The Liverbirds burst on to the Liverpool music scene in 1963, playing at the Cavern Club before travelling to Hamburg’s Star Club for a three-year residency.
John Lennon dismissed them with: “girls don’t play guitars”.
The quartet, consisting of vocalist-guitarist Valerie Gell, guitarist-vocalist Pamela Birch, bassist-vocalist Mary McGlory and drummer Sylvia Saunders turned down Beatles manager Brian Epstein, hanging out with Jimi Hendrix and driving Chuck Berry wild. They released two albums and several singles.
The group broke up in 1968 after a tour to Japan, but the Royal Court in Liverpool is producing a musical written by Ian Salmon packed with all of the great '60s songs that shook The Cavern, including The Liverbirds hits "Peanut Butter" and "Diddley Daddy".
His writing process has been made easier by long conversations with Sylvia and Mary, the two surviving Liverbirds.
Girls Don’t Play Guitars runs from October 4 to November 2.