I Could Have Been A Contender

The Swinging Sixties, what an amazing decade! The Beatles, JFK, Man on the Moon...

In 1964 I was ten years old and I heard my first Beatles record, 'She Loves You', I immediately wanted to be one of the Fab Four. Here I am, in 2023, almost sixty years later, and the way things turned out for them, I am so glad I never was a Beatle, though I did get to appear in their video for Free As A Bird, many years later. Still, I yearn for the Swinging Sixties.

Here is an unmastered version of my song We Were The Boys. It is a nostalgic look back at life in Liverpool in the sixties. The song is off the album Lost and Found, out now on Bandcamp. (Search for William Peter O'Neill). Yes, that is me at the start and at the end of the video.

Video by Sara Ratel and W.P.O'Neill

In a short period of time, I realized that what I really wanted more than anything, was to be able to make a musical noise like the Beatles did. And I did not need to be a Beatle to do that. And so a guitar was bought and I learned to play. And that set me off on a lifelong love affair with, and unstinting dedication to, music of all sorts.

In many ways, I wish I had been born ten years earlier. I would have loved to have been a teen in the sixties, rather than the pre-teen that I was. It was only ten years different, but it might as well have been a century. By the time I reached fifteen years of age, it was too late. The Greatest Show on Earth had already left town for London, and then soon after, it set sail for America. And I was two giant geographical, and a great many musical, steps behind.

In the early sixties, Liverpool, which was where I was born and brought up, was the place to be. The whole city got swept along on a tidal wave of excitement. And that wonderful wave was palpable, even at pre-teen school. At my Catholic secondary, groups of older kids would hang out around the bike sheds, having a sly ciggie and talking excitedly about the Beatles' latest album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A few years earlier, I remember a local boy of my age regaling us ten year old, highly impressionable, football mates of his, all about how he had managed to sneak out of his bedroom window at bedtime, to go into town to see the Beatles in the Cavern. In later years we realized it was most likely bullshit. For a start, The Cavern would in no way let a ten year old boy inside, even if he had the entrance fee. But we were captivated and dreamed of being old enough to emulate his fictional trip into the city.

For all of its previous history, Liverpool had simply been some northern, working-class, socialist, provincial city, with a provincial way of thinking. The bright lights were in London. The capital was where anything of any importance happened. Suddenly that all changed, almost overnight.

In the early sixties, in Liverpool, there was an explosion of success, and not just in pop music. Liverpool Football Club was also undergoing a transformation from a Second-Division wannabe side to First Division and FA Cup Champions. There was a time when I thought if I couldn't be a pop star, I could be a football star playing for my home team. In the end, both pop music and football success eluded me, though it was not due to any lack of talent on my part. As an incredibly introverted, undernourished young boy, somewhat overwhelmed by the world in general, I simply lacked focus, discipline, and conviction.

I do however recall, at the age of ten, performing my one and only Liverpool gig at our local Labour Party Social Club. It was a kind of karaoke performance of a Cliff Richard song, 'Living Doll'. And now, I also recall that politically, Liverpool, especially our Huyton constituency, was going up in the world, due to the fact that our local Member of Parliament, Harold Wilson, was the Prime Minister of the country.

Musically, in the early sixties, there were about 500 pop groups, in Liverpool. And the Beatles were the best of them. I do believe, had I been born ten years earlier, I too would have been a part of that explosive wave of pop music culture. Certainly, by the time I left school at the age of fifteen, I had found my confidence and my musical voice. By the age of twenty one, I even part-owned a new record label.

In later years, I enjoyed a good deal of success performing live as a solo singer-songwriter. In fact, this success was after a great many years of musical activity in theatrical operetta, in folk music, as one half of a duo, and as a lead singer and guitarist/keyboard player in a wide variety of rock and pop groups. At one time I had my own piano bar in the south of Spain. I also did a stint as a co-producer, working with guitar virtuoso and Bon Jovi Producer, Lance Quinn.

Below is an unmastered version of my song 'Falling', from the album Lost and Found, which can be found on Bandcamp (search for William Peter O'Neill)

Video by Sara Ratel and W.P.O'Neill.

So, the question is, would I have done anything different back in the sixties had I been born a decade earlier? I really cannot think of anything, apart from music, that I could have brought anything meaningful to. It had to be music I'm afraid. That was my only choice. Music touched me very deeply, in places where nothing else could get through.

I do believe that I could have had a better chance of becoming a big success as a creator and as a performer. I also think I could have made a good fist at producing music. In many ways, I was successful, to a degree, just not to the level that I wanted, and worked very hard to achieve.

Here is a video of me at work as a producer, playing guitar for a young boy called Camelo, who I found busking for pennies on the streets of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Video by Sara Ratel and W.P.O'Neill.

Below is a youtube video of Camelo enjoying the beginning of his success story on La Voz (The Voice) a Spanish Tv talent show, after a full year under my tutelage.

Video by La Voz Productions, Spain.

I have some wonderful memories, as well as three of my own albums of original songs. I wrote all the words and music, performed all of the instruments, and produced the album, with just a little help from my friends. It all cost a great deal of money and, due to Covid, has still not returned all of the money invested. Maybe I will emulate Van Gogh and become ultra-successful, long after I have passed away.

Very proud to see Camelo nail this performance. It's a long way from those early days when I took him under my wing.

Video by La Voz Productions, Spain.

I know, when I say I could have made it big had I been born ten years earlier, I may sound like Marlon Brando saying "I could have been a contender." Hopefully, the above videos will, to some degree, validate my claim.

After sixty years of chasing the musical ace, I have been forced to retire, due to advancing years, a host of age-related chronic illnesses, and Covid. I do, however, still have not only my memories but also my dreams. Playing the Cavern in the heart of Liverpool is on my bucket list, along with having a number-one record. That would be the icing on the cake.