The Beatles Boxed Set (19 page)

            After
the session, the Beatles returned to their usual gig at the Cavern, where the
Welcome Home gig saw 900 kids in attendance. Meanwhile, Martin busied himself
with decisions regarding the Beatles. Which of the new songs would make the
strongest debut? But the more complex decision was concerning who should front
the band. Should it be Paul who had the baby face and the voice, or John, who
had the “big personality”? After much deliberation, Martin made up his mind.
Why choose between the two when he could have both?

Back at the Cavern

            The
Beatles’ first EMI session at the Abbey Road Studios took place in the middle
of a hectic travel just when the Beatles’ BBC appearances gained popularity. The
months June and July were filled with 62 live dates, plus the Parlophone
recording session and the band’s second appearance on the BBC.

            The
summer of 1962 was a blur. Auntie Mimi had already met Cynthia Powell but never
ground the young woman about her relationship with John. That would change when
John purchased a back fur coat for Cynthia. When they brought it home with
chicken for dinner to celebrate, Mimi threw a fit. Cynthia said, “She screamed
at John that he’d spent his money on a “gangster’s moll” (even with Mimi
yelling at us it was funny) and hurled first the chicken, which she grabbed
from me, then a hand mirror at John. ‘Do you think you can butter me up with a
chicken when you’ve spent all your money on this?’ she screamed. ‘Get out.’ The
color drained from John’s face. ‘What the fuck’s the matter with you? Are you
totally crazy?’ he shouted. I was rooted to the spot.”

            The
situation was further complicated when in July, Cynthia discovered she was
pregnant. She and John had never used birth control. When she told John the
news, she had expected the worst. But surprisingly, John told her, “There’s
only one thing for it, Cyn. We’ll have to get married.” He added, to reassure
her, “I love you. I’m not going to leave you now.”

            John
informed Epstein first, then Auntie Mimi, who believed that Cynthia had trapped
him into a marriage.

            Nevertheless,
John thought that Cynthia’s pregnancy was less a career threat than Pete Best as
drummer. Before the Beatles met up again with Martin in London, the boys had to
make a decision regarding their drummer. They turned the dirty task over to
Epstein.

One of the first photos of the Beatles
with Ringo Starr as the drummer

            After
Pete was replaced, there were rumors that the reasons ranged from Paul being
jealous of Pete’s popularity among their female fans to Epstein growing tired
of having to receive calls from Mona Best, Pete’s mother, who was considered
the band’s first manager. Whatever the reason, John put it this way, “This myth
built up over the years that he was great and Paul was jealous of him because
he was pretty and all that crap. They didn’t get on that much together, but it
was partly because Pete was a bit slow. He was a harmless guy, but he was not
quick. All of us had quick minds, but he never picked that up.”

            Paul
recalled, “We really started to think we needed ‘the greatest drummer in
Liverpool,’ and the greatest drummer in our eyes was a guy, Ringo Starr, who
had changed his name before any of us, who had a beard and was grown up and was
known to have a Zephyr Zodiac.” Paul was referring to the same luxury car that
Epstein had.

            While
Epstein summoned Pete to his NEMS office for the inevitable, John and Paul went
to Butlins in Wales to offer the vacant slot to Ringo. Ringo was flattered that
the Beatles considered him as their drummer but had to play two more nights at
the camp with his band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Epstein called him a few
days later to confirm his decision. Ringo agreed to be their drummer. His first
gig as a Beatle was on August 18 at the Cavern.

John
and Cynthia tied the knot on August 23, 1962 at the Mount Pleasant register
office in Liverpool. He did not seek Auntie Mimi’s blessing. Brian Epstein was
the best man and Paul and George were there as well to support their mate.
Ringo was too new to be invited to the occasion.

John and Cynthia wed in August 1962

            The
wedding ceremony was a nervous, if not a funny, event. It took place as a
workman roared away with his drill in the opposite backyard. The registrar had
to shout the vows, and John and Cynthia had to shout back to be heard above the
noise.

