Ray O'Brien

I was born in Liverpool in 1946 and attended the Liverpool Institute at the same time as Paul McCartney and George Harrison. I do not recall Paul at school but oddly the school photo of 1960 shows me siting just feet from him ! Vague memories of George smoking behind the bicycle shed !! Peter Sissons was head boy for some of my time there and Les Chadwick of Gerry and the Pacemakers was also a pupil along with several other up and coming future Merseybeat band members.

My professional life was spent in the Probation Service and on taking early retirement in the mid nineties I embarked on wrting books which have included several re the Beatles early venues in Merseyside and more recently Street Stars which profiles 80 Merseyside entertainers form Ken Dodd to Daniel Craig and The Beatles of course. I am currently working on a second volume as so many entertainers have Merseyside connections in a variety of fields ie Musicians, Comedians, Playwrights, Film and Soap Stars and of course numerous sporting personalities.

I am also interested in profiling the many sixties bands from both sides of the River Mersey who never quite made it unluckily in many cases.