Posted 3 years ago
BeatleJim55
(173 items)
Here is a piece of the stage from the Litherland Town Hall Ballroom in Liverpool. It was here on December 27, 1960, that The Beatles...John , Paul, George, Pete Best,...and newly recruited bass player, Chas Newby...(he was with the band in December 1960. He was on Xmas break from college)...played a show that is now considered the beginning of "Beatlemania". Back from 3 months of grueling performances in Hamburg Germany...(bass player Stu Sutcliffe remained in Hamburg)...the curtains opened, and the 5 man Beatles tore into "Long Tall Sally". The crowd was stunned...and instead of dancing...they all rushed to the stage to watch! 500 hours of shows in Hamburg had turned The Beatles into an absolute rock'n'roll powerhouse! Even though they would experience numerous bumps along the road...The Beatles never looked back after this night! The Beatles played at Litherland 20 times...with their last gig being on November 9, 1961. Newby is a retired mathematics teacher living in Warwickshire England. During renovations to the building...starting in 2004, the stage was removed, and the town hall was converted into a medical center.
BeatleJim55, Very cool. :-)
*snip*
Suddenly we were a wow. Mind you, 70% of the audience thought we were a German wow, but we didn’t care about that. Even in Liverpool, people didn’t know we were from Liverpool. They thought we were from Hamburg. They said, ‘Christ, they speak good English!’ which we did, of course, being English.
*snip*
https://www.beatlesbible.com/1960/12/27/live-litherland-town-hall-liverpool/
Yeah,....Neil Aspinall had made posters saying: "Direct From Hamburg!" for this gig. Most people didn't remember The Beatles before they left for Hamburg in August 1960. They were just one of dozens of bands kicking around Liverpool. But...when they returned to Liverpool after being deported from Hamburg in late 1960...music fans soon discovered that they had developed into the best rock'n'roll band in the city.
A picture of Litherland Town Hall in 1998:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_x74_mcti368/TRtivaihrTI/AAAAAAAAAzI/7rhvBmarlJ4/s1600/Litherland+Town+Hall+1.jpg
http://beatlesplus50.blogspot.com/2010/12/litherland-town-hall-remember.html
Google Street View May 2015:
Litherland Town Hall Health Centre
Hatton Hill Rd, Litherland, Liverpool L21 9JN, United Kingdom
https://goo.gl/maps/oA8m62rxGuNjcgRv8
Wow, Neil Aspinall. There's a blast from the past. :-)
BeatleJim55, Sorry for going off on a bit of a tangent here, but the Litherland Town Hall intrigues me, because the building survives, although much altered:
Litherland Town Hall Health Centre
Hatton Hill Rd, Litherland, Liverpool L21 9JN, United
https://goo.gl/maps/rtF2xxjMyJxDuieE7
I was wondering whether the building was originally more symmetrical, with two similar-looking entrances on opposite sides.
No confirmation as yet, but I do think it possible that the surviving entrance off of Hatton Hill Road with the semi-circular driveway might have housed the ticket office back in the ballroom days, because of this tidbit:
*snip*
3 – Litherland NHS Walk in Centre
When I was younger; this building was Litherland Town Hall, however now it is a NHS walk in centre. The Town Hall had a Ball Room, and in the Hatton Hill entrance (photographed), I have been told that there was a small room and window that people would go to where would pay their rent on council houses.
*snip*
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iM_ndlPCE7M/TQFxfmhkrII/AAAAAAAAAUc/X8sMQkbdhW4/s1600/3%2BLitherland%2BHealth%2BCentre1.jpg
http://sarahsmithphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/archives.html
*snip*
Chris and Donna at Litherland Town Hall
The Beatles and other Merseyside groups played here and it is said to have been where "Beatlemania" really started to take off. This is also were Beatles guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe was beaten up.
*snip*
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophertgeorge/2061354038/
*snip*
The Thursday night queue for the Litherland Town Hall.
*snip*
http://www.merseybeatnostalgia.co.uk/assets/images/Litherland_1.jpg
http://www.merseybeatnostalgia.co.uk/html/photographs.html
Here's a another wooden keepsake from Litherland:
*snip*
Part of Litherland Town Hall stage auctioned off in 2016.
*snip*
https://postlmg.cc/qNq5HbfB
https://www.bootlehistory.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35377