The Merseys

The Merseys are a spin-off of The Merseybeats, a band that emerged from the Liverpool scene in the early 1960s, performing at The Cavern Club along with The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers and other similar artists. After the initial success of The Merseybeats had waned, the band folded, and in 1966 founding members Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley formed a vocal duo called The Merseys. They had a major hit with their first single Sorrow, which became a Sixties classic and has since been covered by many other artists (although it was itself a cover, having previously been a B-side by The McCoys). A line from this song is included in The Beatles' song It's All Too Much, released in 1969 on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album. David Bowie recorded a single version in 1973 which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart. The duo split in 1968, with Crane and Kinsley both going on to front a number of other bands. During the 1970s Crane continued to tour and perform live as Tony Crane and the Merseybeats, with various line-ups. Under the banner Liverpool Express, Kinsley returned to the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1976, with the Top 20 single You Are My Love. This group enjoyed moderate chart success for the next couple of years. Kinsley and Crane re-formed The Merseybeats in 1993, and after celebrating 45 years in the music business in 2006, they still continue to tour and perform live on the successful "Sixties circuit," and at venues in the UK and across Europe. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.