Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mal at the Fest '75


The program for the Beatlefest '75 where Mal Evans was a guest speaker.

Signing autographs for Beatlefest goers.
Photo copyright:  Bob Leafe
Mal on stage with the band (playing tambourine)
Photo copyright:  Bob Leafe

I would have loved to have heard Mal Evans speak at the Beatlefest in 1975! Were any of you there? Everyone I have ever spoken to who heard him speak said that he was wonderful to listen to, and that they could have heard him tell his amazing Beatles stories all day. I have stumbled upon a few photographs of Mal Evans taken at that 2nd Beatlefest to share with you all.

14 comments:

  1. i didn't know mal had been a guest at beatlefest! that must have been fun to listen to. i went to the fest many times during the 80's and early 90's. my fave guest was victor spinetti - he was a blast!

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  2. Looks like May Pang next to him at the table.

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  3. i noticed that too, the fab 5, i do think it's may.

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  4. Lizzie: I heard Victor in '94 and recently. He was very funny, but the humor didn't carry over in the book he wrote.

    May Pang was at the Fest in '75, so that is most likely her. Good eye. Hard to believe that she appeared at the convention so quickly after her and John's relationship ended. If I were her, it would have been difficult for me to be there.

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    1. I'm sorry if anyone gets offended at this but
      I've always felt like May has very little dignity and self respect.

      i mean she was married 11 YEARS to Tony Visconti (awesome producer: Bowie, Marc Bolan, Badfinger...) n she's ALWAYS talking those 18? moths with John. I dig that she feels "erased" by Yoko, but she was "the other one", and by definition, she never had the wife's rights.

      Does she really want to be remembered as some musician's mistress? Why does she have to be re-telling an affair that happened almost 40 years ago? Is it really the most important thing that happened in her life? =/

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    2. agree - she did have a life after John (who didn't marry her) so it is a bit odd

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  5. Yes, I was there! Mal was one of (if not THE) best guests I've ever seen at the Fests! I often think about the book he was working on; the stories that man could tell...
    BTW, Sara, thank you for this blog! I love it!

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    1. It is a shame there is no recording of Mal Evans, he was my father it would be lovely to hear it

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  6. The photo directly above is Mal with Bob Hussey from New Milford, New Jersey. He was in the band The Forerunners at this time.
    The next photo up is The Forerunners... with his back to the camera is Ted Schoenherr and then Rob Lange and then Bob Hussey again. The drummer is unknown to me. Bob Hussey and Rob Lange still play together as a duo in places like The Wagon Wheel in Bergenfield. Ted Schoenherr plays as Teddy Judge and they are all still friends. Ted will join Bob and Rob on occasion if he stops in.

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    1. Hi, that's so cool that Bob & Rob still play together! I remember when they were in Pegasus with Joe Murray -- such a fantastic band. Would you happen to know what happened to Janet Ratowski from New Milford? She was my good friend. Thx. Sigrid (sigridmac at rogers.com)

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  7. i will write all my beatle friends and see if anyone has a recording of mal for anonymous.

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  8. This message was sent to me by Bob Leafe who wanted to add this information in with the comments. He is the photographer of the photos from the Beatlefest in this thread. I am going to post the program that he sent on a new thread for this topic. (message from Sara)

    The band playing with Mal Evans is not the Forerunners. It's Pegasus, for whom the Forerunners were........well, forerunners. Basically, it's the 3 guys mentioned above with a different drummer.

    The drummer's name was Paul Unsworth, who wasn't in Pegasus very long.

    Pegasus did not play the Beatlefest gig as Pegasus - they used a more Beatle-y name: "Northern Song".

    How do I know all this? Bob Hussey was my roommate at the time and I shot lots of Pegasus gigs.

    I've included the program page with pix and info on Mal and Northern Pegasong. I have no idea who took the band's photo on the program page. It wasn't me.

    You can find the same two Beatlefest stage shots on my site along with small writeups and a funny picture of Hussey.

    That picture is my revenge for him not hiring me to shoot the Beatlefest program picture. ;-)

    http://bobleafe.com/

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    1. Hi Sara, I thought that was Pegasus! They were such an awesome band. I heard them a number of times way back in the early '70s. Did you know a Janet Ratowski from New Milford High? Would love to find her. Thx. Sigrid (sigridmac at rogers.com)

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  9. wow, this is nostalgic for me because Joe Murray was my neighbor when his family moved to New Milford. We were both transplants from NYC. After hearing Joe play guitar, I encouraged him to contact Bob Hussey with Pegasus. The rest is history. Pegasus was an awesome band. Met up with Bob Hussey at the NMHS class of '69 reunion in 2004.

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