Rory Storm and the Hurricanes

This is a tragic tale involving Rory Storm who was an English musician and vocalist. He was born in 1938 as Alan Caldwell in Liverpool but took the name Storm and became the singer and leader of a Liverpool band known as Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Actually, one of the Beatles, Ringo Starr, was the drummer for the Hurricanes before he met the other three.

Even though Rory Storm and the Hurricanes were a very popular act in the clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, they were not successful in their recording career. In the early 1960s, they released two singles but neither one made the charts. One of their singles was a version of a song from the movie West Side Story, “America.”

After Storm’s dad died, he returned to Liverpool to be with his mom. It was in September of 1972 that he came down with a chest infection and, not being able to sleep, took some sleeping pills. The following morning both he and his mom were found dead. It was not thought that Storm committed suicide but that his mom did after discovering that her son had died during the night.

Rory Storm had first thought to call his band “Dracula and the Werewolves” but then decided on “Al Caldwell’s Texans.” At this time he still hadn’t changed his name from Alan Caldwell and opened up a club in the basement of a large Victorian house. The Morgue Skiffle Club opened up in March of 1958. It was rather impressive because it consisted of two rooms with the walls painted black. There was a long corridor connecting the rooms and has skeletons painted on the walls showing the way by a blue light.

Groups at the club played on Tuesdays and Thursdays and there were two steady bands—one was Storm’s band and the other was the Quarrymen, who later would become the Beatles. Unfortunately, due to the noise level, the club was shut down on April 1 but Storm managed to reopen it again on April 22. It was here at the Morgue Skiffle Club that George Harrison did his audition for the Quarrymen playing “Guitar Boogie Shuffle.” At the talent contest 6.5 Special, Rory Storm met Ringo Starr who joined Storm’s group and played with them for the first time in March of 1959 at the Mardi Gras, in Liverpool.

The original line up for the band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes was Rory Storm vocals, Johnny “Guitar” Byrne rhythm guitar, Ty Brian lead guitar, Lu Walters vocals and bass, and Ritchie Starkey drums. The band went on to play as regulars at Butlins holiday camp in Pwllheli playing their music in the Rock ‘n’ Calypso Ballroom. It was during this time that Ritchie Starkey became Ringo Starr. Afterward, they went on to play in Hamburg at the Kaiserkeller alternating with the Beatles. In Hamburg, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes had the opportunity to record at the Akoustik Studio. Asked to play along and sing harmonies were Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison with Starr on the drums. This was the first time the Fab Four recorded together and the three songs were “Fever,” “September Song,” and “Summertime.”

Some other songs that Rory Storm and the Hurricanes played were “Brand New Cadillac,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” and “Down the Line.” However, they never achieved the stardom they had hoped for. Finally, in 1967 when one of their members died after a performance, they disbanded. Storm went on to become a DJ. After the tragedy when Storm and his mother died, mourners at the funeral sang Storm’s favorite song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

In honor of him and the band in September 2012, the CD Rory Storm and the Hurricanes Live at the Jive Hive – March 1960 was released.