The Beatles, page 120
Bursting with shame: “For awhile I tried to ignore the problem. The difficulties were almost too great to contemplate.” Ibid.
“crummy” meals: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
took the stairs “two at a time”: Hello!, 5/14/94.
“As the words sunk in”: Ibid.
“I thought it would be goodbye”: Davies, Beatles, p. 153.
Resignedly, he proposed: “There’s only one thing for it, Cyn, we’ll have to get married.” C. Lennon, A Twist, p. 73; “I was a bit shocked when Cynthia told me, but I said, ‘Yes, we’ll have to get married.’ ” John Lennon in Davies, Beatles, p. 153.
“John didn’t share much”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/5/97.
“was [their] last chance”: “According to Brian, it was very much a case of like—‘okay, this is your last chance.’ ” Pete Best, Abbey Road transcripts, 2/19/97.
“Where’s the recording studio?”: Ibid.
“It’s a house!”: Ibid.
It had originated in 1831: Southall, Abbey Road, p. 14.
the world’s first “purpose- (or custom-) built” studio: Spitz, “The Long and Winding Abbey Road,” Sky, 9/97, p. 53.
The fundamentals of stereo: Author interview with Alan Brown, 6/23/97.
“stepping into… another world”: Pete Best, Abbey Road transcripts, 2/19/97.
“Coming into Abbey Road”: Paul McCartney in Southall, Abbey Road, p. 130.
“corner suite”: Sky, 9/97, p. 56.
“We were nervous”: Pete Best, Abbey Road transcripts, 2/19/97.
“Look at the size of this place!”: Ibid.
“it was love at first sight”: Martin, All You Need, p. 122.
“wasn’t terribly impressed”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
John had patterned it after: “It was my attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song.… I heard Roy Orbison sing ‘Only the Lonely’ or something. That’s where the song came from.” Sheff, Playboy Interviews, pp. 142–43.
“They didn’t impress me at all”: Southall, Abbey Road, p. 81.
George Martin shared their reservations: “Frankly, they didn’t impress me, least of all their own songs.” Martin, All You Need, p. 123.
“They were rotten composers”: Ibid.
“Their own stuff wasn’t any good”: George Martin, Arena archives.
“suitable material”: Martin, All You Need, p. 123.
“embellish[ing] the sound”: Norman Smith in Southall, Abbey Road, p. 81.
“the drummer was no good”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
“During that one conversation”: Dowlding, Beatlesongs, p. 35.
refer the band to a venereologist: Author interview with Rex Makin, 11/1/97.
“[Paul] was trying to be good about it”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
Jim McCartney… “was delighted”: Ibid.
Between the Parlophone audition: Lewisohn, Chronicle, pp. 70–71.
“the Eppy-center”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
Everyone was crammed: Author interview with Beryl Williams, 10/7/97.
“He was very meticulous”: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.
“We’d talk in his office”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“Sometimes he’d rub his hands”: Ibid.
“It was an amazing scene”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/1/97.
CHAPTER 18: STARR TIME
“reminded him of a German concentration camp”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“boring” image: “We had our original names at Butlins. Rory said, ‘It doesn’t sound good, it sounds boring.’ ” Ibid.
The only group member who balked: “Ringo was a bit reluctant to do that.” Ibid.
one of the city’s fleetest dancers: “His dancing used to amaze us.” Ibid.
“Rings”: “In Liverpool, I was still wearing a lot of rings, and people were starting to say, “Hey, Rings!’ ” Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 39.
an effort to amend it to Johnny Ringo: Clayson, Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker (hereinafter, Straight Man), p. 34.
“Ritch wasn’t that interested”: Author interview with J. Byrne, 10/8/97.
“Starr was a natural”: Melody Maker, 11/14/64.
“He was an excellent drummer”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“There was a feeling we all had”: G. Harrison & D. Taylor, I, Me, Mine, p. 33.
“always made for the drums”: Richie Galvin in Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 56.
“Paul was showing Pete”: Ibid.
it was no secret that the other Beatles resented Mona: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 56.
“Mona was an attractive, strong… woman”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.
“she could also be a harridan”: Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 67.
“If she said it was Sunday”: Richie Galvin in ibid.
“didn’t want her interference”: Bill Harry in Clayson, Straight Man, p. 56.
Kingsize Taylor’s band, on tour: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 54.
“Teddy wrote to Ringo”: Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 44.
“the lifestyle… was ideal”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“fabulous… the best place”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 39.
“But Ringo was… ruthless”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“Is it possible for us to talk later?”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/31/97.
“his face looked scared”: Davies, Beatles, p. 137.
“found Brian in a very uneasy mood”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 166.
“hedged a little”: Epstein, Cellarful, p. 69.
“Pete, I have some bad news”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 157.
“in a state of shock”: Ibid., p. 159.
