Phil Brady (2)

b. 4 March 1939, Liverpool, England. Like many adolescents raised in the south of Liverpool, Brady learned about country music from the seamen returning from the USA. Encouraged by Hank Walters’ Black Cat club, he formed his own band, the Ranchers, in 1962, including Frank Peters on steel guitar, and they built a reputation in the north-west despite the fierce competition from beat music. They were featured on Decca’s 1965 album, Liverpool Goes Country, and Brady recorded the first single (‘An American Sailor At The Cavern’) for the Cavern club’s own label. Because the Cavern went into liquidation, most copies went to the official receiver, and it is the UK’s most collectable British country single. Phil Brady And The Ranchers became nationally popular through the BBC programme Country Meets Folk. He went to Nashville in 1968, played Grand Ole Opry, and recorded Songs Of Nashville on his return. They toured the UK with Buck Owens and Slim Whitman, and their instrumental, A Little Bit Country, was recorded at Joe Brown’s studio with Brown on fiddle. The tear-jerking ‘Little Rosa’ is his most requested number, and other popular singles include ‘The Exeter Bypass’ and ‘Let The Whole World Sing It With Me’. Brady died after a short battle with cancer on the 18th March 2021