The Scaffold were a comedy, poetry and music trio from Liverpool, England, consisting of musical performer Mike McGear (the brother of Paul McCartney), poet Roger McGough and comic entertainer John Gorman. Working almost exclusively as a trio under the name The Scaffold from 1964, Gorman, McGear and McGough performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough (as evidenced on their 1968 live album), and they released a number of singles and albums on Parlophone and EMI between 1966 and 1971, with several more on Island, Warner Bros and Bronze thereafter.
Although each of them was a talented composer and distinctive vocal performer, only McGear could even loosely be described as a professional musician and their more musical endeavours were usually augmented with contributions by sessions musicians. Elton John, Jack Bruce and Graham Nash were among the session musicians who performed on The Scaffold’s early records. Tim Rice, who was at that time an assistant to their producer Norrie Paramor, also contributed backing vocals to some of their material. Additionally, although not officially credited as a permanent member of the group during its heyday, guitarist Andy Roberts was a frequent musical collaborator from as far back as 1962, acting as musical director and arranger in a live setting throughout their career and playing on a large number of their releases.
Their best known recording is “Lily The Pink” which topped the UK charts in 1968. The group also composed and sang the theme tune to the popular BBC TV comedy The Liver Birds, which aired from 1969–1978. In addition to the hit singles, The Scaffold’s output included four albums: The Scaffold on Parlophone in 1968, L. the P. on Parlophone in 1969, Fresh Liver on Island in 1973, and Sold Out on Warner Brothers in 1975. As a rule their early albums contained a higher ratio of live material and were less musically-driven than their singles, often focusing on McGough’s poetry and Gorman and McGear’s extended comic vignettes. Their debut album was an entirely live affair, and their second album featured a side of live tracks paired with a side of studio recording
The three members also recorded and toured extensively outside the confines of the original trio: In 1968, even before the release of The Scaffold’s own debut album, McGough and McGear recorded an album without Gorman (the prosaically-titled McGough and McGear) that featured rock-driven musical backing from Jimi Hendrix and Mitch Mitchell among others, and in 1971 the trio joined forces with former members of The Bonzo Dog Band and The Liverpool Scene to form the loose coalition of performers known as Grimms (an outfit that would go on to regularly tour the country and release three albums of its own during the early 1970s). McGear also found time to record two solo albums in 1972 and 1974.
The Scaffold’s first greatest hits album, entitled Singles A’s & B’s, was released on See for Miles Records in 1982. This was followed by a second greatest hits collection, the first on Compact Disc, The Scaffold: The Songs, in 1992. Three additional compilations of the band’s Parlophone tracks have since been released (two of which also include the Warner Bros. “Liverpool Lou” written by Irish poet Brendan Behan).
