Downbeat Club

1 sound

Downbeat Club - 77 Victoria Street In 1960 Jim Ireland opened the Downbeat club on Victoria Street, initially as a jazz venue. As the beat scene grew in the early 1960s the club moved with the times and became primarily a beat club. It was open for live music 4 nights a week and many Liverpool bands played there including the Remo Four and the Swinging Blue Jeans. Jim Ireland was also co-owner of the Mardi Gras club, which opened in 1957. Later the Downbeat club became a venue for soul music. Billy Butler worked at both venues; playing Motown and booking black American artists. Around this time the Downbeat changed its name to the Victoriana. Liverpool artist Bob Percival designed the interior of the club and painted the murals inside. He also painted murals inside several other jazz clubs in the city centre, including the Mardi Gras. Location continues to be a venue today (June 2021), currently On Point Wine Bar.

Photo metadata – Location of former Downbeat club. Taken on 19 March 2021 by Vicki Caren.

Merseybeat Liverpool

Step back into the early 1960s to uncover the emerging Liverpool music scene, Merseybeat. Visit the clubs, venues, and shops that became important meeting places for ideas and music to be shared and where bands formed. Some of these spaces are long gone, while others continue to play a part in Liverpool’s long musical heritage. In 2021 the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project digitised three radio documentary series made by Music Journalist and Broadcaster Spencer Leigh for BBC Radio Merseyside. These documentaries form part of a larger collection of Spencer Leigh's work held at Liverpool Record Office. 'Let's Go Down The Cavern' was a weekly series of twelve episodes, first broadcast in 1981. ‘Soup & Sweat & Rock & Roll' was an 8-part series made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cavern club in Mathew Street, Liverpool, broadcast in 2007. Audio from these two collections have been used for the Merseybeat Liverpool sound walk. Many thanks to Spencer Leigh and the BBC for permission. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Accessibility note - This walk will take participants across Liverpool city centre, along roads and pedestrianised areas. The route is mostly flat with a slight gradient down from the first few stops. After the Radio Merseyside stop on Hanover Street participants will need to plan their route to the NEMS stop on Whitechapel. Please be aware that there are steps at the end of College Lane before the junction with Paradise Street. An alternative, sloping route is available via Manesty’s Lane.

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Downbeat Club

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Merseybeat Liverpool

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