            The
couple did not honeymoon as the Beatles played in Chester that night. According
to friend Tony Bramwell, “John did say that he hadn’t really wanted to get
married and felt pushed into it. (He even had another regular girlfriend he was
besotted with, Ida Holly… not to mention a string of one-night stands).”

            Epstein
asked the couple to keep their marriage under wraps as it might cause their
fans to think that they’d been outgrown. The key was to maintain a teenage
façade even if they were married or had babies.

In
September, the Beatles recorded
Love Me Do
with Ringo on drums. Martin
was largely dissatisfied, so he hired another session drummer, Andy White, for
the band’s third session the following week. Andy White was behind the drums
when the Beatles recorded
Love Me Do
and
PS I Love You
.

            When
the single
Love Me Do
was released in October, it peaked at number
seventeen on the chart. The Beatles returned to London to record an immediate
follow-up,
Please Please Me
, which they did in eighteen takes on
November 26. Martin accurately predicted, “You’ve just made your first number
one.”

            Martin
was right. Released in January,
Please Please Me
climbed the charts
until it reached number one on national charts except
Record Retailer,
where
the single remained at number two.

            With
the success of
Please Please Me
, the boys were back at the Abbey Road
Studios to record their first full-length album. They had just completed their
final stint in Hamburg and things were looking good. Martin had considered
recording the Beatles’ debut LP live at the Cavern, but decided that the
basement’s acoustics were inadequate.

            The
Beatles recorded their
Please Please Me
album in less than ten hours on
February 11, 1963. That day, John was suffering from colds, the effect of which
was evident as he sang
Twist and Shout.
Eight of the 14 tracks were
Lennon-McCartney originals.

            The
album came out in March and its success would show just how record-buyers began
idolizing the group. The album reached number one on the top four British
charts. The band’s third single,
From Me To You
, was released in April
and also became a chart-topper.

           
She
Loves You
, the Beatles’ fourth single, broke records for achieving the
fastest sales of any record in the UK up to that point; it sold 750,000 copies
in less than a month. This single would become the first of the Beatles to sell
a million copies and remained the biggest-selling record in the UK until 1978.

            With
the success of the album and their singles, the Beatles became increasingly
popular, and with that came the increasing press attention.

The
logical step following the successes of the group’s singles was to embark on a
tour to further expose their music. The Beatles began touring the UK during the
first half of year 1963. They toured in February, in March, and from May to
June.

            John
was away when Cynthia gave birth to their son, Julian, on April 8 in Sefton
Hospital. He did not see his son until three days later. When he finally saw
his son, he told Cynthia, “He’s bloody marvelous, Cyn! Who’s gonna be a famous
rocker like his Dad then?”

John was away when his son Julian was
born and only saw him a few days later

            It
was about the time of Julian’s birth that the Beatles became a pop sensation
across Britain, and nobody, except the Beatles and some who were close to them,
knew that one Beatle was already married and has a son. In 1963, the
New
Musical Express
featured an article titled “Lifelines of the Beatles” that
detailed 25 facts about each member of the group but never mentioned that John
was already married.

            Meanwhile,
the Beatles would attract large crowds wherever they were. As they became even
more popular, a frenzied adulation took hold, becoming a phenomenon that the
media began calling “Beatlemania”. There would be shrieking girls who surprisingly
didn’t go deaf by the levels of their noise. Just one glimpse of the Beatles
would goad fans into fits of hysteria, some even fainting and crying.

            The
highest honor that they could receive came when they were invited to play at
the Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth. John poked fun at
the audience by saying, “For our next song, I’d like to ask for your help. For
the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands… and the rest of you, if
you’ll just rattle your jewellery.”

            Meanwhile,
Beatlemania showed no signs of slowing down. In October, the band toured
Sweden. When they returned to the UK, they were greeted by a large crowd of
screaming fans at Heathrow Airport in the middle of the pouring rain. There
were also fifty to a hundred photographers and journalists who were eager to
throw questions at the group so they could have their headlines published the
following morning.