How a rare find in Liverpool's oldest record shop solved a 60-year-old Beatles mystery

A rare find of archive material in Liverpool’s oldest record shop has helped to solve a 60-year-old Beatles mystery.

For four generations, The Musical Box on West Derby Road has been in the same family and Tony Quinn, his mum Diane and nan Dorothy, the original owner, all knew the same story surrounding some famous customers.

“The story had been passed down the family that in the early ‘60s some young guys were leaving the shop and girls were screaming ‘that was The Beatles’,” says Tony’s wife Paula.

“That story went down from Tony’s nan, to his mum, to him and to our son Craig but we were never sure who they really were, if it was actually them. We presumed one might be Pete Best because he lived in West Derby but we never got any further with finding out.”

One of the log books. Credit: The Musical Box

It was only when Paula and Craig were renovating the second floor of the shop, turning what used to be Dorothy’s living room into a second shop area and music museum, that they made a discovery that led them to the answer.

Paula explains: “When Dorothy died the room had become a stockroom but earlier this year we decided to do it up and turn it into a little museum because the shop has so much history.

“We started painting and repairing and getting things out that had been tucked away for decades. We found so many things around the shop and in one cupboard downstairs I saw these books. They were all hand-written ledgers, logbooks of sales, about 25 in all dating back to 1958 with Elvis and Chuck Berry and mainly 1960s.

“Each logbook covered about three months and they’d have the artist and title of a song with loads of notches next to it to show the amount of sales.”

In amongst names like The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Cilla, it wasn’t long before Paula spotted a succession of entries for The Beatles. And, although not all even had a song title by them, with a bit of research she managed to match each one to what went on to be a huge hit.

“I found about 23 and most of them were on the day of release, which was usually a Friday, with little lines next to them for the quantity of records sold,” says Paula.

Realising they’d found a piece of Fab Four history that deserved to go on display, Tony and Paula contacted The Beatles Museum in Mathew Street and offered to loan four of the books.

It was when they went along to the museum for the unveiling that their own Beatles story finally got an ending.

“Tony told the manager the story and he mentioned it to Roag Best who told Pete. Pete confirmed he was a frequent visitor to The Musical Box, and said he always used to come with John Lennon to see what was new and have a chat with Tony’s nan!

“So it took 60 years to find out, and only for me finding these books we’d never have known, but now we have provenance from Pete himself.”

The remainder of the logbooks have now gone on display at the shop where fans love scrutinising them and spotting some legends. There are also lots of promo materials from various music eras, including original advertising leaflets and posters from record companies, many still in mint condition.

It’s an incredibly rare collection, but Paula says the family isn’t tempted to sell to what would be a worldwide market.

“People do often ask to buy some of the items but we wouldn’t ever sell, it’s a very personal archive. It belongs to the family and to the business and the whole point is to preserve the history.”