'Echoes from
Liverpool' - a fabulous CD souvenir of 2008 - Liverpool's special year - A
great helping of Scouse!
The MerseyWreckers
The Mersey Wreckers
get their name from the gangs of land based smugglers who, in the 16th
and 17th century, lured ships onto the rocks and sandbanks at the mouth
of the Mersey using lanterns on donkeys and beacons. The ships wrecked
off Wallasey and New Brighton were then plundered and their cargoes
stolen. Often sailors were drowned or murdered but that did not deter
the wreckers.
The plunder was
taken through secret paths over Bidston Moss to Samuel Walker's pub and
either sold or traded for food and drink. The wreckers also used
tunnels, many still in existence, which run from the Red Noses Rocks in
New Brighton to the site of Old Mother Redcap's Café in Egremont.
The Mersey Wreckers,
originally formed in 1964 as The Wreckers Folk Group, perform a mixture of
traditional and modern folk songs and middle of the road music.
Lol, Steve, Dave and Trevor played all over the UK at theatres, pubs, clubs,
festivals and private functions and two years ago decided to put some of
their favourite material down on CD. This CD was distributed privately and
may be re-released at a future date if there is sufficient demand.
Click to Enlarge
Soon after they
completed their first CD, Liverpool was designated as European city of
culture for 2008 and the band realised that there was a wealth of Liverpool
music that would fit into plans for the 2008 Year of Culture. They began
recording a collection of some of the most popular local songs, many of
which tell of Liverpool's long tradition as a seaport. Tragically Trevor,
the band's main instrumentalist, developed aggressive leukaemia early in
2005 and died in August of the same year at the age of just 57.
Lol, Dave & Steve decided to continue with the 2008 project as a tribute to
Trevor and to support leukaemia research and
local charities from the sale of the CD.
