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Believe me, no one had ever seen
anything like them before.

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The best story ever. And there's
something about them that I think speaks

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everybody.

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00:00:34,330 --> 00:00:35,710
Okay, I made that bit up.

5
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I want to know as much as possible.

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The more you learn, the more interested
you get.

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The information is so entertaining.

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That's his gift.

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Thank you.

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00:00:52,750 --> 00:00:54,370
to a podcast from the Word.

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00:00:54,570 --> 00:00:59,750
Our special guest is old friend of the
pod, world Beatles expert, Mark Lewis.

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00:00:59,850 --> 00:01:03,950
Mark, delightful to see you. Thank you,
David. Thank you, Mark. Hi, both of you.

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00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:07,170
So tell us about these shows that you're
doing in October.

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What I've done is curate a show with
short stories all about the year 1962.

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You know, I've researched all this
stuff. For 40 years, I've been gathering

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of the Beatles.

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And I've looked in places that no one
else has ever been. And I have a

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amazing haul of stuff that needs to be
seen and needs to be enjoyed by people.

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It's my pleasure to put it all into a
show and take it around theatres and

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it to people. Let people see them, let
people enjoy them, and let me tell the

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story of The Beatles through the things
that I've found.

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Fantastic. I want to know, The Beatles'
story is so kind of familiar.

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As soon as somebody dangles a little bit
that's unfamiliar, you go, oh, my

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goodness. This changes my perception of
this.

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What my job is to find as much
information and accurate information

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00:01:58,010 --> 00:02:02,810
happened as possible and I'm surrounded
by the fruit of more than 40 years of

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00:02:02,810 --> 00:02:03,850
that kind of gathering.

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I mean I wasn't present at the events
but my job is to set down what happened

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00:02:09,889 --> 00:02:14,750
if I was there just by using the
information that was actually set down

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time to illuminate.

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in the reader's mind exactly what
happened and to entertain them and to

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them into the heart of the action.

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There are very few things in life that
can actually give you a proper emotional

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lift and I think the Beatles are number
one on that list. The sheer joy of the

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way they did things, the humour of it,
the intelligence of it, the wit of it.

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It's just something that still resonates
through the decades.

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And I can think of nothing better than
the Beatles to actually make mankind

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a bit better about itself. And we really
do need that at the moment. We need the

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Beatles. We need the Beatles. We really
need the Beatles.

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On the hour, every hour.

41
00:02:57,620 --> 00:02:58,620
Exactly.

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00:02:59,060 --> 00:03:02,900
For me to immerse myself in the Beatles
on a daily basis is fantastic.

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00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:04,920
I've got the best job in the world.

44
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,140
Absolutely. Well, look, we look forward
to it, Mark. I'm sure many people look

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00:03:09,140 --> 00:03:10,140
forward to it.

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00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,280
Thank you very much, David. Thank you
very much, Mark. I will see you at the

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show. Absolutely.

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We'll be there.

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00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:19,840
Thank you.

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00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,660
We're here to talk about these guys.

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The thing is, people tend to think of
the Beatles with beards and moustaches,

52
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,640
the kind of post -revolver Beatles, as
being the hip Beatles, the Beatles who

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00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:36,100
really had their act together.

54
00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,960
But what I'm here to show you tonight is
that they were always like that. You

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00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,620
don't just suddenly become interesting
in 1966, 67.

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00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:45,020
They were always interesting.

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00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,540
They were always different. They were
always original. They were always

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to stick to what they wanted to do and
not be guided by the rules that anybody

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else was setting down.

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00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:58,020
Here they are, John Lennon, Paul
McCartney. George Harrison, Pete Best,

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00:03:58,020 --> 00:04:01,180
Epstein, their manager, and Ringo, who
is the beetle in the wings.

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00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,820
Not yet a beetle, but he's going to
become one during the year I'm talking

63
00:04:04,820 --> 00:04:06,560
about. How young they are.

64
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,620
John started all this. He's now 21.

65
00:04:09,220 --> 00:04:12,520
Paul is 19. George, 18, always the
youngest.

66
00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:13,980
Pete, 20.

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00:04:14,580 --> 00:04:18,100
Brian, who seems so old compared to the
beetles, 27.

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00:04:19,100 --> 00:04:22,400
And Ringo, 21 years old, about the same
age as John.

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00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:24,340
They live in Liverpool.

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00:04:25,130 --> 00:04:28,190
Pete lives in the north end. The others
all lived in the south end of Liverpool.

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And at the beginning of the year, the
1st of January 1962, Ringo is not there.

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He's gone off to Hamburg to play in the
house band at the Top Ten Club.

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00:04:38,350 --> 00:04:44,510
And the others are down in London. No
expense spared in the animation of this

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00:04:44,510 --> 00:04:45,510
show, ladies and gentlemen.

75
00:04:46,190 --> 00:04:49,590
Now, why the heck are they down in
London? Well, they're down in London to

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00:04:49,590 --> 00:04:54,450
test for Decca Records. Christmas 1961,
the Beatles' new manager, Brian Epstein,

77
00:04:54,670 --> 00:04:58,450
doesn't yet have a contract, but he's
utterly devoted to making them

78
00:04:58,770 --> 00:05:03,830
gives each of them this alarm clock with
a little card, my little bit, to get

79
00:05:03,830 --> 00:05:08,870
you all on in time because they had a
very poor reputation for punctuality.

80
00:05:09,630 --> 00:05:13,250
So he's saying to them, you're going to
be more punctual from now on like he

81
00:05:13,250 --> 00:05:18,450
was. But also it's a travel alarm clock
because his intent for the Beatles is to

82
00:05:18,450 --> 00:05:21,750
get them beyond the glass ceiling of
Liverpool where they're already at the

83
00:05:21,750 --> 00:05:27,030
and make them national stars and maybe
even international stars as well. He's

84
00:05:27,030 --> 00:05:30,710
already told them that he thinks they
can be bigger than Elvis Presley. And

85
00:05:30,710 --> 00:05:35,190
would have been an extremely unlikely
thing to be possible at that time.

86
00:05:35,940 --> 00:05:39,960
So my little bit to get you all on in
time, says Brian, and gives them the

87
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:45,200
clock. And the very first time they use
the clock is here at the Royal Hotel on

88
00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:50,820
Woburn Place, just around the corner
from here. They spend New Year's Eve

89
00:05:50,820 --> 00:05:56,080
and wake up on New Year's Day 1962 here
to this sound.

90
00:06:00,380 --> 00:06:03,460
And I've got to tell you, such are the
lengths I've gone to for this show. That

91
00:06:03,460 --> 00:06:04,780
is the actual clock.

92
00:06:05,860 --> 00:06:07,080
Recorded with my phone.

93
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:11,800
Thank you.

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00:06:12,810 --> 00:06:17,130
There are no photos of the Beatles at
their Decca test, but here they are just

95
00:06:17,130 --> 00:06:21,070
two weeks before. So they look like this
in their leathers, which they love to

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00:06:21,070 --> 00:06:22,830
wear. They've been wearing these for
about six months.

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00:06:23,170 --> 00:06:27,390
George, Pete, Paul, and John in a photo
session in Liverpool that Brian Epstein

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00:06:27,390 --> 00:06:29,090
organized in December 61.

99
00:06:29,510 --> 00:06:33,350
And they come to Decca full of hope, A,
because they've already been seen by

100
00:06:33,350 --> 00:06:38,250
Mike Smith, the A andR man. He's seen them
in the cavern, likes them, and says, I

101
00:06:38,250 --> 00:06:41,870
just want you to test in the studio to
see how you are in those kind of

102
00:06:41,870 --> 00:06:47,030
conditions. And Decca has a talent drive
at this very time. They are looking to

103
00:06:47,030 --> 00:06:51,110
sign new British talent. So you'd think,
well, there's a gimme. They're going to

104
00:06:51,110 --> 00:06:55,010
sign the Beatles, right? Because the
Beatles are clearly very, very good and

105
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original and interesting.

106
00:06:56,210 --> 00:07:01,330
So this is where they are on New Year's
Day 1962 when the year begins.

107
00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:05,090
This was the recording studio of the
Decca Record Company.

108
00:07:05,490 --> 00:07:07,110
So they parked the van here.

109
00:07:07,850 --> 00:07:12,030
and began to load the gear in, and the
uniformed commissionaires were, whoa,

110
00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:13,830
whoa, whoa, lads, round the back.

111
00:07:14,070 --> 00:07:18,110
Paul McCartney told me once what the
terrible ignominy of being sent round to

112
00:07:18,110 --> 00:07:21,050
the tradesman's entrance around the
back. He never forgot it.

113
00:07:22,350 --> 00:07:26,230
So this is the back entrance of Decca.
The Beatles brought their stuff in here,

114
00:07:26,350 --> 00:07:32,150
and they did quite a long test. Fifteen
songs were committed to tape, and what

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00:07:32,150 --> 00:07:36,430
it tells us is that the Beatles were a
white -hot band in Liverpool, but for

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00:07:36,430 --> 00:07:40,530
reason or another, they didn't test
particularly well that day. They were

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to be not really worthy of being signed.

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00:07:43,550 --> 00:07:46,650
The story always went down that Decca
turned the Beatles down.

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And Dick Rowe went to his grave as the
man who turned down the Beatles, which

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wasn't that untrue in as much as he
hadn't wanted to sign them. In fact,

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00:07:56,950 --> 00:08:00,770
was doing the research for my book, I
was stunned to find that they actually

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00:08:00,770 --> 00:08:04,430
been offered a contract, but on the
wrong terms, on terms that Brian Epstein

123
00:08:04,430 --> 00:08:08,090
didn't want to accept. They would have
to pay for their own recordings and pay

124
00:08:08,090 --> 00:08:12,070
for pressing, and Brian wanted them to
be signed as pucker -decker artists.

125
00:08:12,910 --> 00:08:16,310
So the Decker thing came to nothing and
after that there was a lot of head

126
00:08:16,310 --> 00:08:19,390
scratching because, you know, where else
are they going to go?

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00:08:19,710 --> 00:08:24,470
EMI had already turned down the Beatles
on the basis of a record that they had

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00:08:24,470 --> 00:08:27,070
made and so things looked a bit bleak
for them.

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00:08:27,790 --> 00:08:32,850
So the next item is the Mersey Beat
newspaper had a poll. Now, Liverpool has

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00:08:32,850 --> 00:08:36,669
thriving rock and roll scene. It's the
only place in the world where groups can

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00:08:36,669 --> 00:08:40,570
turn professional because there's enough
places for them to play to earn a

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proper living and they don't need day
jobs. And the Beatles are professional.

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00:08:43,929 --> 00:08:47,630
And it has its own newspaper, that
scene, called Mersey Beat.

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And it started in July 61. They've got a
reader's poll. Who's the best actor

135
00:08:52,150 --> 00:08:55,090
around? And, of course, the Beatles win
it. I think they were nervous that they

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00:08:55,090 --> 00:08:58,830
might not win it, but they did win it
because they... were easily the biggest

137
00:08:58,830 --> 00:09:00,230
group in Liverpool in 1961.

138
00:09:01,150 --> 00:09:05,010
And they've got a record out. Now,
they're chasing a contract for

139
00:09:05,030 --> 00:09:10,450
but what this is is the British release
of a record they made in Germany in 61

140
00:09:10,450 --> 00:09:12,310
with Tony Sheridan, my Bonnie.

141
00:09:12,830 --> 00:09:17,730
And I do a lot of research in local
newspapers when I'm writing my books.

142
00:09:17,730 --> 00:09:21,950
the Liverpool Weekly News, which is the
local paper for the south end of

143
00:09:21,950 --> 00:09:26,010
Liverpool, I found an article about them
at the time of the release of this

144
00:09:26,010 --> 00:09:31,080
record. they are hoping for a hit record
it says which is rather sweet for the

145
00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,060
very first Beatles piece in a newspaper
I think they did end up with a hit

146
00:09:35,060 --> 00:09:36,060
record or two

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00:09:36,970 --> 00:09:41,050
This is the first management contract
between Brian Epstein and the Beatles.

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00:09:41,050 --> 00:09:45,770
first sees them in November 61 in the
cavern. He begins working on their

149
00:09:45,770 --> 00:09:50,430
immediately, but he does need to have a
contract with them. And that is his

150
00:09:50,430 --> 00:09:54,030
handwriting on the front there, the date
of the contract. And it's between Brian

151
00:09:54,030 --> 00:09:59,730
Epstein, John Winston Lennon, George
Harrison, James Paul McCartney, and

152
00:09:59,730 --> 00:10:00,830
Randolph Best.

153
00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:04,630
Alistair Taylor, Brian's assistant, has
witnessed all those signatures.

154
00:10:05,500 --> 00:10:09,600
including one that's missing. Brian
Epstein never signed his own management

155
00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:14,120
contract with the Beatles. Now, why on
earth did he do that? The truth is he

156
00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,580
didn't want to tie them down. He was
going to give the Beatles his very best

157
00:10:17,580 --> 00:10:22,380
shot, which was extremely impressive,
but if he was unable to make them a

158
00:10:22,380 --> 00:10:24,200
success, he was giving them a way out.

159
00:10:24,540 --> 00:10:29,180
most managers will tie their artist
their client down to a contract much

160
00:10:29,180 --> 00:10:34,480
rigid in his favor than it is in theirs
but brian is deliberately weakening his

161
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,500
own contract with the beatles and in
fact he did it in another way as well

162
00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:42,080
because i found this draft of the
contract and quite correctly

163
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:47,660
Because Paul and George and Pete were
all under 21, minors in the eyes of the

164
00:10:47,660 --> 00:10:52,600
law, it has the accommodation for their
fathers to sign the contract as well,

165
00:10:52,700 --> 00:10:54,240
which was what you had to do.

166
00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,600
But this is only the draft of the
contract. If we go back...

167
00:10:58,060 --> 00:11:00,940
For the finished contract, the parents
have been taken out.

168
00:11:01,340 --> 00:11:06,580
Against the solicitor's advice, Brian
has deliberately removed the parents

169
00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:10,560
the contract, making it completely
invalid, still giving the Beatles the

170
00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:14,460
impression that they've signed a valid
contract, but weakening it so that it's

171
00:11:14,460 --> 00:11:17,340
basically not worth the paper that it's
printed on.

172
00:11:18,300 --> 00:11:19,960
This is called needle time.

173
00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:24,420
Probably most people in this room,
because most people in life, it seems to

174
00:11:24,460 --> 00:11:28,020
go around saying the BBC was rubbish
about playing pop music.

175
00:11:28,260 --> 00:11:31,320
They hardly ever played any pop. And if
you wanted to hear it, you'd have to

176
00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:36,080
listen to Radio Luxembourg and
eventually from 1964 -65, the pirate

177
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,980
stations. Those people who have ever
said that don't know about a thing

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00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:40,980
needle time.

179
00:11:41,300 --> 00:11:46,840
Now, needle time was a restriction on
the BBC allowing them to play a maximum

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00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,580
28 hours of recorded music per week.

181
00:11:49,870 --> 00:11:55,230
which in a seven -day week, and most of
them are seven days, is four hours a day

182
00:11:55,230 --> 00:11:59,990
across the home service, the light
program, and the classical network, the

183
00:11:59,990 --> 00:12:03,790
program. And they couldn't play anymore
because all professional musicians had

184
00:12:03,790 --> 00:12:05,690
to be in the musicians' union.

185
00:12:06,510 --> 00:12:11,730
And the MU said to the record companies,
if you allow the BBC to play any more

186
00:12:11,730 --> 00:12:17,010
than four hours of music per day, then
we're not going to allow our musicians

187
00:12:17,010 --> 00:12:22,010
to make any records for you. So the
record companies had no choice but to

188
00:12:22,010 --> 00:12:28,370
the BBC played only four hours of music
a day. And that is why pop music was in

189
00:12:28,370 --> 00:12:32,230
such short supply on the BBC in those
days.

190
00:12:32,470 --> 00:12:37,150
Now, the consequence of this was that
the BBC did a lot... of live sessions.

191
00:12:37,550 --> 00:12:39,050
They have musicians in the studios.

192
00:12:39,370 --> 00:12:45,710
And so Brian Epstein typed an
application for an audition to appear on

193
00:12:45,710 --> 00:12:50,830
Radio. Such a stylish man. This is such
an immaculate form with his flourish

194
00:12:50,830 --> 00:12:55,090
signature at the end of it there. And
the result was the Beatles had an

195
00:12:55,090 --> 00:13:00,110
at the Playhouse Theatre in Hume,
Manchester, and they passed the

196
00:13:00,390 --> 00:13:04,450
So while they're still hoping to get a
recording contract, they're broadcasting

197
00:13:04,450 --> 00:13:06,410
on the radio, national radio.

198
00:13:06,830 --> 00:13:10,890
And here they make their debut in a
program from Manchester called Here We

199
00:13:10,890 --> 00:13:14,110
with the NDO, the Northern Dance
Orchestra.

200
00:13:14,690 --> 00:13:19,570
That's the Beatles on the 8th of March
1962. They are now a broadcasting act.

201
00:13:20,350 --> 00:13:25,610
In their first show, they do this song,
among two others, Please, Mr. Postman by

202
00:13:25,610 --> 00:13:26,610
the Marvelettes.

203
00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:31,850
a record from tamla the record label
from detroit also known as motown they

204
00:13:31,850 --> 00:13:35,570
didn't know it was a tamla record in
britain it was on the fontana label and

205
00:13:35,570 --> 00:13:40,170
didn't mention tamla anywhere but when i
was researching my book tune in i

206
00:13:40,170 --> 00:13:44,050
thought i wonder if anybody else before
the beatles had ever played a tamla

207
00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,700
Motown song, or whether a Tamla record
had ever been played on British radio.

208
00:13:49,020 --> 00:13:54,700
So I spent a day peering into microfilm,
excruciating work, really hard on the

209
00:13:54,700 --> 00:14:00,160
eyes, going back from March 62, going
back through the daily program logs at

210
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,960
BBC archive out in Berkshire, hoping
that I wouldn't find it, and indeed I

211
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,020
didn't find any prior example.

212
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,860
So maybe I missed one, but I think it's
more likely that the very first exposure

213
00:14:11,860 --> 00:14:16,580
of a Tamla song on British radio British
radio was by the Beatles, who wouldn't

214
00:14:16,580 --> 00:14:19,660
have known that at the time, but it's a
lovely thing to discover now.

215
00:14:20,380 --> 00:14:25,560
Here are the British A andR men in 1962,
the kind of guys who are turning down

216
00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:26,560
Beatles.

217
00:14:26,940 --> 00:14:30,000
The man on the right is the guy who gets
all the stick, Dick Rowe.

218
00:14:30,220 --> 00:14:34,140
Also in this picture, third left, the
youngest A andR man in London, George

219
00:14:34,140 --> 00:14:36,540
Martin. He's running Parlophone Records.

220
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,740
But these are the guys who are signing
acts for teenagers to dance to at youth

221
00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:46,420
clubs and dances and whatever in
ballrooms. They clearly have no real

222
00:14:46,420 --> 00:14:51,040
what a teenager wants. Their own
personal tastes are rooted decades

223
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,480
They all served in the war. They're old
men.

