Robert Percival

[admin]

I had the very good fortune to have met Bob Percival, known as Percy, to some in Liverpool. Bob was an artist who was known for his murals that he painted in jazz clubs in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He would later move to Canada and I met him in Saint John, N.B.

He spoke of meeting the Beatles in the early stages of their career. I prepared a short article based on a presentation that he made to a group of Beatle enthusiasts and it can be found here.

Being an artist yourself Geoff, do you recall Bob and did he ever attend the Iron Door Club?

[13_temple_street]

Bob worked for a large retail store called Lewis's, the one with the statue of a naked man above one of the entrances. He was in charge of all the art work and window dressing. He did, however, retain a small attic studio room in a four story house at 17 Slater Street in the city centre. A group of artists occupied all the floors at this address plus the basement. My studio, Slater Art Studios Ltd., was on the first floor.

Bob and I often worked together on projects that involved modules and window display items. Before I moved in to the building, the first floor was used to house one of first jazz clubs in Liverpool (The Kinkajoo). The local authorities closed it down it didn't have proper facilities. Just two doors lower down the street was the now famous Jacaranda.

One of the projects I was working on was to convert a building opposite The Jacaranda into a coffee club. It was to be called Dante's Inferno. I was working in the building and in walked Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon. They wanted to paint some murals in the basement. Shortly after this meeting we had to stop work as the foundations of the building were found to be unsafe.

[admin]

This is an interesting story Geoff. Your comments regarding Stuart Sutcliffe are appreciated. Stuart did some mural painting in the basement of the Jacaranda. Here is an example of his work there.

[admin]

Something that always amazed me about Bob Percival is that he knew so very much about the music scene inspite of being deaf. At one point he joked about not being bothered by the din of the cellar clubs which apparently bothered others.