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BERYL MARSDEN SOLO ALBUM
After 40 Years of Obscurity
2/20/04
 (LIVERPOOL DAILY
POST)—It all happened very early for singer Beryl Marsden: a professional singer by
the age of 15, singing in Hamburg at 16 and then a record deal with Decca. Beryl was going
to be a star and a star she became—but not, it must be said, a star quite as bright as many predicted.
She did tour with the Beatles, sang in a group with Rod Stewart and had her own group, the
Beryl Marsden Band. And she remains big in Europe.
But Beryl—who
was said to have the best voice in Liverpool—has
never had the full attention she deserved. Among musicians and the pop cognoscenti she is
something of a legend. But commercial success always eluded her.
Now she is preparing to release the album she has been promising herself for years. With
help from musical friends, her album One Dream is ready to hit the market.
It was in the 1960s that Beryl—born
Beryl Hogg and one of 10 children—made
her name. One day her friends pushed her on stage at an Orrell Park club where The
Undertakers were playing. The band asked her to join even though she was just 15.
When the band went to Hamburg she was too young to join them but at the age of 16 she did
sing at The Star Club in Hamburg, albeit with a 10 pm curfew and a special license. She
behaved herself very well, apart from hiding behind a piano to watch Jerry Lee Lewis
performing.
Back in Liverpool, her voice caught the attention of Brian Epstein, who wanted to sign her—but she declined. Instead she was managed by Epstein's business partner,
promoter Joe Flannery. She joined Lee Curtis and the All Stars along with ex-Beatle Pete
Best. There were several singles which got in the charts but not high enough to register.
By 17 she had a new manager, Tony Stratton-Smith, a well-known sports writer who had gone
into the music business.
 "I
probably wasn't an easy person to manage," admits Beryl. "I was a bit of a
rebel". Eventually she joined a new group Shotgun Express which featured Rod
Stewart and Mick Fleetwood among others. "It lasted about a year and a half and we
gigged nearly every night. But everyone in that band had strong personalities, so it
wasn't an easy ride."
Back in Liverpool there was more band work and then her own Beryl Marsden Band. She has
kept working on and off between marrying and bringing up a family.
Now in her 50s, she thinks the time is right for an album, amazingly her first. The eight
tracks include some originals which she has co-written—
including the title track "One Dream"—and
some old favorites like "Baby It's You" and "Will You Still Love Me
Tomorrow". It has a ballad feel with Beryl's voice sounding much younger than her
years. "I'm very excited about what's happening at the moment," she says,"
and I really enjoyed doing the album". It will be on sale at HMV in Liverpool and on
her own website (see below).
Meanwhile, she is planning some live gigs for Liverpool.
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