Album This song officially appears on the Sold Out Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1975
“Liverpool Lou” was another massive hit for The Scaffold. That is linked with the recording of the McGear album.
It was. The BBC telly wanted The Scaffold to do a sketch with the actress, Rita Tushingham and Derek Guyler. They said “Can you sing the song for us? I couldn’t come up with a song. I was working with our kid and Wings in Strawberry and said “Have you got any ideas for a Scaffold song? I’m doing this telly.” He said “Oh, you wanna do Liverpool Lou.” I said “No, it is too folky, too Spinners.” He said “No, just listen to it.” It was very old and had been around for centuries in Liverpool. I had forgotten how it went and certainly didn’t know the words. I said to BBC telly people “Could you get me a song called Liverpool Lou?” They sent me two versions. One was by Dominic Beehan and the other was by Delaney and Bonnie. Scaffold tried to trad arrange ‘Liverpool Lou’ but Dominic Beehan had got to it before us and copyrighted it. He got all the writing credits and all of the money for Liverpool Lou. The other version by Delaney and Bonnie was absolute magic. Our kid heard those two opposites and said “You want to go in the middle there.” He did it, he made that song. That is just Wings with in the middle of ‘Liverpool Lou’, a 10CC gizmo. That’s the weird sound in the middle.
The Godley and Creme invention.
That’s right. It’s hard to play but I think our kid played it. Norm Yardley does the gob iron on Liverpool Lou, I was with him the other night. Nice track.
Mike McCartney / McGear – From The Strange BrewMike McGear McCartney – The Strange Brew, 2016
Scaffold’s latest single ‘Liverpool Lou’ released on May 3rd on the Warner Bros. Label. Record No. K 16400. It’s an old song, credited to Brendan Behan’s brother, Dominic. Paul produced and arranged it. In the middle there’s a gizmo solo, it’s a new instrument invented by Lol Creme and Kevin of 10CC, who partly own ‘Strawberry Studios’. There are only two gizmos in the world
From Wings Fun Club newsletter N°1, 1974
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989
With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.
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