VA - She Came From Liverpool! Merseyside Girl Pop 1962-1968 (2019)

Over the last few years Ace has built up a series of prime British female pop releases, with individual collections drawn from four of the country's leading record companies of the 1960s: Decca, Pye, EMI and, most recently, Philips. With this latest compilation, rather than spotlight a particular company, the focus is on a location: the music hotbed of Merseyside. While male beat groups ruled the Merseyside roost in the 60s, the area was also home to its fair share of female talent. To illustrate the point, here are 25 hand-picked girl-pop artefacts from thereabouts. Liverpool's pop queen Cilla Black is featured with her two most Merseybeat-oriented tracks, including a terrific version of A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues, the first song she ever recorded at Abbey Road. Guitar-toting cover girls the Liverbirds, who released no records in the UK but were stars in Germany where their repertoire of Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry numbers made them favourites at the Star-Club also appear twice. The Breakaways, the Vernons Girls and Beryl Marsden three other acts intrinsically associated with Liverpool are also featured. Along with a selection of proven fan favourites, the collection contains many lesser-known gems, among them new-to-CD tracks by the Three Bells, Nola York, Tiffany, Lyn Cornell, Cindy Cole and, not least, Samantha Jones, whose hitherto-unreleased-in-any-format I Don't Want To Lose Him was recorded with visiting American producer Teddy Randazzo. Read all about these and the other featured artists in the accompanying picture-packed 28-page booklet, which contains a 7,000-word note by compiler Mick Patrick and genre expert Ian Chapman.

1. Cilla Black - Love Of The Loved (2:02)
2. The Liverbirds - Long Tall Shorty (3:26)
3. Beryl Marsden - Everybody Loves a Lover (2:23)
4. Jeannie & The Big Guys - I Want You (2:30)
5. Tiffany With The Thoughts - Baby Don't Look Down (2:13)
6. The Three Bells - Someone to Love (2:35)
7. Beryl Marsden - What's She Got (That I Ain't Got) (2:35)
8. The Vernons Girls - Only You Can Do It (2:36)
9. The Breakaways - That Boy Of Mine (2:07)
10. Glenda Collins - Something I've Got to Tell You (2:46)
11. Nola York - I Don't Understand (2:17)
12. Samantha Jones - Just for Him (1:56)
13. Tiffany - Am I Dreaming (2:31)
14. Jacki Martin - Till He Tells Me (2:09)
15. Cilla Black - A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues (1:47)
16. Jeannie & The Big Guys - Sticks And Stones (2:11)
17. The Liverbirds - Why Do You Hang Around Me (2:22)
18. Samantha Jones - I Don't Want To Be The One (2:25)
19. Lyn Cornell - Sally Go Round The Roses (3:01)
20. The De Laine Sisters - Puppet On a String (1:42)
21. The Sharades - Dumb Head (2:01)
22. The Vernons Girls - Lover Please (2:07)
23. Cindy Cole - Just Being Your Baby (Turns Me On) (2:20)
24. The Satin Bells - Baby, You're So Right for Me (2:28)
25. Sandy Edmonds - Come See Me (2:31)