Fascinating tale of "The Other Fab Four"

When historians consider the Beatles’ vast musical influence, they invariably highlight such touchstones as the band’s performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964 or the cultural juggernaut ignited by "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the Summer of Love. But for the Liverbirds, a pioneering British quartet, Ground Zero occurred in Liverpool’s Cavern Club in 1962. 

For 16-year-old Mary McGlory, the Liverbirds’ bassist, the sight and sound of the Beatles made for an originary moment. From her earliest days, she had planned on becoming a nun, but in one indelible evening, she saw a new future laid out before her. In "The Other Fab Four: The Remarkable True Story of the Liverbirds, Britain’s First Female Rock Band," McGlory and bandmate Sylvia Saunders have compiled a fascinating memoir that explores the liminal spaces occupied by female musicians in an often unforgiving male-dominated field.

Along with Saunders, the Liverbirds’ drummer, McGlory formed the group in 1963, rounding out the foursome with guitarists Pamela Birch and Valerie Gell. The band’s name derived from the mythical liver bird, the iconic symbol of their native Liverpool’s heritage. In short order, they became known as “the female Beatles” on the local Merseybeat music scene. When it came to finding their mettle, they stoked the fires of their ambitions after John Lennon infamously remarked that “girls” couldn’t compete when it came to electric guitar pyrotechnics.