Cavern Stomp

All 13 of the tracks released by The Big Three -- their four singles, the Live At The Cavern EP, and a live track from a compilation. "Some Other Guy" (#37) and "By The Way" (#22) were minor British hits in the early days of Merseybeat, although The Beatles recorded much better versions of "Some Other Guy" (an obscure American R&B number by Richie Barrett) on several BBC broadcasts. Passable, energetic Merseybeat, leaning more toward R&B than most of their peers, but not terribly memorable. Comes with a detailed four-page history of the group, much of which is devoted to drummer Johnny Hutchinson griping about the group's bad luck: manager Brian Epstein neglected them and spent most of his time on The Beatles, the Big Three didn't get enough time to record in the studio, other groups covered R&B songs for British hits before they could release their own versions, etc. All of which comes off as so much sour grapes. It's clear enough from the recorded evidence that the group's own limitations as songwriters and performers were the chief reasons that they never approached the success of The Beatles and the other major Liverpool groups. ~ Richie Unterberger|