224
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,320
But these are the guys who are setting
the... trends if you like or signing

225
00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:04,220
for teenagers to listen to and it just
isn't going to work decker did sign

226
00:15:04,220 --> 00:15:08,220
pool and the tremolos instead of the
beatles that's brian pool at the front

227
00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:13,580
pair of heavy glasses and he was signed
by this man mike smith at decker and

228
00:15:13,580 --> 00:15:19,620
they met in the optician shop and mike
smith also signed at this time buddy

229
00:15:19,620 --> 00:15:20,620
britain

230
00:15:22,540 --> 00:15:26,640
Buddy Britton wasn't his real name. He
was named after this man, Buddy Holly,

231
00:15:26,940 --> 00:15:32,760
who was dead three years, but still a
very popular act in Britain. This is the

232
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:37,700
cover of Hit Parade magazine from
February 1962, so it's right in the

233
00:15:37,700 --> 00:15:41,820
frame. And, of course, everybody knew
and liked Hank Marvin, the lead

234
00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:47,700
in The Shadows. So my thinking is that
had John Lennon worn his glasses...

235
00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:52,580
At the Beatles' Decca test, then maybe
the Beatles would have been offered a

236
00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:54,240
proper contract by Decca.

237
00:15:54,890 --> 00:15:58,890
Though the Beatles didn't sign for
Decca, Brian Epstein ended up with the

238
00:15:58,890 --> 00:16:03,230
and he's starting to hawk this around
the other record labels in London in the

239
00:16:03,230 --> 00:16:06,890
hope that one of them will sign the
Beatles. They can't keep coming down to

240
00:16:06,890 --> 00:16:08,470
tests. This tape is okay.

241
00:16:08,910 --> 00:16:13,050
It's enough with the pictures he's
showing them and evidence of how popular

242
00:16:13,050 --> 00:16:16,730
are. And he takes it around the record
companies. And what he actually does is

243
00:16:16,730 --> 00:16:22,430
goes and gets an acetate disc struck of
the tape or some of the songs on the

244
00:16:22,430 --> 00:16:24,090
tape at his master's voice.

245
00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:26,840
great record shop on Oxford Street here
in London.

246
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,600
And here is one of the discs. It's a two
-sided record. This surfaced about 10

247
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,600
years ago.

248
00:16:32,620 --> 00:16:34,200
Fantastic artifact.

249
00:16:34,500 --> 00:16:38,500
Hello Little Girl on one side and Till
There Was You on the other. And that is

250
00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:41,100
Brian Epstein's handwriting that you see
on the labels.

251
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,220
And he's using these and the other songs
to try and get them a contract.

252
00:16:46,250 --> 00:16:50,450
In the same building was a music
publishing company called Ardmore and

253
00:16:50,450 --> 00:16:55,570
Beachwood, which was owned by EMI, as
indeed was the shop. HMV was EMI

254
00:16:56,350 --> 00:17:00,250
And he goes up there and he meets these
two people.

255
00:17:00,510 --> 00:17:04,950
Sid Coleman on the left, he runs Ardmore
and Beachwood. And the record plugger,

256
00:17:04,950 --> 00:17:09,849
or song plugger, I should say, Kim
Bennett on the right. Now, they really

257
00:17:09,849 --> 00:17:13,349
the original songs of Lennon and
McCartney that were on that tape. There

258
00:17:13,349 --> 00:17:14,349
three of them.

259
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,599
But Brian said, it's all very well. I
mean, I'd like these songs published as

260
00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:21,079
well, but what I really am looking for
is a recording contract for my group.

261
00:17:21,180 --> 00:17:24,079
Well, Ardmore and Beachwood didn't have
the ability to give them a recording

262
00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:27,300
contract, but they would try and see
what they could do, and they began to

263
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:32,680
agitate within EMI for the Beatles to be
given a recording contract so that they

264
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,280
could get the publishing on the songs.

265
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,500
I'm going to come back to these
gentlemen later, particularly Kim

266
00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:41,180
this time, Brian Epstein meets George
Martin.

267
00:17:41,620 --> 00:17:46,120
He is head of A andR at the EMI. my record
label Parlophone but George Martin

268
00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:50,880
doesn't like what he hears of the
Beatles on their Decca test he passes on

269
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:55,460
and he drops out of the story now for
about three months later on he's going

270
00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:59,980
re -enter the story in dramatic
circumstances but for now he's not

271
00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:04,140
and that seems to be the end of that
Now, we've been talking about all the

272
00:18:04,140 --> 00:18:07,360
others. What about Ringo? Haven't really
talked about him yet. As we saw at the

273
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,320
beginning, he went off to play at the
Top Ten Club in Hamburg, and he's got

274
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,020
himself a German phrasebook and written
his name on the inside.

275
00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,080
Handy for chatting up girls, no doubt.
I'm ordering a drink at the bar.

276
00:18:19,900 --> 00:18:24,460
It's a good life as a musician in
Hamburg, and there he is, behind Tony

277
00:18:24,460 --> 00:18:28,080
Sheridan, Colin Melander, and Roy Young,
proper pro musicians.

278
00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:33,160
The thing about Ringo that was
consistent from 1957 on, onwards was

279
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,780
best musicians always wanted him as
their drummer he was always in the

280
00:18:37,780 --> 00:18:41,200
one group that was around these guys
have been on television they've made

281
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,920
records and they want ringo and he's
there for the duration he's there it's

282
00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,380
open -ended engagement he's not planning
to come back anytime soon he's an

283
00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:53,080
adventurer he's just going to stay out
there and see where the next opportunity

284
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,480
might arise but then suddenly he comes
back to liverpool now why is that

285
00:18:58,190 --> 00:18:59,109
Two reasons.

286
00:18:59,110 --> 00:19:00,069
One,

287
00:19:00,070 --> 00:19:04,630
his beloved grandmother Annie Starkey
died suddenly in February 1962.

288
00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:11,010
She had been a key part of his
upbringing, Ringo. In particular, he

289
00:19:11,010 --> 00:19:15,970
the voodoo queen of Liverpool because,
amongst other things, she had cured him

290
00:19:15,970 --> 00:19:21,070
of his natural left -handedness. He was
born left -handed, but she said that

291
00:19:21,070 --> 00:19:23,430
anyone left -handed had been possessed
by the devil.

292
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:26,560
and forced him into being right -handed.

293
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:32,120
But though right -handed, he always led
with his left and played on a right

294
00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:36,000
-handed kit, which gave him a
particularly unusual style. He called it

295
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,860
lope. It meant he always started in a
very unusual place when he was drumming.

296
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:45,580
So that was one of the key parts of why
Ringo was such an interesting drummer.

297
00:19:45,860 --> 00:19:49,400
So she has died, and Ringo is in Hamburg
and is very upset.

298
00:19:50,110 --> 00:19:53,670
And also at the very same time, there
was a catastrophic flood in northern

299
00:19:53,670 --> 00:19:58,410
Germany which killed 343 people in
Hamburg alone.

300
00:19:58,990 --> 00:20:00,830
And there were power cuts.

301
00:20:01,090 --> 00:20:03,270
They didn't know where they would be
resuming work.

302
00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:05,650
So Ringo just said, I think I'll go back
to Liverpool.

303
00:20:05,970 --> 00:20:10,410
So when the Beatles come looking for
him, he's not in Hamburg. He's back in

304
00:20:10,410 --> 00:20:14,930
Liverpool. Arguably, had those events
not occurred, he would have still been

305
00:20:14,930 --> 00:20:17,210
Hamburg and not available to the
Beatles.

306
00:20:22,540 --> 00:20:27,520
So we're outside what was a tailoring
shop called Ben O'Dawn in Grange Road

307
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,360
in Birkenhead, and the Beatles came here
to get their first suits.

308
00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:34,560
So one of the myths of the Beatles'
story, which perpetuates to this day,

309
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,860
though I'm trying to prevent it, is that
Brian Epstein, their new manager, took

310
00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:42,820
these rough -and -ready young guys in
their leathers and sanitised them by

311
00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:44,960
putting them into smart suits.

312
00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:49,580
In reality, he was much smarter than
that. What he said to them was...

313
00:20:49,980 --> 00:20:53,880
Dressed as you are, I can get you these
bookings, but if you really want to get

314
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,460
a recording contract, if you really want
to get on television, if you really

315
00:20:57,460 --> 00:21:01,040
want to get on the radio and if you
really want to play better places, you

316
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:02,040
to look smarter.

317
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,300
So the consequence was they decided that
they had better smartened themselves

318
00:21:06,300 --> 00:21:13,000
up. And with his recommendation, they
came here in Birkenhead to Ben O'Dawn.

319
00:21:13,300 --> 00:21:17,260
This was the famous man. He was actually
quite a local celebrity, Ben O'Dawn,

320
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,080
the master tailor.

321
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:24,920
And they had a gentleman's suit handmade
and these were the suits that he made.

322
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,360
And in fact, the Beatles designed them.
That's how much of a myth it is that

323
00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:29,480
Brian tidied them up.

324
00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:34,540
Because given the opportunity to create
something to wear, they actually

325
00:21:34,540 --> 00:21:36,160
designed these suits themselves.

326
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,160
And these lovely pictures resulted.

327
00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:43,279
That's what...

328
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,720
The suits look like on the inside with
the label.

329
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,140
And I like this picture. This is about
March 1962 and this is, I think, July.

330
00:21:52,380 --> 00:21:54,260
Paul and George at the microphone.

331
00:21:55,060 --> 00:21:58,420
This is them in leathers and this is
them in suits. They still look

332
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,900
It's like they haven't lost anything.

333
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:05,400
And no fan of the Beatles who was a fan
then quit because they were wearing

334
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:06,399
something smarter.

335
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,300
It's all been turned into a bigger story
than it needs to be.

336
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,120
But the number one thing is that they
wanted these clothes.

337
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,620
Now I'm going to talk about the very
famous musician Paul James.

338
00:22:20,860 --> 00:22:25,480
You know Paul James who wrote the song
Yesterday, rumoured to be dead for a

339
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:31,460
while, released the albums James, James
2 and James 3, and that best -selling

340
00:22:31,460 --> 00:22:34,360
book last year of Paul James, The
Lyrics.

341
00:22:35,060 --> 00:22:39,600
Why am I talking about Paul James? The
thing is, in 1962, Paul McCartney

342
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,420
considered changing his name from
McCartney.

343
00:22:43,130 --> 00:22:48,470
to james he thought about it for a while
and it's never been mentioned since i

344
00:22:48,470 --> 00:22:52,170
you don't read about this anywhere paul
never talks about it nobody ever asks

345
00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:57,390
him about it but i was doing an
interview with him in 1991 and i'm going

346
00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:02,350
you a little bit of it in which he
revealed that actually in 1962 he very

347
00:23:02,350 --> 00:23:08,130
changed his name so here is paul telling
us about it when it came to the beatles

348
00:23:08,130 --> 00:23:13,520
i remember being in the back of Brian
Epstein Zodiac, his big posh car, Ford,

349
00:23:13,740 --> 00:23:17,720
and talking about whether Paul McCartney
was the sort of right name.

350
00:23:18,020 --> 00:23:20,120
And he sort of felt it was a bit of a
mouthful.

351
00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:23,460
And I did too. I sort of thought, well,
you know, how's anyone ever going to

352
00:23:23,460 --> 00:23:26,660
remember that? People didn't remember it
particularly at school ever.

353
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,480
And so I was going to become Paul James.

354
00:23:29,980 --> 00:23:32,680
That was the next thing. I thought,
James, Paul, Paul James.

355
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:33,880
That's kind of good.

356
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,660
But then, I don't know, we then just
sort of thought, nah, you know what?

357
00:23:39,050 --> 00:23:42,850
And luckily we said, nah, you know, let
them remember our names.

358
00:23:43,130 --> 00:23:47,090
Which is good now because McCartney is a
sort of standout name now that adds

359
00:23:47,090 --> 00:23:48,090
with Lennon, you know.

360
00:23:48,330 --> 00:23:49,790
There's no two Lennons.

361
00:23:49,990 --> 00:23:52,610
You don't get confused with all
McCartney.

362
00:23:53,810 --> 00:23:55,850
Extraordinary to think that he might
have been Paul James.

363
00:23:56,710 --> 00:24:00,910
And very good that he didn't because
what a wise decision he made in the end

364
00:24:00,910 --> 00:24:04,510
there to stick to McCartney. Even
though, as he said, when he was at

365
00:24:04,510 --> 00:24:06,670
wasn't a name that was remembered much.
How about that?

366
00:24:08,239 --> 00:24:12,840
because apart from when they get Ringo,
he's got a stage name, Ringo, sorry, not

367
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,420
his real name. They kept their names,
and when they eventually make their

368
00:24:16,420 --> 00:24:20,240
breakthrough, that makes them so much
more identifiable with, because they're

369
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:24,040
just like, genuinely, they're like boys
next door. They've got real names, and

370
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,640
that was a crucial thing. That was a
moment when popular music tilted right

371
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,060
there, when Paul McCartney decided to
keep McCartney and not be Paul James.

372
00:24:33,770 --> 00:24:37,650
This is one of the rarest beetles
artefacts in the world.

373
00:24:38,230 --> 00:24:39,750
A unique item.

374
00:24:39,990 --> 00:24:46,030
It's an advance against wages to a
Margaret Ann Reid who worked for Sid and

375
00:24:46,030 --> 00:24:51,230
Simpsons, the shoe company in Southport.
Now, why am I saying that that is one

376
00:24:51,230 --> 00:24:55,170
of the rarest beetles items in the
world? The reason is that on the reverse

377
00:24:55,170 --> 00:24:56,170
side...

378
00:24:57,290 --> 00:25:00,890
is a set of Beatles autographs that she
obtained at the Kingsway Club in

379
00:25:00,890 --> 00:25:05,110
Southport on, and she's dated it, March
26th, 1962.

380
00:25:06,190 --> 00:25:08,370
What makes this set of autographs so
special?

381
00:25:08,630 --> 00:25:11,690
It's the first ever set of John Paul
George and Ringo.

382
00:25:12,070 --> 00:25:16,710
Now, Ringo wasn't yet a Beatle. Well, he
was between gigs. He was soon to rejoin

383
00:25:16,710 --> 00:25:19,770
Rory Storm, but at the moment he's just
kind of hanging around Liverpool.

384
00:25:20,330 --> 00:25:23,350
And this was an occasion, the 26th of
March, when...

385
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:28,020
Pete Best couldn't play and they reached
out to Ringo and said, will you sit in?

386
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,960
And so later in the evening when this
Margaret Ann Reid fished this piece of

387
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,880
paper out of her handbag and said, will
you sign this?

388
00:25:36,460 --> 00:25:39,020
They all signed it and that includes
Ringo.

389
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:43,460
And I particularly like Ringo's
signature actually because I think it

390
00:25:43,460 --> 00:25:47,840
2008 he decided that he'd had enough of
signing. He'd been signing for like

391
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:50,840
nearly 50 years and I don't want to do
any more signing.

392
00:25:52,670 --> 00:25:55,330
But at this time, he was only too keen
to sign.

393
00:25:55,590 --> 00:25:58,050
And you can see there was quite an
elaborate autograph.

394
00:25:58,550 --> 00:25:59,550
Lots of luck.

395
00:26:00,210 --> 00:26:01,210
Ringo Starr.

396
00:26:01,750 --> 00:26:07,850
Then he's underlined his name and put
VCL for vocal and drums and underlined

397
00:26:07,850 --> 00:26:12,430
that. And then a star because he's Ringo
Starr. And then a little kiss as well.

398
00:26:12,610 --> 00:26:16,090
And I rather fancy that the other
Beatles are standing there watching him

399
00:26:16,090 --> 00:26:19,990
this, thinking, how long are you going
to take over this autograph? But he was

400
00:26:19,990 --> 00:26:20,990
very particular.

401
00:26:21,340 --> 00:26:25,200
over making sure that he got it right.
So this is a really special piece of

402
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:29,660
paper, because over the years they would
sign tens of thousands of autographs,

403
00:26:29,660 --> 00:26:32,440
but there had to be a first, and this is
the one.

404
00:26:33,620 --> 00:26:37,500
This is the Punch and Judy Cafe at Lime
Street Station in Liverpool.

405
00:26:37,700 --> 00:26:39,120
Brian Edgstein is...

406
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:44,080
hawking the Beatles tape around the
London record companies, going down to

407
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:48,360
London on the train and coming back late
evenings. And Brian returns time after

408
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:52,660
time with a long face and no contract.
And they're waiting for him in the Punch

409
00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:53,660
and Judy cafe.

410
00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:58,320
And he always comes back, sorry boys,
I'm afraid I couldn't find anyone to be

411
00:26:58,320 --> 00:26:59,380
interested in you.

412
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,220
Now let's have a reminder.

413
00:27:01,540 --> 00:27:05,060
The Beatles are topping the poll in a
newspaper.

414
00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:10,120
that is published in a scene in
Liverpool that is so thriving. It's got

415
00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:15,380
publication. They've got their own fan
club. Sometimes they play up to 5 ,000

416
00:27:15,380 --> 00:27:19,660
people a night, especially when they're
playing over in New Brighton at the huge

417
00:27:19,660 --> 00:27:20,660
Tower Ballroom.

418
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:25,520
They've got something going here, and
yet Brian Epstein can't get anybody

419
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,960
interested in London to take them.

420
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:33,300
So let's have a look at the labels who
turned down the Beatles and who else

421
00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:35,220
signed. Top left corner, Phillips.

422
00:27:35,790 --> 00:27:40,170
record label, did not sign the Beatles,
but did sign the Canadian wrestler

423
00:27:40,170 --> 00:27:41,710
Frankie Townsend.

424
00:27:43,230 --> 00:27:47,070
They also signed a middle -aged London
housewife called Mary May.

425
00:27:47,370 --> 00:27:52,150
Aureole didn't sign the Beatles, but did
sign a builder's labourer and renamed

426
00:27:52,150 --> 00:27:53,650
him Brett Ansell.

427
00:27:54,620 --> 00:27:58,560
Decker didn't sign the Beatles but
signed a house decorator, Vern Brandon.

428
00:27:59,540 --> 00:28:04,260
EMI's Columbia label didn't sign the
Beatles but did sign Welsh council

429
00:28:04,260 --> 00:28:09,200
draftsman, Peter Harvey, and a 15 -year
-old schoolboy called Ian Vince.

430
00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:14,920
And EMI's HMV label didn't sign the
Beatles but did sign a 10 -year -old

431
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,440
schoolboy called Stephen Sinclair. What
on earth?

432
00:28:19,820 --> 00:28:24,580
are these A andR men at British record
companies doing? Why are they signing

433
00:28:24,580 --> 00:28:26,280
people and not the Beatles?

434
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,240
These people, they're not even
professional singers.

435
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:33,660
They've all got other jobs. You notice
they're draftsmen and engineers and

436
00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:36,600
decorators and a wrestler, for goodness
sake.

437
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,100
But they're not signing a group that's
got a fan club and is winning polls and

438
00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:45,220
is playing every night and they look
smart and they're very engaging, they're

439
00:28:45,220 --> 00:28:47,360
very charismatic and they write their
own music.

440
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:52,740
The Beatles have got the whole lot and
these guys are signing wrestlers and

441
00:28:52,740 --> 00:28:53,740
house decorators.

442
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,620
It is really quite extraordinary and a
real insight into the way the business

443
00:28:58,620 --> 00:29:02,180
was structured and what the Beatles were
fighting against and what eventually

444
00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:05,640
they swept away completely once they
became successful.

445
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,920
And the other thing they're saying to
Brian Eckstein is, you'll never make it

446
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:10,920
from Liverpool.

447
00:29:11,180 --> 00:29:15,240
You'll have to come down to London first
because no one is ever made in

448
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:20,680
Liverpool. You have to go to London and
change the name Beatles because Beatles

449
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,200
is a horrible word. No one's going to
like it. No one will sign you if you're

450
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:25,200
called Beatles.

451
00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:29,120
So Brian is coming back to Liverpool and
he's telling John Paul and George and

452
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,600
they're going, we're not changing our
name and we're not going to leave

453
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:34,300
Liverpool. We're going to make it from
Liverpool.

