That being said, it doesn't make it any easier for us in the Beatles community when we lose another Beatle person. Sadly, the Beatles first promoter, Sam Leach, passed away yesterday in England. Sam promoted the Beatles in the early Liverpool days after their return from Hamburg the first time and before Brian Epstein came along.
Sam was a vital figure in the Liverpool music scene as well as a friend of the Beatles. And while he could have been one of those guys that became lost in Beatles history, he made a point of not allowing us to forget him. Sam was often seen in the Beatles convention seen, talking to fans adn posing for photos.
He remained good friend with Paul McCartney his entire life. He was with Paul backstage at his concert just last year.
I found an interesting interview with Sam that you might be interested in:
http://www.classicbands.com/SamLeachInterview.html
Goodbye Sam---thanks for the memories!
Sam was a sweetheart of a man, so filled with compassion. When I had a major health issue in 2000, Sam used to email me regularly to check up on me, and even sent the occasional card. He was such a warm man who never really got the recognition he deserved for promoting the early Beatles. It was Sam who took them out of the small dives around Liverpool and booked them into larger venues like the Tower Ballroom, where more fans could see them perform. His influence is immeasurable and I just hope he knew just how appreciated he was by Beatles fans. He'll be missed. Also, the man with Paul and Sam in the bottom photo is Ian James, Paul's Liverpool Institute classmate who taught Paul his first guitar chords -- the ones Paul played to John at the Woolton Fete in '57 and got him into the Quarrymen. Ian was Paul's best friend at the time, though as the music began to take over, they didn't spend as much time together. In 1956, because Paul hadn't gotten his first guitar yet, Ian taught him to play on his own guitar. In 2006, I helped Ian sell that guitar -- the one Paul learned to play on -- through the Fleetwood-Owen auction house for over $600,000! Paul even acknowledged Ian's guitar as the one he learned to play on in a signed letter that accompanied the guitar when it was sold. Ian and Paul are still friends to this day.
ReplyDeleteIts very sad that neither McCartney nor Starr have acknowledge the passing of this great legend. For without Sam Leach there would have been no Beatles. Classless act, both of them
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