Spinners, The

This folk group from Liverpool, England, formed in September 1958 and began life playing skiffle (as The Gin Mill Skiffle Group) with a mainly American repertoire before founding a folk club –  the Triton Club – in Liverpool.

Their debut album, Songs Spun in Liverpool (released as The Liverpool Spinners), included recordings from their live performances. In 1962 they recorded an album called Quayside Songs Old & New and were signed by Philips Records in 1963 to record on their Fontana label.

The Spinners recorded eight more albums over the next eight years, signing to EMI in the early 1970s.

They revived some of the greatest folk music and wrote new songs in the same vein, such as The Ellan Vannin Tragedy and The Marco Polo. Cliff Hall also introduced traditional Jamaican songs to their repertoire. One of their best-known songs was In My Liverpool Home, written by Peter McGovern in 1962.

They were firm television favourites and became the popular face of British folk music with songs such as Maggie May, Woman Sweeter Than Man, The Family of Man, Black and White and The Leaving of Liverpool.

They were given their own BBC TV show in 1970 which ran for seven years.

After more than 40 albums, The Spinners retired in 1988 after thirty years together. Cliff Hall retired to Australia, where he died in 2008.  Tony Davis passed away in February 2017, aged 86.

Tony Davis
Vocals, banjo, tin whistle, recorder
Cliff Hall
Vocals, guitar, harmonica
Hughie Jones
Vocals, guitar, harmonica
Mick Groves
Vocals, guitar
John McCormick
Bass, vocals