454
00:29:34,540 --> 00:29:38,520
They dug their heels in. They knew who
they were. They knew what they wanted.

455
00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:43,200
They weren't going to conform to other
people's stupid rules they were always

456
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,060
going to do things their way or they
weren't going to do them at all which is

457
00:29:47,060 --> 00:29:51,760
key part of who they were well the place
the Beatles played more than any other

458
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:58,440
in 1962 in 1961 as well was the Cavern
Club in Liverpool it's now

459
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:04,440
a tourist mecca This, however, is the
setting as it originally was. This is

460
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:05,520
Matthew Street in Liverpool.

461
00:30:05,860 --> 00:30:10,240
Much quieter. It's full of fruit
warehouses and the fruit exchange market

462
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:15,640
itself. So just basically full of crates
and the smell there is of fruit and

463
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,380
vegetables. The Beatles played the
cavern about 300 times.

464
00:30:20,460 --> 00:30:23,340
But there were some standouts in those
300.

465
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,920
And this is certainly one of the
standout nights. This is the 5th of

466
00:30:28,380 --> 00:30:30,480
The cavern was closed on a Thursday
night.

467
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:35,880
So Brian rented it as a private let in
order to host an evening of the Beatles

468
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:36,880
for their fans.

469
00:30:37,380 --> 00:30:42,200
I really like this handbill because
Brian Epstein was a very stylish man.

470
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,600
And the Beatles were a very stylish
group.

471
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,220
And the combination...

472
00:30:47,070 --> 00:30:51,210
set them head and shoulders above
everybody else. What a beautiful piece

473
00:30:51,210 --> 00:30:55,610
artwork this is. Very modern then. I
think it still looks modern today.

474
00:30:55,930 --> 00:31:02,070
He was organising this event in order to
make a special unveiling and also to

475
00:31:02,070 --> 00:31:06,350
recruit new members of the fan club. So
everyone who came into the cavern that

476
00:31:06,350 --> 00:31:10,050
night automatically received free
membership of the fan club.

477
00:31:10,590 --> 00:31:13,890
And that meant that they had to be
processed at the door.

478
00:31:14,870 --> 00:31:18,170
with their particulars taken so they
could become enrolled as members.

479
00:31:18,510 --> 00:31:22,230
And it was a matter of all hands to the
pump to try and get everybody in as

480
00:31:22,230 --> 00:31:23,230
quickly as possible.

481
00:31:23,550 --> 00:31:27,270
And this card here is actually Brian
Epstein's own handwriting.

482
00:31:27,530 --> 00:31:31,410
So he's down on the door as well,
helping to get people into the club.

483
00:31:31,850 --> 00:31:36,930
Now, in the first half of the show, the
Beatles played as they always had done,

484
00:31:37,070 --> 00:31:38,870
in the leather clothes.

485
00:31:39,110 --> 00:31:42,770
And they looked like this. And this is
how the fans knew them and loved them.

486
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,080
But an announcement was made that after
the interval, the Beatles would be

487
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:48,760
coming out in something different.

488
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:53,380
And indeed they did, because they came
out in Father Christmas costumes.

489
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,360
Of course, I mean, it was April, after
all.

490
00:31:56,580 --> 00:32:01,880
But then they went back in and changed
yet again, and this time they came out

491
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:02,859
their suits.

492
00:32:02,860 --> 00:32:06,840
The suits that they had made at Ben
O'Dawn's, the tailoring shop in

493
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,920
And Pete Best came to the front, which
he did very seldom, and sang Peppermint

494
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:12,920
Twist.

495
00:32:13,450 --> 00:32:20,330
And Paul McCartney went on drums and a
girl called Lou Steen took these

496
00:32:20,330 --> 00:32:22,110
incredible photographs that night.

497
00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:24,370
Paul McCartney on drums there.

498
00:32:24,630 --> 00:32:28,270
Look at the joy on Paul McCartney's
face. This has to be, I would think, one

499
00:32:28,270 --> 00:32:30,290
the great nights of his life to this
point.

500
00:32:30,550 --> 00:32:35,630
What is he? He's not yet 20 years old
and he's on drums. They've got their fan

501
00:32:35,630 --> 00:32:39,470
club. They've got their manager. Things
are really on the up for them. And it's

502
00:32:39,470 --> 00:32:42,570
captured in Lou Steen's evocative
photographs of that night.

503
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:45,840
And now they're in suits.

504
00:32:46,340 --> 00:32:50,000
And this is how they're going to look
from now on. And that was it. They had

505
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:51,000
made that transformation.

506
00:32:52,750 --> 00:32:56,850
The man on the right is Stuart
Sutcliffe, who had been a Beatle until

507
00:32:56,850 --> 00:32:58,730
previous June, June 1961.

508
00:32:58,990 --> 00:33:04,550
This picture was taken in February 1962
at a Hamburg art school party.

509
00:33:04,990 --> 00:33:09,930
He's with his girlfriend Astrid Kircher
and her friend, her former boyfriend,

510
00:33:10,090 --> 00:33:11,090
Klaus Vorman.

511
00:33:11,290 --> 00:33:14,630
You can tell it's an art school event
because they're dressed in some kind of

512
00:33:14,630 --> 00:33:17,750
fancy way. Klaus didn't usually go
around with ruffles.

513
00:33:18,990 --> 00:33:24,470
But look how cool Stuart is. A young man
in 1962. This was really adventurous.

514
00:33:24,670 --> 00:33:28,870
He looks more like he's in the new
romantic movement down Billy's nightclub

515
00:33:28,870 --> 00:33:35,290
Soho in 1979 -80 than a young man in
Hamburg from Liverpool in

516
00:33:35,290 --> 00:33:39,750
1962. And he and Astrid are very devoted
to one another. He wrote this lovely

517
00:33:39,750 --> 00:33:44,930
note to her. He stayed in Hamburg to be
with her. And everything is going well.

518
00:33:45,010 --> 00:33:48,690
His painting is going brilliantly,
except that he's beginning to suffer.

519
00:33:48,690 --> 00:33:49,970
some very violent headaches.

520
00:33:50,330 --> 00:33:55,190
And in April 1962, with the Beatles just
about to arrive for their season at the

521
00:33:55,190 --> 00:34:00,870
Star Club, Stuart dies of a brain
haemorrhage at the age of 21.

522
00:34:05,310 --> 00:34:09,530
This is the grave of Stuart Sutcliffe
together with both his parents, Charles

523
00:34:09,530 --> 00:34:10,530
and Millie.

524
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,420
and his sister Pauline, and there's one
sister left now.

525
00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:17,760
And he had left the Beatles in 1961. He
was no longer in the band.

526
00:34:18,900 --> 00:34:24,239
But nonetheless, they were close to him,
and he was close to them.

527
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,960
But for him to die at the age of 21 in
Hamburg, just before they got there for

528
00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:34,500
their third visit, the first at the Star
Club, was really an appalling event.

529
00:34:35,260 --> 00:34:38,639
Within ten months of his death, they
were number one on the charts.

530
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:45,600
and on their way to becoming the
phenomenon that they were and still are,

531
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:46,418
missed it all.

532
00:34:46,420 --> 00:34:49,300
And, you know, he probably would have
been part of it in some way.

533
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:55,699
His picture's on the cover of the Sgt
Pepper album, and his influence was with

534
00:34:55,699 --> 00:34:58,140
them always, but he missed it.

535
00:34:59,340 --> 00:35:00,420
Very sad thing.

536
00:35:04,620 --> 00:35:07,200
Astrid took this photograph of John
Lennon.

537
00:35:07,770 --> 00:35:11,950
standing in the exact place where his
close friend Stuart was standing only a

538
00:35:11,950 --> 00:35:16,310
few weeks earlier. And she also took
this picture of George with John in the

539
00:35:16,310 --> 00:35:17,310
same spot.

540
00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:21,670
And as Astrid said to me, though George
is two and a half years younger than

541
00:35:21,670 --> 00:35:26,170
John, John is so broken by Stuart's
death that it's like George is the older

542
00:35:26,170 --> 00:35:30,350
brother going to be taking care of him.
The half -shadow look.

543
00:35:30,550 --> 00:35:34,990
And you see it again in these pictures,
taken that same visit that same day.

544
00:35:35,740 --> 00:35:40,480
What a compellingly honest photograph of
John Lennon that is.

545
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,960
How he's allowed himself to be seen by
the camera grieving for his friend.

546
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:50,680
And George, the character packed into
his face. He's 19 years old, but just

547
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,360
at George. He's old before his time.

548
00:35:53,260 --> 00:35:58,420
What fantastic photos Astrid took. And
it made them enamored of the half

549
00:35:58,420 --> 00:36:02,440
look. And that's why they wanted Robert
Freeman to take the half -shadow

550
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,500
pictures for the With the Beatles album
cover.

551
00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:13,930
This is a tube of preludin, which were
slimming pills for women made in

552
00:36:13,950 --> 00:36:18,150
They were known as preludes by the
musicians who played the nightclubs and

553
00:36:18,150 --> 00:36:22,830
bars in Hamburg, the Beatles included,
because it was realised that they're

554
00:36:22,830 --> 00:36:23,788
an amphetamine.

555
00:36:23,790 --> 00:36:28,250
And with the very long hours that the
Beatles and the other groups had to play

556
00:36:28,250 --> 00:36:32,490
there, they would be offered these
little pills just to make sure they

557
00:36:32,490 --> 00:36:33,490
fall asleep on stage.

558
00:36:34,670 --> 00:36:40,330
And this, actually, you can see the tube
matches a photograph of the Beatles.

559
00:36:40,430 --> 00:36:41,630
This is a Prellis photo.

560
00:36:42,470 --> 00:36:46,290
Probably the only picture that overtly
ties the Beatles to drugs, if you can

561
00:36:46,290 --> 00:36:50,330
call a slimming pure drugs. But it is an
amphetamine of a kind.

562
00:36:51,050 --> 00:36:52,470
Pete Best in the picture.

563
00:36:53,180 --> 00:36:56,800
fully engaged with it, but actually he
didn't take the drugs. He was a beer

564
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:57,800
drinker only.

565
00:36:57,980 --> 00:37:01,680
Paul, he's well engaged in it too, but
he would only take them occasionally.

566
00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:07,920
The biggest drug takers in the Beatles
were usually George and John, and I

567
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:11,360
you can see they probably had some
prelis, John especially.

568
00:37:12,020 --> 00:37:16,440
So this is a great photograph of the
Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg in

569
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,380
spring of 1962 with the prelis that they
were taking.

570
00:37:21,260 --> 00:37:27,320
Now, you know about Bob Dylan turning
the Beatles onto marijuana in New York

571
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:33,200
August 1964, that famous story, which is
completely true, but actually a couple

572
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:37,580
of them had smoked a joint before, not
in New York, in Southport.

573
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:44,260
Instead, the drummer in another group on
the bill in February 62 had a joint and

574
00:37:44,260 --> 00:37:48,600
they shared it in the dressing room
before they went on. Two of them, George

575
00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:53,660
and, and very likely John, I would say,
but we don't know for absolute sure. So

576
00:37:53,660 --> 00:37:58,420
here is where they first smoked pot, not
with Bob Dylan in New York, but there

577
00:37:58,420 --> 00:38:03,600
on the wintry, windswept, wet promenade
in Southport, Lancashire.

578
00:38:05,070 --> 00:38:11,190
In May 1962, Brian Epstein gets a phone
call, come down to EMI because there's

579
00:38:11,190 --> 00:38:14,730
going to be some good news. So he writes
to Neil Aspinall. He's the Beatles'

580
00:38:14,890 --> 00:38:19,130
indispensable road manager and says,
you'll be interested to hear I'm going

581
00:38:19,130 --> 00:38:23,990
London this week to see EMI and very
sincerely hope that when I see you on

582
00:38:23,990 --> 00:38:27,770
Friday, I'll have good news, which means
he knows something good is going to

583
00:38:27,770 --> 00:38:31,530
happen. He doesn't know why they're
suddenly being offered a contract, but

584
00:38:31,530 --> 00:38:34,650
not going to argue it. Thank you very
much. We've been looking for a contract.

585
00:38:34,670 --> 00:38:38,210
track will take it and it is with emi
who are the greatest recording

586
00:38:38,210 --> 00:38:45,070
organization in the world and this
letter typed on the

587
00:38:45,070 --> 00:38:49,590
very day the 9th of may i'm writing this
note to you a few minutes before going

588
00:38:49,590 --> 00:38:54,350
for the london train i've typed this
note in mr brian's absence which is why

589
00:38:54,350 --> 00:38:59,310
hasn't signed it so the letter was typed
while brian was heading for lime street

590
00:38:59,310 --> 00:39:04,550
station got the train to London, came
here to EMI Studios, and George Martin

591
00:39:04,550 --> 00:39:06,850
said, I want to sign your boys, the
Beatles.

592
00:39:07,230 --> 00:39:10,950
And Brian left this building on the 9th
of May, absolutely thrilled to bits that

593
00:39:10,950 --> 00:39:13,230
they had finally landed what they'd been
waiting for.

594
00:39:16,130 --> 00:39:20,450
Having left the studios that day, having
met George Martin, Brian Epstein needed

595
00:39:20,450 --> 00:39:24,050
to get the good news for the Beatles as
soon as possible. So they were in

596
00:39:24,050 --> 00:39:28,530
Hamburg at the time, playing at the Star
Club, and Brian came to a post office

597
00:39:28,530 --> 00:39:29,530
that was here.

598
00:39:29,870 --> 00:39:34,970
No longer a post office, now a cafe, but
here he came the 9th of May 1962 to

599
00:39:34,970 --> 00:39:36,830
transmit the great news to the Beatles.

600
00:39:37,090 --> 00:39:39,450
They now had a Parlophone recording
contract.

601
00:39:39,870 --> 00:39:44,770
And he sent a second telegram here that
afternoon to Mersey Beat newspaper in

602
00:39:44,770 --> 00:39:47,410
Liverpool. And I have a facsimile of
that here.

603
00:39:47,810 --> 00:39:52,930
Have secured contract for Beatles to
recorded for EMI on Parlophone label.

604
00:39:53,170 --> 00:39:57,170
First recording date set for June 6th.
Brian Epstein.

605
00:39:57,410 --> 00:39:58,790
An historic document.

606
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,660
Because the Beatles now had a recording
contract. In Hamburg, they had one that

607
00:40:03,660 --> 00:40:05,620
said, please rehearse new material.

608
00:40:05,980 --> 00:40:09,860
So there they were in Hamburg knowing
that finally they were going to be

609
00:40:09,860 --> 00:40:11,400
the chance to make their first record.

610
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:16,980
George Martin and his secretary complete
this form. It's an application for a

611
00:40:16,980 --> 00:40:21,280
contract to be drafted. And the name on
the contract is Beatles.

612
00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:24,060
Beatles with two Ts.

613
00:40:24,940 --> 00:40:29,540
And it was a four -year contract,
renewable by EMI, by Parlophone, if they

614
00:40:29,540 --> 00:40:35,080
wanted to. They had to record a minimum
of six songs in the first year, and they

615
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:39,960
would be paid a penny per double -sided
record on 90 % of the records. A

616
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:42,300
standard contract in those days.

617
00:40:43,100 --> 00:40:47,260
People who like to be wise after the
event say the Beatles' record contract

618
00:40:47,260 --> 00:40:50,600
a feeble one. Well, it was fairly
feeble, but it was standard.

619
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:55,820
And there was no way that Brian Epstein
had any strength in this negotiation to

620
00:40:55,820 --> 00:40:58,900
say, I demand that we hold out for
Tuppence's record.

621
00:40:59,660 --> 00:41:03,940
Because it was just a complete stroke of
luck that they were being signed at

622
00:41:03,940 --> 00:41:06,660
all. But that's how fate is.

623
00:41:07,420 --> 00:41:12,500
So the contract arrives, Brian Epstein's
office, he takes a fountain pen and

624
00:41:12,500 --> 00:41:18,680
crosses out the T and makes it Beatles
again and signs the last page and at

625
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:23,600
now the Beatles have a proper recording
contract with George Martin and

626
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:24,600
Parlophone Records.

627
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:31,100
So this is a little collection of
records that I put together over the

628
00:41:31,100 --> 00:41:35,540
that are just some of the records made
by George Martin before he met the

629
00:41:35,540 --> 00:41:36,540
Beatles.

630
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:40,960
And it's a measure of how prolific he
was as a producer, how much experience

631
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,620
had, that when he met the Beatles and
they were beginning to find their feet

632
00:41:45,620 --> 00:41:49,760
the studio, he was the perfect producer
because he had so much experience under

633
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:50,479
his belt.

634
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:55,080
This is George Martin's first number one
hit, You're Driving Me Crazy by the

635
00:41:55,080 --> 00:41:57,220
Temperance Seven, during 1961.

636
00:41:58,620 --> 00:42:04,160
kind of 1920s style jazz, where the lead
singer Paul McDowell sang through a

637
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:05,960
megaphone. This one here,

638
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:13,260
Time Beat by Ray Cathode, obviously a
pseudonym. Ray Cathode is actually

639
00:42:13,260 --> 00:42:17,740
Martin, and Time Beat was made with the
cooperation of the BBC Radiophonic

640
00:42:17,740 --> 00:42:23,020
Workshop. And it's kind of like an early
version of electronic music. In fact,

641
00:42:23,060 --> 00:42:27,260
the headline in the New Musical Express
to describe it was Electronic Sounds.

642
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,760
which ended up being a George Harrison
album title some years later.

643
00:42:32,180 --> 00:42:34,180
Many of these records are innovative.

644
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:36,820
He was still young, which was to his
advantage.

645
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:42,440
A lot of the A andR men in London were
older, but he was a rebel. He was a

646
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:47,240
renegade. If he had an interesting,
quirky talent in the studio, he would

647
00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:50,760
his own talents to the table, and
together they could make great music.

648
00:42:50,980 --> 00:42:54,900
And therefore, he was the perfect man to
work with the Beatles.

649
00:42:56,780 --> 00:43:01,160
Here's another example of how incredibly
fortunate we are to have Ringo as a

650
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:05,620
Beatle and how fortunate Ringo was to
become a Beatle. This is a telegram to

651
00:43:05,620 --> 00:43:06,620
him.

652
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:10,920
from Roy Young, who was with him in the
house band at the Top Ten Club. Now, the

653
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:15,860
Star Club has opened in Hamburg. It's
immediately taken over as the go -to

654
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:17,140
This often happens.

655
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:22,840
And there's now a house band in the Star
Club. Again, Tony Sheridan. Again, Roy

656
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:24,300
Young. And they want Ringo back.

657
00:43:24,780 --> 00:43:31,640
We'll pay you 400 German marks, which
was about £34 a week, from 1 June 1962

658
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:33,060
13 April 1963.

659
00:43:33,340 --> 00:43:34,800
Please come by aeroplane.

660
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:36,560
we pay the fare.

661
00:43:36,860 --> 00:43:40,760
I'm sure Ringo would have grabbed this
with both hands had he had the

662
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:46,720
opportunity, but it arrived in late May,
and Ringo was committed to spending the

663
00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:51,000
summer with Rory Storm and the
Hurricanes, the Liverpool group who had

664
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:53,700
playing at Butlin's holiday camp in
Skegness.

665
00:43:54,340 --> 00:43:59,300
So had this arrived a few days earlier,
Ringo might have said yes, but instead

666
00:43:59,300 --> 00:44:03,440
he replies, signed contract, sorry,
Ringo.

667
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,740
Contract misspelled because Ringo had
missed so much education.

668
00:44:07,940 --> 00:44:09,460
Had a very sick childhood.

669
00:44:09,740 --> 00:44:13,280
Not a stupid man by any means, but he
had missed a lot of school.

