SIXTH BEATLES AND OTHER TALES

Have we heard it all now? What is worth repeating about the Fab Four? Patrick Humphries knows, and he pinpoints the over looked people who were crucial to the band, and recalls meeting members of this little-known quartet from Merseyside. Then turn the pages for Please Please Me decoded, and a review of recent Beatle books. . .

SIXTH BEATLES AND OTHER TALES

It is said that there is a new book on The Beatles published every fortnight. That around the world, an estimated 5,000 people make a full-time living from the Fabs. Their story and music are so well known that it is part of our DNA… We have had Beatles day by day, Beatle locations, Beatle songs scrupulously, forensically dissected. And while we wait with bated breath for Mark Lewisohn’s definitive histories (“The World At War of rock’n’roll biography,” they’re being called) there are elements of that extraordinary Beatle story which are worth exploring in this, the year which marks their half century as a recording unit. An opportunity to reflect on that never-to-be-repeated career arc, which took them from Love Me Do to Pepper, and beyond…

I was a member of The Beatles’ fan club in 1963, and as a professional journalist, got to interview three of them. John Lennon eluded me, though I came close: the late Ray Coleman, who recruited me to the staff of Melody Maker in the summer of 1980, was in communication with John and was scheduled to fly to New York to interview him in December 1980. Ray said John was planning a private visit to the UK in 1981, and when he came, Ray promised to get me a meeting… Tragically, that visit never happened.

Ray was a devoted Beatle fan, and his 1995 revised Lennon …

by Patrick Humphries
<< Back to Issue 401

You must be a subscriber to view the full article, subscribe now for full access to all online content.

Already a Magazine Subscriber? Register now for online access.

You might also like: