What if all those girl groups had electric guitars instead of beehives and matching dresses? Considering the Beatles actually covered soul hits like "Mr. Postman" and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" it can't be too hard to imagine. Their distinctive early sound of big harmonies, catchy love songs with bouncing melodies were found all over England too, then known as "Merseybeat", a fascinating sub-genre made up of equal parts Motown hits, doo-wop song structures, a raw guitar-driven garage-rock sound and acoustic guitar-harmonica of the folk revival too. Distilled and perfected in the back of smokey pubs across England, it's a sound that wouldn't actually last too long on its own but was the foundation for the most famous band in the world. Enjoy!

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