by Bob Spitz
Mimi “laying down the law”: Leila Harvey, 10/84, AGA.
She implored her elder sister: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA; also Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.
“He was always very open”: Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.
“I’d gone around to John’s”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
146–47 “we both went white”: Davies, Beatles, p. 48.
“That’s really fucked everything!”: Ibid.
“He didn’t say anything”: Barbara Baker, 8/84, AGA.
“Now we were both in this”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 49.
“For months [afterward], John”: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 3/7/98.
“went out of him forever”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 7/16/98.
“a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship”: Ibid., 1/19/98.
“I lost [my mother] twice”: Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 137.
he didn’t go visit his cousin: Stanley Parkes, 1/19/85, AGA.
Paul provided the basic structure: There are conflicting accounts. For McCartney’s, see Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 36; for Lennon’s, see Hit Parader. “ ‘Love Me Do’ is Paul’s song. He wrote it when he was a teenager.” Sheff, Playboy Interviews, p. 129.
“P.S. I Love You”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 38.
in a room at Ye Cracke: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
John was “very entertaining”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“some blokes… prancing about”: Ian Sharpe, 8/84, AGA.
“John could just as easily”: Author interview with Pete Shotton, 1/19/98.
“crowded, informal affairs”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“inner bunch”/“anchorman”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
where Julia Lennon had once danced: Stanley Parkes, 1/25/85, AGA.
As Nigel Walley had explained it: Author interview with Nigel Walley, 11/30/98.
“Aside from George”: Author interview with Colin Hanton, 10/6/97.
“By the time we had to go on”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 31.
CHAPTER 9: CHALK AND CHEESE
“peroxide-blond hair”: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.
“stripping down to a tiny bikini”: Ibid.
“He would do anything”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“because it had excellent pulling power”: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.
“When the lights came up”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“big beat dances”: Liverpool Echo (repeated ads).
“I told him he was too young”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
Mostly, they just rehearsed: Giuliano, Dark Horse, p. 23.
“working-men’s clubs”: Ken Brown in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 21.
“By December, he was completely out of control”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
“Most of his antics”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
“he was embarrassingly rude”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“scruffy, dangerous-looking”: “Cynthia Lennon: In Her Own Words,” Hello!, 4/30/94.
“outrageous… a rough sort”: Ibid.
Rodney Begg: Author interview with confidential source.
“It was a skill that required”: Hello!, 4/30/94.
“vague friendship between them”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/3/97.
“into [a] blond bombshell”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“madly in love”: Hello!, 4/30/94.
“He had found someone”: Author interview with Jonathan Hague, 5/21/98.
“Even as a child, she was easygoing”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“bohernia”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“When she took a shine to him”: Author interview with Ann Mason, 10/8/97.
she would duck into “the ladies’ loo”: Ibid.
“It was like all the places”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.
“in a Greek joint”: Williams, “The Liverpool Scene” (unpublished manuscript).
“submit for his certificate”: Author interview with Helen Anderson, 11/4/97.
“everybody chipped bits of paintings”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
CHAPTER 10: MOONDOGS AND ENGLISHMEN
little “whacker”: “Mimi always said he had a low-Liverpool voice, a real whacker,” Davies, Beatles, p. 45.
“Cyn and I would be going”: Wenner, Playboy Interviews, p. 126.
“[George] would hurriedly catch up”: C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 26.
“didn’t hold a candle to John and Paul”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
Ruth Morrison: Ibid.
she disclosed… a new coffee bar: Guiliano, Dark Horse, p. 23; Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 21.
The house at 8 Hayman’s Green: Bill Harry interview with Pete Best, 3/96.
Ken was more than familiar: “Ken Brown, one of my friends from the Collegiate, my grammar school…” Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 21.
“I went round to see her”: Ken Brown in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 21.
a steady buzz built: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 18.
lights were put in: Pete Best in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 20.
“the perfect house” Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“shoulder to shoulder”: Mona Best in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 23.
“Among the songs we performed”: Ken Brown in ibid., p. 21.
a princely £3: Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 10.
“None of us dreamed”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/3/97.
“just about hear the band”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“It was a good idea”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“Girls were the main reason”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
Bubbles: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
“It must have been all over my face”: Ibid.