670
00:44:13,580 --> 00:44:20,160
But that again, how lucky he was to have
missed this. Because if he had gone, he

671
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:22,220
would have been in Hamburg until April
1963.

672
00:44:23,020 --> 00:44:25,460
The Beatles come and get him in August
of 62.

673
00:44:25,740 --> 00:44:27,260
He wouldn't have been in England.

674
00:44:27,620 --> 00:44:32,980
So his own life pattern was shaped by
the fact that Roy Young...

675
00:44:33,500 --> 00:44:37,680
didn't send the telegram until the end
of May, and it was too late. He couldn't

676
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:38,680
do it.

677
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:42,980
Instead, he's at Butlins in Skeggy with
Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

678
00:44:43,300 --> 00:44:46,480
And if you think he looks bored and
miserable in this picture,

679
00:44:47,260 --> 00:44:50,680
then you're probably right because he
was. Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, they

680
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:54,740
were a good -time show band, kicking
their legs up in the air, as you can

681
00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:59,440
Good fun, good laughs, but they're never
really going to make it. They're no

682
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,700
challenge for Ringo, and he's going to
leave them again when he can.

683
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,620
He doesn't yet know when, but he's going
to.

684
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:12,140
This is the famous Abbey Road zebra
crossing, and for more than half a

685
00:45:12,140 --> 00:45:15,220
now people have come here from all over
the world to have their pictures taken.

686
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:20,900
But in June 1962, when the Beatles first
came to the recording studios over

687
00:45:20,900 --> 00:45:22,640
there, they were absolutely unknown.

688
00:45:23,220 --> 00:45:27,760
They drove their van into the parking
lot at the front there, unloaded, and

689
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:29,600
a fairly substandard session.

690
00:45:29,820 --> 00:45:33,800
They hadn't done well at Decca, and now
again here at EMI they weren't doing a

691
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:34,800
particularly good session.

692
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:36,580
In particular...

693
00:45:37,310 --> 00:45:40,950
George Martin, the producer, was unhappy
with the performance of their drummer.

694
00:45:41,470 --> 00:45:47,270
And I have this letter from the archives
of 1965, so three years later, in which

695
00:45:47,270 --> 00:45:48,990
George Martin set down his thoughts.

696
00:45:49,250 --> 00:45:53,190
I told Mr Epstein at this time that I
was not satisfied with the performance

697
00:45:53,190 --> 00:45:57,390
their drummer, Mr Peter Best, and as far
as my recordings were concerned, I

698
00:45:57,390 --> 00:46:01,470
would prefer not to use him on the
actual record, but that I would use a

699
00:46:01,470 --> 00:46:02,470
drummer.

700
00:46:02,590 --> 00:46:07,050
I do remember that at this time, Peter
Best did seem to be an odd man out.

701
00:46:07,270 --> 00:46:10,890
And while the other three were very
unified in their performance and

702
00:46:11,430 --> 00:46:14,190
he did not seem to be a true part of the
group.

703
00:46:14,490 --> 00:46:18,410
Well, the Beatles hadn't been that
satisfied with Pete for a long time, but

704
00:46:18,410 --> 00:46:22,150
George Martin's opinion there really did
set the seal on his time with the

705
00:46:22,150 --> 00:46:27,150
Beatles. And within a couple of months
of their visit here to EMI, Pete was

706
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:32,660
This is Paul McCartney's first car and
it's parked outside his house, a council

707
00:46:32,660 --> 00:46:34,380
house in Forthland Road, Liverpool.

708
00:46:34,780 --> 00:46:38,420
Only the second car parked on that road
at that time.

709
00:46:38,780 --> 00:46:41,820
So the neighbours would have been
looking out of the window and thinking,

710
00:46:41,820 --> 00:46:46,400
car is that? It belongs to that 20 -year
-old boy in that house. And that's a

711
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,220
measure of how well the Beatles were
doing under Brian Epstein's management.

712
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:54,840
Even before they were nationally famous,
they had the money to buy cars.

713
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:59,960
in a street where pretty much nobody
else had one and he buys it from a

714
00:46:59,960 --> 00:47:04,960
in liverpool called blake's on hardman
street and it had a delicious moment as

715
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:10,240
he was reversing it off the forecourt to
drive it home he and george had both

716
00:47:10,240 --> 00:47:14,400
been students at the liverpool institute
high school where the headmaster who

717
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:18,440
was known by all the boys as the baz
probably short for something

718
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:26,160
He was the kind of headmaster, really
stern British school headmaster of the

719
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:28,540
school. Many of you will know what that
means. I do.

720
00:47:28,940 --> 00:47:32,420
And he decried any boy a failure who
didn't...

721
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:35,340
graduate the school with A -levels and
go on to university.

722
00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:39,680
Well, Paul had done quite well at
school. George had been a complete

723
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:44,180
But at the very moment when Paul is
reversing his car off the forecourt,

724
00:47:44,180 --> 00:47:47,840
bought it, there is the badge standing
right there.

725
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:51,300
And Paul, like, winds down the window
and says, do you like my car?

726
00:47:53,720 --> 00:47:58,580
So in the late spring, early summer of
1962, George Harrison, though only 19,

727
00:47:58,940 --> 00:47:59,940
had a car.

728
00:48:00,620 --> 00:48:05,940
And one day he came to this place,
Allerton Golf Course, with Paul

729
00:48:05,940 --> 00:48:08,500
Paul's brother Mike and John Lennon.

730
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,960
And he parked his car, give or take a
yard or two, about here.

731
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:15,020
Mike McCartney took this picture.

732
00:48:15,630 --> 00:48:19,770
This advert appeared in Mersey Beat
newspaper. It only ran in the one issue.

733
00:48:20,110 --> 00:48:23,930
Like George Harrison of the Beatles, you
can become the proud owner of a first

734
00:48:23,930 --> 00:48:24,908
-class car.

735
00:48:24,910 --> 00:48:29,070
Contact Hawthorne Engineering Company of
Warrington. It must have been a deal.

736
00:48:29,170 --> 00:48:31,430
You must have got some kind of discount
on the price.

737
00:48:31,730 --> 00:48:37,210
So George ended up with a Ferrari and
Mercedes and ultimately even a McLaren.

738
00:48:37,950 --> 00:48:42,310
But began with this rather sweet, humble
Ford Anglia. That even comes with four

739
00:48:42,310 --> 00:48:43,310
months guarantee.

740
00:48:43,530 --> 00:48:46,570
Yeah, four months written guarantee. I
like the fact that it's a written

741
00:48:46,570 --> 00:48:47,570
guarantee.

742
00:48:49,390 --> 00:48:52,610
Now we've seen all the reasons why Pete
is going to have to go.

743
00:48:53,850 --> 00:48:58,330
People told me when I was writing Tune
In that common for Pete to keep his head

744
00:48:58,330 --> 00:48:59,330
down.

745
00:48:59,580 --> 00:49:03,240
and didn't look up very much. And that's
really annoying if you're in a band.

746
00:49:03,700 --> 00:49:06,980
John Paul and George on the front line,
they turn around, they want to make eye

747
00:49:06,980 --> 00:49:11,420
contact with their drummer to say one
more verse or whatever it might be, and

748
00:49:11,420 --> 00:49:14,340
they can't do it because he's not
looking at them. Really frustrating.

749
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:16,120
He's going to have to go.

750
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:19,480
And Brian is given the job of getting
rid of him.

751
00:49:19,950 --> 00:49:23,570
The problem is they've got their
Parlophone contract, the EMI one with

752
00:49:23,570 --> 00:49:27,570
Martin. So it's going to be a bit
problematic. How will they ease him out

753
00:49:27,570 --> 00:49:30,590
without actually being in default of the
contract?

754
00:49:31,050 --> 00:49:35,690
And so Brian discussed it with his
solicitor, David Harris, at whose house

755
00:49:35,690 --> 00:49:36,690
found these documents.

756
00:49:37,250 --> 00:49:41,630
And they don't want to refer to Pete by
name because it might get out that

757
00:49:41,630 --> 00:49:44,730
they're going to make this change. So
they call Pete the undesirable member.

758
00:49:46,850 --> 00:49:50,810
And the solicitor says, basically,
you've got no power under the agreement

759
00:49:50,810 --> 00:49:55,950
get rid of him. And then he adds,
however, if the other members were

760
00:49:55,950 --> 00:49:59,150
that he should go, then there will be
nothing to stop them dissolving the

761
00:49:59,150 --> 00:50:04,570
as it were expelling him and thereafter
entering into a new agreement with you

762
00:50:04,570 --> 00:50:07,950
as their manager. So what he's
advocating is that you could split the

763
00:50:07,950 --> 00:50:13,890
up, get rid of Pete, take on somebody
else, Ringo it's going to be, and then

764
00:50:13,890 --> 00:50:15,090
reform the group.

765
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:19,300
He doesn't want to get into it like
this, but he's now, as their manager,

766
00:50:19,300 --> 00:50:21,780
to do this tricky thing and taking
advice.

767
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:25,020
How is he going to do it? But it's
definitely going to happen.

768
00:50:29,080 --> 00:50:30,080
What?

769
00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:36,880
What a crazy week that the Beatles have
now, beginning on the 16th of August,

770
00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:40,500
the Thursday when Pete Best is finally
removed from the Beatles.

771
00:50:41,150 --> 00:50:45,350
Now, he said that it was never told to
him why he was being sacked, but it was

772
00:50:45,350 --> 00:50:49,210
actually. I found this file note of a
conversation between Brian and his

773
00:50:49,210 --> 00:50:53,370
solicitor in which it says quite
specifically, he said the best fully

774
00:50:53,370 --> 00:50:56,970
appreciated why he was asked to leave
and told that he was not up to the

775
00:50:56,970 --> 00:50:57,970
required standards.

776
00:50:58,810 --> 00:51:02,350
Pete, to this day, still says he doesn't
know why he was fired. They told me I

777
00:51:02,350 --> 00:51:04,730
wasn't a good enough drummer, but I
don't know why I was fired.

778
00:51:05,010 --> 00:51:06,950
But that is actually the reason.

779
00:51:09,100 --> 00:51:12,500
And I don't say that with any disrespect
to Pete, and it's perfectly okay that

780
00:51:12,500 --> 00:51:16,240
he wasn't good enough as they saw it,
John Paul and George. They got the right

781
00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:19,820
to want another drummer in their group,
and actually that's really all it is.

782
00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:23,780
But Brian is the one who has to do the
deed, and it's really a very difficult

783
00:51:23,780 --> 00:51:27,360
situation for Brian. He didn't expect to
be doing anything like this when he

784
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:28,460
offered to become their manager.

785
00:51:29,370 --> 00:51:33,530
But there it is. And that afternoon, he
dictates a letter to his solicitor

786
00:51:33,530 --> 00:51:38,850
setting out the terms for a new contract
that must be drawn up with Richard

787
00:51:38,850 --> 00:51:43,150
Starkey as the Beatles' new member. And
this time, we're going to do it

788
00:51:43,150 --> 00:51:46,250
properly. We're going to make sure that
the parents of the miners, that's Paul

789
00:51:46,250 --> 00:51:51,350
and George, both still under 21, that
they're actually accounted for in the

790
00:51:51,350 --> 00:51:53,730
contract. A slightly shaky...

791
00:51:54,220 --> 00:51:57,920
Pictures, I'm afraid to say. This was
one of my espionage moments as a

792
00:51:57,920 --> 00:51:58,920
researcher.

793
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:04,080
I had about five seconds to take these
pictures before I was caught, so I

794
00:52:04,080 --> 00:52:08,760
quite get them in focus. But it needed
to be done. A very important and a very

795
00:52:08,760 --> 00:52:09,760
valuable letter.

796
00:52:10,510 --> 00:52:15,190
Now, Brian, when he was the Beatles'
manager, not only gave the Beatles the

797
00:52:15,190 --> 00:52:17,590
benefit of his expertise, but also his
staff.

798
00:52:17,930 --> 00:52:23,130
And he ran a very efficient office, but
they weren't 100 % efficient. And

799
00:52:23,130 --> 00:52:28,650
unfortunately, that afternoon, Brian's
assistant, Olive, sent Pete Best a list

800
00:52:28,650 --> 00:52:31,230
of the Beatles' coming engagements for
the next two months.

801
00:52:31,910 --> 00:52:35,090
So that would have been an unfortunate
moment when he opened that letter.

802
00:52:36,240 --> 00:52:40,320
The one good thing about Pete best
sacking is that Neil Aspinall stayed.

803
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:42,100
only knew Neil through Pete.

804
00:52:42,300 --> 00:52:46,520
He was Pete's friend. They hoped very
much that while sacking Pete, they could

805
00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:49,200
keep Neil, and that is exactly what
happened.

806
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:53,280
Neil stayed with them. He was unhappy
with what they had done to his mate

807
00:52:53,400 --> 00:52:55,120
though he did actually understand it.

808
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:59,700
And he said to Pete, you know what, I'm
actually going to stay with these guys.

809
00:52:59,820 --> 00:53:04,780
And stay he did. He became the Beatles'
indispensable right -hand man, running

810
00:53:04,780 --> 00:53:06,480
their lives until 2007.

811
00:53:07,240 --> 00:53:10,080
I got to know him very well and liked
him a lot.

812
00:53:10,300 --> 00:53:15,440
Neil was a great guy. So that was a
happy outcome of Pete's dismissal that

813
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:16,440
stayed.

814
00:53:25,070 --> 00:53:30,450
Port Sunlight, over the water from
Liverpool, over the River Mersey. It's

815
00:53:30,450 --> 00:53:34,490
the workers of the Lever Brothers soap
factory could live and work.

816
00:53:34,690 --> 00:53:38,850
A self -contained village with the
factory at one end and all the houses

817
00:53:38,850 --> 00:53:42,670
workers dotted throughout the village.
It had this great, still has a great

818
00:53:42,670 --> 00:53:46,550
place called Hume Hall, where they had
dancers and things. And the Beatles

819
00:53:46,550 --> 00:53:47,890
played there four times.

820
00:53:48,730 --> 00:53:53,670
on saturday the 18th of august 1962 the
beatles played at hume hall their first

821
00:53:53,670 --> 00:53:59,190
gig with ringo as a permanent member of
the band for the horticultural society

822
00:53:59,190 --> 00:54:04,830
dance the horticultural show so the room
was full of flowers in bloom it was an

823
00:54:04,830 --> 00:54:06,710
early flower power beatles show

824
00:54:07,980 --> 00:54:11,420
Flowers and cigarettes would have been
the smell in the Hume Hall that night.

825
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:17,000
And this is the night when really John,
Paul, George and Ringo are the Beatles

826
00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:21,680
and it all happens in Port Sunlight. And
none other than Neil Aspinall himself,

827
00:54:21,980 --> 00:54:22,980
Pete's friend.

828
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:27,460
said to me they had a succession of
drummers through the years and finally

829
00:54:27,460 --> 00:54:32,020
they found one who integrated someone
who fitted until this point it was

830
00:54:32,020 --> 00:54:36,480
John Paul George and a drummer and now
it was John Paul George and Ringo and

831
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:40,240
that's Pete's mate saying it so I think
you've got the truth of it there one

832
00:54:40,240 --> 00:54:45,460
more thing about Saturday 18th of August
1962 Liverpool are back in the top

833
00:54:45,460 --> 00:54:48,520
flight of British football for the first
time in several years they've got a new

834
00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:50,080
manager called Bill Shankly

835
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:54,860
And the period of their domination is
starting. So what a date in Liverpool's

836
00:54:54,860 --> 00:54:59,140
history, the 18th of August, 1962,
Liverpool back in the top flight of

837
00:54:59,380 --> 00:55:03,640
and John Paul, George and Ringo now
established as the Beatles' line -up.

838
00:55:04,300 --> 00:55:09,120
Now, on the Sunday, the Beatles are
playing the Cavern. Now, the Beatles

839
00:55:09,120 --> 00:55:12,680
told anybody why they got rid of Pete
Best, because they felt...

840
00:55:13,150 --> 00:55:16,730
that it would be unfair on him. He was a
drummer. He was hoping to drum with

841
00:55:16,730 --> 00:55:17,830
another group, I'm sure.

842
00:55:18,230 --> 00:55:22,130
And therefore, if they go around saying
that we thought he was crap, then that

843
00:55:22,130 --> 00:55:25,730
wouldn't be very good for him. But
because they don't say anything, that

844
00:55:25,730 --> 00:55:30,870
a vacuum for all the fans, particularly
those in the cavern, to wonder why they

845
00:55:30,870 --> 00:55:34,190
had fired him. And this is when the
nonsense rumors begin.

846
00:55:34,530 --> 00:55:36,690
This is the kind of thing that they were
saying.

847
00:55:37,240 --> 00:55:38,300
It was pure jealousy.

848
00:55:38,580 --> 00:55:42,080
It was because he didn't fit in and
never went around with them. I heard it

849
00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:43,380
because Pete never smiled.

850
00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:46,380
It was because he wouldn't change his
hairstyle into the beautiful fringe.

851
00:55:46,660 --> 00:55:50,040
It was because John had a row with him.
It was because they wanted to be free of

852
00:55:50,040 --> 00:55:51,960
Pete's mom. It was Brian Epstein
interfering.

853
00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:54,380
Paul was jealous because Pete was so
good looking.

854
00:55:55,340 --> 00:55:56,980
Pete was so good looking.

855
00:55:58,480 --> 00:56:02,480
But all this is nonsense. But these
rumors are around to the present day.

856
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:05,100
are still people in Liverpool who say
they should never have sacked Pete

857
00:56:05,100 --> 00:56:09,360
Paul was jealous of him because he got
all the girls and all that nonsense.

858
00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:13,440
It was just nothing more than the front
line of a band wanted to change their

859
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:17,100
drama and it happens all the time. But
because they did Pete the favor of not

860
00:56:17,100 --> 00:56:21,580
bad -mouthing him, all these rumors
started and they still linger to this

861
00:56:22,780 --> 00:56:26,200
And there was also this campaign, Pete
forever, Ringo never.

862
00:56:27,150 --> 00:56:30,830
It didn't last very long. You read in
books about riots in Liverpool.

863
00:56:31,090 --> 00:56:32,770
I really don't think that was the case.

864
00:56:33,810 --> 00:56:40,430
But nonetheless, it was a vociferous few
who didn't want change, who liked Pete.

865
00:56:40,690 --> 00:56:42,550
But it was a bit like with the suits.

866
00:56:42,790 --> 00:56:47,090
Nobody left. Nobody walked out on the
Beatles because they had changed their

867
00:56:47,090 --> 00:56:50,570
drummer. They just stayed with them and
accepted the new one.

868
00:56:52,230 --> 00:56:57,570
That same week, on the 22nd, which was a
Wednesday, the lunchtime session, a TV

869
00:56:57,570 --> 00:57:01,890
crew came into the cavern for the very
first time, advertising the Liverpool

870
00:57:01,890 --> 00:57:06,450
Echo. Granada TV cameras will be filming
the Beatles. Now, this film wasn't seen

871
00:57:06,450 --> 00:57:10,910
at the time, but thank goodness Granada
came in and did it. Leslie Woodhead and

872
00:57:10,910 --> 00:57:15,190
his crew came in and got the Beatles,
the only bit of film of them in the

873
00:57:15,190 --> 00:57:18,770
cavern. The song that they did was Some
Other Guy, and what a great piece of

874
00:57:18,770 --> 00:57:19,770
film that is.

875
00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:26,560
Someone's a guy now, taking my love away
from me, oh now, someone's a guy now.

876
00:57:27,020 --> 00:57:33,800
Taking away my secret bottle now,
someone's a guy now, just don't wanna

877
00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:34,960
my heart no more.

