David Bowie included “Sorrow” on Pinups, his 1973 collection of 60s covers, and the Beatles slipped a line from it into “It’s All Too Much” on their Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Under that moniker, they’re best known for “Sorrow,” their hit version of an obscure track from the McCoys (who are themselves known for “Hang on Sloopy”). The group disbanded by the mid-60s but enjoyed a second life starting in 1966 when cofounders Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley reformed as a duo called the Merseys with backup that included Badfinger’s Joey Molland. Later hits include “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” the same song that scored stateside for Dusty Springfield “Don’t Turn Around” and “Mister Moonlight,” where they sound a lot like the early Beatles, who also covered that composition. hits, such as 1963’s “It’s Love That Really Counts” and 1964’s “I Think of You,” both catchy pop numbers featuring excellent vocal harmony work that recalls Peter & Gordon and Chad & Jeremy. Like the Beatles and other well-known groups, the Merseybeats played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and scored multiple U.K. Still, if you want to fully understand the Merseybeat scene (named for 1960s rock bands around Liverpool and the River Mersey), you need a taste of the outfit that actually bears that name. While such contemporaries as the Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Troggs, and of course the Beatles took America by storm, the Merseybeats’ music rarely even aired in the U.S., much less invaded.
![albert collins live at the el macombo 1973 albert collins live at the el macombo 1973](https://imagescdn.juno.co.uk/full/CS636653-01A-BIG.jpg)
The Merseybeats-a rock group that formed in Liverpool, England, in the early 1960s-were very much a part of the scene that led to the British Invasion, but for whatever reason, they weren’t part of the Invasion itself.