“Why?”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 166.
And neither did George Martin: “George Martin had not been too happy about Pete Best’s drumming.” Epstein, Cellarful, p. 68.
“The lads don’t want you”: Pete Best in Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 41.
“my mind was in a turmoil”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 166.
“stab in the back”: Ibid.
Brian offered to form another group: “I suggested many alternatives. That he could be the nucleus of a group that I would form, that he could be fitted into one of my existing groups…. ” Epstein, Cellarful, p. 69.
“What’s happened?”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 166.
Pete was stunned: “The fact that they weren’t at my dismissal hurt me a lot more than the fact that Brian told me that I wasn’t a Beatle any longer.” Leigh, Drummed Out!, p. 49.
Where were the Beatles?: John said, “We were cowards when we sacked him.” Davies, Beatles, p. 140.
“disgusted”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 167.
Throughout his residency there: Author interview with Bill and Virginia Harry, Johnny Byrne; also Leigh, Drummed Out!, pp. 36–37.
The birth certificate: City of Liverpool, Legal Services, Registrar of Births.
It was all Pete could do: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 167.
“I’m not going to the gig”: Best & Harry, Best Years, p. 159.
“Once I was home”: Best & Doncaster, Beatle!, p. 167.
“I never felt sorry”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 72.
“ordinary, poor”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 33.
“He was not a barefoot, ragged child”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“really rough”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 34.
“artisan working class”: Author interview with Quentin Hughes, 10/3/97.
“Most of us were brought up there”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“palatial”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 33.
“the cherry on top”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
Big Ritchie: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 1.
“no real memories of dad”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 33.
“filled me up with all the things”: Beatles Book Monthly, 12/86.
Richard provided support: Norman, Shout!, p. 160.
“You kept your head down”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
told by his doctors to prepare for the worst: “They told my mother three times that I’d be dead in the morning.” Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 34.
“was very lucky to survive”: Ibid.
“doted on him”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“cotton bobbins to hit”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 36.
“Someday, I’m going to play”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
never went back to school: “I never went back to school after 13.” Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 36.
“biscuit tins”: Ibid.
“He was a really sweet guy”: Ibid., p. 35.
339–40 Harry had access to all the luxuries: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“great gentleness”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 37.
“because they give you suits”: Ibid., p. 36.
“But it was a great gang”: Author interview with Roy Trafford, 11/3/97.
“We knew him pretty well”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
Ritchie borrowed £46: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 36.
“lapped” pigskin: Clayson, Straight Man, p. 23.
“had about three lessons”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 37.
Ritchie was influenced: “I went through modern jazz—Chico Hamilton, Yusef Lateef, people like that.” Melody Maker, 8/7/71.
“a bubble of personality”: Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/10/97.
“who liked to take care of the other guys”: Ibid.
“He always loved his rings”: Author interview with Marie Crawford, 11/1/97.
“was nominally of the Orange lodge”: Ibid.
“to say [he] was actually something”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 38.
“It was a difficult decision”: Author interview with Johnny Byrne, 10/8/97.
“Why not?”: Author interview with Roy Trafford, 11/3/97.
CHAPTER 19: A TOUCH OF THE BARNUM & BAILEY
“We felt sorry for him”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“I felt sorry for the lads”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/2/97.
“From the time the doors opened”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“very solid beat”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 72.
“Ringo didn’t try and direct the beat”: Author interview with Adrian Barber, 10/4/97.
“it had all been settled”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 11/19/98.
“a bizarre affair”: Hello!, 5/14/94.
Fortunately, Brian sent a car: Ibid.
“was never even told”: Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 73.
John waited until the last minute: “I went the day before to tell Mimi.” John Lennon, 1965 interview, in Anthology, p. 73.
“a fucking pad”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/3/97.
“We actually did a gig that night”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 73.
“the only one thinking about the future”: Cynthia Lennon in Coleman, Lennon, p. 176.
Bruce Welch of the Shadows: Abbey Road archives.
“intimidating”: Author interview with Ray Ennis, 10/1/97.
“a very strong engineering discipline”: Author interview with Alan Brown, 6/23/97.
“You had to polish your shoes”: Geoff Emerick, Abbey Road archives.
“a right time to speak to artists”: Martin Benge, Abbey Road archives.
“had to know your place”: Ibid.
“blissfully unaware”: Southall, Abbey Road, p. 78.
the Beatles rehearsed six songs: Norman Smith in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 105.
“any evidence of what was to come”: George Martin in Southall, Abbey Road, p. 81.
“it might have made a good ‘B’ side”: George Martin in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 104.
“Do it!”: Paul McCartney in ibid., p. 104.
“We just don’t want this kind of song”: Paul McCartney in Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 7.
“Ringo at that point”: Paul McCartney in Anthology, p. 76.
