Bill Harry
William Harry (born 17 September 1938) is the creator of Mersey Beat, a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as Biped and Premier, while at Liverpool's Junior School of Art.[1] He later attended the Liverpool College of Art, where his fellow students included John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, who both later performed with the Beatles.[2] He published a magazine, Jazz, in 1958, and worked as an assistant editor on the University of Liverpool's charity magazine, Pantosphinx.
Bill Harry
Harry met his wife-to-be, Virginia Sowry, at the Jacaranda club—managed by Allan Williams, the first manager of the Beatles—and she later agreed to help him start a music newspaper. After borrowing £50, Harry released the first issue of Mersey Beat on 6 July 1961, with the first 5,000 copies selling out within a short time. The newspaper was published every two weeks, covering the music scenes in Liverpool, Wirral, Birkenhead, New Brighton, Crosby and Southport, as well as Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn. He edited the paper in a small attic office above a wine merchant's shop at 81a Renshaw Street, Liverpool.
Harry arranged for the future Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, to see them perform a lunchtime concert at the Cavern Club on 9 November 1961. Epstein subsequently asked Harry to create a national music paper, the Music Echo. After disagreements with Epstein about editorial control, he decided to become a public relations agent, and went on to work for artists such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and the Beach Boys.
PR and present[edit]
Harry and his wife moved to London in 1966 where he was engaged as a public relations (PR) officer for the Kinks and the Hollies. During the next 18 years he was the PR to many artists, including Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, Clouds, Ten Years After, Free, Mott the Hoople, the Pretty Things, Christine Perfect, Supertramp, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Suzi Quatro and Kim Wilde.[40] During this time, Harry started a monthly magazine called Tracks,[58] which reported the latest album releases, and another magazine, Idols: 20th Century Legends,[59] which ran for 37 issues, from 1988 to 1991.[60] Harry also compiled a 34-track compilation, Mersey Beat, for Parlophone records, which was released on 31 October 1983.[61]
Harry was presented with a gold award for a "Lifetime Achievement in Music" by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 1994,[58] has taken part in over 350 international television/radio shows, and was hired by Rediffusion to be programme assistant for the documentary Beat City. He was a programme assistant for the BBC's Everyman documentary about Lennon, A Day in the Life, and for The Story of Mersey Beat. The British Council asked him to represent them in Hong Kong, promoting the Beatles.[58] Mersey Beat returned to publication in August 2009 with a 24-page special issue to celebrate the "Liverpool International Beatle Week". He was an associate producer of the film The City That Rocked the World.[62]
Harry and Virginia have a son, Sean Harry, who is an adult movie actor,[63] director, and producer.[58][64]
Harry once commented on his numerous books: "The hundreds of interviews I have conducted over the past 40 years have been utilised. I have always been a hoarder of clippings in addition to collecting magazines, fanzines, newspapers and books. I'll never tire of it."[65]