TheLiverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets fromLiverpool, England, influenced by 1950sBeat poetry.
Their work is characterised by its directness of expression, simplicity of language, suitability for live performance and concern for contemporary subjects and references. There is often humour, but the full range of human experience and emotion is addressed.
The kids didn't see this poetry with a capital p, they understood it as modern entertainment, as part of the pop-movement. (Roger McGough)
The poets most commonly associated with this label areAdrian Henri,Roger McGough andBrian Patten. They were featured in a 1967 bookThe Liverpool Scene edited byEdward Lucie-Smith, with a blurb by Ginsberg and published by Donald Carroll.
Although he was born inSussex,Adrian Mitchell shared many of the concerns of the Liverpool poets and is often linked with them in critical discussion.
Other related poets include the LondonerPete Brown (who wrote lyrics forCream),Pete Morgan and Alan Jackson (both associated with the 1960sEdinburgh poetry scene),Tom Pickard andBarry MacSweeney (both fromNewcastle),Spike Hawkins,Jim Bennett, Heather Holden, Mike Evans, Pete Roche andHenry Graham.
The poets generally came from a working-class background and went to art college rather than university. There was a strong allegiance with pop music, and the values and effectiveness of that in reaching out to a wide audience informed the poetry. Readings took place in a pub or club environment.
The anthologyThe Mersey Sound was published by Penguin in 1967, containing the poems of Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten, and has remained in print ever since, selling in excess of 500,000 copies. It brought the three poets to "considerable acclaim and critical fame",[1] and has been widely influential. In 2002 they were given the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.
The Liverpool Scene was a poetry band, which includedAdrian Henri,Andy Roberts, Mike Evans,Mike Hart,Percy Jones andBrian Dodson. It grew out of the success ofThe Incredible New Liverpool Scene, a CBS LP featuring Henri and McGough reading their work, with accompaniment by the guitarist Roberts. Liverpool DJJohn Peel, who was then working on the pirate radio stationRadio London, picked up on the LP and featured it on his influential late-nightPerfumed Garden show. After Radio London closed down, Peel visited Liverpool and met the band; as a consequence, they were featured in session on his BBCTop Gear andNight Ride shows, and in 1968 he produced their first LP.[2] Four LPs were issued with Henri's poetry heavily featured.
Despite Peel's support the albums achieved little success, although the band did become popular on the UK university and college circuit. Their public performances includeda 1969 tour when they opened forLed Zeppelin; they also toured the US but did not attract much acclaim from US critics and audiences. Henri was described in performance as "bouncing thunderously and at risk to audience and fellow performers, the stage vibrating out of rhythm beneath him."[3]
The albums were:
There were at least three "best of" albums and a single "Love Is" / "Woo-Woo".
The best-known band to emerge wasThe Scaffold (1963–1974), which featuredJohn Gorman,Mike McCartney (brother ofPaul McCartney) and Roger McGough. InitiallyAdrian Henri was a member, when they were known asThe Liverpool, One Fat Lady, All Electric Show. ("One Fat Lady" is thebingo term for 8, and they mostly lived in the Liverpool 8 district.)
In January 1968Thank U Very Much (sung with a Liverpool accent) reached number 4 in the charts. A year laterLily the Pink reached number 1.Ringo Starr's bass drum was used; also featured wereJack Bruce fromCream,Graham Nash fromThe Hollies and Reg Dwight, later renaming himselfElton John. Both hits were in the spirit of cheery and humorous drinking songs.
A touring and recording ensemble,Grimms (1971–76), contained an ever-changing cast ofAdrian Henri,Brian Patten, Roger McGough, John Gorman,Mike McGear (McCartney),George "Zoot" Money,Neil Innes,Vivian Stanshall, Michael Giles,Kate Robbins, John Megginson,Andy Roberts, David Richards,Peter "Ollie" Halsall, Norman Smedles, Brian Jones,Ritchie Routledge, Valerie Movie,Gerry Conway, Pete Tatters and Timmy Donald (amongst many others).
S.N. Radhika Lakshmi observes "the Liverpool poets' approach to poetry differs from that of other poets in that they consistently give the impression of being real people getting to grips with real and pressing situations." She continues:
Adrian Henri was described by Lucie-Smith as "the theoretician of the group" and asserted the need to be in touch with contemporary life, followingT. S. Eliot's dictum "to purify the dialect of the tribe" and pointing out that his tribe included everyone from motor-bike specialists through consultant gynaecologists andBeatles fans to admen and peeping toms. His conclusion was:
The emergence of the Liverpool poets as pioneers of "pop poetry" in the UK engendered hostility from the literary establishment.Ian Hamilton said:
Al Alvarez wrote about "the fashion for the diluted near-verse designed for mass readings and poetry-and-jazz concerts", linking it with pop lyrics as "the logic of a traditional form at its weariest", scolding "the poet resigns his responsibilities" and concluding, "what he offers is not poetry", a criticism remarkably similar to that made by F. Dalton inThe Times Literary Supplement, on 31 June 1917 about "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock": "The fact that these things occurred to the mind of Mr. Eliot is surely of the very smallest importance to anyone, even to himself. They certainly have no relation topoetry...".
Alan Bleasdale said, "The poetry of Henri, Patten and McGough has stayed with me for 35 years. The beauty is its accessibility."[6]
Roger McGough in a 2019 interview said, "I like to think that young poets on Merseyside will see me as one of their own, a poet they can get along with."[citation needed]
