Bill Harry (born 17 September 1938), is the creator of Mersey Beat; a newspaper of the early 1960s which focused on the Liverpool music scene. Harry had previously started various magazines and newspapers, such as Biped and Premier, while at Liverpool's Junior School of Art. He later attended the Liverpool College of Art, where his fellow students included John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe, who both later performed with the Beatles. He published a magazine, Jazz, in 1958, and worked as an assistant editor on the University of Liverpool's charity magazine, Pantosphinx.Harry met his wife-to-be, Virginia Sowry, at the Jacaranda club—managed by Allan Williams, the first manager of the Beatles—and she later agreed to help him start a music newspaper. After borrowing £50, Harry released the first issue of Mersey Beat on 6 July 1961, with the first 5,000 copies selling out within a short time. The newspaper was published every two weeks, covering the music scenes in Liverpool, Wirral, Birkenhead, New Brighton, Crosby and Southport, as well as Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn. He edited the paper in a small attic office above a wine merchant's shop at 81a Renshaw Street, Liverpool.Harry arranged for the future Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, to see them perform a lunchtime concert at the Cavern Club on 9 November 1961. Epstein subsequently asked Harry to create a national music paper, the Music Echo, but after disagreements with Epstein about editorial control, he decided to become a P.R. agent; working for many solo artistes and groups, including Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and the Beach Boys, as well as many others.
Smithdown Road Hospital, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK
Profession
Producer, Miscellaneous Crew
Spouse
Virginia Harry
Children
Sean Harry
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Fact
1
A friend of John Lennon from Liverpool Art College, and the college's first Commercial Design student. The two were briefly members of a "band" called the Dissenters, with friend Stuart Sutcliffe, who also attended the college.
2
Founder of "Mersey Beat", a Liverpool newspaper devoted to the local music scene, and the first to publish John Lennon's writings. One of Lennon's first submissions was a pun-filled history (to date) of The Beatles. "Mersey Beat" later carried an irregular "column" by Lennon, titled "Beatcomber" (a play on "Beachcomber", a popular running column in another newspaper).
3
Claimed to have introduced John Lennon to Brian Epstein, whose music store NEMS carried "Mersey Beat". Epstein's own published recollections (and later Lennon's, in interviews) were different.
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Get Back
2015/I
Documentary associate producer
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Beat City
1963
TV Short documentary production assistant
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Beatles Anthology
1995
TV Mini-Series documentary archive material courtesy of - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Some Other Guys
Documentary post-production
Himself
Get Back
2015/I
Documentary
Himself
Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1960's