Who played alongside The Beatles at The Cavern Club? Interview with The Merseybeats' Tony Crane

The Merseybeats were a Liverpool band formed in the late 1950s by today's interviewee Tony Crane plus Billy Kinsley, David Elias and Frank Sloane.

The quartet's sound was significantly influenced by the American duo The Everly Brothers and, as they became teenage residents of the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962, they suddenly found themselves playing almost all days and nights of the week alongside The Beatles who had been doing their gigs at The Cavern since 1961.

The Merseybeats were managed by The Fab Four's boss Brian Epstein for around six months, and then they dumped him because he purchased nice suits for The Beatles but not for them - just to regret it to this very day.

And then they reached for the stars with the hit single It's Love That Really Counts in 1963 and they shot for the moon in 1964 with the smashing success of their million-selling single I Think Of You which scored them their first Gold record award.

After disbanding, going separate ways, changing bands, relaunching as a duo and renaming themselves and then changing again, Billy Kinsley and Tony Crane eventually reunited in 1993 and, with the addition of Bob Packham and Lou Rosenthal, they call themselves The Merseybeats again.

In this interview, Tony Crane reflects on the 1960s, The Beatles David Bowie covering his song Sorrow in 1973 and all the achievements of a lifetime in music, including being awarded an MBE?by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017.