A new exhibition to be launched at International Beatle Week on 26th August will once again see the old adversaries, Everton and Liverpool FC, go head-to-head in an entirely different game of one-upmanship. The Percy Phillips Studio Collection will chart Percy’s pioneering work changed the musical landscape around the world, with recordings ranging from The Quarrymen to Ken Dodd to some ground-breaking football records from the city.
Amongst the treasures unearthed, both on display and available on CD and vinyl at the event, is the world’s first ever recorded football pop song, Everton’s E-V-E-R-T-O-N released in 1963. (picture above) Meanwhile, Liverpool fans can look forward to no fewer than three rare discs, one of which features highlights from the notorious FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Leeds in 1965!
A mock-up of the original studio will house some historic memorabilia and previously unseen (and unheard!) artefacts and will be attended by musicians and celebrities, all to be announced in due course. For the first time, a vinyl and CD release featuring 70 tracks recorded at Percy Phillips Studio will be available to buy, signed by Percy’s grandson with tracks some of which have never before been made available.
This is an event not to be missed by Beatles fans, music fans and those with an interest in Liverpool’s diverse cultural history.
Founded by Percy Phillips in 1955 in a small terraced house in the Kensington area of Liverpool, Phillips Sound Recording Service was the first of its kind in the city recording and cutting discs. It was here that Percy owned a record shop and created the first recording studio in Liverpool, achieving a number of firsts in the process:
Cut the first disc for The Quarrymen in July 1958, John, Paul and George later to form The Beatles
- Demonstrated the first example of musique concrete in Liverpool on 28thSeptember 1956
- Cut the first rock n roll record in the city in 1957 – Johnny Guitar and Paul Murphy’s – She’s Got It
- Cut the first disc for Liverpool’s original rock n roller, Billy Fury, and the legendary Ken Dodd in 1958.
- Cut the first ever football pop song for Everton football club in 1963
- The city’s first public demonstration of stereo recording
12th July 2018 marked the 60th Anniversary of the first Quarrymen recordings, the starting pistol for the most important revolution in music in the 20th Century.
The centre of these celebrations is an exhibition on 26th August entitled The Percy Phillips Studio Collection, which is part of the International Beatle Week giving fans the chance to experience first-hand a unique part of Liverpool’s history which has been overlooked for far too long.
Percy’s pioneering work changed the musical landscape around the world and offers a unique cultural and social history of post-war Britain, with recordings which offer a fascinating insight into the lives of ordinary people achieving often extraordinary things.
On Saturday 12th July 1958, The Quarrymen, who would later become The Beatles, made their way to the Kensington area of Liverpool to visit Phillips Sound Recording Service so they could cut a record of their groups music.
A half our later, and after paying the studio fee, the group walked away with their first ever record, a ten inch 78RPM aluminium and acetate disc with the Kensington label, “recorded by PF Phillips’ and instructions to “Play with a lightweight pickup”.
Later, Paul McCartney wrote on the label for side one, ‘That’ll Be The Day, Holly, Petty’ and on side two, ‘In Spite Of All The Danger, McCartney, Harrison’, giving George credit because he had played the guitar solo.
Paul McCartney remembers what happened next to their first record:
‘When we got the record, the agreement was that we would have it for a week each. John had it a week and passed it on to me. I had it for a week and passed it on to George, who had it for a week. Then Colin had it for a week and passed it to Duff Lowe – who kept it for 23 years.’
Paul McCartney bought the disc from John Duff Lowe in 1981 and now has the disc in his record collection. This amazing Beatles artefact is said to be the most valuable record in the world.
The Launch: Percy Phillips Studio Collection will be at the Empire Room, Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool on 26th August
The CDs and Vinyl along with other commemorative things can be bought from the Percy Phillips shop