Record Store Day record shops. Day 2 - The Jacaranda in Liverpool


Jacaranda                        *Referred to as The Jack by locals*

21-23 Slater Street, Liverpool, L1 4BW
0151 708 2942
jacarandarecords@gmail.com; @jacarandalpool
Sunday-Thursday 1pm-10pm
Friday-Saturday 10am-2am
Established 1958
Stock: Vinyl, Pre-owned, Coffee, Cake, Licensed, Memorabilia, Venue

Spread over three floors, Jacaranda is not just a record store, but a café and bar housed in a venue historically tied to the Beatles. It was opened by Alan Williams, the band’s first manager who became known as “the man who gave the Beatles away”. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the group’s first bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, were regular customers and soon started pestering Alan for a gig at the club. Taking advantage of the situation, Alan persuaded John and Stuart to paint the basement, in return for which the band could use it for rehearsals. Eventually he agreed to give them a gig when house band, The Royal Caribbean Steel Band, had a Monday night off. The Silver Beetles, as they were then called, performed their first-ever gig in the club in May 1960, and were paid with a soft drink and a snack. Over the next couple of years, Alan lined up dozens of gigs for the band before they left for an ill-fated (for Alan) residency in Hamburg. After an argument over his 10% commission for setting up the trip, he resigned, famously advising his successor, Brian Epstein: “Don’t touch them with a f****g bargepole.” Epstein ignored his words of wisdom.



Bands can now follow in the footsteps of The Beatles as the basement is still rented out for rehearsal space, although offers to paint the basement, as payment, are no longer accepted. The Jacaranda offers 10 slots a week, free of charge - a great example of supporting local music. The club closed in 2011, but reopened after a major refurbishment in November 2014. The venue is managed by Graham Stanley, who has a long history in the Liverpool club scene, and the record shop is run by Danny Fitzgerald, who also compiles world music compilations for Island Records.

The basement, with its alcoves and wooden benches, has lots of nooks and crannies to sit in and with a replica Beatles drum kit on the stage, it is not dissimilar in appearance to the original Cavern. You can see live music there from Thursday to Sunday, starting at 8pm. The ground floor is now an atmospheric pub with a traditional wood-panelled bar and lots of Beatles memorabilia on the walls. Check out the wooden plaque on the wall celebrating the meeting between Alan Williams and the Beatles.

Both the ground floor and basement have beautiful Wurlitzer jukeboxes installed, full of 7-inch singles from the 1960s and later. They are popular with customers and at peak times you may be waiting a long time to hear your selection. Upstairs is now home to Jacaranda records. It allows the opportunity to choose a second-hand record from the racks to play on the vinyl record players sunk into the tables, while sitting in six-seater listening booths. They have a good selection of Liverpool bands on vinyl, not forgetting local superstar, the much-missed Ken Dodd.



Coffee, cake and cocktails are served until late. Try the Fab Four Shots or a Strawberry Fields cocktail. Pride of place goes to an original 1948 Voice-O-Graph machine, which allows customers to cut their own two-minute record. Looking like a phone booth, they have recently attracted much media attention after both Jack White and Neil Young made records in them. Young recorded his 2014 album A Letter Home in the Voice-O-Graph at White’s Third Man studios. It is incredible that Jacaranda still has one of these fabulous machines, making it a must-see for visitors to Liverpool. Jacaranda is set to become a major tourist attraction, so pay it a visit before the crowds descend on a record shop with a unique and fascinating history.

In the summer of 2018, Jacaranda launched a pop-up store in Seel Street. Called Phase One, it is part-record shop, part-bar, part-live venue and part-restaurant. It contains four listening booths built from converted garden sheds. It is another welcome addition to a city that is transforming itself for vinyl buyers.



Check out 220 more independent record shops in the book  'The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen' 

Available at your local record shop or online at http://smarturl.it/vinylrevival

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