10 July 2022
The Ritchie Barton Collection
Ever heard of Ritchie Barton? Probably not
What about the Cunard Yanks? Maybe? But I bet you’ve heard of the Beatles, though. Let me tell you how we get from Barton to Beatles…
In 2015 The Guardian wrote about the Cunard Yanks: “They worked on the transatlantic liners that shuttled between Liverpool and New York in the 1950s – and every time they docked, they brought fresh sounds and fashions to an eager city”. This is the usual story surrounding the Cunard Yanks: they worked on the ships, and when they returned to Liverpool they brought exciting and unusual American jazz LPs with them that were unavailable in the UK. These LPs, the story goes, went on to inspire countless of musicians, including (and perhaps most notably) the Beatles.
It’s a great story, but it’s not true. The imported LPs are yet another myth in popular music and popular culture. Apart from the odd one, research has been able show that LPs weren’t being imported by the men working on the ships. I’ll return to this later, but I want to try to keep this as succinct as possible. There is one Cunard Yank, though, that we know took interest in American music – Ritchie Barton. Bringing back LPs is another topic I’ll return to as I explore the collection in more depth with you – because… about 80% of it is currently sitting next to me in our spare room/office. I’ll be bringing back the other 20% over the next few days.
I picked up the collection yesterday, and some of my initial thoughts are:
Even though there are issues with the collection, such as the mythology surrounding it, I can’t help but feel the wonderful cultural weight of it. For all intents and purposes I am staring at the origins of Liverpool’s entire musical heritage. Again, this is not strictly true (you can read about Liverpool’s musical history in Other Voices), but for most people Liverpool’s musical and cultural status begins with these LPs.
My spacial awareness skills are out of practice – I severely underestimated the amount of floor space the LPs would take up. Fun fact: it took 47 trips up and down the stairs to get them into the room (thanks, #FitBit).
I might just convert Mr Veronica’s Vinyl to as jazz vinyl aficionado.
Unfortunately Ritchie Barton himself is no longer with us, but he did leave behind a website dedicated to the Cunard Yanks that curates some lovely personal accounts. You can find it on www.cunardyanks.org/. And then there’s the record collection, of course, which I hope can tell us some exciting stories about popular music. More to follow under the Barton Collection tag!
