Welcome to fab4southport .com
This website has been 45 years in the making !!! OK I know the internet's not been going THAT long but thanks to it's invention AND the tireless efforts of countless Beatles fans/researchers over the years, the full story of The Beatles is almost complete. However, every day it seems yet another "previously unseen/unheard" recording turns up out of the blue which takes us all by surprise - and there's probably more out there, somewhere!

At first glance you may think that this website is ENTIRELY about The Beatles and their appearances in Southport ... well, you're almost right ... The main focus of the website IS indeed about The Beatles and the surprising number of times they played live in Southport. But, in order to give a full picture of those wonderful "Swinging 60s", it would be criminal not to mention all the other top acts that also graced the boards in my home town.

There's a complete list of all the known Southport venues The Beatles played, with original and recent photographs - showing various signs of decay or absenteeism in most cases(!) - along with Newspaper Adverts, Tickets, Handbills/Flyers, Posters, Newspaper Articles and some rare Unpublished Photographs. Simply because I could, I thought it would also be nice to include a complete list of EVERY Beatles concert. This took some doing, and there's still a number of conflicts, but it's pretty comprehensive. I've also just started to compile a list of the other big name acts that appeared in Southport in the 50s and 60s - including the likes of The Who, The Rolling Stones and, believe it or not, Pink Floyd who appeared live at The Moulin Rouge in Ainsdale in 1967!!! - but details for these are sketchy to say the least, but it's a start ... any more contributions gratefully received!

Assuming I still have enough space on my site (!) I will be adding loads more rare memorabilia on The Beatles' concerts from around the world and also some non-Beatles bits and bobs on other acts which (if for no other reason than it's the time-served printer/compositor/designer in me) have some stunning artwork and deserve a wider audience.

Just about got my head around a bit of "html" and the links I've included APPEAR to work(!) but, such is the size/scope of what I've created and there being no apparent "end" to the subject, will probably mean the site will remain constantly "under construction" for some considerable time as there will (hopefully) be more and more contributions, so keep calling back - please!

By way of a bonus, especially to the "locals", I've added some old photos of SOUTHPORT FC in action from back in the 60s. Should stir a few memories! There's even a newspaper photograph of some the 13,000(!) fans that attended Haig Ave for the Runcord FA Cup match in 1967 and, guess who's in the front of the picture ... little old me!!!  My first game at Haig Avenue!!! Yep, 1967, that's how long I've been willing them on (but they never seem to get there!) but the die-hard 1,000+ regulars will never let them down - they'll be there whatever fate has to throw at them!

Apologies for the long-winded intro page ... I suppose this SHOULD go elsewhere in a "blog" (whatever one of those is!) but, as I keep changing this front page virtually every day, don't be surprised if this waffle disappears and a new "home" page replaces it. I'll get it right one day! In the meantime ... enjoy the story so far ...

If you have any more information on The Beatles (and others) in Southport back in the 60s please get in touch as I would like to make this venture as comprehensive as possible

Rod Bleackley

Who's Mystery Man ???

Unless I've very much mistaken (which is always a distinct possibility!) and my eyes are not playing tricks on me, I seem to recall this chap riding around Southport in the 1960s on his adult three-wheeler bike, much (I'm now sorry to say) to accompanying ridicule from me and my fellow school chums - but then kids will be kids, and he did look a bit strange to us at that age. However, as I grew up (thankfully) I bumped into him on numerous occasions back then and came to get to know him (without actually speaking that is)
 
I'd love to hear from anyone that knew him, or knew of him, friends or relatives, and possibly let me know a little bit of background on him. And, hopefully, someone can let me know how on earth he managed to get on the front row of The Beatles concert at the Floral Hall??? Absolutely packed to the rafters with hundreds of screaming females (and the odd male here and there), the Fab Four belting out rock'n'roll at a deafening level and he's there, on the front row, disability an' all ... how? why?
 
Tell me more!!!
 
Fairport Convention & Steeleye Span - Live on the Beach !!!
 
Just found some old b/w photographs I took of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span when they appeared LIVE on the sandhills near Ainsdale Lido in the early '70s. I know they're nothing to do with The Beatles really, but they're included here merely for the Southport connection, as I'm sure visitors to this website may well have been there. Plus it almost qualifies on the '60s category too (only missing out by a year and a bit), and it is a rather unusual event/venue to say the least. They're a bit distant but you can just about make out who's who ...
 

This was actually a free concert announced on Granada TV the previous evening ... quite why they chose Ainsdale sandhills for the show still has me baffled ... and I think Granada were expecting a few hundred die-hard fans to attend, but thousands turned up, me and my mates included ... we weren't really fans of either but the chance of seeing them for free AND the chance of getting on the telly was too good to miss ... we got bored and went off to play footie!!!

Granada filmed the show for use in their half-hour TV programme "Out Front", directed by the late Dave Warwick, and was broadcast on 13th July 1971. Unfortunately the master tape for this show has met the same fate as other similar "classic" recordings/events of the period - wiped, presumed missing!!! I suppose there's a very slight possibility that someone, somewhere, somehow, has a copy of the show, but I doubt it.

That being the case, these photographs could well be the only photographic record of the event to survive, always assuming that nobody else took a camera AND kept the photos all these years!!! The negatives are somewhere(!) in the house but not a clue where. Thankfully I still have the four original prints which are (obviously) much better/clearer than these low-res ones used here.

 
 
COPYRIGHT: The images and/or text within this website are hereby claimed/recorded as Copyright "fab4southport.com" 25-09-08, however, where copyright exist with another KNOWN party, the copyright/usage has been requested and/or accreditation given. I cannot guarantee that all information contained in this website is 100% accurate - but it's close! If you wish to use anything from this site please do, but a mention of me and/or my website would be appreciated. No monetary gain is sought by the website's production, hence no advertising, it is created solely with the intention of providing Beatles fans and researchers worldwide with an enjoyable, informative and hopefully complete account of The Beatles (and others) appearances in Southport.