http://thriftstoremusic.blogspot.com/20 ... sound.html

http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/65.html

Back in 1964, I asked my parents for a Beatle record for my 8th birthday. Mom & Dad presented me with something called The Liverpool Beats “The New Merseyside Sound Recorded Live in Britain.” B&W cover photo showed 4 gents standing around a bass drum holding guitars, with a side shadow on their faces not unlike the Meet The Beatles cover.

I don’t remember being disappointed but maybe I was somewhat, probably scarred for life, ha. But the LP did have 2 Beatle songs on it, I Want To Hold Your Hand, and I Saw Her Standing There. The other 8 songs were kind of surf rockie and a ballad or 2 with Beach Boy type harmonies. I played it to death and memorized everything. Over the years and various USAF moves, the record sadly cracked and broke in two, and was discarded, sniff, honk.

About 30 years ago, I discovered a copy available in Goldmine magazine, so I had to have it. Later that same week, I wandered into a used record store in Richmond, and found 2 more copies of it, one by the Liverpool Beats, the other by just the Beats, similar artwork and identical song titles, so I snapped them up too. Gave them a play for old times sake, they weren’t all that good, but it did bring back the memories.

I remember reading in some Beatle books that this LP was mentioned in the same breath as other Beatle copy bands from the mid-60s, but no other info was available. The question was: who were these guys? Were they Brits or Americans? Or Germans even? One of them even looked like Moe Howard, chief headknocker of the 3 Stooges. Internet searches were made, nothing turned up. No one knew who these guys were, perhaps we’d never find out. I gave up, for the time being.

After a multiyear cooling off period, yesterday I decided to take another whack at it. Bingo! It turns out these boys were indeed Brits, and they released this same material in England under the band guise of Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots. Not just the original album, but a followup as well, with a few more Beatle tunes.

Turns out this guy’s name was actually Bill Shepherd. He had served in the RAF, worked as a journalist, decided to become a professional singer. He formed various groups, got work in radio and television, had his own chorus and orchestra, arranged and conducted for loads of artists including Petula Clark in the late 50s. Cut his own records on the Pye label, had his own radio show on the BBC. Released EPs on colored vinyl in 1962.

Then in 1963-64, he and friend Jimmy Fraser perpetrated two Beatles / beat group cash-in albums as Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots, titled Merseymania and More Merseymania. Outside of the few Lennon-McCartney songs, Bill wrote most of the rest of them, and he and Jimmy sang them supported by a Beatles type rock band of hired musicians. Bill released one more non-Pepper album and then departed to Australia, where he hooked up with a group of 3 Gibb brothers !

In 1965 he produced several records for the pre-fame Bee Gees, starting with “Wine and Women” and the b-side “Follow The Wind”, and talked the record label into releasing them as a single, which they did. The success and Bill’s influence got the label to release an album of 5 new songs along with existing Bee Gees recordings.

Bill left them in 1966, but met back up with them in England in 1967, and was their musical director up to 1972.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten on Bill for now, but at least we now know who were The Liverpool Beats…

P.S. The US versions of the albums (The Liverpool Beats / The Beats) had 2 different front covers, 2 different back covers, and were released in both mono and stereo.

P.P.S. The internet is rife with rumors about there being a link between Billy Pepper and Sgt. Pepper, and Billy Pepper and Paul's replacement after he 'died' in that car crash, and Lou Reed being involved as he had something to do with the Pickwick label back in the 60s, US parent label of these recordings. All these rumors appear to be without merit and cranberry sauce...

I wonder if Fraxon has any of these in his collection…

Awesome information! My first LP. THANK YOU!!

Found 2 more songs by The Liverpool Beats / Billy Pepper and the Pepperpots, Your Kind of Love and There I Go:

http://www.spinthegroove.com/2011/02/bi ... nd-of.html

Interesting bit of rock history. Thanks for sharing.

Eubie welcome George & Jimbo !

Found Bill Shepherd listed on AMG as a recording artist under his own name, with more bio info and limited discography. They say he was the 'George Martin' of the Bee Gees:

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bill-she ... /biography