The Beatles (169 page)

“
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.

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.

They cut “There’s a Place
”: “[Paul] was the owner of the soundtrack album of Leonard Bernstein’s
West Side Story,
which is where the title phrase came from.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 95.

Paul had written down in the van
: “I did this song going home in a car one night.”
Beatles Book Monthly,
8/83, p. 6.

the second line was “useless
”: Ibid.

Sitting on the living-room floor
: M. McCartney,
Thank U Very Much
(picture), pages unnumbered.

they ran through the alphabet
: “We went through the alphabet: between clean, lean, mean.” Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 93.

a galloping bass line
: “I played exactly the same notes as he did and it fitted our number perfectly.” Paul McCartney in
Beat Instrumental.

“
for a pie and a pint
”: Richard Langham in Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 24.

“
We couldn’t believe it
”: Ibid.

a “hack song
”: Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 95.

“
They just put their heads down
”: “Brian was so proud of them. He told me they worked their asses off.” Author interview with Peter Brown, 12/9/97.

“
someone suggested they do ‘Twist and Shout’
”: Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 26.

“
A real larynx-tearer
”: George Martin in
Anthology,
p. 93.

Everyone knew they’d have to get it
: “It’s not an easy number for any vocalist to sing, but we had to get it in one take.” Norman Smith in Pritchard & Lysaght,
The Beatles,
p. 119.

“
got it in one
”: “I was ready to jump up and down when I heard them singing that.” Richard Langham in Lewisohn,
Sessions,
p. 26.

“
dead chuffed
”: “As it happens, we were very happy with the result—or to put it more eloquently, dead chuffed!”
NME,
4/19/63.

“
to give the boys some air
”: Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

This was a trick they had practiced
: “I used to see them backstage, practicing shaking their heads—on a count.” Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.

“
Just a few weeks before
”: Author interview with Colin Manley, 10/2/97.

drawing the biggest queue
: “The queue outside on Mathew Street was amazing, larger than any I’d ever seen. The kids had been there all day, maybe all night.” Author interview with Bob Wooler, 10/30/97.

“
a small piece of motorway
”: Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 83.

The
NME
Top Thirty
:
NME,
2/20/63.

Since breaking up with Dot Rhone
: “I’d go out with Frank, who would give me a pound for the taxi home. But Paul would meet me, and we’d have the pound to spend.” Author interview with Iris Caldwell Fenton, 9/30/97.

“
was berserk over [Iris]
”: Author interview with Bill Harry, 8/4/97.

Disc,
on the other hand
:
Disc,
2/23/63.

The bus was “a drag
”: “No one liked it.” Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.

Before the opening bars
: “We all got loud. Everyone was cheering.” Ibid.

“
Britain’s top vocal-instrumental group
”:
Melody Maker,
4/13/63.

“We want the Beatles!”
: “All one of us had to do was go out there and they’d be screaming,
‘We want the Beatles!’ ”
Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.

“
all the people coming to the show
”: George Harrison in
Anthology,
p. 90.

“
have a walk through the streets
”: Author interview with Kenny Lynch, 1/16/98.

“
in the dressing-rooms
”: Coleman,
Lennon,
p. 195.

the guesthouses
: “The night staff were terrible—poor people.” Ringo Starr in
Anthology,
p. 86.

“
It was always a bore
”: Ibid., p. 90.

To fulfill an urgent request
: “I asked them for another song as good as ‘Please, Please Me,’ and they brought me one.” Martin,
All You Need,
p. 131.

“
Thank You Little Girl
”: “We’d already written ‘Thank You Girl.’ ” John Lennon in
Melody Maker,
4/19/63.

just “fooling around” on the guitar
: Ibid.

The new tune came quickly
: Talking about “From Me to You,” Paul said: “We have such a fairly easy job thinking up tunes.”
NME,
5/10/63.

“
It went to a surprising place
”: Paul McCartney in Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 149.

“
Paul and I had been talking
”: John Lennon in
NME,
5/10/63.

“
very direct and personal
”: “There was a little trick we developed early on… which was to put I, Me, or You in it, so it was very direct and personal.” Paul McCartney in Miles,
Paul McCartney,
p. 148.