Paulie the Kidd

 Paul with Johnny Kidd and Mick Green of The Pirates. Most likely taken September 3, 1963 because that is when Johnny Kidd and the Pirates were also on Pop Goes the Beatles on the BBC.

The gang's all here

 

Public Relations man McCartney

 

Sharing some popcorn

 

Everyone looks confused

 

Baby Face

 

Sleepy McCartney

 

Dr. Beatles

 These photos were taken the day after the Beatles had to cancel a show because Paul was sick.  The other Beatles are proving that they have taken care of the situation and their bass player is doing fine. 

Gather Round

 

Signing an ugly cartoon of the Beatles

 

Pay no attention to the Beatles below you

 

No ice cream for Beatle Paul

Photo taken by Dezo Hoffman 

 

Look What Has Happened in Just a Year (1963)

 

Look What Has Happened in Just a Year

By Neil Aspinall

Record Mirror

October 19, 1963

    They call me the fifth Beatle, but the official title is road manager-- the bloke who has to get the Beatles out of bed, who has to see they get something to eat, who acts as a sort of buffer between the four of them and the people they may not have time to meet. 

    I've known Paul and George since we were at school together. That must be about 10 years now. John, I've known for at least five years, and Ringo since he joined the group. They're a marvelous bunch of characters. People keep asking if there's anything special about them, but of course, most things have been already written.

     I'll tell you this, though: they can't stand anybody smoking near them when they've just woken up. They all smoke themselves, but the smell of a fag early in the morning is just too much for them. Really, though they are pretty easy to handle.

     A fantastic change has come over their status since I first became the road manager. That was in the days before Brian Epstein became their manager; they could move about anywhere easily in the early days. Now, more often than not, they have to stay in their hotel. Outside, there is usually a crowd of fans, and even if they found a fairly secret hiding place, they just can't walk around the town anywhere because they'd be mobbed.

     So they stay in bed until the very latest possible time; there's nowhere else to go. I have to wake them up and get their food organized. They all go for things like steak, though Ringo can't stand the sight of onions.

     About the only thing they can't face is ham or tongue. That's because of many late nights at hotels, when that's been the only choice for sandwiches. They got fed up to the teeth with them. Nowadays, I try to lay on some chicken or cheese and put the order in as early as possible.

     Another of my jobs is answering the phone on their behalf. Often, it goes nonstop. But now people don't get through to the boys unless they say who they are, what they're calling about, and that sort of thing. Otherwise, each Beatle would do nothing but talk on the phone. 

    I also have to get them out of their hotel. This is usually a problem. Now it's a bigger one. You see, I'm recognized by the fans as being with the Beatles. Before, I could go out unnoticed and get the car, and the boys would just drop in. Now I have to keep in the background, and the new road manager, Mal Evans, goes out for the car. It all has to be planned like a military operation.

     But don't get the idea that the boys try to avoid the fans. They'd love to meet them all. The trouble is that it so often leads to riot scenes. Whilst for traveling by road is done in a car, with the equipment going in the van. This is the tidiest way, because the journeys are really too complicated for The Beatles to use their own cars. 

    No, it's all a good life if you don't weaken my duties, which vary a lot from day to day. I certainly wouldn't change my life or anything. But the big, biggest problem, no matter where we are, is simply to get John, Paul, George, and Ringo out of their beds.

Getting Closer

 

Riding So High

 

The Ringo sneak

 

Wish Beatle fans everywhere a great weekend!  I hope this photo brings a smile to your face.  

Backstage with the Threetles

 

Is that Tony?

photo by Brian Lawton

 According to the caption I found online, this photo is the Beatles in 1963 with Tony Sheridan.  I have seen photos of Tony Sheridan in 1961, and he did not look like this man.  I am not sure who it is.  Maybe it is Tony after all. 

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.

Lennon and Marsden