Forty years after their last live gig, Jade Wright looks at rare backstage photos of The Beatles’ landmark performances
THEY are the most photographed foursome in the history of popular music, but there is still so much about The Beatles we haven’t seen.
Before their national British breakthrough in 1963, the band played more than 500 gigs in church halls, cellar clubs and German bars.
Even when they were household names from the Dingle to Dusseldörf, The Beatles kept up an astounding pace in a packed schedule that would make today’s megastars wince.
And now, 40 years after their final impromptu gig on the rooftop of the Apple offices in London, The Beatles Across The Universe: John, Paul, George & Ringo On Tour And On Stage puts together a collection of hitherto unseen pictures of those live performances.
“When assessing their seven years in the public eye, The Beatles obviously spent a large amount of that time in the studio, particularly in the later period,” explains author Andy Neill.
“However, before their breakthrough in 1963, The Beatles’ reputation rested on being a live band, playing hundreds of gigs around their native Merseyside, and in the nightclubs of Hamburg. While millions bought their records, the demand to see The Beatles in person was even greater.
“No other group were as constantly photographed – whether it was buying a Mini Cooper or receiving MBEs.”
As well as the images of the band performing during their heyday, there are also numerous photographs capturing the foursome in some of their most intimate, private moments, giving fans an insight into Liverpool's greatest musical export.
“The Beatles were a global phenomenon, changing all facets of popular culture through their music, image and personalities,” explains Andy, who also co-wrote The Who’s illustrated biography, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere.
“While the group’s legacy is enshrined through a catalogue of timeless recordings, from the earliest beginnings, The Beatles’ reputation and livelihood rested as a live band.
“However, if the world only saw four jovial mop-topped musicians seemingly enjoying fame, privately The Beatles soon tired of the hectic scenes and intense reaction they attracted.”
The book looks at the part performing played in The Beatles’ success, and asks what they would have achieved without an early grounding in the dance halls and clubs of Liverpool and Hamburg.
It also examines The Beatles’ frenetic existence as live performers by using over 300 images, many of which are unseen.
“The pictures tell their own incredible story of how four fresh-faced Liverpool musicians were transformed from a British pop phenomenon into the world’s greatest and best-loved group,” says Andy.
The pictures are all from the archives of the Daily Mirror – the world's largest ŠnewspaperŠ archive of Beatles images.Š
“The book examines in detail The Beatles as a worldwide attraction primarily between the years of 1963-1966 when Beatlemania spread across the world,” says Andrew.
“The pictures show them inŠ ballrooms, theatres, airports, limousines and stadiums across the globe, and along the way we find out precisely why The Beatles were seen but not heard throughout the 1960s.”
The book looks at all of the tours, but arguably the most interesting are the backstage ones from The Beatles’ return visits to Liverpool.
THE pictures of the lads picking out competition winners from a policeman’s hat backstage and messing about with fire buckets between shows were taken at the Liverpool Empire on November 8, 1964. There was no superstar treatment, and the lads were expected to muck in at their two performances – a matinee and an evening show.
“No demand or request was considered too great – something which would not be tolerated by today’s 21st-century megastars, surrounded by large entourages supposedly representing their clients’ best interests,” says Andy.
“It’s to The Beatles’ lasting credit that they were able to fulfil their obligations with a combination of wit, humour, patience and charm – in the early years at least – while presenting an outward image that this was no hard day’s night but fun, a laugh and all in a day’s work for the Fab Four.”
They returned to the Empire on Sunday, December 5, 1965.
“It was something of a family affair,” says Andy. “Backstage visitors included George and Ringo’s parents, George’s girlfriend Pattie Boyd, Bessie Braddock and Jimmy Tarbuck.
“Two girls, Susan Hall and Josephine McQuaid, were handing out Save the Cavern leaflets when Paul saw them and invited them backstage to discuss the campaign.
“The legendary venue needed costly repairs to its drainage system and was re-opened in a blaze of publicity by Harold Wilson on July 23, 1966, but eventually closed for good in 1973.”
After taking the following day off to spend time in Liverpool, the city was unwilling to let the boys leave for their following gig at the ABC Cinema, in Ardwick.
“The drive to Manchester was taken at a snail’s pace due to heavy fog,” explains Andy. “This resulted in the Beatles arriving 12 minutes after showtime.”
The book also looks at the less pleasant aspects of life in the spotlight – as Andy says: “How Beatlemania ate away at their initial enthusiasm. By the time The Beatles embarked on their last tour of America, in August, 1966, in the wake of John Lennon’s controversial misquoted statement about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus, it was clear that the relentless pace with which they operated had to stop.
“Having played stages across the world, the group retreated without fanfare from live performances.
“After one last brief blast on the roof of their Apple headquarters in 1969, The Beatles were effectively no more.”
ACROSS The Universe: John, Paul, George & Ringo On Tour and On Stage, by Andy Neill, published by Haynes, is out now, priced £19.99. ISBN 978 1 84425 816 1.
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