LIVERPOOL , Thursday 20th March 2008.
I was invited to the home of Dave and June Williams , my good Buddy friends who live in
Great Sutton , Ellesmere Port , Liverpool .
We were meeting up with others to join in celebrating Buddy Holly's appearance in
Liverpool on Thursday 20th March 1958 , exactly 50 years to the day .
Buddy's widow , Maria Elena , came over from the USA ,
also Tommy Allsup and Johnny Rogers .
On the Wednesday evening we all went to Huyton Conservative Club ,
where 1 or 2 support acts and Liverpool '60s band , The Black Knights ,
appeared along with Tommy Allsup and Johnny Rogers .
Thursday we went sightseeing around Liverpool , saw the city centre ,
the Anglican cathedral , the docks , Matthew Street , Anfield , Goodison Park
and Port Sunlight , and then on to the concert that evening in
The Phillharmonic Hall ,Hope Street , Liverpool .
Friday , some people went home , but Dave very kindly took me to see all
the Beatles related sights .
It was so good , my thanks to him and June .
At Huyton Conservative Club .
I'd just arrived in Liverpool , and met up with
good friend Dave Slater ("The Headmaster").
Dave and I first met in 1999 at Clearlake , and
he booked my full Buddy Holly show for his
Golf Club in Redditch .
Dave is living the dream , and has just recorded
a CD in Nashville with Tommy Alsupp .
We met up again in Clearlake 2009 .
Huyton Conservative Club ,
Tommy Allsup and
Johnny Rogers , with bass
and drums from
The Black Knights .
Standing outside the original entrance
to The Cavern Club on Matthew Street
The old club is no longer in existence
and a replica has since been built
next door .
On stage at The Cavern Club - pity it's
not live !!
Not much room up here for a 4 piece band
with all their amps and drums etc , it must have
been a right squash !
On the wall behind me are the names of all the
Liverpool bands who performed here ,
including my mate Dave's band ,
The Jaywalkers .
Once again meeting up with friends outside
the new Cavern Club .
From left to right - Clive Harvey , me ,
Dave Williams and Denise and Ian Higham .
Again outside the entrance to the
Cavern Club
in Matthew Street , Denise , Ian ,
Clive and me .
The Philharmonic Hall , Hope Street ,
Liverpool .
Paul McCartney's "Liverpool Academy
of Performing Arts" is also on Hope
Street ,
and opposite the Phil is a fabulous old
pub restaurant of the same name .
The entrance to the Philharmonic Pub
and Restaurant , just over the road
from the Philharmonic Hall .
If you think the entrance looks ornate ,
you should see the inside , it's a
beautiful old place !
Ladies come from far and wide to be
photographed in the gents loo , due to
the ornate patterned tiling in there !
Me , Clive , Ian and Denise , on Hope
Street , with the Roman Catholic
cathedral facing us at the end of the
street .
At the other end of the street is the
Anglican Cathedral , which we visited
before lunch .
It is truly a stunning building ,
beautiful inside .
Cheers !
We are in the Philharmonic pub .
Went in for a good pint , a warm up and
some lunch .
Here with Ian Higham
( my flight partner Feb 2004 ) ,
me and my good old mate Clive Harvey .
This is Kevin Montgomery , who was on
tour in the UK and showed up on the night .
His dad Bob was with Buddy
pre - Crickets .
Their duo of course was Buddy and Bob ,
and together they wrote "Heartbeat"
At the sound check in
The Phill in the afternoon .
With Buddy’s widow , Maria Elena
This picture speaks for itself ,
Penny Lane of course !
At the other end of Penny Lane is the
"barber shop" (Tony Slavin's) mentioned in
the lyrics of the song .
On our tour around Beatles sites ,
Dave said to me -
"Let me take you down , cos I'm going to ,
Strawberry Fields" .
Outside John Lennon's house where he grew
up with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George .
Note the blue plaque on the front of the house
,the house is now owned by
The National Trust .
Strawberry Field is just up the road and
around the corner , less than 5 minutes walk .
This is St Peter's Church graveyard .
Just to the right of me is the
gravestone of Eleanor Rigby .
This is St Peter's Church Hall , just across
the road from the church .
The Quarrymen (John Lennon's first band)
had played the afternoon at the
Church Fete and then they went across
the road to the hall to play for the evening
function where a mutual friend first
introduced Paul McCartney to John Lennon
here in this building on July 6th 1957 .
The story of this fateful first meeting is told
on the plaque on the wall behind me .
Dave and June , with their friend
Sheila , took me out to Liverpool's
"John Lennon Airport " .
We saw this amazing bronze statue of John Winston Lennon , such a stunning work of art !
Outside Paul McCartney's house ,
20 Forthlin Road , Liverpool ,
roughly one mile from
John Lennon's house .
JAMES BURTON Concert in LIVERPOOL , November 2010
In November 2010 I was lucky enough to
get to see guitar legend James Burton
in the Floral Pavilion, New Brighton just
over the Mersey from Liverpool .
I went with my buddies , L to R in foto :
Clive , Me , Dave , Gavin and Mike .
The Floral Pavilion ,
New Brighton .
James did several sets from his career with Ricky Nelson , Elvis in Vegas and his
country recordings .
Local artistes provided back up and the result was a great night of rock'n'roll music .