It’s hard to say what, exactly, was in the water in Liverpool in the early 1960s that wound up producing the Merseybeat sound and hundreds of groups of varying success. Four teenagers caught the scene by surprise and found screaming fans at every turn. Their names were Mary, Sylvia, Pam and Val.

It wasn’t only their sound that turned heads. They were The Liverbirds, Britain’s first all-female rock ’n’ roll band. Sitting down with surviving members Mary McGlory and Sylvia Saunders, you’d never know these two exceedingly charming Scouse (that means they come from Liverpool) matriarchs rocked a tour with The Rolling Stones. Lent their instruments to The Kinks. Rolled joints for Jimi Hendrix.

John Lennon himself told them that girls don’t play guitar. Well, John, they did. Imagine that.

“Almost Famous” is a special Op-Docs series of short films directed by Ben Proudfoot featuring people who nearly made history — only to fall short. These are tales of overcoming disappointment at its most epic, from an astronaut who never flew to a superstar who never was.

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Credits
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Featuring: Mary Dostal, Sylvia Wiggins
Producers: Gabriel Berk Godoi, Abby Lynn Kang Davis
Co-Producer: Jeremy Lambert
Cinematography: Brandon Somerhalder
Editor: Monica Salazar
Composer: Nicholas Jacobson-Larson
Assistant Editor : Lisset Mendoza
First Assistant Camera: Haley Watson
Production Sound Recordist: Geoffrey Fyfe
Colorist: Stephen Derluguian
Re-Recording Mixer: Sean Higgins
Archival Coordinator: Sarah Stewart
Associate Producer: Caley Fox Shannon
Post-Production Supervisor: Dillon Brown
Post-Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Brooke
Supervising Editor: Federico Conforti
Sound Effects Editor: Tom Boykin
Additional Orchestration L Roger Julià Satorra
Scoring Mixer: Brad Haehnel

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Op-Docs is the New York Times’ award-winning series of short documentaries by independent filmmakers. Learn more about Op-Docs and how to submit to the series. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@NYTopinion).

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