We Loved You Yeh, Yeh, Yeh (1991)

 

Photo taken by Peter Holmes 

We Loved You Yeh, Yeh, Yeh

The Eastern Evening News

January 11, 1991

    Who said Beatlemania was dead and gone? We asked for your memories of the Friday night in May 1963 when John, Paul, George, and Ringo took the Grosvenor Ballroom by storm, and boy, did you take us up on it. Thanks to all of those who wrote or phoned in. Sadly, there's not room for all your tales. There were so many different stories, but each and every one had the same verdict on the lads from Liverpool. They were fab, fantastic, and unforgettable, and now it's over to you

     Linda's Drumstick Dare Linda Wilsea screamed with the best of them while John, Paul, George, and Ringo woved their magic. But she stressed, "There wasn't too much of that. Most of us were more concerned with listening to them." She had gone to the concert with her husband to be with Mick, her friend Janet Bunting, and her future husband, and she said we were only kids at the time. "We stood on the steps that were a continuation of the stage, only a few feet away from the Beatles, daring each other to creep up and pinch one of  Ringo's drumsticks. Unfortunately, no one had the courage, much to my regret now." Like many other fans that night, however, Linda of Lodge Lane, Old Cotton managed to get the autographs of all four Beatles on one of her tickets. "It's one of our most treasured possessions," added Linda. 

    Glenys Wickham had to perform a balancing act to watch the Beatles. She said, "It was always pretty crowded, but I had never seen so many people as on that night. I remember standing on a chair and holding on to my boyfriend for dear life to get a better view."

     Knee-Deep in Coats  George Hampton recalled the packed Grosvenors. "There were so many people that the cloak rooms were stacked out. They were knee deep in coats after running out of pegs." Mind you, George was one up on most of the other people struggling to see the nation's number one band, where he'd seen one of the Beatles before. "I had seen Ringo two years previously at Bultins in Skegnes!" 

     Beatle Crazy Wherever the Beatles went, you could be sure the girls would follow. Grosvenor's co-promoter Peter Holmes, 56, recalled leading Paul and John to their van after the concert. "There were two girls sitting in the back, and I said, 'See you brought the girlfriends'. But they just said they didn't know where they came from, so we had to turf them out," said Peter, now a carpet salesman.

    Hands Off   Jan Bounden carried her love beneath her sleeve for two weeks after the Beatles concert for Paul McCartney gave her his autograph on her wrist. Jan of Proctor Road, Old Cotton, recalled. "I duly covered it with sellotape and didn't wash for over two weeks, much to the amusement of my parents. I certainly was the envy of all my school friends."

     Fish and Chips With The Beatles  Teacher Andrew Jarvis will never forget May 17, 1963, it was the day he ate fish and chips with The Beatles. He nipped out of the Grosvenors to the fish shop at the bottom of Rose Lane, only to find Paul McCartney at the head of the queue. "I'm not sure if it was during the interval or after the concert, but when I went.  Paul and another Beatle, Ringo, I think, were standing there," he recalled. "I remember that their scouse accents caused great hilarity. This was about the time of Z-cars, and I remember thinking they were deliberately overplaying the strong nasal accent. During the concert, they kept calling themselves wack, and it all went down very well. They certainly had the girls after them. There is nothing put on about their music. When I went to see them, I was already becoming interested in them, but the excitement of their concert was incredible. They were so completely natural. They seemed light-years ahead of everyone else." Oh, and there was one other memory of that unforgettable night, said Andrew, "They threw sweets at the audience. They'd shout, 'Anybody want a jelly baby? ' and they were laughing and joking along." He reckoned the highlight of the night was the Beatles' version of "Roll Over Beethoven." "They played it as an encore and played part of it again, because that's what everyone wanted, and they were enjoying themselves." Today. Andrew, a teacher at the Howlett School, keeps alive those 60s memories as a member of The Beatles Appreciation Society. 

    Lennon, the Scruff and the Safety Pin Ricky Lee could scarcely believe his eyes. The Beatles had hit the top of the charts with their very own style of rock music and clean-cut fashion -- but there was nothing clean about the Fab Four, who shared the dressing room with Ricky and his band, the Hucklebucks. His rock and roll days over, Ricky 42 said, "I was amazed how scruffy they were. They just had old jeans on. I'll never forget John Lennon. He didn't have any trouser zip or fly buttons, just a safety pin! When it came to the music, though they surpassed all the pre-concert publicity. They were brilliant. Said Ricky, "We had played with most of the big names, but they were the best. They were so natural and very friendly. There was no big-headedness about them. They were just some of the lads. And I remember us talking to them in the dressing room about a certain chord in a song, and George showed us how it was played. During our set, they were standing watching us near the stage door. I remember seeing John strumming along with us." However, one of Ricky's greatest memories of the concert was when his own band almost started a stampede by playing a Beatles number. "We always played a few of their songs in our set, and that night, when we started up, there was a rush from the bar because they all thought the Beatles had suddenly come on," laughed Ricky.