“the fantastic scenes outside”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 22.
the club fees and five-pence admission: “Membership was fixed at half a crown a year (12½ pence) plus a shilling (5 pence) admission fee at the door.” Ibid., p. 20.
Despite the constant crush: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“They didn’t have much”: Mona Best in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 23.
“an immensely likeable guy”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 25.
“Mo decided to pay [Ken]”: Ibid.
“went ballistic”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“She kept Ken’s fifteen bob”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 22.
“Right, that’s it, then!”: Ken Brown in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 23.
“back into the business”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 23.
“pencils, and later drumsticks”: Ibid.
“knock beats out”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 24.
“Stuart was his last hope”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
remembered being “fascinated”: “Cynthia Lennon: In Her Own Words,” Hello!, 7/7/94.
“Here with no one watching”: Ibid.
“Stuart wore tinted glasses”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“[H]e had a lot of innovative”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“a tiddler”: “Cynthia Lennon: In Her Own Words,” Hello!, 5/7/94.
“Stuart was not… outwardly forceful”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“a tremendous energy and intensity”: Hello!, 5/7/94.
Whatever “milk money”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
“Stuart never let on”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
“John did all the things”: M
illie Sutcliffe in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, pp. 24–25.
The incipient taste was enshrined: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
Bratby or… de Stael: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
“kipping in [Stuart’s] room”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/7/97.
a “monumental painting”: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“real resonance”: Ibid.
Stuart was ecstatic: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
he’d “failed everything”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“It is very difficult”: Ibid.
“some old fellow chundering on”: Davies, Beatles, p. 40.
“His parents were fairly easygoing”: Author interview with Arthur Kelly, 1/10/98.
“singing brilliantly”: Ibid.
“We got there in the morning”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“old tatty piece of junk”: Ibid.
“besotted with each other”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/7/97.
“Paul was furious”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
Hillary Mansions: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“ridiculously expensive”: Ibid.
Lucretius’s On the Nature of the Universe: Alan Sharpe, AGA (undated).
cemetery in the Anglican cathedral: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
“Now [that] you’ve got all this money”: Ibid.
According to one version, his father: Norman, Shout!, p. 64.
In fact, using a bit of creative financing: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
“What the bloody hell”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/2/97.
CHAPTER 11: HIT THE ROAD: JAC
“just thinking about what a good name”: Davies, Beatles, p. 64.
Stuart might have suggested beetles: Ibid., introduction to second edition.
“to make it look like beat music”: Ibid., p. 64.
“John and Stuart came out”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
The only gig to speak of: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent… Liverpool Empire: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97; Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 18; author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
“They knew that to get any attention”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
The Student Union had a discretionary fund: Rod Murray, 12/84, AGA.
“troubled”/“distraction”: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
“Oh, the skin has come off”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“Art students were inclined to drop in”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.
“They’d go into a great big huddle”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 69.
“sort of musical revolution”: Ibid., p. 42.
“I began to realise the implications”: Ibid., p. 44.
“In most cases, what attracted Larry”: Author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
Parnes had a cluster of glittery stars: Clayson, Beat Merchants, p. 40; Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 18.
“Larry was on tour”: Author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
“immediately fell in love”: Ibid.
“high cheekbones and restless eyes”: Clayson, Beat Merchants, p. 41.
“a very elegant dresser”/“schmatte business”: Author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
“fee of about £500”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 45.
The show was scheduled for May 3: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 18.
“the tragic death of Eddie Cochran”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 47.
here Details of Cochran’s death: Ward, Rock of Ages, p. 223.
He flushed with guilt: “Momentarily, I was stupefied, then selfish thoughts intruded. I’d been robbed of my two top stars.” Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 47.
To fill the gaping hole: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 19.
“Everyone who was anyone”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/7/97.
“a seminal event”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“It was [the type of] voice”: Ibid., 8/4/97.
“he had convinced Lennon”: Ibid., 10/4/97.
he was willing to do almost anything: Norman, Shout!, p. 74.
He also had a day job: Harry, Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, p. 471.
“Tommy Moore was a pro”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“Cathy’s Clown”: Norman, Shout!, p. 73.
following the Stadium concert: “After the show, we all retired to the Jacaranda.” Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 57.
if Williams represented these bands: Ibid., p. 58.
