The newspaper which helped propelled The Beatles to fame is celebrating its 45th anniversary.
Bill Harry and his girlfriend Virginia founded ‘Mersey Beat’ on July 6, 1961, the newspaper credited with helping Brian Epstein discover The Beatles. In 1961, Epstein was the manager of NEMS Record store in Liverpool, and became so fascinated with the paper’s saturation coverage of The Beatles that he organised to see the band at one of their famous lunchtime shows at the Cavern.
John Lennon’s first published work appeared in the ‘Mersey Beat’, an article titled ‘Being A Short Diversion on the Dubious Origins of Beatles, Translated From the John Lennon’.
Paul McCartney was also a regular contributor, sending Bill Harry stories from the road, recounting his trip to Paris with John to celebrate John’s 21st birthday, and the Beatles’ first visit to Hamburg.
