60s culture: Beatles, Merseypoets and the visual arts in Liverpool (CEPD940)

During the 1960s, Liverpool became a centre of avant-garde activity, not only through the rise of The Beatles and ‘Merseybeat’, but also through the alternative arts and music scene.

This module will examine social and historical background to the cultural phenomenon and its effect on shaping Liverpool in the 21st century, particularly through marketing and its thriving tourist industry.

Module leader: Dr Lee R Kendall

Lee was born in Liverpool and completed his PhD in History of Art at Liverpool John Moores University. An independent art historian and author, he has been part of the front of house team at Tate Gallery, Liverpool since 2009 and has lectured for the University of Liverpool's Continuing Education Department since 2019.

Aims

To develop confidence in understanding and communicating complex ideas
To develop skills in research, collaborative learning and producing and delivering presentations
To introduce students to the history and development of Liverpool’s distinctive music and arts scene in the 1960s and to examine the contribution of 60s culture to the regeneration, rebranding, and marketing of Liverpool as a tourist attraction in the 21st century.

Content

The following topics will be considered on the module:

Context: social and historical background
Analysis of the work and legacy of key musicians, artists, and writers
Critical reception of groups, artists etc. associated with the Mersey Scene
Contribution of Liverpool’s music and art to the rebranding of the city, World Heritage Site inscription, and the impact the the Capital of Culture award in 2008
The rise of Liverpool’s tourist industry and marketing of the city in the 21st century.

Structure

The module will be delivered over a three-week period in six two-hour sessions (four hours per week, total 12 hours contact time).

The course will be interactive in nature, with the sessions highly focused on understanding, interpretation, and expression: encouraging students to put theory into practice throughout. The indicative schedule is as follows:

Session one: Introduction

Opening classroom-based presentation provides a brief history of the City of Liverpool, its post WWII links with New York; anti-authoritarian outlook and openness to new ideas and sensations that allowed such things as American rock music, beat poetry, coffee bars and Coca-Cola to become the norm for teens and young adults - the driving force behind the cultural changes of the 1960s - much earlier than in other parts of the UK. Via an overview of the kinds of music, art, theatre, poetry, film, fashion, and architecture produced in this decade; it will become clear that culturally, 60s Liverpool was a happening place.

Session two: Walking tour one – Pop go The Beatles

The early 1960s in Liverpool was defined by a distinct rock sound quickly dubbed ‘Mersey Beat’, and the rapid rise to international prominence of leading exponents The Beatles. Whilst many live music venues such as The Jacaranda fostered local acts, it was only at The Cavern Club, located in the cellar of a group of warehouses on Mathew Street that the raw sound of The Beatles struck like lightning in 1961. This session includes a visit to the Cavern Club; a survey of music related artworks in the Cavern Quarter; and other city centre locations important to the development of their story.

Session three: Presentation – The Liverpool Scene

A classroom-based profile of Liverpool poet/artist Adrian Henri and his seminal influence on the acceptance of avant-garde/countercultural norms in Liverpool via his art practice, verse and musical activities with The Liverpool Scene, who opened for Led Zeppelin at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969; this session will also take a look at the work of other ‘Mersey Sound’ poets Roger McGough and Brian Patten, whose scabrous sense of humour and versatile word play endeared them to a whole generation of subversive writers including latter day gutter laureate Dr John Cooper Clarke.

Session four: Walking tour two – City of art

This city-centre tour of the art galleries and institutions that defined the 60s in Liverpool includes visits to the Walker Art Gallery where the John Moores Painting Prize awarded to David Hockney in 1967 helped usher Pop Art into the Merseyside mainstream; The Bluecoat Arts Centre, site of Yoko Ono’s “Music of the Mind” performance the same year; the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King and the University of Liverpool Precinct’s own art collection. Works by Barbara Hepworth, William Mitchell, Adrian Henri, John Piper, and many more will be considered both in and out of context.

Session five: Walking tour three – City of architecture

Just as the 1960s represented a radical turn toward the shocking and the new in music; so too in the construction of buildings, many equally new and wild sensibilities began to take root. Architecturally speaking, Liverpool’s 60s outlandishness is best emblematized by Sir Fredrick Gibberd’s Metropolitan Roman Catholic cathedral, just about as futuristic and off-the-wall a building as one can see anywhere in England. In addition to a consideration of this controversial building, this tour will also take in the playful character of Richard Huws’ ‘Bucket Fountain; on Drury Lane; St. John’s Beacon and the challenging Brutalism of the QE II Law Courts.

Session six: Conclusion and assessments

The course draws to a close with a brief recapitulation of the transformative impact the 60s cultural and counter-cultural explosion had on Liverpool’s post-war intellectual identity and economy; as well as the role it continues to play in the life of the city, its people, and its visitors, before students are required to make their formal presentations to the rest of the group.

Teaching methods

The teaching approach will include the following:

Taught sessions
Small group working
Group discussions
Presentations
Workshops
Site visit.

Assessment

Assessment will be by:

Group presentation (worth 50% of the overall mark)
Multiple choice/short answer paper (worth 50% of the overall mark).

Standard University policies apply regarding late submission of assessments.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

Display confidence in understanding and communicating complex ideas in written and spoken language
Research a topic and work collaboratively to produce a written essay/reflection and a group presentation
Demonstrate a basic awareness of the skills and knowledge required to plan, deliver and reflect on the contribution of art and culture to the regeneration of a city.

Skills

Key skills that will be developed:

Collaboration and teamwork, through group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and collaborative research
Communication, demonstrated orally in group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and in writing by production of assessed assignment.

Reading

The University Library website provides access to many relevant books, as well as academic journals and databases.