A legendary Liverpool venue steeped in Beatles history has been awarded a prestigious honour. The Jacaranda opened in 1957 by Allan Williams offering a stage for up-and coming artists.
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00:00The Jacaranda played a key role in the creation of the Mersey Phenomenon that
00:05took the world by storm in the 60s. Now the venue has been awarded a
00:09prestigious plaque to honour its status as a place where the Beatles first played.
00:13Lord Woodbine who was the leader of the Caribbean Steel Band that played most
00:18nights in the Jacaranda is considered by a lot of people to be the sixth Beatle
00:22and introduced them to lots of Calypso beats and things like that. Hugely
00:26influential on their musical style, he went to Hamburg with them, Lord Woodbine,
00:32so he's a big part of Beatles history. Opened in 1957 by Alan Williams, the
00:36Jacaranda offered a stage for up-and-coming artists. Regular
00:40customers included John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe, George Harrison and Paul
00:44McCartney. They played here about 16 times, 15 of them as the Silver Beatles
00:50and then one as the Beatles the day before they went to Hamburg. As the
00:54band's first manager, Alan secured the defining first tour of Hamburg in 1960.
00:59Being recognised as the first place the Beatles played as the Beatles, you know,
01:03that's super important because it's sending a message. It's sending a
01:07message to this new government and it's sending a message to the music industry.
01:10Places like this really matter. Unfortunately 125 live music spaces
01:15closed their doors to live music in 2023. It's not getting a lot better in 2024.
01:19We're still losing round about one a week. This World Origin Site plaque is a
01:23government-registered certification mark. A World Origin Site is somewhere
01:27completely unique. It marks a place, people and moment when something truly
01:32groundbreaking was invented, discovered or first used. They changed music, they
01:37changed art, they changed culture. Suddenly the teenager became somebody
01:41who could, well, evaluate themselves, have their own music. Music genre. It's still a
01:47music venue, it's still an active music venue and it's bringing on new bands,
01:51giving them somewhere to focus and somewhere to be seen. Local art students
01:56including Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon even painted murals on the cellar
02:00walls in payment for a rehearsal space. We don't know why Liverpool has become
02:06this city in the way. We can't go back to 1960 when they were stood here and say
02:11you know what in 64 years time millions of people will be coming to Liverpool
02:16spending billions of pounds to be in this place and if we don't protect
02:21spaces like this, we don't protect the UK's reputation as a music nation with
02:26all the creativity and all the fantastic artists we've got. We're not looking
02:30after that. What are we doing? For more than 60 years this has been the stage on
02:34which generations of young artists have tried to make the grade, earning the
02:38venue a status in Liverpool's rich music history. It has been a really tough time
02:43for grassroots music venues so if there is a grassroots music venue near you and
02:48you like live music, go out and support your local grassroots music venues and
02:52also support your local record stores as well. Support local and support music if
02:57you love music.