BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

Discuss the early days of the Club with the manager.
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13_temple_street
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BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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brian kelly jive night.jpg
This poster heralding the bands booked to perform on Saturday 14th MAY 1960. The bands are all established performers with a large fan base in the north of the city, except for the Silver Beats a new untried band. The new band is the first band on stage, they inform Brian Kelly they have a problem, their drummer twenty six year old Tommy Moore has not turned up to play, fortunately the Dominoes drummer has already set up his drum kit, and he volunteers to deputies for the absent musician. The paying customers in the audience were disappointed with the performance of the Silver Beats, made their feelings known to the promoter Brian Kelly who immediately replaced the group. Tommy Moore again failed to turn up on time four days previously on the 10th May 1960; the group was attending an audition in response to an advert placed in the Liverpool Echo inviting groups to audition for a backing group, to tour with Billy Fury. On this occasion the group chose the name the Silver Beetles. The advert was placed in the Echo by the new owner of the defunct club known as the Wyvern Social club Allan Williams, (Allan later converted this building to the Blue Angel, he was also the owner of the Jacaranda Coffee Bar) his partner in this venture was a well known London based impresario, Larry Parnes he had a stable of talented up and coming rock and roll solo singers who needed backing groups. Johnny Hutchinson the drummer with Cass and the Casanovas agreed to deputies for the absent drummer. Tommy Moore eventually appeared half way through the Silver Beetles audition. Larry Parnes did not select the Silver Beetles; he did however offer the group the opportunity to back another of his performers Johnny Gentle who was to tour Scotland starting the following week Thursday May 20thtoMay 28th 1960.
After their lack luster performance at the Lathom Hall Seaforth on the Saturday 14th May 1960 the Silver Beats were to perform along with the main band Cass and the Casanovas, at the Iron Door club Temple Street, Liverpool 2. This was the first occasion the Iron Door had opened on Sunday afternoon, also to promote this new sound emulating from America Rock and Roll. The club was packed with members and non members who were excited at being present on the occasion of the start of the lunchtime sessions at the club. The Silver Beats arrived minus their drummer they immediately informed Johnny Hutchinson the Casanovas drummer who agreed to use his drum kit and deputies , at the same time the group informed the management that they had now changed their name from the Silver Beats to the Silver Beetles. History was in the making this was the Beatles first public performance.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Hmm, they certainly had a problem with drummers (or, the lack thereof)!
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Welcome back Jeffrey; Yes I agree in the early days the Beatles were unfortunate in their choice of drummers! The decision by two possibly three members of the group to terminate their popular drummer Pete Best at a time when the group were on the verge of success. Their appears to be some mitigating circumstances for Tommy Moore's embarrassing non appearances, he joined the group in early May 1960, he lived with his then girl friend in a area of Liverpool known as the Dingle, she loathed him being connected to the Beatles, he started a new job close to his family home in Garston working night shifts as a fork-lift truck operator, the unsociable hours were not conducive to being a integral part of a Rock'n'Roll group,; I had a conversation one lunchtime at the Iron Door 1961 with John Lennon, the group were desperately embarrassed, they all went to Tommy's girl friend’s house, after getting no reply from knocking on the door they tapped on the windows , immediately a window upstairs opened Tommy's girl friend popped her head out of the window and invited the group to F---off Tommy was sleeping having worked all night, she did not want him associated with a gang of dropouts. Tommy managed to get time of work to join the Silver Beetles on the mini tour of Scotland, this proved to be a unhappy time for him, during the journey to the next gig all the group and equipment were stuffed in the hired van, space was at a premium Tommy elected to sit in the middle of the front seat between the driver and passenger seat, the driver on this occasion was Johnny Gentle he shunted into a elderly couples car ,resulting in an emergency slamming on the brakes, poor Tommy shot out of his seat and landed with his face smashed into the windscreen, resulting in the loss of front teeth ,after treatment at the hospital they advised him to stay overnight, this caused a major problem for the group, they could not replace him and they were due on stage of the next booked venue, the reaction of the local promoter to the groups quandary he insisted the group on stage with the named drummer. Tommy was persuaded to sign himself out of hospital and appear on stage with the group. Visit the Visit on the forum.
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8mileshigher
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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A fascinating bit of Beatle history there, Geoff !
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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I would have loved to know what Tommy's girlfriend's feeling were about the Beatles a year or two later after she told them to F---off. :mrgreen: They served crow in the UK back then, didn't they? :lol:

BTW, Geoff. I hope you are writing a book (or have you, already?) to archive all these great memories and stories of a quite interesting past.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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jps wrote:I would have loved to know what Tommy's girlfriend's feeling were about the Beatles a year or two later after she told them to F---off. :mrgreen: They served crow in the UK back then, didn't they? :lol:

BTW, Geoff. I hope you are writing a book (or have you, already?) to archive all these great memories and stories of a quite interesting past.
.
Unfortunately Jeffrey I have no information on the reaction of Tommy Moore's then girl friend, I agree with you it would be fascinating to know what her reaction was to the Beatles success. After the group returned from the tour of Scotland Tommy Moore performed a couple more gigs with the Silver Beetles before he packed in. He was happily married to a new girlfriend, he never expressed any remorse regarding his decision not to associate with the Beatles. He was a frequent visitor at the Beatles convention's organised by the Cavern at the Liverpool Adelphi Hotel and always maintained a positive attitude. Tommy died from a brain haemorrhage in 1981. Thanks for your comments Rich much appreciated .
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Geoff; nice to see you back posting after a quite spell.

