The Beatles: Made on Merseyside

Directed by Alan Byron
Omnibus Entertainment
2018
87 Minutes
United Kingdom
English
Biography, Documentary, Music
NR
play trailer
DVD
$19.95 Members
$29.95 Non-Members
Also available on:

The Beatles defined music and popular culture like no other band ever will - but how did they make the journey from Merseyside teenagers to international pop stars in the 1960s? The Beatles: Made on Merseyside recounts how American rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues dragged post-war Liverpool into one of the most vibrant music cities ever with the Mersey Sound.

Featuring unique archive and revealing interviews from those involved in the early years of The Beatles in Liverpool and Hamburg, we discover the story of The Beatles’ previous band formations and why it took so long for them to achieve success. From school bands, to colleges; Hamburg to The Cavern Club, The Beatles moved from skiffle to rock ‘n’ roll before creating their own unique sound.

Featuring newly filmed contributions from the ‘fifth Beatle’ Pete Best; Quarrymen Colin Hanton and Len Garry; Brian Epstein’s business associate Joe Flannery; The Beatles first ever secretary Freda Kelly; original Merseybeat magazine owner Bill Harry and flatmates of John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, The Beatles: Made on Merseyside charts the original music and the energy and excitement that led to the explosion of Beatlemania.

Cast

  • Pete Best
  • Len Garry
  • Tony Bramwell
  • Tony Palmer
DVD Features

Discs: 1

  • Highest Rating
    "Alan Byron's welcome addition to the canon of documentaries about the Fab Four includes fascinating, often funny, reminiscences supplied by those closest to them, including the original - sacked - drummer Pete Best and former tour manager Tony Bramwell."
    Mike Bradley, The Guardian
  • Highest Rating
    "[I]t's insights... from friends and contemporaries, especially the charismatic Pete Best, that give this doc an intimacy lacking in many of its rivals."
    Gary Rose, Radio Times
  • Highest Rating
    "This warmly diverting film is not just for Fab Four fanatics, but for anyone who recalls the start of the Sixties."
    Joe Clay, The Times
  • Highest Rating
    "Great archive footage and reminiscences from those who knew them."
    TV Times
  • Highest Rating
    "Footage from the clubs back in the early days is compellingly atmospheric."
    The Mail
  • Highest Rating
    "Anecdotes from friends and contemporaries offer evocative insights."
    Gabriel Tate, The Sunday Telegraph
  • Highest Rating
    "Alan Byron's documentary says it with warmth and insight, thanks to the input of the former bandmates who never made it into the final iteration of the Fab Four...."
    Gerard Gilbert, The Independent
  • Highest Rating
    "You’d think by now every aspect of The Beatles story had been covered and you’d be right. This is a fun documentary that told you everything you already knew. Kept watchable by those people who knew The Beatles pre-fame"
    Amos Lassen, Reviews by Amos Lassen
  • Highest Rating
    "Learning so much about these true music-industry pioneers is fascinating"
    Unreal TV
  • Highest Rating
    "a neat spin on the Beatles mythos, focusing on the band’s early, pre-record contract years...It’s not the end-all, be-all of Beatles docs, but I like that it takes a different approach from the usual efforts."
    Mike Spring, timesunion
  • Highest Rating
    "Fans of the Beatles will find this look at the group’s early years to be entertaining and edifying."
    Bob Bloom, The Film Yap

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