“But you must have a drummer”: Ibid., p. 61.
Cass was “the prophet”: Ibid., p. 44.
“For these two periods”: Pawlowski, How They Became, p. 12.
The audition had been scheduled: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 19.
Allan Williams had taken a lease: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.
He’d decided to rename it: “I’d seen that smashing film, The Blue Angel, and I’d thought, ‘What a marvellous [sic] name.’ ” Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 143.
“They blew in, rough and tumble”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“sat stone-faced”: Ibid.
John Lennon pressed Billy Fury for an autograph: Pawlowski, How They Became, p. 15 (photo).
“Johnny did and played”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
Only a few pictures… exist: The entire set, taken by Cheniston Roland, appears in Pawlowski, How They Became, pp. 13–22.
“I thought the boys in front were great”: Norman, Shout!, p. 76.
in “a most off-putting style”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 66.
“Quite suddenly,” Allan Williams recalled: Ibid., p. 121.
When Williams brought them the offer: Millie Sutcliffe recalled: “[Stuart] was quite upset, really heartbroken, and he said, ‘Mother, I think I’ve let the boys down.’ ” Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 31.
“Forget it, Stu”: Ibid.
the astounding sum of £90: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 19.
George and Tommy took time off: Compiled from numerous sources, including Norman, Pawlowski, Williams, and Salewicz, McCartney.
The problem of equipment: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/3/97.
Stuart de Stael: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 44.
Paul Ramon: “I thought it sounded really glamorous, sort of Valentinoish.” Davies, Beatles, p. 65.
here Details of the Beatles’ train ride: Author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
188–89 Johnny Gentle’s background: “I made my guitar before I went out to sea.” Author interview with John Askew, 8/15/97.
“The crowd was lovely”: Ibid.
“They weren’t the normal bunch of kids”: Author interview with Hal Carter, 8/14/97.
“pulled out all the stops”: Author interview with John Askew, 8/15/97.
“Don’t worry about us”: Ibid.
“You listen to me, mate”: Ibid.
“flying crates and beer bottles”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/7/97.
“Hully Gully”: “Every time we did ‘Hully Gully’ there would be a fight.” George Harrison in Anthology, p. 53.
“He was injured”: Bill Harry interview with Pauline Sutcliffe (audio), undated.
defection of Tommy Moore: “I’d had enough of them all—especially Lennon.” Norman, Shout!, p. 78.
New Cabaret Artistes: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“a moonlight flit”: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 11/2/97.
the “dusky troupe”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene, p. 82.
“come to Germany and stay”: Author
interview with Beryl Williams, 11/1/97.
“Hamburg fascinated me”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 86.
they had changed the spelling: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 28.
“dreadfully crummy”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 88.
“the manager of a very famous rock ’n roll group”: Ibid.
“the Smoke”: “We always referred to London as ‘the Smoke.’ ” Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/3/97.
“He was always thinking on his feet”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“What a coincidence!”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 90.
“He was the star”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“He was unpredictable”: Author interview with Gibson Kemp, 8/12/97.
“Tony was extremely well endowed”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“[Koschmider] made us an offer”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“When somebody didn’t pay”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“Limper was the leader”: Ibid.
199–200 “you had to chase and work at British girls”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“We were going to marry those girls”: Author interview with Howie Casey, 10/27/97.
“ruin the scene”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 12: BAPTISM BY FIRE
“pissing rain”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“like a funeral parlor”: Ibid.
he offered the gig to Rory Storm: Ibid.
“Allan was having plenty”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“sort of a crappy group”: Allan Williams in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 42.
“reporters from the Empire News”: Rod Murray, 8/84, AGA.
Rod Jones: Ibid.
“Come on, let’s go have a look”: Ibid.
“They got newspapers”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
THIS IS THE BEATNIK HORROR: Sunday People, 7/3/60.
caught the attention of the… residents association: Rod Murray, 8/84, AGA.
“to suck up to the press”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
“I wasn’t altogether happy”: Williams, “Liverpool Scene,” p. 82.
George… had remained in touch: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 28.
“real pounding rock ’n roll drummer”: Harry Prytherch in Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 43.