878
00:57:35,420 --> 00:57:37,480
I'm alone, alone, alone.

879
00:57:56,520 --> 00:58:00,300
God, how lucky were the fans in the
cavern. They would have that at

880
00:58:00,300 --> 00:58:04,980
and two or three evenings a week.
Imagine coming out of your office or the

881
00:58:04,980 --> 00:58:08,320
where you're working and going down,
paying a shilling to go and see the

882
00:58:08,320 --> 00:58:10,000
Beatles, do that at lunchtime.

883
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:14,880
And how different they are to Cliff
Richard and Adam Faith and Billy Fury

884
00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:15,880
all that lot.

885
00:58:16,480 --> 00:58:21,540
They are so tame by comparison. You can
see why, when we all get to see and hear

886
00:58:21,540 --> 00:58:25,520
the Beatles, why we all want them and
want more of them, because they are so

887
00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:29,560
dynamic, so extraordinary on stage, so
powerful as well.

888
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:35,500
So that was the 22nd. On the 23rd of
August, John gets married. This is all

889
00:58:35,500 --> 00:58:36,500
week.

890
00:58:39,140 --> 00:58:42,240
So I'm at 64 Mount Pleasant in the
centre of Liverpool.

891
00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:47,100
On August 23rd, 1962, John Lennon came
here to be married.

892
00:58:47,440 --> 00:58:51,820
He was marrying his art school
girlfriend, Cynthia Powell, who was a

893
00:58:51,820 --> 00:58:55,720
months pregnant by this point, in the
club, as they used to say.

894
00:58:56,160 --> 00:59:02,120
And he did what men did in those days,
which was make an honest womb of her, to

895
00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:05,480
quote his own writing. But they tried to
keep it as discreet as possible

896
00:59:05,480 --> 00:59:09,890
because... the beaters were building a
fan following and the the mentality of

897
00:59:09,890 --> 00:59:13,510
that era was that you shouldn't be
married if you were trying to become

898
00:59:13,510 --> 00:59:20,390
as a pop star there was someone out here
with a pneumatic drill digging up the

899
00:59:20,390 --> 00:59:24,490
pavement so they could barely hear a
word the registrar was saying paul

900
00:59:24,490 --> 00:59:28,610
mccartney was one of the witnesses to
the wedding and brian epstein was the

901
00:59:28,610 --> 00:59:33,310
man came out of here Walked down the
hill into town for a quiet wedding

902
00:59:33,570 --> 00:59:37,230
John had a gig with the Beatles that
night, but he was now a married man.

903
00:59:37,850 --> 00:59:42,310
And Paul, George and Brian give John
this wedding present.

904
00:59:43,770 --> 00:59:46,330
Unusually for a wedding present, it's a
kind of travel kit.

905
00:59:46,750 --> 00:59:50,670
So here's what you do when you're going
to leave your wife and come out on the

906
00:59:50,670 --> 00:59:51,670
road with us.

907
00:59:52,010 --> 00:59:56,430
But this was given very good service by
John through the years. And in fact, the

908
00:59:56,430 --> 01:00:00,870
shaving bowl that you see in the bottom
right there was taken on tour.

909
01:00:01,210 --> 01:00:05,010
All the Beatles tours, including
America, they used that as an ashtray.

910
01:00:05,310 --> 01:00:09,610
So many a joint was stubbed out in that
in later years.

911
01:00:10,890 --> 01:00:16,490
And finally, in this eventful week,
George is nutted in the cavern on the

912
01:00:16,490 --> 01:00:18,950
by a local lad called Denny Flynn.

913
01:00:19,390 --> 01:00:24,690
But George believed, and Ringo did too,
that actually he got that black eye from

914
01:00:24,690 --> 01:00:29,470
someone who was upset about Pete Best
being fired and Ringo joining the

915
01:00:29,610 --> 01:00:34,210
And that gave George and Ringo yet
another bond in their very close

916
01:00:34,210 --> 01:00:35,970
that they had, that they've already had.

917
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:40,580
As Ringo said to George, you took a
black eye for me. Thank you very much.

918
01:00:40,900 --> 01:00:44,360
So that's George's black eye. What a
week that was.

919
01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:50,720
Every week, Brian Epstein would give the
Beatles two sets of papers. One was a

920
01:00:50,720 --> 01:00:54,720
pay slip for the money that they had
received, that they had earned, and also

921
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:57,880
give them instructions for where they
needed to go in the week to come.

922
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:04,200
This is a remittance advice for the week
ending September 7th, 1962.

923
01:01:05,390 --> 01:01:07,290
Each of the Beatles received one of
these.

924
01:01:07,550 --> 01:01:13,730
It showed the group income, it showed
the group expenses, and then any

925
01:01:13,730 --> 01:01:16,150
expenses incurred by that member of the
Beatles.

926
01:01:16,430 --> 01:01:19,450
And it would all be calculated down to
the last penny.

927
01:01:20,430 --> 01:01:25,090
And at the bottom was the net sum, £26
.07 .11.

928
01:01:25,750 --> 01:01:29,290
In this instance, given to Paul
McCartney in cash.

929
01:01:29,850 --> 01:01:31,190
At this time...

930
01:01:31,550 --> 01:01:34,850
Someone would go up to the office on a
Friday and collect these pieces of paper

931
01:01:34,850 --> 01:01:39,130
and the money, which would be in a
little seal -easy envelope as if they

932
01:01:39,130 --> 01:01:42,170
being paid by the factory or wherever
they might be working.

933
01:01:42,570 --> 01:01:46,310
But as their earnings increased, Brian
encouraged them each to open a bank

934
01:01:46,310 --> 01:01:49,730
account and would deposit most of the
money in the bank account and just give

935
01:01:49,730 --> 01:01:51,010
them some spending cash.

936
01:01:52,350 --> 01:01:57,190
So Brian Epstein really was a
scrupulously fair man. They could see

937
01:01:57,190 --> 01:01:58,190
accounted for.

938
01:01:58,430 --> 01:02:02,350
the other document he would give them
would be something like this this is for

939
01:02:02,350 --> 01:02:07,490
the week beginning september the 23rd
1962 where they would be playing in the

940
01:02:07,490 --> 01:02:13,270
week to come and any instructions
pertinent to those engagements so

941
01:02:13,270 --> 01:02:18,690
this you're doing two 45 minute sets The
people here work really hard to make a

942
01:02:18,690 --> 01:02:22,330
good impression on them, whatever it
might be that would be useful knowledge

943
01:02:22,330 --> 01:02:24,110
them when they went to play the gig.

944
01:02:24,330 --> 01:02:28,650
Brian came along and put it all down on
paper and they knew they could actually

945
01:02:28,650 --> 01:02:29,750
see the road ahead.

946
01:02:30,990 --> 01:02:34,690
and Brian also promised the Beatles that
he would break them out of Liverpool

947
01:02:34,690 --> 01:02:39,810
and get them elsewhere and in the year
of 1962 he got the Beatles playing in

948
01:02:39,810 --> 01:02:43,490
these places as well so they're no
longer in Liverpool seven nights a week

949
01:02:43,490 --> 01:02:46,690
they're now driving all over England and
what they're doing is lighting fires

950
01:02:46,690 --> 01:02:52,570
everywhere they go and in 1963 all these
fires join up into one huge

951
01:02:52,570 --> 01:02:53,570
conflagration

952
01:02:54,190 --> 01:02:57,510
And that is the breaking of the Beatles.
But they're dropping into all these

953
01:02:57,510 --> 01:03:01,410
towns all over the country now and
taking everybody by complete surprise

954
01:03:01,410 --> 01:03:04,550
because, believe me, no one had ever
seen anything like them before.

955
01:03:05,390 --> 01:03:08,290
So incredible breath of fresh air that
they were.

956
01:03:08,550 --> 01:03:12,970
And Brian also registered the name
Beatles under the Business Names

957
01:03:12,970 --> 01:03:14,430
Act of 1916.

958
01:03:15,030 --> 01:03:20,810
And he registered the name for them, not
for himself. So this now is registered

959
01:03:20,810 --> 01:03:25,330
to John, Paul, George and Ringo. And it
means that nobody else can use their

960
01:03:25,330 --> 01:03:27,690
name. It belongs solely to them.

961
01:03:30,380 --> 01:03:31,600
This is Liverpool Airport.

962
01:03:31,880 --> 01:03:35,460
The new Liverpool Airport is over there
that opened in the late 1980s. Liverpool

963
01:03:35,460 --> 01:03:37,360
John Lennon International Airport.

964
01:03:37,760 --> 01:03:40,460
But back in 1962, it was Liverpool
Airport.

965
01:03:40,880 --> 01:03:45,260
And the reason I wanted to come here is
because of this picture, which was taken

966
01:03:45,260 --> 01:03:47,020
on the 4th of September 1962.

967
01:03:48,260 --> 01:03:52,340
The Beatles are on the tarmac about to
board the plane behind them that's going

968
01:03:52,340 --> 01:03:56,260
to bump them down to London on a little
propeller plane, something like this.

969
01:03:57,160 --> 01:04:00,360
This was an important moment because
they were going down for their first

970
01:04:00,360 --> 01:04:01,820
recording session at EMI.

971
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:05,960
They were dreading an aspect of it,
which was they were going down to do a

972
01:04:05,960 --> 01:04:08,280
they really don't want to do, which is
How Do You Do It.

973
01:04:09,420 --> 01:04:12,280
They'd been forced to record it for
their first recording.

974
01:04:12,840 --> 01:04:16,540
And Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager,
said to them, this is an important

975
01:04:16,540 --> 01:04:18,760
moment, I feel it should be captured on
camera.

976
01:04:19,660 --> 01:04:23,080
And so this is not a proper press
picture, it's just a little snap that he

977
01:04:23,300 --> 01:04:27,100
But it's caught them on a fresh autumnal
morning.

978
01:04:27,360 --> 01:04:29,320
They really don't look very happy here.

979
01:04:29,580 --> 01:04:33,200
I particularly like the fact that you
can still see George Harrison's black

980
01:04:34,340 --> 01:04:36,820
Where we are is pretty much unchanged.

981
01:04:37,060 --> 01:04:42,420
In 1964, famously, the Beatles returned
to Liverpool for their civic reception

982
01:04:42,420 --> 01:04:43,760
at the Town Hall.

983
01:04:44,330 --> 01:04:48,410
and the northern premiere of their film,
The Hard Day's Night. So they flew back

984
01:04:48,410 --> 01:04:54,110
to a tumultuous reception, this place
absolutely full of people, and then they

985
01:04:54,110 --> 01:04:59,170
had this incredible drive to the centre
of Liverpool with crowds lining the

986
01:04:59,170 --> 01:05:00,310
route the entire way.

987
01:05:03,270 --> 01:05:07,710
Having endured their bumpy flight down
from Liverpool Airport to London, the

988
01:05:07,710 --> 01:05:10,010
Beatles came here to EMI Recording
Studios.

989
01:05:10,720 --> 01:05:15,900
September 4th, 1962, to record their
first single. It was their second visit,

990
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:17,000
the first one with Pete.

991
01:05:17,140 --> 01:05:19,420
Now they had their new drummer, Ringo
Starr.

992
01:05:19,900 --> 01:05:23,440
This is the context, however. This is
the issue of Record Mirror that was

993
01:05:23,440 --> 01:05:24,440
current that week.

994
01:05:24,580 --> 01:05:28,880
And it just goes to show how nothing was
about groups or bands.

995
01:05:29,320 --> 01:05:33,240
The Beatles were really quite
revolutionary. It's been forgotten now.

996
01:05:33,240 --> 01:05:37,580
time, the three guitars and drums and
three guys singing at the front hadn't

997
01:05:37,580 --> 01:05:38,980
really been done by anybody else.

998
01:05:39,360 --> 01:05:44,240
it was all about solo singers and in
this case Cliff or Elvis so that was the

999
01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:47,900
world the Beatles were entering and
hoping to change I've got this picture

1000
01:05:47,900 --> 01:05:52,560
the session what I like about this one
is that Ringo had this mad moment during

1001
01:05:52,560 --> 01:05:56,980
the session where he was unsure whether
to use the toms or whether to use a

1002
01:05:56,980 --> 01:05:58,380
tambourine or the maracas

1003
01:05:59,100 --> 01:06:03,060
So he ended up hitting the tom -toms
with the maracas and hitting them with

1004
01:06:03,060 --> 01:06:06,800
tambourine to try and make sure that all
bases were covered. And the people

1005
01:06:06,800 --> 01:06:10,440
behind the glass, the EMI people, were
going, what on earth is that man doing?

1006
01:06:11,100 --> 01:06:13,400
But Ringo was nervous. He'd never been
in the studio.

1007
01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:16,880
And the session went OK. It wasn't
brilliant.

1008
01:06:17,160 --> 01:06:19,680
This is the tape log from EMI that day.

1009
01:06:19,960 --> 01:06:25,480
The tape library log at EMI Studios has
the beat less recording.

1010
01:06:26,540 --> 01:06:28,400
How do you do and love me do?

1011
01:06:29,220 --> 01:06:34,280
Another useful reminder of just what a
strange name Beatles was. We're so

1012
01:06:34,280 --> 01:06:39,160
familiar with it. We know how brilliant
that name was. But at the time, after

1013
01:06:39,160 --> 01:06:42,520
all, people were saying, you'll never
make it with a name like that. George

1014
01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:45,260
Martin had called them the Beatles, and
now they're the Beatles.

1015
01:06:45,480 --> 01:06:48,840
No one seems to be able to get it right
at this time.

1016
01:06:59,690 --> 01:07:05,550
In September 1962, on the 7th, there's
now a plaque to mark the moment, the

1017
01:07:05,550 --> 01:07:09,910
Beatles came to this fairly rural part
of the Wirral, across the water from

1018
01:07:09,910 --> 01:07:16,570
Liverpool, and they played a show here,
and they were offered a £35 fee, which

1019
01:07:16,570 --> 01:07:19,610
was deemed to be acceptable. It was
about the going rate at that time.

1020
01:07:20,310 --> 01:07:24,350
And so they played for an evening, and
then the woman who organised it found

1021
01:07:24,350 --> 01:07:27,970
that she couldn't raise the £35,
needed...

1022
01:07:28,460 --> 01:07:32,940
a few extra pounds to cover the
shortfall, and arranged for there to be

1023
01:07:32,940 --> 01:07:36,820
sale here a few days later to raise the
extra funds.

1024
01:07:37,060 --> 01:07:41,100
I rather love the fact that the cakes
were sold in order to pay for the

1025
01:07:41,100 --> 01:07:45,360
to appear in a hall. And also the fact
that they were playing places like this

1026
01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:49,560
just about, what, four or five months
before they had their first number one

1027
01:07:49,560 --> 01:07:52,920
hit. They were a local group and they
were playing local halls.

1028
01:07:53,460 --> 01:07:55,400
And it was only, what?

1029
01:07:55,760 --> 01:08:00,480
three years from here to Shea Stadium in
New York. And that arc, that span of

1030
01:08:00,480 --> 01:08:04,980
the Beatles' trajectory, if you like, is
an extraordinary one, that they went

1031
01:08:04,980 --> 01:08:09,720
from these kind of humble halls to great
baseball stadiums in such a short space

1032
01:08:09,720 --> 01:08:10,720
of time.

1033
01:08:11,400 --> 01:08:15,040
It's one of those other occasions for
which we have a set list, and the really

1034
01:08:15,040 --> 01:08:19,020
interesting thing about this is if you
look eight songs down, they're doing How

1035
01:08:19,020 --> 01:08:21,060
Do You Do, How Do You Do It.

1036
01:08:21,880 --> 01:08:26,060
Believing it's going to be their new
record, through gritted teeth, they're

1037
01:08:26,060 --> 01:08:27,560
playing it on stage live.

1038
01:08:28,319 --> 01:08:32,000
So this is the set list, and you can see
the kind of artists that they're

1039
01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:36,100
covering. Chuck Berry, Little Richard,
Elvis, The Shirelles, Arthur Alexander.

1040
01:08:36,100 --> 01:08:38,979
It's almost all American, two Goffin and
King songs.

1041
01:08:39,380 --> 01:08:43,319
Also on here, worthy of note, Forgot to
Remember to Forget.

1042
01:08:44,300 --> 01:08:49,120
That's an Elvis Presley song for Mal.
Mal Evans, who didn't yet work for the

1043
01:08:49,120 --> 01:08:52,760
Beatles, but whenever he turned up, they
would do an Elvis number for Mal

1044
01:08:52,760 --> 01:08:54,760
because he was such a big Elvis Presley
fan.

1045
01:08:55,500 --> 01:08:57,939
And I've put the vocalist down the left
-hand side.

1046
01:08:58,140 --> 01:09:02,040
And the key thing to notice is that
George Harrison in those days sung as

1047
01:09:02,040 --> 01:09:06,140
songs on stage as John and Paul. In
fact, there was usually a pattern of

1048
01:09:06,200 --> 01:09:11,479
Paul, John, George, Paul, John. That
changed in 1963 when the Beatles' sets

1049
01:09:11,479 --> 01:09:15,279
naturally shrunk. They were playing less
time on stage and they were having to

1050
01:09:15,279 --> 01:09:19,420
do their hits, which typically were sung
by John or Paul or both of them. And so

1051
01:09:19,420 --> 01:09:21,080
George then got marginalised.

1052
01:09:21,630 --> 01:09:25,649
What happens next, and they don't even
understand or ever explain the reasons

1053
01:09:25,649 --> 01:09:31,609
why, is that George Martin is told that
Love Me Do must be the A -side, and How

1054
01:09:31,609 --> 01:09:36,830
Do You Do It can't be on the record at
all. And even though he's in charge, the

1055
01:09:36,830 --> 01:09:39,630
people who are really pulling the
strings are Ardmore and Beachwood, who

1056
01:09:39,630 --> 01:09:42,970
made the Beatles get signed in the first
place. They're going to get the

1057
01:09:42,970 --> 01:09:46,810
publishing on the songs, and they say,
we're not going to be fobbed off with a

1058
01:09:46,810 --> 01:09:48,850
-side to a song that we don't even
publish.

1059
01:09:49,189 --> 01:09:53,310
And so George Martin relapses. he
doesn't even like Love Me Do, has to

1060
01:09:53,310 --> 01:09:54,950
that it's going to be the A -side.

1061
01:10:14,530 --> 01:10:16,070
So this is our living room?

1062
01:10:17,450 --> 01:10:18,690
Yeah, very nice.

1063
01:10:19,470 --> 01:10:25,010
The use of this place was a wedding gift
to John and Cynthia from Brian Epstein,

1064
01:10:25,150 --> 01:10:26,129
the Beatles' manager.

1065
01:10:26,130 --> 01:10:27,610
They really had nowhere to live.

1066
01:10:28,510 --> 01:10:32,490
So Brian very kindly said that you
should have this place. Right.

1067
01:10:32,930 --> 01:10:35,150
Which would have been a godsend for
them, I think.

1068
01:10:39,790 --> 01:10:42,430
It's great to be here. I always wanted
to come into this place.

1069
01:10:42,970 --> 01:10:47,170
Yes, to live here is just such a huge
honour because the Beatles are my

1070
01:10:47,170 --> 01:10:48,170
favourite band.

1071
01:10:48,510 --> 01:10:52,330
I'd known about this property for a
while until I actually moved in here. It

1072
01:10:52,330 --> 01:10:53,330
unbelievable, really.

1073
01:10:53,510 --> 01:10:57,510
Yeah. This wouldn't have changed,
really, would it? I mean, that big

1074
01:10:57,510 --> 01:10:58,510
the view out.

