Liverpool the home of the BEATLES
Liverpool is not a pool of liver
as the name suggests, but the name has an interesting background to it.
The name Liverpool was derived from the original mile-long inlet from
the River Mersey called the “Pool,” which once existed there. The term
“Liver” as believed by certain people refer to the Old English word
“Liefer” which implies “thick,” referring to the muddy land which
surrounded the pool. Another explanation pertains to the word “Lithe,”
which is an Old Danish word signifying an inlet by a marsh.
 In other words, the city’s origin lies in the fact that it originated
from a muddy inlet on the Mersey. The place was first called “Liuepul”
in the year 1192 by John, Count of Mortain, (later King John) to whom
the lands of Liverpool were granted. Liverpool received a charter from
King John in 1207.
The popularity of The Beatles and the other groups from the
Merseybeat era contributes to Liverpool’s status as a tourist
destination; tourism forms a significant part of the city’s modern
economy.
Liverpool is also home to the Liverpool College of Art which John
Lennon joined in 1960 and his school friends had left Paul McCartney’s
former group, The Quarrymen. Lennon began studies at the Liverpool
College of Art and the three guitarists were playing rock and roll
whenever they could get a drummer. Joining as bass in January, Lennon’s
fellow student Stuart Sutcliffe suggested changing the band name to “The
Beetles” as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and they became
“The Beatals” for the first few months of the year.
After trying other names including “Johnny and the Moondogs”, “Long
John and The Beetles” and “The Silver Beatles”, the band finally became
“The Beatles” in August.
In 1975 Clive Langer, Steve Allen, Tim Whittaker, Sam Davis, Steve
Lindsey, John Wood and Roy Holt a mix of Fine Art students and tutors at
the college founded seminal ‘art rock’ band Deaf School and went on to
sign a record deal with Warner Bros Records US after being ‘discovered’
by former Beatles publicist and head of Warner Bros UK at the time,
Derek Taylor. Deaf School is acknowledged as catalysts of the post
Beatles musical revival in the city.
Today, Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside,
England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as
a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. Liverpool is the
fourth largest city in the United Kingdom (third largest in England) and
has a population of 435,500, and lies at the centre of the wider
Liverpool Urban Area, which has a population of 816,216.
The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the
European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in
2008. Several areas of the city centre were granted World Heritage Site
status by UNESCO in 2004. Referred to as the Liverpool Maritime
Mercantile City, the site comprises six separate locations in the city
including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street and
includes many of the city’s most famous landmarks. |
