The Cavern at 60: How it all began...over a pint in The Grapes
BBC documentary traces the world famous club's brilliant history
A TV documentary celebrating 60 years of The Cavern reveals how its founder hatched his plan to open it over a lunchtime pint in The Grapes pub further along Mathew Street. The Cavern: The Most Famous Club In The World, which is presented by Ted Robbins, can be seen on Friday evening at 7.30pm on BBC1.
And Peter Morris, a friend of its founder, the late Alan Sytner, recalled a crucial day in 1956, when he, Alan and two other friends met up in Mathew Street.
He told the programme: “We used to meet up in The Grapes and he said ‘Do you know I was in Paris and there was a jazz club there which opened early in the evening, so people came straight from work. We should have a place like that and we could even open at lunchtime. I’d love to find a place, like a basement or something’.”
Its music policy changed over time, and The Beatles played the Cavern 292 times between February 9, 1960 - 57 years ago today - and August 3, 1963.
Tomorrow’s documentary features lots of archive footage and interviews with a variety of people with connections to The Cavern – from artists who played there to the many individuals who helped shape its development into a global brand, as well as fans who visited the club over the years, and continue to do so today.
By: Paddy Sheenan
Source: The Liverpool Echo