1075
01:10:58,530 --> 01:11:02,170
Is that a church there? I think it's a
Greek Orthodox church they had a view

1076
01:11:02,630 --> 01:11:04,030
Oh, yeah, I know the one it is.

1077
01:11:04,570 --> 01:11:09,010
Cynthia Lennon tells a story, doesn't
she, about feeding Ringo.

1078
01:11:09,470 --> 01:11:15,210
I think she used to make Vesta curry, a
dreadful early British curry mix that

1079
01:11:15,210 --> 01:11:16,210
you could buy in a supermarket.

1080
01:11:17,110 --> 01:11:20,510
And he was probably pushing it around
the plate, wondering what the heck it

1081
01:11:21,230 --> 01:11:27,030
So this picture here, this very early
picture of John and Cynthia, was very

1082
01:11:27,030 --> 01:11:28,290
likely taken in this flat.

1083
01:11:29,250 --> 01:11:30,570
I don't know who took it, though.

1084
01:11:30,830 --> 01:11:33,190
Maybe it was Paul or Brian.

1085
01:11:33,470 --> 01:11:34,470
It could have been Brian.

1086
01:11:35,190 --> 01:11:36,870
So I feel that you should have it.

1087
01:11:37,350 --> 01:11:38,350
Really? Yeah.

1088
01:11:38,450 --> 01:11:41,370
Whether you want it or not, you're
having it here. That's going up on the

1089
01:11:41,450 --> 01:11:43,690
I'll tell you now. And they've got a cat
just like we do.

1090
01:11:43,950 --> 01:11:46,510
Yeah, the Siamese cat is the star of
that picture, really.

1091
01:11:47,090 --> 01:11:49,630
Looking dead into the camera. Yeah,
yeah.

1092
01:11:50,830 --> 01:11:56,310
But it's some significance, this place,
because of the timing of it. The fact

1093
01:11:56,310 --> 01:12:01,510
that it was that period of like August,
September 62 through the end of the

1094
01:12:01,510 --> 01:12:04,950
year, you know, I mean, that's when the
first record comes out. They make the

1095
01:12:04,950 --> 01:12:08,230
charts, you know, they're becoming
stars, you know.

1096
01:12:08,750 --> 01:12:13,150
Paul McCartney has always had a very
specific memory of being here when they

1097
01:12:13,150 --> 01:12:16,970
made that crucial decision to have
everything in both names.

1098
01:12:17,570 --> 01:12:21,150
So whether Lennon wrote the whole song
or Paul or McCartney wrote the whole

1099
01:12:21,150 --> 01:12:23,370
song, it would go down as joint names.

1100
01:12:23,750 --> 01:12:30,430
Brian Epstein brought this document here
to the flat and signed it on behalf of

1101
01:12:30,430 --> 01:12:33,910
Lennon and McCartney for the first two
songs, Love Me Do and P .S. I Love You,

1102
01:12:33,970 --> 01:12:35,230
the two sides of their first record.

1103
01:12:35,780 --> 01:12:39,300
There's a signature like that. That's
Brian's signature, yeah. In fact, Brian

1104
01:12:39,300 --> 01:12:43,600
actually does specify in his handwriting
that it should be McCartney -Lennon.

1105
01:12:43,800 --> 01:12:44,800
There it is.

1106
01:12:45,060 --> 01:12:47,480
And it ended up being Lennon -McCartney
by mistake.

1107
01:12:51,099 --> 01:12:55,240
Liverpool's Beatles history is well
mapped out and it's a big part of the

1108
01:12:55,240 --> 01:12:58,200
tourism industry here. Do you experience
much of that?

1109
01:12:58,520 --> 01:13:03,600
Yeah, like every week there's a crowd of
people outside the house all tearing in

1110
01:13:03,600 --> 01:13:04,559
through the window.

1111
01:13:04,560 --> 01:13:06,840
But it's still incredibly cool.

1112
01:13:07,240 --> 01:13:11,440
Yeah, yeah, it is very special to be
living here. But I think John probably

1113
01:13:11,440 --> 01:13:15,380
would have approved of the fact that a
working musician is here writing songs

1114
01:13:15,380 --> 01:13:16,520
and recording as well.

1115
01:13:16,760 --> 01:13:20,580
Yeah, well, I'd like to think so. It's
just a really cool thought to think that

1116
01:13:20,580 --> 01:13:26,440
I'm sat here writing music in the very
same space where one of the legends of

1117
01:13:26,440 --> 01:13:27,440
art that you might have been.

1118
01:13:27,680 --> 01:13:28,680
Yeah, that's right.

1119
01:13:29,260 --> 01:13:33,620
With Love Me Do about to come out, the
Beatles need new publicity pictures, and

1120
01:13:33,620 --> 01:13:37,700
the emphasis is, we're from Liverpool,
we're from the north, and what is that

1121
01:13:37,700 --> 01:13:38,700
associated with?

1122
01:13:38,940 --> 01:13:45,000
Industry. We're standing on Dublin
Street in Liverpool, and the next

1123
01:13:45,040 --> 01:13:49,760
Saltney Street, these two are like a
pair, and in between them was...

1124
01:13:50,120 --> 01:13:55,440
In 1962, a patch of land just like that.
Something had been here, been cleared

1125
01:13:55,440 --> 01:14:01,820
away, and the Beatles came for a
publicity photo session and stood there

1126
01:14:01,820 --> 01:14:04,600
patch of land with this extraordinary
bonded warehouse in the background.

1127
01:14:04,960 --> 01:14:09,820
And it was kind of derelict then. It's
even more so now, 60 -odd years on. The

1128
01:14:09,820 --> 01:14:13,420
idea is it essays that they're from a
northern working -class area.

1129
01:14:13,760 --> 01:14:18,820
When I was researching my book Tune In,
I did deep... Deep genealogical research

1130
01:14:18,820 --> 01:14:23,000
into all the beetles and found that when
the Lennon family arrived in Liverpool

1131
01:14:23,000 --> 01:14:29,940
from Ireland in the 1840s, they actually
lived right here for several years in

1132
01:14:29,940 --> 01:14:31,140
the most appalling conditions.

1133
01:14:31,640 --> 01:14:32,820
They were called courthouses.

1134
01:14:33,040 --> 01:14:37,140
Open sewerage, no running water,
children with bare feet.

1135
01:14:37,800 --> 01:14:42,140
children dying of the most elementary
conditions, and lots of pubs around

1136
01:14:42,180 --> 01:14:45,040
which is where all the money that should
have been spent on families and food

1137
01:14:45,040 --> 01:14:46,980
got spent behind the bar.

1138
01:14:47,540 --> 01:14:50,280
So it's a real bit of Liverpool history,
this street.

1139
01:14:50,760 --> 01:14:54,720
Lennon is standing exactly where his
family had lived, and I'm certain had no

1140
01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:55,720
knowledge of that.

1141
01:14:55,740 --> 01:15:01,220
It's about 120 years on, say, from when
the Lennons arrived, and he's here

1142
01:15:01,220 --> 01:15:05,060
hoping to become a star, but his
forefathers were here just...

1143
01:15:05,340 --> 01:15:12,140
scratching to put food on the plate love
me do is coming out

1144
01:15:12,140 --> 01:15:16,680
these are the two sides of the record
love me do and ps i love you on the

1145
01:15:16,680 --> 01:15:21,160
parlophone label both down as lennon
mccartney songs by mistake but that's

1146
01:15:21,160 --> 01:15:27,000
another story and brian epstein decides
he's not gonna miss any opportunity to

1147
01:15:27,000 --> 01:15:28,000
try and get the Beatles promoted.

1148
01:15:28,380 --> 01:15:32,340
He commissions the production of an
independent press release, five pages I

1149
01:15:32,340 --> 01:15:36,700
think it is, introducing the Beatles.
And the pictures he wants to use of John

1150
01:15:36,700 --> 01:15:41,580
and George are half -shadow pictures
taken back in April by Astrid. We looked

1151
01:15:41,580 --> 01:15:42,398
that earlier.

1152
01:15:42,400 --> 01:15:47,360
But Paul wasn't there that day and
Ringo, being a Beatle, hadn't met Astrid

1153
01:15:47,760 --> 01:15:52,320
So he couldn't ask Astrid to do it. So
he had to go to Liverpool photographers

1154
01:15:52,320 --> 01:15:57,200
to try and match the pictures taken. of
John and George back in April.

1155
01:15:57,440 --> 01:15:59,620
So they had solo photo sessions.

1156
01:15:59,980 --> 01:16:01,620
First Ringo, there's that one.

1157
01:16:02,040 --> 01:16:08,060
This, which has to be the worst ever
picture of Ringo. What an appalling

1158
01:16:08,060 --> 01:16:11,720
photograph that is. Sorry, Ringo, for
bringing that back up.

1159
01:16:11,960 --> 01:16:14,040
This one here, this one has got
attitude.

1160
01:16:14,280 --> 01:16:17,100
I quite like that. I think that would
make a good record cover to this day.

1161
01:16:17,580 --> 01:16:21,940
And Paul, this one, this is completely
wrong. It's meant to have half your face

1162
01:16:21,940 --> 01:16:23,480
in shadow, not just half the face.

1163
01:16:24,170 --> 01:16:25,170
I don't know what happened there.

1164
01:16:25,670 --> 01:16:30,190
They're trying to look serious,
obviously, because John and George did.

1165
01:16:30,810 --> 01:16:34,970
The worst ever photograph of such a
lovely photogenic man as Paul McCartney.

1166
01:16:35,130 --> 01:16:37,510
Look at that. Really terrible picture.
Sorry, Paul.

1167
01:16:38,150 --> 01:16:42,690
And this one, which doesn't really work
either, but it's okay, I suppose. And

1168
01:16:42,690 --> 01:16:44,850
eventually they end up with these four
pictures.

1169
01:16:45,250 --> 01:16:49,170
Brian had them printed as cards. John
and George properly printed.

1170
01:16:49,470 --> 01:16:53,630
Paul and Ringo printed badly in a rush
at the end because it was all taking so

1171
01:16:53,630 --> 01:16:54,630
long to organize.

1172
01:16:55,200 --> 01:16:59,160
But if you went into Brian's record
shop, NEMS, you could pick these cards

1173
01:16:59,160 --> 01:17:02,100
free on the counter when Love Me Do came
out.

1174
01:17:03,530 --> 01:17:06,990
They need a new contract now, and this
is the Beatles' proper management

1175
01:17:06,990 --> 01:17:08,030
contract with Brian.

1176
01:17:08,550 --> 01:17:13,790
1st of October 1962, and everybody signs
it this time, including Brian and

1177
01:17:13,790 --> 01:17:18,770
including Paul's dad, Jim McCartney, and
George's father, Harold Hargreaves

1178
01:17:18,770 --> 01:17:22,190
Harrison. A mere six -page contract with
double -line spacing.

1179
01:17:22,510 --> 01:17:26,170
There's not a lot. You don't need to
fill out a book with the clauses of a

1180
01:17:26,170 --> 01:17:31,230
contract. You can get it down briefly,
and this contract will be robust and

1181
01:17:31,230 --> 01:17:32,870
them all the way through the tours.

1182
01:17:33,130 --> 01:17:37,910
films shea stadium revolver sergeant
pepper and it goes all the way up to the

1183
01:17:37,910 --> 01:17:43,530
end of september 1967 by which time
brian epstein is dead so here he's not

1184
01:17:43,530 --> 01:17:47,010
for any more than five years from this
point but this is the contract that will

1185
01:17:47,010 --> 01:17:50,490
hold them all the way through the peak
years of the beatles

1186
01:17:52,750 --> 01:17:56,670
Why am I showing you a picture of a
broken bus? Because there's a story

1187
01:17:56,670 --> 01:18:01,570
this. The Beatles go to London on John
Lennon's birthday, October the 9th,

1188
01:18:01,790 --> 01:18:06,550
to promote themselves to the London
-based newspapers and magazines.

1189
01:18:06,870 --> 01:18:10,770
And they are shunned absolutely
everywhere they go but one place.

1190
01:18:11,030 --> 01:18:14,590
You'll never make it from Liverpool.
Change your name Beatles. It's stupid.

1191
01:18:14,930 --> 01:18:17,550
Look at your hair. Look at the way
you're dressed.

1192
01:18:17,790 --> 01:18:21,470
You know, you're never going to make it
like that. One of their appointments is

1193
01:18:21,470 --> 01:18:26,950
at Pop Week. a really arcane magazine
published from an office on the Edgware

1194
01:18:26,950 --> 01:18:32,250
Road by the impresario Robert Stigwood,
the Australian impresario trying to make

1195
01:18:32,250 --> 01:18:33,228
his name in Britain.

1196
01:18:33,230 --> 01:18:39,950
Now, he was a manager of young lad,
young boy actors who could also

1197
01:18:39,950 --> 01:18:42,790
sing. John Layton, Mike Sarn, Mike
Berry.

1198
01:18:43,430 --> 01:18:48,310
and Billy Boyle. Robert Thigwood used to
have plaster cast busts made of his

1199
01:18:48,310 --> 01:18:53,370
young lads, which he would give out to
newspapers and magazines for promotion.

1200
01:18:53,370 --> 01:18:57,290
very strange thing to do. And one of
them was sitting on the table when

1201
01:18:57,290 --> 01:18:58,290
doing this interview.

1202
01:18:58,990 --> 01:19:02,310
And the Beatles go there for an
interview, hoping for some coverage in

1203
01:19:02,310 --> 01:19:06,190
Weekly. And it's one of those interviews
where the man is being really

1204
01:19:06,190 --> 01:19:09,590
supercilious with them, the journalist
interviewing them, and they've had

1205
01:19:09,590 --> 01:19:13,410
enough. And John Lennon was leading a
walkout of the Beatles. They weren't

1206
01:19:13,410 --> 01:19:14,890
to put up with this nonsense anymore.

1207
01:19:15,310 --> 01:19:19,230
And as he gets up, he does that thing
where you deliberately kind of extend

1208
01:19:19,230 --> 01:19:24,950
stomach and put it up the table as he
gets up. And one of the bus falls over

1209
01:19:24,950 --> 01:19:25,950
breaks.

1210
01:19:26,090 --> 01:19:31,650
And it is a completely symbolic moment
that the old is now very old and what

1211
01:19:31,650 --> 01:19:33,470
there is is the shock of the new.

1212
01:19:33,830 --> 01:19:39,330
And they storm out of there leaving this
plaster cast bust behind them and they

1213
01:19:39,330 --> 01:19:40,750
have arrived in London.

1214
01:19:40,970 --> 01:19:45,310
And the only place they get any joy that
day is in Bermondsey in Southwark

1215
01:19:45,310 --> 01:19:47,910
Street at the newspaper Dance News.

1216
01:19:48,230 --> 01:19:53,370
They're interviewed there by a man
called Derek Runciman and he likes the

1217
01:19:53,370 --> 01:19:58,030
Beatles. He remarks on their different
un - English -style clothes, which was

1218
01:19:58,030 --> 01:19:59,030
sharp of him.

1219
01:19:59,750 --> 01:20:04,110
And then he ends by saying, I know it's
an easy thing for critics to say, oh

1220
01:20:04,110 --> 01:20:08,130
yes, they're going to make it big, and
then later say, well, you can't always

1221
01:20:08,130 --> 01:20:12,430
right, but I shall hear with forecast
that the Beatles are going to be very

1222
01:20:12,430 --> 01:20:16,410
and in time become one of the country's
top -starring attractions.

1223
01:20:16,950 --> 01:20:20,550
So someone in London is actually a bit
tuned in to who they are.

1224
01:20:20,830 --> 01:20:22,990
And there's one more thing I want to
show you here.

1225
01:20:23,610 --> 01:20:27,250
This is a quote of John Lennon's.
Remember that they're down in London to

1226
01:20:27,250 --> 01:20:31,010
promote their first record, Love Me Do,
which has been out for four days.

1227
01:20:31,950 --> 01:20:35,690
John says, we weren't expecting big
things with Love Me Do. In fact, we

1228
01:20:35,690 --> 01:20:36,690
so fond of it now.

1229
01:20:36,750 --> 01:20:39,450
We've already recorded our follow -up
and we think it's great.

1230
01:20:40,240 --> 01:20:41,860
What an extraordinary thing to say.

1231
01:20:42,080 --> 01:20:46,340
But what a revealing comment that he
makes right there. The first quoted

1232
01:20:46,340 --> 01:20:50,920
of a beetle in a London newspaper is
typical of how they're going to be

1233
01:20:50,920 --> 01:20:53,600
the whole of the rest of the 60s, of
moving on fast.

1234
01:20:53,900 --> 01:20:56,960
Yeah, we've made that, but it's the next
one that's going to be really good.

1235
01:20:58,220 --> 01:21:03,820
This is the top 50 chart in record
retailer. This was like a trade magazine

1236
01:21:03,820 --> 01:21:08,820
the record shops and record companies,
not generally bought by the public. They

1237
01:21:08,820 --> 01:21:13,980
had a top 50 chart, and the Beatles
enter in their first week of Love Me

1238
01:21:13,980 --> 01:21:18,740
sale at number 49, really on the basis
of sales in Liverpool and the Northwest.

1239
01:21:19,120 --> 01:21:25,040
But their arrival on the chart in
basically week one of release led to all

1240
01:21:25,040 --> 01:21:28,580
rumors in Liverpool that Brian Epstein
had fabricated Fabricated the position.

1241
01:21:28,740 --> 01:21:33,620
He'd hyped the record into the chart by
buying copies of it. One book says 10

1242
01:21:33,620 --> 01:21:35,240
,000 copies he bought.

1243
01:21:35,520 --> 01:21:36,700
Complete and utter nonsense.

1244
01:21:37,020 --> 01:21:40,080
He didn't do that at all. He was against
chart fabrication.

1245
01:21:40,660 --> 01:21:42,620
But that's how the rumor started.

1246
01:21:42,900 --> 01:21:44,840
They got into the chart. It must be a
fix.

1247
01:21:45,060 --> 01:21:48,880
And that rumor dogged Brian Epstein for
the whole of the rest of his life. And

1248
01:21:48,880 --> 01:21:52,280
it's still around to this day. I was
watching on YouTube the other day George

1249
01:21:52,280 --> 01:21:56,500
Martin in the 1990s saying, love me
dude, got in the chart because Brian

1250
01:21:56,500 --> 01:21:57,900
hyped. That's complete nonsense.

1251
01:21:58,340 --> 01:22:03,720
He didn't do that. It was legitimate
sales and it's only at 49, but it is in

1252
01:22:03,720 --> 01:22:05,940
first week and it's going to stay there.

1253
01:22:07,200 --> 01:22:11,240
Liverpool had its own chart at that time
in the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

1254
01:22:12,180 --> 01:22:17,080
A phone around of the local shops
produced this chart on a weekly basis

1255
01:22:17,080 --> 01:22:19,880
Beatles have gone straight in at number
one.

1256
01:22:20,240 --> 01:22:24,120
Actually, there's a typo there because
it says they were number one last week

1257
01:22:24,120 --> 01:22:25,780
well. It should really look like that.

1258
01:22:26,590 --> 01:22:31,050
Now, all the way through to this day,
the Beatles go into charts at number

1259
01:22:31,510 --> 01:22:35,830
They've always done it, and it's a
fantastic hallmark of their career. They

1260
01:22:35,830 --> 01:22:39,670
it even with their very first record.
There is a chart where Love Me Do goes

1261
01:22:39,670 --> 01:22:41,350
straight in at number one.

1262
01:22:42,450 --> 01:22:47,410
Now, here's Love Me Do as released in
America by the Capitol record label

1263
01:22:47,410 --> 01:22:49,490
by EMI, except nope.

