The Merseybeats And Merseys

★★★★

I Stand Accused: The Complete Merseybeats and Merseys Sixties Recordings GRAPEFRUIT. CD/DL

Mersey pop meets the beat boom: The Beatles once supported them.

Close harmonies were intrinsic to The Merseybeats, with co-leaders Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley’s vocals intertwining almost telepathically on their superb series of ’60s hits: It’s Love That Really Counts; I Think Of You (their biggest, it reached the Top 5); Don’t Turn Around; Wishin’ And Hopin’. But their B-sides and the On Stage EP revealed a group capable of the rough stuff with enthusiastic readings of Long Tall Sally, Shame et al reminding us that they cut their teeth in Liverpool’s clubs and pubs. When the group split in 1966, Crane and Kinsley formed The Merseys, best known for the classic Sorrow, later covered by Bowie. This double CD collects everything by the two groups plus their various spin-offs including erstwhile Merseybeat member John Gustafson’s in-demand Polydor 45s.