Everybody knows the Beatles. Their impact and relevance are undeniable and unmeasurable. Not only in the United Kingdom but in the world we know. They were the pioneers of the British invasion. That was the mid-1960s cultural phenomenon, where British rock and pop music acts became popular in the United States. Before they launched their international career into the world, they were popular in their hometown, Liverpool. The Cavern Club was their famous spot and birthplace. Liverpool in the early 1960s was the epicentre of the Merseybeat scene.
A little-known or complete unknown is the other fab four: The Liverbirds, active from 1963 to 1968. They were a part of Beatlemania, but their aim was to be like them. Not only by their costumes and hairstyles. The band is Britain’s first all-female rock band, a cover band, except for three songs written by their guitarist and vocalist, Pamela Birch. Their name was an honour of Liverpool’s mascot, the liver bird. At some point, they even bumped into no one other than Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the backstage of the Cavern Club. Lennon even said to the young ladies, “Girls don’t play guitars.”
The insulting comment did not discourage them; it became their flying force. The Liverbirds toured over England and performed with reputed 1960s British bands, such as the Kinks and the Rolling Stones. At some point, Brian Epstein became their manager. They went to Star-Club at Hamburg. In Germany they were popular and considered the female version of the Beatles. The girls were in the top charts from Germanic lands with “Diddley Daddy” cover from Bo Diddley. They played with no one other than Jimi Hendrix. They wanted to play in the United States, but the showbusiness wanted to sexualise them. The requirement was to play topless in Las Vegas. That was the reason why, they kept on the Old Continent and even came to Japan once.
Boys were not their priority. However, throughout these five years of their career, they came across the girls' plans. Marriage and children separated them. Irreplaceable presences and the discomfortable feeling of not belonging to them made them stop playing. However, their last performance was in 1998.
The vocalist and guitarist, Valerie Gell, took care of her paraplegic husband for over 26 years until his death, and relied heavily on alcohol; after her husband’s death, she got to women. The other guitarist and vocalist, Pamela Birch, never got over the end of the band; she depended significantly on drugs, especially cocaine and died from cancer. The bassist and vocalist, Mary McGlory, and the drummer, Sylvia Saunders, are still alive and happily formed their families.
Initially, they did not know how to play musical instruments, but their family supported them. The 1960s was atransitional time from housewives or pink-collar jobs to equality and sexual deliberation. However, they still suffered discrimination, as mentioned previously.
Rock culture is unquestioned sexist. Many rock lyrics portray women as classic sexual objects. The genre was almost entirely written and performed by men. Even if some of rock characteristics were unisex clothing and sexual freedom, and its origin was against conformism. There were rare cases of female singers singing songs composed by men. The Liverbirds were startling to look at in an era when girl singers were supposed to be pretty on stage. They were four tough-looking Northern girls dressed in black and playing their instruments with attitude. This machismo is reflected in Liverbirds' omission from music history and barely known trajectory. A mere local memory that can easily be forgotten. They soared for a short amount of time, enough to be forever remembered as the pioneers of a women's rock band in the United Kingdom.
John Lennon’s disdain became their impulse. Their story is the subject of the 2019 musical Girls Don’t Play Guitars, written by Ian Salmon and directed by Bob Eaton at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. In the same year, The New York Times produced a short documentary about them, We're Britain's First Female Rock Band. This is Why You Don't Know Us, which is available on YouTube.
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