The Scaffold

Infobox musical artist
Name =The Scaffold


Img_capt =The cover of The Scaffold's 1974 hit single, "Liverpool Lou"
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Background = group_or_band
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Origin = Liverpool, England
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Genre = Pop music
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Years_active = 1964-1977
Label = Parlophone
Island
Warner Bros.
Associated_acts = Grimms
The Liverpool Poets
Wings
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Current_members =
Past_members = Mike McGear
Roger McGough
John Gorman
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The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of Mike McGear (real name Peter Michael McCartney - brother of Paul McCartney), Roger McGough and John Gorman.

Career

The Scaffold performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough, as evidenced on their 1968 live album, and released a number of singles on Parlophone and EMI between 1966 and 1971, and a couple more on Warner Bros. thereafter.

The Scaffold achieved Top 10 success in the UK with:

*"Thank U Very Much" (No. 4), composed by McGear;
*"Lily the Pink" (# 1), based on a traditional song about Lydia Pinkham.
*"Liverpool Lou" (# 7) (written by Dominic Behan), recorded during the 1974 "McGear" sessions with Wings.

In addition to the hit singles, The Scaffold's output included four albums: "The Scaffold Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall 1968" on Parlophone in 1968, "Lily the Pink" on Parlophone in 1969, "Fresh Liver" on Island in 1973, and "Sold Out" on WB in 1975. In addition, a Scaffold greatest hits album entitled "Singles As + Bs" was released on See For Miles Records in 1982 and a second greatest hits collection "The Very Best of Scaffold" in 2002. Two compilations of the band's Parlophone tracks have also been released.

Jack Bruce, Elton John, Graham Nash and Jimi Hendrix were among the session musicians who performed on The Scaffold's early records (none of the trio being musicians). [In his 1981 book "Thank U Very Much - Mike McCartney's Family Album", Mike McGear describes a later meeting with Elton John during which John advises him he used to sing background vocals for the group when he was still using his real name, Reg Dwight.]

In 1970, The Scaffold appeared in a children's television series, "Score With The Scaffold".

In early 1971, they provided some catchy tunes for inclusion in a television publicity campaign heralding the introduction of decimal currency to the UK. In this series of five-minute programmes, titled Decimal Five and shown on BBC1, they sang such inspired lyrics as "Give more, get change" and "Use your old coppers in sixpenny lots".

In 1972, they made a ½ hour musical movie called "Plod" based on an earlier stage production. The film was made on location in Liverpool, and included boys from the Liverpool Institute High School, earlier attended by the McCartney brothers and Beatle George Harrison.

In 1973, The Scaffold transferred to Island Records and released one album, "Fresh Liver", from which no singles were released. The group then merged into the expanded line-up of Grimms with the likes of Neil Innes, Andy Roberts, Adrian Henri and Brian Patten.

After the 1974 success of "Liverpool Lou," recorded with Paul McCartney and Wings, The Scaffold reunited for their final album, "Sold Out", on Warner Bros. Records. The B-side of "Liverpool Lou", "Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam", was an instrumental composed by Paul and Linda McCartney and performed by Wings. However, after the "Sold Out" tour, The Scaffold disbanded for keeps.

Discography

Albums

* "Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 1968" (Parlophone 1968)
* "Lily the Pink" (Parlophone 1969)
* "Fresh Liver" (Island 1973)
* "Sold Out" (Warner Bros. 1975)
* "Singles As & Bs" (See For Miles 1982)
* "The Best of the EMI Years" (EMI 1992)
* "At Abbey Road 1966-1971" (EMI 1998)
* "The Very Best of Scaffold" (EMI 2002)

ingles

*"2 Days Monday" (Parlophone 1966)
*"Goodbat Nightman" (Parlophone 1966)
*"Thank U Very Much" (Parlophone 1967)
*"Do You Remember?" (Parlophone 1968)
*"1-2-3" (Parlophone 1968)
*"Lily the Pink" (Parlophone 1968)
*"Charity Bubbles" (Parlophone 1969)
*"Gin Gan Goolie"/"Liver Birds" (Parlophone 1969)
*"All The Way Up" (Parlophone 1970)
*"Bus Dreams" (Parlophone 1970)
*"Do The Albert" (Parlophone 1971)
*"Liverpool Lou"/"Ten Years After on Strawberry Jam" (Warner Bros 1974)
*"Leaving of Liverpool" (Warner Bros 1975)

Notes

ee also

*Liverpool poets

External links

* [http://biguntidy.com/articles Scaffold; Airbrushed from history?] - Independent article on the history of The Scaffold. Endorsed by the Band Members.