Thursday, January 08, 2015

RIP: RAY FALL

 Thanks for starting it all, Ray.
Ray McFall outside the Cavern Club
The Cavern Club’s legendary owner Ray McFall who first booked the Beatles has died.
Mr McFall, a legend of the British music scene, first bought the club in October 1959 from Alan Sytner and set about transforming it from a jazz club to the mecca of British rock and roll.
Buying the Cavern for the tidy sum of £2,750, Mr McFall owned and operated theMathew Street venue throughout the 60s- booking a young Ringo Star in his first band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
 
Under Mr McFall, many more legends from the Who to the Kinks performed at the Cavern, and he first booked the Beatles for a lunch-hour appearance on February 21, 1961.
The Beatles’ first evening appearance followed a month later, the beginning of 292 Cavern Club dates by August 3, 1963, earning roughly 25 shillings per performance.
(With thanks to the Liverpool Echo)

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