Back in 1960 I was a mere youth of 15 and, being on the other side of the Mersey, the Beatles weren’t yet on my radar. It wasn’t until Epstein scrubbed them up and put them in suits that I got to watch them close up when towards the end of 1962 the group started to regularly play Top Rank’s Majestic Ballroom on Conway Street, Birkenhead …
MJs Plaque.jpg
Poster MJs.jpg
One can see from the image below of one of those early Majestic Ballroom performances the raised stage was only small.
Inside MJs.jpg
Whoever took this photograph was standing on the stairs (see below image) that led up to the bar and lounge area.
Inside MJs 2.jpg
Note the all-female gender of the audience in front of the stage that would be some five and six rows deep. Seats were provided so all us boys standing out of camera shot could see over their heads.

Regarding Johnny Hutchinson:
I lost track of him after I moved South at the start of the 80s. He seemingly dropped off the radar. However, in the last few years he's popped up again - see ...

https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/ ... o-regrets/
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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I don't know how long the Jive Night poster had been in existence before I spotted it the other day; I was transformed back into 1960, the urge to write about this important event on the Iron Door forum was difficult to resist. I suspect the poster was created recently by a commercial artist Tony Booth, who died in 2017 aged eighty three. Tony had a studio in Liverpool city centre close to Brian Epstein's office and also close to the Cavern both Epstein and the Cavern owner Ray McFall were regular customers. Had the Jive Night poster existed in May 14th 1960 the Silver Beats would not have had top billing over Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. It was interesting to view the photographs depicting the Beatles on stage at the Majestic Ballroom. Ringo would have recently joined the group, probably receiving some instructions. Yes Peter it's some months since we duelled on the forum I enjoyed all your posts, was always amazed at the information you managed to squirrel from the internet.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Geoff; regarding your mention of the late Tony Booth, Liverpool Commercial Artist – and not to be confused with the actor and fellow Liverpudlian of the same name, the father of Cherie Booth wife of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who also passed away during 1971.

I put the name Tony Booth and the tags# Liverpool Commercial Artist into Google Search and (amongst other things) this is what I came up with.

Tony Booth (Artist) has his very own Wikipedia page at …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Booth_(artist)

Posted on the Vimeo site a video of the BBC 1 ‘Inside Out’ feature of Tony Booth that aired early 2016 at …

https://vimeo.com/161178415
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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I anticipated that you might have difficulty answering my last contribution to the Iron Door forum based on the poster writer from your neck of the woods Peter!! Once again you did not disappoint, I enjoyed the short film of Tony Booth's working life, narrated by Simon 'O' Brien. Rarely did I order posters, exception were the promotions at the Birkdale Palace Hotel in Southport, this was the first venue where Freddie Fowel became Freddie Starr. Reflecting on your post with photographic images of the Beatles appearance at the Majestic, it occurred to me, of a possible connection to Tony Booth and Ringo's drum kit, this photo depicts the Beatles logo on his drums, this image was rushed very early on when Ringo first joined the Beatles from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, the later logo depicts a more professional effort, this may have been one of Tony Booth's commission's from Epstein
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Geoff; regarding your reference to Ringo Starr's then drum kit. I did a bit more cyberspace digging on the topic.

This is what his kit looked like when he was drumming behind Rory Storm ...
RS DK 01.jpg
I then came across this photo on stage at the Majestic Ballroom of what must have been a very early Beatles line-up with Ringo on the drums ...
RS DK 02.jpg
While the image is a bit blurry, one can make out the "Ringo Starr" logo still on the bass drum.

I particularly like this photo of The Beatles on stage at the Majestic Ballroom (otherwise known as MJs to use regulars) ...
Inside MJs.jpg
It clearly shows the stage under the balcony that was the bar-lounge area.
To the left of the photo the two suits in dickie-bows were there to make sure The Beatles could get on and off the stage, the door to the dressing rooms being just out of sight behind these two gentlemen.
It is where I first saw Brian Epstien standing with his back against the wall, though at the time I had no idea who he was. Also, it is where I saw Mrs Mona Best draped in a black fur coat before her son got shown the door - now she did stand out from the crowd. I think Mona didn't trust the cloakroom arrangements when it came to parking her fur coat.

