Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The fan who named a Beatles album

Dave Thompson/PA Wire URN:17515033 (Press Association via AP Images)
 Margaret is the girl on the left in his photo.


This makes for an interesting trivia question.   What Beatles album was named by a fan?   The answer is "Beatles for Sale."   Can you even image being the person who named that album and walking through a record shop with your friend.   Oh yeah...see that album, "Beatles for Sale," you know the one with Eight Days a Week on it?   Yeah....I gave the Beatles the name for that album. 

How did a fan come to be the person that named an album?  Well in the autumn of 1963,  a then 15 year old British girl named Margaret Svenson (now Gordon) saw an advertisement in her local paper for a contest to named the Beatles next album and also give a list of six Beatles songs that would appeal to an American audience.    The winner was promised that the Beatles would name their next album the the winner name plus meet the fan backstage at a concert during the 1963 Autumn tour of the U.K.

Margaret said in a recent interview: "When I was thinking about the name, Beatles for Sale just came to me out-of-the-blue," she said. "I thought it was catchy and would catch people's attention.

"But, when I told people, it wasn't well received. A lot of people thought it was a stupid idea for a title and wouldn't achieve anything.

"As I couldn't think of anything better, I just sent that idea in with the six recordings, although I can't remember which ones they were.


A few weeks later Margaret along with four other fans from around Northern England received a letter in the mail stating that they had won.

She said: "I remember being very excited when I received the letter congratulating me and telling me I'd won.

She and her sister went to Carlisle  to attend the concert there and meet the band. 

"I remember the date my sister and I went over to Carlisle to meet them, it was November 21, 1963. I remember the date because John F Kennedy was killed the following day.

"They were all lovely. They signed autographs and chatted and we had our photographs taken. We met them in their dressing room at a theatre in Carlisle and they were all very friendly.

"I remember Ringo was very shy, John was very confident and Paul was the diplomat. George was not as shy as Ringo, but talked quietly.

"It was extremely exciting and memorable and something I will always remember."

The With the Beatles album Margaret had signed for her friend, Christine that recently sold at auction.


Margaret had brought along a few of her friend's albums to be signed, which the Beatles graciously did for her.   One of those albums, the one for a friend named Christine was recently sold at an auction.  Margaret's story became public after the record went up for auction as the backs story of the autographs.       Of the four winning album names, only "Beatles For Sale" was used and it was released a little over a year after Margaret won the contest.   And if you look at it, "Beatles for Sale" was the next album released by the Beatles that wasn't a movie soundtrack, so it was the next album after the contest that would have needed a name (since the movie soundtrack had to have been the name of the movie). Very cool story!

12 comments:

  1. what a great story! never heard it before.

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  2. Interesting fact. Even wiki doesn't mention the LP title came from a competition winner. I always thought 'Beatles For Sale' was a comment on commercialization, etc.

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  3. What a story!!! Never ever heard of that before! Sara Schmidt, dagnabbit, you amaze me, every day! I mean......I thought I was the Beatle expert, humbug on that I say!!! And also....with no disrespect meant to our big sister, Margaret....I always thought that it WAS a bit of an odd title, especially for the end of '64! So now it makes more sense!

    See, if I miss just one day here......look what I could have missed! And one day, I could be asked this question, who knows! Thanks, Sara!! You give new meaning to the expression "you learn something new everyday!!!"

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. (Sara, just a heads' up, I think he means to remove his email address from the comment). (or maybe not! maybe it was something else and you already removed it!!!)

      Well, either way, thanks to Anonymous for the info and for the offer to share the scans and details with all of us!!! You're going to Pepperland for that!!!

      (and congratulations on winning the auction! Clearly, the materials are in good hands!!!)

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    2. oops! I totally misunderstood that one. Sorry! I thought he wanted me to delete the doubt that the story was real and the amount the auction went for. That is what I get for trying to check the blog during my lunch break at work. sorry!

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  5. Somehow, I don't quite buy the whole competition story. Why has this only come to light in 2013? How come it's not common Beatle knowledge? I'm not saying there wasn't any competition at all, but...

    I'd definitely like to see what Lewis can show in terms of supporting letters, etc.

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  6. I challenge anyone to try adding this Beatle "fact" to the Wiki page for Beatles For Sale..... gets deleted straight away! When (the unfortunately-titled) 'Wog Blog' reported this story in the summer, it seemed an unlikely story. Would love to know more facts..........

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    1. The person who won the auction commented on here, but I had to delete his comment because I didn't delete his email address before I allowed the comment. But I did email him and I hope he can help us out here with more information. I have not read anywhere at all where the name of the album came from. Many other Beatles albums titles have a back story, but there is zero information out there about this one. There is truth behind the story because we have photographs and autographs that were obtained that day. I wonder if it is a case of "Beatles for sale" was a name that had been suggested by someone within the group and Margaret had the same idea, so she won the contest.

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    2. Actually I believe at some point Derek Taylor mentioned he came up with the title, but this person claimed in the original comment (which, as Sara Cadabra just said, was removed) that he had all of the relevant materials, including information about the competition. We shall see!

      It seems to me an odd thing to just make up out of the blue! I mean, if I was going to make up a fake Beatles story, I don't think I'd ever arrive at THAT one. Especially if there's a picture of me with the Fabs, and an autographed album, I mean, wouldn't it be good enough just to have been photographed with the Beatles and gotten their autographs? Wouldn't that be more than a sufficient story? If something amazing happened to me, I don't think I'd build on it to make it even more amazing. If I were a girl (with a lying tongue), I think I'd make up something like one of the Beatles made a pass at me or something......not that I named one of their albums!





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  7. Well, so sorry for the delay. I've just emailed Sara with some details and scans of what I won in the auction. Also sent some other photos I've seen at auction. Hope you enjoy them!

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    1. Thank you Lewis!!!

      I'm ulcerating with anticipation! Ha!

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