Rory Storm And The Hurricanes

Rory Storm And The Hurricanes

Rory Storm and the Hurricanes

Storm changed the name of his group to "Al Storm and the Hurricanes", then "Jett Storm and the Hurricanes", and finally to "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes". The original lineup was Storm, Byrne, Ty Brian,^[12] Lu Walters,^[13] and Ritchie Starkey (drums).^[6][14] Storm and the Hurricanes entered a competition managed by Carrol Levis called "Search for Stars" at the Liverpool Empire Theatre on 11 October 1959, reaching second place ahead of 150 acts.^[8] The line-up of the Hurricanes finally solidified with Storm (vocals), Byrne (rhythm guitar), Ty (Charles) O’Brien (lead guitar), Walters (bass guitar/vocals) and Ringo Starr.^[15] The group played at the Cavern Club with the Cy Laurie Jazz Band on Sunday 2 January 1960, and a week later supported the Saints Jazz Band and Terry Lightfoot's New Orleans Jazz Band.^[15] Playing rock 'n' roll music was a problem at the Cavern Club, as it was not accepted by the customers or management.^[15] When Storm and the Hurricanes performed there on 17 January 1960, with Micky Ashman's Jazz Band and the Swinging Blue Jeans, their first song was "Cumberland Gap" (a skiffle song) by Lonnie Donegan. Then they played "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" by Jerry Lee Lewis. The jazz and skiffle audience were outraged, booed and threw copper coins at the group. The Cavern's manager Ray McFall, fined them six shillings, but the coins collected from the stage floor were worth more than the fine.^[15]
 
Storm and the Hurricanes performed at the Liverpool Stadium on 3 May 1960, on the same bill as Gene Vincent.^[15] Larry Parnes became interested in the Hurricanes, and invited them to audition at the Wyvern Club as a backing group for Billy Fury. Storm turned up at the audition, but only so he could have his picture taken with Fury.^[15] In July 1960, the group secured a residency at Butlins holiday camp in Pwllheli (playing in the Rock 'n' Calypso Ballroom) for £25 each per week (equivalent to £600 in 2020).^[16][15] Starr was not sure about giving up his job as an apprentice at Henry Hunt's, where he made climbing frames for schools, until Storm put forward the idea of "Starr-time" (a solo spot) with Starr singing songs like "Boys" by the Shirelles.^[17] Starr finally agreed when Storm told him about how many women would be "available".^[15] It was during this season that Starr (who had been known as "Ritchie" until then) changed his name to "Ringo".^[18]

Rory Storm

Rory Storm (born Alan Ernest Caldwell;^[1] 7 January 1938 – 28 September 1972) was an English musician and vocalist. Born in Liverpool, Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contemporaries of the Beatles in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Ringo Starr was the drummer for the Hurricanes before joining the Beatles in August 1962, replacing original drummer Pete Best.
The Hurricanes were one of the most popular acts on the Liverpool and Hamburg club scenes during their existence, although their attempt at a recording career was not successful. They released only two singles (and one additional compilation track) during their early 1960s heyday, and none of their material made the charts. Their second and final single was a version of the West Side Story song "America", and was produced by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein.

Rory And His Mother

In 1967, at the age of 29, O'Brien collapsed on stage during a performance, and years later would die due to complications after an appendicitis operation.^[41][42] Storm disbanded the Hurricanes and became a disc jockey, working at the Silver Blades Ice Rink in Liverpool, in Benidorm (he was also a water-skiing instructor there) in Jersey and Amsterdam.^[5] When Storm's father died, he returned from Amsterdam to Liverpool to be with his mother. He developed a chest infection and could not sleep properly, so he took sleeping pills. On 28 September 1972, Storm and his mother were both found dead, at Hurricaneville.

 The post mortem revealed that Storm had alcohol and sleeping pills in his blood (as had his mother) but not enough to cause his death, which was ruled accidental. Although it could not be proven, it is thought that his mother had committed suicide after finding Storm's body.^[5][39][43]
 
The funeral for Storm and his mother was at Oakvale Congregational Church, Broadgreen, on 19 October 1972. Mourners sang Storm's favourite song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". The two coffins were carried from the hearse to the cremation (at Anfield Crematorium) by former band members.^[6] Storm's remains were scattered on section 23 at Anfield Crematorium's Gardens of Remembrance. When Starr was asked why he did not attend, he said, "I wasn't there when he was born either."^[5] Although Starr had often offered to arrange for Storm to record whenever he wanted to, Storm was not interested in finding new or original material. His sister said: "He [Storm] was happy to be the King of Liverpool—he was never keen on touring, he didn't want to give up running for the Pembroke Harriers ... and he'd never miss a Liverpool football match!"^[7]
 
Billy Fury, who Storm had met at the Wyvern Club auditions, later played the part of a fictional singer called Stormy Tempest (based on Storm), in the film That'll Be the Day (1973), which also starred Starr. In 1987, a musical was staged in Liverpool about Storm and the Hurricanes called A Need For Heroes.^[41]
 
After spending several years in the Merseyside Ambulance Service, Johnny "Guitar" Byrne died in Liverpool on 18 August 1999.