Oh! What brief happy days that are now just distant and fading memories. What I would have given back then for today's mobile phone with a built-in camera.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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Peter; the photograph of the Beatles early appearance at the Majestic offers a rare glimpse of the some of the Beatles first performances organised by their new manager Brian Epstein. Noticeably the new stylish mohair shiny suits with satin stripes incorporated into the neatly cut trousers. The image you posted of the venue gave me the impression of a well run establishment, no shortage of girls. Little wonder that the management decided to offer the group more bookings. The Beatles fee when they performed at the Iron Door (aka Liverpool Jazz Society) was seven Pounds ten shillings, the last appearance of the group 'Beatles Farewell Party' at the Storyville Jazz club ( aka Iron Door) under Epstein's management was forty four pounds. I was interested in your comments you referred to one of your visits to the Majestic, you observed Brian Epstein leaning against a wall, you commented on Mrs Best Pete Best's mother also present. Visitors to the Iron Door forum not familiar with Mrs Best, the mother of Pete Best, the groups new drummer, owned a thriving establishment known as the Casbah, After her son joined the Beatles as the drummer in August 1960 Mrs Best (Mo) started to take on a active roll, she bought them a van she arranged for the Casbah's doorman to drive the group to the venues and to act as the road manager she alone was responsible for bookings for the band, when Brian Epstein became the Beatles manager Mo Best was none too pleased, friction developed and Mona was cast out of the Beatles management roll. Mona played an active roll when Ray McFall the owner of the Cavern was experiencing a hard time with attendances at the Cavern due in main to the Iron Doors new policy of promoting the famous' All Night Session's' and aggressive advertising, a glaring example One night the iron Door was heaving to the rafters, a young member came along and said "
I have just been down to the Cavern IT'S EMPTY I counted thirty people.
This situation extended to lunchtime sessions, Mc Falls solution was to inform the Beatles that they could not play at the Iron Door, to compensate for loss of work he increased the groups bookings and their fee. He relied on Mona Best to cooperate with these arrangements.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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13_temple_street wrote:The image you posted of the venue gave me the impression of a well run establishment, no shortage of girls.
You better believe it was Geoff. Never no aggravation in there. Had to wear a coat and a tie to get past the door inspection. No jeans under any circumstances. As you say, plenty of girls but they weren't always that up for it. Could be hard going if one was out on the pull. I had more luck in Chester which is why I started going to Quaintways.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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hamilton_square wrote:
13_temple_street wrote:The image you posted of the venue gave me the impression of a well run establishment, no shortage of girls.
You better believe it was Geoff. Never no aggravation in there. Had to wear a coat and a tie to get past the door inspection. No jeans under any circumstances. As you say, plenty of girls but they weren't always that up for it. Could be hard going if one was out on the pull. I had more luck in Chester which is why I started going to Quaintways.
Peter; Reading your observation's of your journey to the musical establishments dotted around Chester,Wirral and Liverpool, you were exceptionally more adventurous in your choice of venues, than most of your fellow travellers, when you purchased your first motor car surely opened a new way of adventurous living for you and your mates.
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Re: BEATLES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

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To tell the truth Geoff, I couldn’t get out of Birkenhead of the 1960s quick enough. I had an uncle who sold me a reliable but not very speedy 2-door Ford Anglia 100E with a side-value engine, 3-speed gear box and no heater for £45 on an instalment plan. A few months after 17th birthday I passed my driving test at first attempt and I was off and motoring, there was no holding me. It’s surprising how my friends one suddenly has when as a 17 / 18-year old one owns a car. Mind you, their petrol money contributions meant weekend expeditions could be more “adventurous” (as you put it). Favourite summer targets would be the North Wales seaside resorts of Rhyl and Prestatyn where one would encounter lots of young ladies up from Manchester and Birmingham on a week’s holiday. Variety being the spice of life as the saying goes.

As for the ancient Roman walled city of Chester, I particularly came to like it there and always felt comfortable. So much so, I eventually ended up living and working in Chester for a large insurance company until the 1980s when I was given the chance to up-sticks and move to the south-east of England and easy commuting distance to Central London. Which as it turned out was a good career move for me.

My association with the motor car finally came to an end in 2003 when I was offered and subsequently took early retirement. After crunching the numbers, I had the either / or choice of continuing to own and drive a car or spent a couple of British winter months of each year in the warmer climate of Southern Spain. I couldn’t comfortably afford to do both … so the car went and, am I glad it went. I’ve saved having to spend thousands over the past 15 years while teaching myself to speak reasonable Spanish.

These days my preferred mode of transport is the internet. Without going out of my front door I can do almost anything from a PC console that I once had to do by car. OK, I’ll readily admit that cyberspace is still something of a mystery for many of my generation but it holds no such terrors for me. Being that I was using computers in a work environment when the internet was just an idea on the back of an envelope.
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