Gentle giant who guarded the cavern during the Beatle years
Paddy Delaney was the doorman at Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club in the 1960s. The 'gentle giant' had come to the Cavern as its doorman in 1959 and after clearing out the rough element, kept it trouble-free during the historic Merseybeat years.
The Cavern, in the basement of a warehouse in Mathew Street in the city centre, had opened in 1957 as a jazz club. Two years later, its new manager, Ray McFall, wanted to resolve its problems and hired Delaney, a former guardsman.
Delaney carried out his job very effectively. He knew how to resolve disputes and how to escort troublemakers off the premises peacefully.
McFall and his DJ, Bob Wooler, soon took the club in the direction of beat music and the Beatles made the first of their 275 appearances in February 1961. Delaney let Brian Epstein into the club on November 9, 1961, to see the Beatles, paving the way for one of the most celebrated relationships in rock'n'roll history. Delaney also witnessed the Beatles' final appearance at the Cavern on August 3, 1963.
"The crowds outside were going mad. By the time John Lennon had got through the cordon of girls, his mohair jacket had lost a sleeve. I grabbed it to stop a girl getting away with a souvenir. John stitched it back on."
But the Cavern expanded too rapidly, leading the club into bankruptcy in 1966. Its original entrance is now marked with a life-size photograph of Paddy standing in the doorway.
"That's the story of my life," he would muse. "I've spent my whole life standing in a doorway."