“he didn’t have quite enough push”: Norman Smith in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 106.
“Ringo had a lot more zest”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
“probably the top session drummer”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 1/8/98.
Ringo was stunned: “I was devastated that George Martin had his doubts about me.” Ringo Starr in Anthology, p. 76.
“I knew he could play the beat”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
“but he was not pleased”: Ibid.
“It didn’t call for any drumnastics”: Goldmine, no. 425, p. 40.
Martin called it “much too dreary”: George Martin in Arena archives and in Lewisohn, Sessions, p. 20.
“work out some tight harmonies”: George Martin in Lewisohn, Sessions.
“undesirable” image: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 73.
“open doors”: “It did open doors for us.” Paul McCartney, Arena archives.
He’d blame the outfits on Paul: “So Brian put us in neat suits and shirts and Paul was right behind him.” Wenner, Lennon Remembers.
quite “gladly”: George Harrison in Anthology, p. 73.
“Hey, listen, Cavernites”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“an extra two hundred kids”: Ibid.
It was Brian, not the Beatles: “Brian was furious—he was livid. He complained to Ray, and Ray must have been very contrite.” Ibid.
“He’d been picking my brains”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“John… likes the colour black”: EMI press release accompanying demo disc of “Love Me Do,” 10/62.
“It was a hell of a job”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
Even Parlophone was chagrined: Ibid.
EMI did buy time: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 80.
Jimmy Saville… was “unimpressed”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“wasn’t at all that thrilled”: Author interview with Dot Rhone Becker, 12/19/98.
“Brian bought boxes”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98. “They bought many boxes of records. That’s how they got it into the charts.” Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
“EMI never gave us any budget”: Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/27/97.
“When you can write material”: Martin, All You Need, p. 129.
“We’ve revamped it”: Ibid., p. 130.
“He spent all day”: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.
he met promoter Sam Leach: Author interview with Sam Leach, 10/6/97.
“Sam had a habit of not paying groups”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“Even before the Beatles exploded”: Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/3/98.
“the Beatles had really hit the big time”: Lewisohn, Chronicle, p. 82.
“When I saw them on the stage”: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.
“Immediately… the kids started screaming”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“Everyone had said, ‘You’ll never make [it]’ ”: Miles, Paul McCartney, p. 97.
“take a look up North”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/9/97.
Alistair Taylor, who left NEMS that November: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.
“No one ever mentioned London”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/6/97.
“His own press officer”: Author interview with Tony Barrow, 10/31/97.
“did virtually nothing”: Martin, All You Need, p. 127.
Though it placed at forty-nine: Record Mirror, 11/22/62.
“a riff”: Norman, Shout!, p. 171.
“Dick said, ‘Why don’t we sign… ’ ”: George Martin, Arena archives.
“a slave deal”: Paul McCartney, ibid.
“Dick James’s entire empire”: Author interview with Paul McCartney, 3/21/97.
Northern Songs to acquire Lenmac Enterprises: Harry, Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, p. 339.
CHAPTER 20: DEAD CHUFFED
Thank Your Lucky Stars: Taped 1/13/63 at ATV’s Birmingham Studios for ABC, ATV archives.
the spots were all “mimed”: Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.
“To those of us in England”: Author interview with Ray Connolly, 8/7/97.
Radio Luxembourg had added it: “You’ve Please—Pleased Us,” NME, 1/2/63.
And sensing some ground gained: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.
“Things were going so well”: Author interview with Tony Bramwell, 8/8/97.
“probably fancied the lad”: Author interview with Alistair Taylor, 1/17/98.
“I was just a wild card”: Author interview with Billy J. Kramer, 12/16/97.
“Whenever word spread”: Author interview with Frieda Kelly Norris, 10/5/97.
Harry Epstein wasn’t pleased: “Mr. Epstein was very upset about it. He made Brian make other plans.” Ibid.
“I’ll ask Bob Wooler”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.
“The Beatles made little or no impression”: Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.
happy “just to get out of Liverpool”: Davies, Beatles, p. 171.
“the audience repeatedly called for them”: “An Improved Helen!” NME, 2/8/63.
the cast album for Beyond the Fringe: “George and I went up to Edinburgh and sat under the stage for three nights recording Beyond the Fringe.” Author interview with Ron Richards, 12/29/97.
Instead, Martin prepared a list: “I knew their repertoire from the Cavern… and said, ‘Right, what you’re going to do now… is play me this selection of things I’ve chosen.’ ” Martin, All You Need, p. 130.
sessions ran “strictly to time”: Author interview with Martin Benge, 3/98.
“[His] voice was pretty shot”: Norman Smith in Pritchard & Lysaght, The Beatles, p. 119.
“the sound of the Beatles singing”: “What I tried to do was to create the live pop group on tape.” Ibid., p. 118.
