grew up in Liverpool in the early 60s, Brian has his own Beatles related...
Owen Clayton began playing the double bass while in school. At the time, he had to stand on a box to play, but he didn’t mind at all because he enjoyed the sound of the instrument and it’s role the band. In 1951, when Owen was just 14, he was playing for local dance halls in and around Liverpool,...
Keith Hubbard formed a band in Liverpool with some of his school mates and called themselves The Rebels. The band enjoyed success in the pre and post Beatles era. In 1963, the band first played The Cavern Club; a small club in Liverpool made famous by the Beatles. Keith later played with a number...
Eddie Veale is the studio designer who worked hand in hand with some of music’s greatest artists to create their own home studios. Eddie designed the home studio John Lennon used to record “Imagine.” In fact, John was so excited to get in and use his new studio, he began recording while Eddie was...
Don Cusic recalls that in 1964 he was greatly influenced by three musical discoveries: Roger Miller, Hank Williams, and The Beatles! After forming his own band and playing Bluegrass music for some time, Don became a professor of music at Belmont College in Nashville. During that time, he began...
Ewald Sommer’s grandfather, Ignatz Sommer, started building machine heads for stringed instruments in 1911. Early on, he supplied Höfner with his products for basses, guitars, mandolins, and zithers. Once the company resettled in Bubenreuth after World War II, Höfner’s successful Beatles bass...
Pete Best grew up with a strong musical influence within his mother. She encouraged the passion and desire to bring music into the lives of Pete and the kids in Liverpool, England by opening the Casbah, a music club, below his childhood home. Despite picking up a guitar as his first instrument,...