LIVERBIRDS

'Our Life In Britain's First Female Rock 'n' roll Band', this is the story of the 'Fab Four' we did not know. 'In Liverpool everybody wanted to be in a band. On every street corner and in every cellar there were young fellas practising with guitars. But it was rare to see any girls on the new Merseybeat scene. It was inevitable that we would find each other?' Mary, Sylvia, Valerie and Pamela - also known as The Liverbirds - played at an early gig and backstage at the Cavern Club, a young John Lennon told them that 'girls don't play guitars'. But they took that as a challenge and despite the early scepticism won over tough crowds, toured stadiums, recorded two hit albums, and played with the Kinks, Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry - all in the space of just five years. Now the surviving two members of the band tell their incredible story for the first time, capturing a lost era of liberation and music, and told with a ton of Liverpudlian grit, good sense and wry humour. And like the Beatles they achieved success in Germany where they were a top attraction at the Star-Club in Hamburg and reached no.5 in the German charts having declined Brian Epstein's offer. 306pp, colour and archive photos.