VIA PRESS RELEASE | 12th July 2018 marks the 60th Anniversary of the first Quarrymen (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison) recordings, the starting pistol for the most important revolution in music in the 20th Century! The centre of these celebrations is an exhibition on 26th August entitled The Percy Phillips Studio Collection, which is part of the International Beatle Week giving fans the chance to experience first-hand a unique part of Liverpool’s history with the earliest recordings of The Beatles which has been overlooked for far too long.
A mock-up of the original studio will house some historic memorabilia and previously unseen (and unheard!) artefacts, and will be attended by musicians and celebrities, all to be announced in due course. For the first time, a vinyl and CD release featuring 70 tracks recorded at Percy Phillips Studio will be available to buy, signed by Percy’s grandson and featuring many tracks which have never before been made available, including rare Quarrymen material. This is an event not to be missed by Beatles fans, music fans, and those with an interest in Liverpool’s diverse cultural history.
Founded by Percy Phillips in 1955 in a small terraced house in the Kensington area of Liverpool, Phillips Sound Recording Service was the first of its kind in the city recording and cutting discs. It was here that Percy owned a record shop and created the first recording studio in Liverpool, achieving a number of firsts in the process—including cutting the first disc for The Quarrymen on 12th July 1958, John, Paul, and George later to form The Beatles.
Phillips demonstrated the first example of musique concrete in Liverpool on 28th September 1956, cut the first rock ‘n’ roll record in the city in 1957—Johnny Guitar and Paul Murphy’s “She’s Got It,” cut the first disc for Liverpool’s original rock ‘n’ roller Billy Fury and the legendary Ken Dodd in 1958, cut the first ever football pop song for Everton football club in 1963, and the city’s first public demonstration of stereo recording.
Under the auspices of Peter Phillips, Percy’s grandson, the exhibition will fully recognise for the first time, the huge range of pioneering work achieved at the studio, with personal, previously unseen photos and artefacts from throughout the studio’s existence and telling the story for one of Britain’s greatest cultural innovators. The part Percy Phillips played in the genesis of The Beatles cannot be overstated, making this a truly historic event.