1264
01:22:50,030 --> 01:22:55,090
That didn't happen. EMI owned Capitol
Records, which was a big US record label

1265
01:22:55,090 --> 01:22:56,190
based in Los Angeles.

1266
01:22:56,950 --> 01:23:02,490
Capitol had right of first refusal on
every piece of product that EMI London

1267
01:23:02,490 --> 01:23:06,490
out, and that was the good term,
refusal, because they refused

1268
01:23:06,990 --> 01:23:11,330
They felt that no one in America was
interested in hearing any English music,

1269
01:23:11,330 --> 01:23:13,210
they just kept saying, nope, nope, nope.

1270
01:23:14,090 --> 01:23:19,970
But the idea of making it in America was
the aim of all British talent. And at

1271
01:23:19,970 --> 01:23:25,290
this very time, in late 1962, Cliff
Richard was making his attempt to break

1272
01:23:25,290 --> 01:23:29,770
America. And he went to New York and
Marty, another of those Weekly Girls

1273
01:23:29,770 --> 01:23:33,050
comics, did a photo feature on Cliff in
New York.

1274
01:23:33,370 --> 01:23:35,890
Remarkable for how unmolested he is
being.

1275
01:23:36,470 --> 01:23:42,330
There is no Cliff mania happening in New
York. And in fact, rather amusingly, it

1276
01:23:42,330 --> 01:23:46,150
actually said in there, Cliff's biggest
thrill during his fabulous stateside

1277
01:23:46,150 --> 01:23:51,010
tour, it was when he was told he'd have
to return home again halfway through to

1278
01:23:51,010 --> 01:23:52,630
appear in the Royal Variety performance.

1279
01:23:53,250 --> 01:23:56,330
So Cliff, unfortunately, never did
really break America.

1280
01:23:56,630 --> 01:23:58,370
But at this time...

1281
01:23:59,270 --> 01:24:03,650
Amazingly, by complete coincidence,
independent of one another, a whole load

1282
01:24:03,650 --> 01:24:07,570
British talent was trying to make it big
in America, all in New York. Cliff

1283
01:24:07,570 --> 01:24:12,850
Richard, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, Acker
Bilk, Frank Highfield, Shirley Bassey,

1284
01:24:12,970 --> 01:24:17,890
Helen Shapiro, Lonnie Donegan, The
Shadows, who were there with Cliff, and

1285
01:24:17,890 --> 01:24:23,630
the Alberts, George Martin's bonzo -like
madcap group, who were doing a season

1286
01:24:23,630 --> 01:24:27,150
of Cabaret there. What an extraordinary
thing that they're all trying to break

1287
01:24:27,150 --> 01:24:32,220
America at the same time. time and they
all flop miserably none of them actually

1288
01:24:32,220 --> 01:24:38,960
ever really makes it there towards the
end of 62

1289
01:24:38,960 --> 01:24:42,220
a rare thing happened to the Beatles and
that is that they had a couple of days

1290
01:24:42,220 --> 01:24:45,920
off very rare for them because they were
working really hard all of that year

1291
01:24:45,920 --> 01:24:50,780
most years in fact so Paul had a new
girlfriend at that time called Celia

1292
01:24:50,780 --> 01:24:55,340
Mortimer that's Celia she was a fashion
student at the College of Art in

1293
01:24:55,340 --> 01:24:56,340
Liverpool

1294
01:24:56,360 --> 01:25:00,040
And Paul said to Celia, let's hitchhike
down to London because my mate Ivan,

1295
01:25:00,200 --> 01:25:05,840
which is Ivan Vaughan, who introduced
him to John in 57, Ivan Vaughan is

1296
01:25:05,840 --> 01:25:08,060
as a doorman at the Establishment Club.

1297
01:25:09,180 --> 01:25:13,120
And this was where they came to, the
Establishment Club at 18 Greek Street,

1298
01:25:13,180 --> 01:25:18,780
which is where we are standing right
now, opened by Peter Cook in 1961.

1299
01:25:19,860 --> 01:25:23,160
London's first satire club, first comedy
club in essence.

1300
01:25:23,940 --> 01:25:28,640
And Ivan is standing in his... cumabund
and his dinner jacket on the door and

1301
01:25:28,640 --> 01:25:33,020
they went into the club paul and celia
it was quite late i think most of the

1302
01:25:33,020 --> 01:25:37,800
action had finished by the time they
arrived but ivan signed them in and they

1303
01:25:37,800 --> 01:25:42,040
went downstairs to the basement to the
live where the live band was playing and

1304
01:25:42,040 --> 01:25:45,760
as the song would say they danced
through the night and held each other

1305
01:25:45,760 --> 01:25:51,520
the club eventually closed about 3 a .m
And Ivan said, come on, you can go back

1306
01:25:51,520 --> 01:25:53,340
to my place and sleep on the floor.

1307
01:25:53,600 --> 01:25:57,680
Now, I said to Celia when I was
interviewing her, where was that that

1308
01:25:57,680 --> 01:26:01,040
crashed on the floor that night? And she
said somewhere in Great Portland

1309
01:26:01,040 --> 01:26:04,740
Street, I think. She knew London quite
well, Great Portland Street. So I got in

1310
01:26:04,740 --> 01:26:08,760
touch with Ivan's widow, Jan, and said,
where was Ivan's place in London?

1311
01:26:09,120 --> 01:26:11,620
Great Portland Street. Do you remember
where? No.

1312
01:26:12,440 --> 01:26:16,580
So I checked out the electoral records
and thankfully Ivan had registered to

1313
01:26:16,580 --> 01:26:21,080
vote. And he lived in Seaford Court up
the top end of Great Portland Street

1314
01:26:21,080 --> 01:26:22,080
the Marylebone Road.

1315
01:26:22,220 --> 01:26:25,840
And I thought, aha, I know that address
already because...

1316
01:26:26,830 --> 01:26:29,130
That was also where the Ashes had lived.

1317
01:26:29,410 --> 01:26:32,670
Paul is going to go and live with the
Asher family when he's starting his

1318
01:26:32,670 --> 01:26:34,270
relationship with Jane in 63.

1319
01:26:34,550 --> 01:26:38,550
Goes and lives with them. He writes
yesterday in their house on Wimpole

1320
01:26:38,710 --> 01:26:43,430
Before Wimpole Street, they lived here
in Seaford Court. And Paul is there in

1321
01:26:43,430 --> 01:26:48,010
the very same building where Jane and
Peter grew up. What an extraordinary

1322
01:26:48,010 --> 01:26:52,430
coincidence that is. And even more so
because their mother, Margaret, taught

1323
01:26:52,430 --> 01:26:53,430
oboe.

1324
01:26:53,760 --> 01:26:57,980
and someone came for private tuition of
the oboe, and that was George Martin.

1325
01:26:58,420 --> 01:27:03,420
So this one address in London where Paul
happens to kit for the night in October

1326
01:27:03,420 --> 01:27:08,020
62 has all this Asher and George Martin
history. How remarkable the Beatles

1327
01:27:08,020 --> 01:27:11,840
story is. And when I'm researching it
and I'm in libraries and archives, I

1328
01:27:11,840 --> 01:27:15,340
the greatest joy, because every time you
want something to connect, it always

1329
01:27:15,340 --> 01:27:19,540
connects in exactly the right way, as if
you were making it up, but you're not,

1330
01:27:19,640 --> 01:27:21,140
because it's actually all true.

1331
01:27:23,600 --> 01:27:27,340
So the postscript for the night before
is that having spent the night on Great

1332
01:27:27,340 --> 01:27:31,480
Portland Street, Paul and Celia, before
hitchhiking back to Liverpool, came for

1333
01:27:31,480 --> 01:27:35,840
a short walk here to Fitzroy Square
because they wanted to see the

1334
01:27:35,840 --> 01:27:40,560
of a new London landmark that was going
up, the Post Office Tower. The rise of

1335
01:27:40,560 --> 01:27:45,500
this great London monument that
symbolised all that was new and exciting

1336
01:27:45,500 --> 01:27:47,160
modern in the 1960s.

1337
01:27:47,760 --> 01:27:52,480
And Celia remembers that Paul was
writing a song, which became I Saw Her

1338
01:27:52,480 --> 01:27:56,300
Standing There, referencing what had
happened to them a few hours earlier of

1339
01:27:56,300 --> 01:28:00,200
dancing through the night and holding
each other tight. So I Saw Her Standing

1340
01:28:00,200 --> 01:28:02,960
There was part written here in Fitzroy
Square.

1341
01:28:05,200 --> 01:28:08,980
NME was the paper that the Beatles used
to read. We had the Melody Maker, the

1342
01:28:08,980 --> 01:28:14,200
New Musical Express, Disc and Record
Mirror, four weekly music papers. How

1343
01:28:14,200 --> 01:28:18,260
extraordinary is that? The New Musical
Express was the chart that everyone

1344
01:28:18,260 --> 01:28:21,380
looked at, and the Beatles go in at
number 27.

1345
01:28:21,860 --> 01:28:26,700
And this really was such a major moment
for them that I found an interview with

1346
01:28:26,700 --> 01:28:31,800
Paul McCartney from, I think, 1987, in
which he remembered this entry at number

1347
01:28:31,800 --> 01:28:37,260
27 more clearly than any other. of the
number ones that eventually followed.

1348
01:28:37,260 --> 01:28:41,620
here he is talking about it. I had this
car and I was coming up by this ballroom

1349
01:28:41,620 --> 01:28:42,620
called the Grafton.

1350
01:28:42,800 --> 01:28:46,080
It's two ballrooms, two famous ballrooms
in Liverpool, the Grafton and the

1351
01:28:46,080 --> 01:28:51,460
Locarno. And I remember finding out, I'd
just bought the NME, I think.

1352
01:28:51,860 --> 01:28:53,900
We'd come in the chart at 27.

1353
01:28:55,000 --> 01:28:58,920
Just wanted to wind the windows down and
shout at everyone outside the Grafton,

1354
01:28:59,020 --> 01:29:02,460
we're number 27, we've made it.

1355
01:29:03,000 --> 01:29:06,800
I remember just wanting to tell
everyone, you know, we really are in

1356
01:29:06,800 --> 01:29:11,000
chart. Those things we'd been reading
for years, you know, and seeing all the

1357
01:29:11,000 --> 01:29:12,860
hits come and go up and down.

1358
01:29:13,760 --> 01:29:16,900
Finally, we actually had a little place
on the ladder, you know.

1359
01:29:17,580 --> 01:29:21,680
So it's true for all our lives. There
are certain moments that really make the

1360
01:29:21,680 --> 01:29:22,659
deepest impact.

1361
01:29:22,660 --> 01:29:26,980
A whole career of number ones, but he
remembers going in at number 27 because

1362
01:29:26,980 --> 01:29:30,140
that was the moment when it really began
to change for them.

1363
01:29:31,560 --> 01:29:36,160
We're in Port Sunlight and there's this
glorious hall here called Hume Hall.

1364
01:29:36,420 --> 01:29:41,540
The Beatles played here four times in
1962 and the last of them was the

1365
01:29:41,540 --> 01:29:42,840
of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1366
01:29:43,560 --> 01:29:48,560
And it also happened to be when a man
called Monty Lister came along to Hume

1367
01:29:48,560 --> 01:29:53,820
Hall to record the Beatles for hospital
radio programmes here on the Wirral.

1368
01:29:54,270 --> 01:29:57,690
So I always wondered where this
photograph had been taken and it turns

1369
01:29:57,690 --> 01:30:03,230
this little cold room this storage room
on the side of the hall and it was right

1370
01:30:03,230 --> 01:30:08,190
here where we're standing you can see
the door frame is the same it no longer

1371
01:30:08,190 --> 01:30:12,250
says exit up there because I think it no
longer leads to an exit but that's

1372
01:30:12,250 --> 01:30:16,470
where it would have been. It was the
first ever Beatles interview they gave I

1373
01:30:16,470 --> 01:30:19,370
don't know how many thousands of
interviews in the years that followed.

1374
01:30:20,250 --> 01:30:25,250
but there had to be a first and it was
right here on this very spot and i've

1375
01:30:25,250 --> 01:30:32,150
an old tape machine here and i have the
actual recording

1376
01:30:32,150 --> 01:30:39,150
here i bought it off monty uh who was
late in life in 1985 and

1377
01:30:39,150 --> 01:30:45,450
this is the original spool of tape emmy
tape made by emi

1378
01:30:45,450 --> 01:30:51,580
there it is The Beatles' first ever
interview.

1379
01:30:54,380 --> 01:30:57,520
And I'm going to attempt to put it on
the machine without mangling it.

1380
01:31:01,660 --> 01:31:02,660
Play.

1381
01:31:06,900 --> 01:31:09,880
It's a very great pleasure for us this
evening to say hello to an up -and

1382
01:31:09,880 --> 01:31:11,800
-coming Merseyside group, The Beatles.

1383
01:31:12,040 --> 01:31:15,040
And I know their names and I'm going to
try and put faces to them. Now, you're

1384
01:31:15,040 --> 01:31:17,380
John Lennon, aren't you? Yes, that's
right. What do you do in the group,

1385
01:31:17,640 --> 01:31:20,360
I play harmonica, rhythm, guitar and
vocal.

1386
01:31:21,360 --> 01:31:22,480
That's what they call it, isn't it?

1387
01:31:22,760 --> 01:31:25,800
Harmonica, rhythm, guitar and vocal.
Then there's Paul McCartney, that's you.

1388
01:31:26,060 --> 01:31:27,060
Yeah, that's me, yeah. And what do you
do?

1389
01:31:27,300 --> 01:31:33,100
Play bass guitar and sing, I think. Oh,
that's quite apart from being vocal.

1390
01:31:33,460 --> 01:31:34,460
Well, yeah.

1391
01:31:34,860 --> 01:31:36,220
Then there's George Harrison.

1392
01:31:36,700 --> 01:31:37,700
How do you do?

1393
01:31:37,740 --> 01:31:41,480
How do you do? What's your job? Lead
guitar and sort of singing.

1394
01:31:42,730 --> 01:31:45,350
By playing lead guitar, does that mean
you're sort of leader of the group, or

1395
01:31:45,350 --> 01:31:47,990
are you... No, no. Well, you see, the
other guitar is the rhythm.

1396
01:31:48,330 --> 01:31:52,190
Yeah. Ting -ting -ting, you see. This
solo guitar, you see, John is in fact

1397
01:31:52,190 --> 01:31:53,190
leader of the group.

1398
01:31:53,690 --> 01:31:58,010
And over in the background, making a lot
of noise, is Ringo Starr. Hello.

1399
01:31:58,330 --> 01:32:00,950
You're new to the group, aren't you?
Yes, nine weeks now.

1400
01:32:01,330 --> 01:32:04,930
So it's a very special recording in so
many ways.

1401
01:32:05,420 --> 01:32:08,860
I think it's incredible that more than
60 years have passed since the recording

1402
01:32:08,860 --> 01:32:12,120
was made and the photograph was taken.
So much has changed in the world.

1403
01:32:12,540 --> 01:32:16,820
And the Beatles went on to have the most
extraordinary time together and the

1404
01:32:16,820 --> 01:32:19,380
impact of what they did is still being
felt.

1405
01:32:19,640 --> 01:32:24,020
But at this time they're just a local
group having to introduce themselves by

1406
01:32:24,020 --> 01:32:26,480
name because the man doesn't necessarily
know who they are.

1407
01:32:28,040 --> 01:32:32,220
So after 60 plus years, to bring the
tape back to the place where it was

1408
01:32:32,220 --> 01:32:34,940
recorded, there's something magical
about that.

1409
01:32:35,920 --> 01:32:36,920
Love me do.

1410
01:32:37,600 --> 01:32:41,520
It came out because Kim Bennett at
Ardmore and Beachwood wanted to have the

1411
01:32:41,520 --> 01:32:42,800
publishing of The Beatles.

1412
01:32:43,160 --> 01:32:47,660
And here he is. We looked at him
earlier. He is the great unsung hero of

1413
01:32:47,660 --> 01:32:48,499
Beatles story.

1414
01:32:48,500 --> 01:32:51,880
If it wasn't for Kim Bennett, they
wouldn't have been signed by George

1415
01:32:52,280 --> 01:32:57,540
And he is now actively trying to justify
his opinion by making Love Me Do a hit.

1416
01:32:57,960 --> 01:33:04,900
And he was a very dedicated and very
committed man. I met him and I

1417
01:33:04,900 --> 01:33:09,960
it firsthand just how determined he was.
is to make sure that he's heard and i

1418
01:33:09,960 --> 01:33:13,980
was fortunate to interview him because
soon after i did so he died and if i

1419
01:33:13,980 --> 01:33:17,040
hadn't have done so that early period of
the beatles would always be a bit

1420
01:33:17,040 --> 01:33:20,720
mysterious because it never quite added
up so kim bennett is the hero

1421
01:33:21,480 --> 01:33:26,040
Now, he's trying to get Love Me Do
played everywhere he can, and one of the

1422
01:33:26,040 --> 01:33:31,280
plug spots is in Saturday Club. This is
the most listened -to pop radio show of

1423
01:33:31,280 --> 01:33:35,280
the week, 10 o 'clock till 12 on a
Saturday morning on the BBC Light

1424
01:33:35,780 --> 01:33:40,660
Mostly sessions, and the Beatles ended
up doing many, but also some records,

1425
01:33:40,660 --> 01:33:45,100
he tried to get Love Me Do placed by
coercing the producer, Jimmy Grant.

1426
01:33:46,320 --> 01:33:50,860
Unbeknownst to Kim Bennett... having
succeeded in persuading Jimmy to

1427
01:33:50,860 --> 01:33:55,760
put Love Me Do into the programme, Brian
Epstein at the same time, yet another

1428
01:33:55,760 --> 01:33:59,500
document he was producing, this kind of
newsletter for the Beatles fans in

1429
01:33:59,500 --> 01:34:05,620
Liverpool, he's saying quite
legitimately that why don't fan club

1430
01:34:05,620 --> 01:34:09,140
the group tremendously by writing to the
BBC and asking for their record to be

1431
01:34:09,140 --> 01:34:13,120
played, such as on Saturday Club, Easy
Beat and Housewives Choice.

1432
01:34:13,360 --> 01:34:16,260
These were the big record request
programmes of the day.

1433
01:34:17,900 --> 01:34:21,960
and so devoted were the Beatles fans in
Liverpool that many of them did just

1434
01:34:21,960 --> 01:34:25,500
that and sent postcards down to the BBC.
And the producer of Saturday Club

1435
01:34:25,500 --> 01:34:28,660
suddenly has got a table full of
postcards and he sees...

1436
01:34:29,100 --> 01:34:30,780
as he believes it, hype.

1437
01:34:31,020 --> 01:34:34,280
It's like, this is fake. You know,
there's a campaign going on here. This

1438
01:34:34,280 --> 01:34:37,920
real. So he phones Kim Bennett and says,
Kim, I'm sorry, I'm taking your record

1439
01:34:37,920 --> 01:34:42,620
out of the program. And after all his
labors, the record was dropped.

1440
01:34:42,860 --> 01:34:44,800
So he does an extraordinary thing.

1441
01:34:45,120 --> 01:34:51,360
He flies to Cologne in Germany, where
Bill Crozier was the German side of a

1442
01:34:51,360 --> 01:34:55,680
weekly radio program called Two -Way
Family Favorites. Maybe many of you will

1443
01:34:55,680 --> 01:34:59,520
remember that. Sunday lunchtime, when
mom is cooking, King of the Joint for

1444
01:34:59,520 --> 01:35:03,200
Sunday lunch. She's going to have two
-way family favorites on. It was a

1445
01:35:03,200 --> 01:35:08,680
program. He persuaded Bill Crozier to
have Love Me Do as one of his records in

1446
01:35:08,680 --> 01:35:09,680
that program.

