I saw George Melly the singer perform live just once. It was
at the opening of a nightclub in Dale Street in the early 1980’s and as a warm-up
to the show I’d had several pints in nearby Rigby’s pub. Getting into the club
I found that they didn’t serve beer, the only ‘long’ alcoholic drink on offer
being ‘vintage’ cider. I had several pints of this with the result that I became
very, very drunk and subsequently very, very sick. Sadly, ever since then any
mention of Melly has conjured up vivid memories of my night of shame, an
undeserved connotation for this multi-talented man.
A larger than life jazz singer, often performing with John Chilton’s
Feetwarmers, he was also a writer and lecturer on art, with a life-long
interest in surrealism. He had a spell as film and television critic for the Observer,
and in the 1980,s he and John Chilton had their own BBC TV show, Good Time
George.
The third volume of his autobiography, Scouse Mouse,
gives an unrivalled picture of his early life in and around the Sefton Park
area. He was born 17th August 1926 at his grandfather’s mansion The
Grange, which then stood down by the banks of the Mersey close to
St.Michael’s station. He was christened Alan George Heywood Melly. At the time
of his birth his parents lived in flat at 26 Linnet Lane L17, but soon moved to
a substantial house at 22 Ivanhoe Road. Melly recalled that besides he and his
parents the occupants included his nanny, Bella, a cook and house-parlour maid.
After the arrival of his sister, André, the family moved to a larger house at
14 Sandringham Drive. The close proximity of these various homes perhaps has
something to do with the fact that his father “used The Albert almost every day
of his adult life and twice on Sundays”. The Albert pub still thrives in Lark
Lane.
