The Merseybeats

One of the strongest and more versatile groups to emerge from the Merseyside beat music scene in the 1960s, the Merseybeats were saddled with a truly unremarkable name but made up for it in talent. Led by guitarist and singer Tony Crane and bassist and singer Billy Kinsley, the Merseybeats excelled at ballads while also playing energetic rock & roll and rhythm & blues with equal skill, and Crane and Kinsley's harmonies were a standout regardless of the tempo. Unlike their friends the Beatles, the Merseybeats never enjoyed success in the United States, but they had their share of hits in England, and continued to entertain on the cabaret circuit decades after their glory days. The band's full recorded legacy (as well as that of their later incarnation the Merseys) can be heard on the 2021 collection I Stand Accused: The Complete Merseybeats & Merseys Sixties Recordings.