1447
01:35:10,420 --> 01:35:15,380
17 .8 million people heard that. What an
audience for a radio show.

1448
01:35:15,660 --> 01:35:19,620
And because of Kim Bennett's efforts and
the Beatles, who are still playing it

1449
01:35:19,620 --> 01:35:24,740
every night somewhere, Love Me Do is
continuing to climb up the chart. Even

1450
01:35:24,740 --> 01:35:29,600
they're away in Germany, it's still
going up. They're now at number 23. We

1451
01:35:29,600 --> 01:35:31,080
them at 49 earlier.

1452
01:35:31,440 --> 01:35:34,860
And this is Kim Bennett and what he did
and how hard he worked.

1453
01:35:35,240 --> 01:35:37,760
But he's about to be chopped out of the
picture.

1454
01:35:38,549 --> 01:35:42,570
because how the George Martin came to
sign the Beatles is about to become

1455
01:35:42,570 --> 01:35:47,310
muddied, and Kim Bennett is a casualty
of that, and so are Ardmore and

1456
01:35:47,310 --> 01:35:48,310
Beachwood.

1457
01:35:50,850 --> 01:35:55,870
I'm standing at 20 Manchester Square,
which was once the head office of EMI.

1458
01:35:56,510 --> 01:36:01,230
This artist's impression showed what was
then a new build, EMI House.

1459
01:36:01,930 --> 01:36:05,690
got knocked down around the turn of the
century, and George Martin's office was

1460
01:36:05,690 --> 01:36:09,450
on the fourth floor. So the Beatles came
here for a meeting with George Martin

1461
01:36:09,450 --> 01:36:16,030
on November 16th, 1962, which was the
first indication we have of the harmony

1462
01:36:16,030 --> 01:36:19,710
their relationship. George Martin hadn't
really wanted to sign the Beatles.

1463
01:36:19,930 --> 01:36:21,110
They'd kind of been...

1464
01:36:21,450 --> 01:36:25,770
foisted on him but having met them and
enjoyed their characters and having seen

1465
01:36:25,770 --> 01:36:29,890
the promise of love me do going up the
charts he decided that actually these

1466
01:36:29,890 --> 01:36:33,950
were guys he could do good work with
many things were decided including the

1467
01:36:33,950 --> 01:36:37,550
that they were going to make an lp their
first album which eventually became

1468
01:36:37,550 --> 01:36:42,190
please please me and at that point was
going to be potentially a live album

1469
01:36:42,190 --> 01:36:47,440
recorded in the cavern so they came here
for that And they also came here

1470
01:36:47,440 --> 01:36:53,660
famously in February 1963 for the
photograph that became the cover of

1471
01:36:53,660 --> 01:36:57,800
first album, Please Please Me, where
they were looking over the balcony of

1472
01:36:57,800 --> 01:36:59,720
stairwell as it then was.

1473
01:37:00,100 --> 01:37:04,800
But everything now, alas, is all gone.
But a very important place and a very

1474
01:37:04,800 --> 01:37:08,560
nice part of London as well. And I think
the Beatles enjoyed coming here.

1475
01:37:10,990 --> 01:37:15,550
So they come down on November the 26th
for their next recording session to

1476
01:37:15,550 --> 01:37:19,630
record the follow -up. Love Me Do is
still on the charts, still rising as

1477
01:37:19,630 --> 01:37:22,990
seen, but George Martin says we now need
to record the next one.

1478
01:37:23,600 --> 01:37:26,440
And Please Please Me is waiting in the
wings to be done.

1479
01:37:26,700 --> 01:37:29,020
They're going to have another crack at
that, and they do.

1480
01:37:29,500 --> 01:37:34,780
At the end of the session, the Beatles
were paid by the Musicians' Union £7

1481
01:37:35,100 --> 01:37:37,700
This was standard practice at sessions.

1482
01:37:37,940 --> 01:37:41,640
A little guy would come in and sit at a
table and hand them cash, which they

1483
01:37:41,640 --> 01:37:46,340
would have to sign for. Their names
written on this sheet of paper by Brian

1484
01:37:46,340 --> 01:37:50,460
Epstein. This is the result, Please
Please Me. It's going to come out on the

1485
01:37:50,460 --> 01:37:51,840
11th of January, 1963.

1486
01:37:53,000 --> 01:37:57,640
And George Martin picks up that talkback
microphone and famously says to them,

1487
01:37:57,760 --> 01:38:01,320
gentlemen, you've just made your first
number one record.

1488
01:38:01,820 --> 01:38:06,140
And he was absolutely right. They had
indeed made their first number one

1489
01:38:07,470 --> 01:38:11,730
George Martin was such a believer in the
Beatles now that he tried to put this

1490
01:38:11,730 --> 01:38:12,870
record in America.

1491
01:38:13,130 --> 01:38:16,950
And these letters were written to the
New York office of EMI.

1492
01:38:17,190 --> 01:38:21,930
We are certain this record will be in
the top five in this country shortly

1493
01:38:21,930 --> 01:38:22,930
its release.

1494
01:38:23,170 --> 01:38:27,510
We have great faith both in the artist
and the record because George Martin is

1495
01:38:27,510 --> 01:38:31,470
really anxious to establish the Beatles
on your side of the Atlantic.

1496
01:38:32,300 --> 01:38:36,020
Well, Love Me Do, the Beatles' first
record, Love Me Do, had not come out on

1497
01:38:36,020 --> 01:38:39,680
American record label. Though Love Me Do
didn't come out, they were then offered

1498
01:38:39,680 --> 01:38:44,300
Please Please Me, and inevitably they
rejected it. So I've mocked up a label

1499
01:38:44,300 --> 01:38:49,200
here to show the record that might have
been, but never was, Please Please Me on

1500
01:38:49,200 --> 01:38:50,260
American Capitol.

1501
01:38:51,600 --> 01:38:56,540
And then EMI, through a New York agency,
shopped Please Please Me around.

1502
01:38:57,240 --> 01:38:59,180
It went to Lorry Records.

1503
01:39:00,690 --> 01:39:03,750
which was a nice little independent
record label in New York.

1504
01:39:04,770 --> 01:39:06,910
And Laurie didn't want to take the
Beatles.

1505
01:39:07,270 --> 01:39:12,230
EMI offered the Beatles to Liberty
Records, which came very close to

1506
01:39:12,230 --> 01:39:15,510
them, but they had a lot of success at
that time and he didn't feel that they

1507
01:39:15,510 --> 01:39:16,950
needed to take on this English group.

1508
01:39:17,270 --> 01:39:20,070
And perhaps most interestingly of all...

1509
01:39:20,560 --> 01:39:25,340
The great record label based in New
York, Atlantic, were offered the chance

1510
01:39:25,340 --> 01:39:26,199
sign the Beatles.

1511
01:39:26,200 --> 01:39:30,320
The A andR man there who turned down the
Beatles was one of the great record men

1512
01:39:30,320 --> 01:39:35,360
of all time, Jerry Wexler, who was great
at spotting talent and producing it in

1513
01:39:35,360 --> 01:39:39,900
the studios as well. And yet he heard
Please Please Me and didn't think that

1514
01:39:39,900 --> 01:39:40,900
wanted to sign them.

1515
01:39:41,280 --> 01:39:45,740
At the beginning of 1962, Decca had
turned down the Beatles on the basis of

1516
01:39:45,740 --> 01:39:49,480
not very good test that they did at
Decca Studios on New Year's Day 1962.

1517
01:39:50,680 --> 01:39:55,380
You can understand to a degree why they
didn't realise that the Beatles were

1518
01:39:55,380 --> 01:39:57,860
going to be a significant talent and
therefore let them go.

1519
01:39:58,380 --> 01:40:03,500
But these guys, these American A andR men,
are turning down Please Please Me.

1520
01:40:05,840 --> 01:40:11,040
So that house over there is 174 Macketts
Lane, and it's the house that George

1521
01:40:11,040 --> 01:40:15,160
Harrison was living in when the Beatles
became nationally and then

1522
01:40:15,160 --> 01:40:16,280
internationally famous.

1523
01:40:16,760 --> 01:40:21,040
Sue Houghton, who was a very devoted fan
of George, wanted to do something for

1524
01:40:21,040 --> 01:40:24,920
him while the Beatles were away and said
to Mr and Mrs Harrison, could I please

1525
01:40:24,920 --> 01:40:27,060
wash George's car while he's away in
Hamburg?

1526
01:40:27,380 --> 01:40:31,320
So George's mother wrote him a letter
saying, Sue has come round.

1527
01:40:31,870 --> 01:40:33,990
would like to wash your car, should she?

1528
01:40:34,230 --> 01:40:40,410
So George wrote this beautiful three
-page letter to Sue Houghton, giving the

1529
01:40:40,410 --> 01:40:44,190
precise instructions of how his car
should be washed.

1530
01:40:44,590 --> 01:40:49,670
Use plenty of soapy water, he writes.
Have a cup of tea while the car is

1531
01:40:49,670 --> 01:40:54,670
off. Ask mother for dusters and apply
the polish in a circular motion.

1532
01:40:55,550 --> 01:40:56,930
Don't forget the wheels.

1533
01:40:57,730 --> 01:40:59,970
Get the carpets looking like new.

1534
01:41:01,070 --> 01:41:03,870
Check the car over to see if you've
missed anything.

1535
01:41:04,390 --> 01:41:09,250
And then the final instruction, proceed
to Fourth Lynn Road with about six

1536
01:41:09,250 --> 01:41:15,370
buckets of dirty, muddy, greasy water
and spread it all evenly over a Ford

1537
01:41:15,370 --> 01:41:16,370
Classic.

1538
01:41:17,650 --> 01:41:20,210
So it all ended up on Paul's car.

1539
01:41:21,929 --> 01:41:26,630
Penultimate item, the Christmas issue of
Melody Maker, December the 22nd, 1962.

1540
01:41:26,830 --> 01:41:32,690
The first ever newspaper to mention
within the pages of a single issue, the

1541
01:41:32,690 --> 01:41:37,690
Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling
Stones. The 60s are coming. The Beatles

1542
01:41:37,690 --> 01:41:41,950
there because they're in the charts.
Still Rising, Love Me Do, is now 22.

1543
01:41:41,950 --> 01:41:43,770
been on the charts for two months.

1544
01:41:44,050 --> 01:41:45,670
In fact, two and a half months.

1545
01:41:45,950 --> 01:41:50,450
Quite incredible. It never rose higher
than 17, which makes people think it

1546
01:41:50,450 --> 01:41:54,750
wasn't very successful. But it was the
longevity that held it in such good

1547
01:41:54,750 --> 01:41:59,510
stead. And when eventually Please Please
Me comes out in January, Love Me Do is

1548
01:41:59,510 --> 01:42:02,730
still on the charts and they had two
records in the chart at the same time,

1549
01:42:02,770 --> 01:42:06,790
which is again a sign of things to come.
So Love Me Do was a success.

1550
01:42:07,720 --> 01:42:13,380
Bob Dylan is there because he's in
London to play the part of a hobo in a

1551
01:42:13,380 --> 01:42:15,900
for the BBC called The Madhouse on
Castle Street.

1552
01:42:16,100 --> 01:42:18,280
So he's in London at the end of 1962.

1553
01:42:18,860 --> 01:42:24,020
And the Rolling Stones are in an
advertisement for a show at the Low

1554
01:42:24,020 --> 01:42:28,280
coffee bar in Richmond. Twist, twist, it
says, because everything was still

1555
01:42:28,280 --> 01:42:30,960
twisty. But really, they're an R andB
band.

1556
01:42:31,460 --> 01:42:36,760
And they were formed in July 1962, the
Rolling Stones. Their formation was

1557
01:42:36,760 --> 01:42:41,500
announced. in jazz news jazz just about
tolerated rhythm and blues and R andB

1558
01:42:41,500 --> 01:42:46,960
groups basically got their start in
London's jazz clubs Mick Jagger talking

1559
01:42:46,960 --> 01:42:51,700
about the group he says I hope they
don't think we're a rock and roll outfit

1560
01:42:51,700 --> 01:42:56,300
seven years later they're the greatest
rock and roll band in the world

1561
01:42:57,160 --> 01:43:02,200
Also named in the piece, Keith Richards,
Elmo Lewis, that's Brian Jones, Ian

1562
01:43:02,200 --> 01:43:07,100
Stewart, that's Stu, Dick Taylor, who
will be in The Pretty Things, Mick

1563
01:43:07,200 --> 01:43:12,740
Mike Avery, who become the drummer in
The Kinks. So the 60s are coming. The

1564
01:43:12,740 --> 01:43:13,740
final piece.

1565
01:43:13,940 --> 01:43:19,440
At the end of 1962, Brian Epstein had
been the Beatles manager for a year, and

1566
01:43:19,440 --> 01:43:23,040
he placed a whole page advertisement in
Murphy Beat newspaper.

1567
01:43:24,080 --> 01:43:29,060
and it was called 1962, The Beatles'
Year of Achievement. And it outlined the

1568
01:43:29,060 --> 01:43:32,960
progress that they had made in the
course of the year, getting an EMI

1569
01:43:33,480 --> 01:43:37,600
making BBC broadcast, television
appearances, Radio Luxembourg

1570
01:43:38,020 --> 01:43:43,780
going to Hamburg, getting into the
charts, appearing with all sorts of big

1571
01:43:43,780 --> 01:43:49,020
acts. And appearing in cities and towns
all across the country, not just in

1572
01:43:49,020 --> 01:43:49,999
Liverpool anymore.

1573
01:43:50,000 --> 01:43:54,460
And they've got a team of people. Brian
has assembled a team of people around

1574
01:43:54,460 --> 01:43:58,200
them. So there's him as their manager
now. There's George Martin as their

1575
01:43:58,200 --> 01:43:59,200
producer.

1576
01:43:59,550 --> 01:44:04,450
It says there Tony Calder as publicity,
but in fact it's Tony Barrow, whose name

1577
01:44:04,450 --> 01:44:07,690
can't be given because he works for
Decca, but he'll soon be with them full

1578
01:44:07,690 --> 01:44:12,210
-time. Neil Aspinall as the road
manager. His address can't be printed

1579
01:44:12,210 --> 01:44:15,850
he lives with Pete Bess and his family,
so we leave that bit out.

1580
01:44:16,090 --> 01:44:17,790
Bobby Brown, the fan club secretary.

1581
01:44:19,000 --> 01:44:23,440
On board just too late for this when
this was drafted, now the music

1582
01:44:23,560 --> 01:44:28,040
Dick James. So all these people are a
team now who are going to be pushing the

1583
01:44:28,040 --> 01:44:32,220
beat. It's their talent, it's their
ability, it's their originality, but

1584
01:44:32,220 --> 01:44:33,620
got this team behind them.

1585
01:44:34,350 --> 01:44:39,850
Remember also it's only still seven,
nearly eight months since Stuart

1586
01:44:39,850 --> 01:44:44,730
died. And these pictures of the Beatles
taken in November 62 by Astrid and note

1587
01:44:44,730 --> 01:44:49,230
that John is sitting in Stuart's chair
and that won't be a coincidence.

1588
01:44:49,590 --> 01:44:53,210
We look at that from history as well. He
was a Beatle and then he died and then

1589
01:44:53,210 --> 01:44:57,550
they had hits. For them, he was one of
them. He was in their band and they've

1590
01:44:57,550 --> 01:44:58,850
lost him at the age of 21.

1591
01:44:59,710 --> 01:45:05,590
So it's worth remembering that Stuart
had died this year as well. In reality,

1592
01:45:05,590 --> 01:45:09,730
that advertisement, there was a little
box that prefixed what might happen in

1593
01:45:09,730 --> 01:45:14,010
1963. Please, please miss coming out.
And they've got tours, including

1594
01:45:14,010 --> 01:45:18,830
nationwide tours with Helen Shapiro,
Tommy Rowe, and Chris Montez. And then

1595
01:45:18,830 --> 01:45:22,150
ends at the bottom with, and who knows?

1596
01:45:23,160 --> 01:45:26,140
They don't know what the future holds
because nobody ever does.

1597
01:45:26,400 --> 01:45:30,820
But there is about to become the
greatest cultural explosion that I

1598
01:45:30,820 --> 01:45:33,380
we've ever had. And we're still feeling
it to this day.

1599
01:45:33,660 --> 01:45:36,940
And who knows? Thank you very much for
listening to all of this.

1600
01:45:41,780 --> 01:45:42,780
Thank you.

1601
01:45:43,900 --> 01:45:44,900
Thank you very much.

1602
01:45:46,100 --> 01:45:47,100
Thank you.

1603
01:45:47,580 --> 01:45:48,580
Thank you.

1604
01:45:58,370 --> 01:46:00,910
He really pulled together a wonderful
show.

1605
01:46:01,150 --> 01:46:05,050
That kind of gave you more than you
thought you needed to know. I love the

1606
01:46:05,050 --> 01:46:06,430
of the bud before the bloom.

1607
01:46:06,710 --> 01:46:08,670
This is what 1962 is for the Beatles.

1608
01:46:09,070 --> 01:46:14,010
I like the way that the Beatles kind of
emerge from that cocoon and rock it off.

1609
01:46:26,879 --> 01:46:28,340
Mother's playing bingo.

1610
01:46:29,000 --> 01:46:32,400
Granddad's swearing at the telly, trying
to make the bingo.

1611
01:46:32,640 --> 01:46:34,780
No one seems to notice me.

1612
01:46:35,240 --> 01:46:36,360
Isn't it a sin?

1613
01:46:36,600 --> 01:46:39,440
What a crazy world we're living in.

1614
01:46:40,500 --> 01:46:44,980
Now, the old man never talks to me, and
when he does, it moans.

1615
01:46:45,200 --> 01:46:47,180
Watch your face, it looks a disgrace.

1616
01:46:47,660 --> 01:46:48,940
Oh, what an happy home.

1617
01:46:49,200 --> 01:46:50,680
He says I'm irresponsible,

1618
01:46:51,480 --> 01:46:53,040
not like when he was young.

1619
01:46:53,600 --> 01:46:57,360
Then he puts on his cap and coat to
watch the grounds run.

1620
01:46:57,560 --> 01:46:59,780
Oh, Dad's gone down a dog track.

1621
01:47:00,280 --> 01:47:01,800
Mother's playing bingo.

1622
01:47:02,440 --> 01:47:05,980
Granny's boozing in the parlour. You'll
see the jingo.

1623
01:47:06,260 --> 01:47:08,400
No one thinks they'll notice me.

1624
01:47:08,820 --> 01:47:09,940
Isn't it a sin?

1625
01:47:10,140 --> 01:47:13,180
What crazy world we're living in.

1626
01:47:21,610 --> 01:47:27,130
Mother says I look beyond me trousers
are too tight. She says I ought to get a

1627
01:47:27,130 --> 01:47:29,050
job and not stay out all night.

1628
01:47:29,290 --> 01:47:31,250
She doesn't like me haircut.

1629
01:47:31,510 --> 01:47:36,470
She says me friends are lousy. And then
she says it's getting late. Can't miss

1630
01:47:36,470 --> 01:47:39,870
me, lousy, lousy. Oh, Dad's gone down
the dog trail.

1631
01:47:40,470 --> 01:47:41,910
Mother's playing bingo.

1632
01:47:42,510 --> 01:47:44,450
Sister's mooching on the sofa.

1633
01:47:44,690 --> 01:47:46,150
You ought to hear the spring go.

1634
01:47:46,410 --> 01:47:48,410
No one thinks they'll notice me.

1635
01:47:48,890 --> 01:47:49,970
Isn't it a sin?

1636
01:47:50,700 --> 01:47:52,120
What a crazy world we're in.