The Forgotten Family of Liverpool

As part of Radio 2's Great British Songbook, Bob Harris investigates the songs the Beatles gave away. The most popular group in the world for over 45 years, a recent issue of re-mastered albums saw four Top 10 entries in the UK chart, while their compilation '1' looks set to be America's biggest album this decade. The fevered excitement that accompanied every release in the 1960s is well documented but less is known about the music written, though not necessarily recorded or released, by the Beatles during the same decade.

For more than a century and a half, a grim tale has passed down through Michael Veitch's family: the story of the Ticonderoga, a clipper ship that sailed from Liverpool in August 1852, crammed with poor but hopeful emigrants- mostly Scottish victims of the Clearances and the potato famine. A better life, they believed, awaited them in Australia.

Here is a notable and established band from Liverpool. The reliability of John Jenkins’ work is demonstrated in the title track ‘Looking for That American Dream’ which begins the record and captures the listener’s attention immediately with its references to ‘The American Song Book, John Denver and Dolly.’ You are in safe hands. Look out for the outstanding promotional video by Phil Calland. The rest of the album follows in its wake.

Dr Yasmin Khan explores an extraordinary collection of ship's passenger lists to trace the changing story of migration from the Indian subcontinent to Britain over three key decades.