Mary McGlory of The Liverbirds recently spoke with The Guardian about the band’s early days as the UK’s first all-female rock band. She outlined what the band originally intended to do: “We wanted to be the female Beatles and do it first.” “At first, everyone was very curious; people were saying, ‘I don’t know what to think about this.'” Among these odd individuals was John Lennon.
When The Liverbirds overheard him declare, ‘Girls don’t play guitars,’ they knew they had to prove him wrong. She went on to say: “We decided to show him that we could. It fueled our enthusiasm rather than dampened it.” In an interview in 2019, the bassist also cited Lennon’s remark on the band. She stated: “Of course, it fueled our determination, and you never knew with John, he had that peculiar sense of humour.” Perhaps this was his way of encouraging us.
” The band did, in fact, prove him incorrect. They received a lot of attention, toured with The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, and met Jimi Hendrix. Inspired by Lennon’s remark, The Liverbirds’ remaining members McGlory and Sylvia Saunders told their own narrative in the 2019 musical ‘Girls Don’t Play Guitars,’ which premiered at Royal Court. The band’s performance from the musical can be seen here.
