~ Liverpool Jazz Club Scene ~
The Beatles Take Stage: Part II

Stuart Sutcliffe and "The Birth of the Beatles"

Now I think you've seen the movie that was on television about a month ago called "The Birth of the Beatles." It was very authentic. To me it was very nostalgic. I thought that the actors were all exceptionally good in that they all looked like the people they took the part of. The fellow who took the part of Stuart Sutcliffe was excellent. You would have thought it was actually Stuart Sutcliffe. So Allan Williams took them downstairs and let them beat it up for a time. But nobody really took much notice of it. In the meantime, Jim Ireland came to my Kinkajou Club. He thought it was pretty good but he thought that it should be bigger. He said that he would give me some money to look around for bigger premises to open up. But I was working full-time as a display artist and these two fellows who were working with me pulled out of their jobs and went full-time with the Kinkajou Club. So they took the money from Jim Ireland and they looked around for premises.

The Mardi Gras Jazz Club

Now In those days there were a lot of empty rooms around Liverpool. Well, these two guys really spent the money drinking and talking. They never really got the premises. So Jim Ireland called me again and I went to his Majorca Coffee Bar. He told me I had an excellent opportunity but I told him that I wasn't all that interested in jazz clubs. I was a painter. I liked jazz clubs just as a sideline. He said that we had the Jackoranda and the Majorca Coffee Bar and that we were going to open up this new club and that he needed my help. He said that he wanted me to design the club. He wanted it big time. It was to be large enough to take In 1500 people.

So Ireland eventually found premises and it was an old movie theatre. He had the whole thing rebuilt inside. And he decided to call it the "Mardi Gras Jazz Club." It had two bars, and it had a balcony around the main floor of the stage which used to be the movie theatre. His first performers were not Mersey Beat groups. All the initial groups at the Mardi Gras were jazz groups. So he asked me to do murals, paintings and designs. And I had to do this on top of my job so I worked every night. And I even employed ether people and brought them in to help me on the painting. We turned this out as the Mardi Gras and most of the murals had the word "Jazz" incorporated in them. He booked Ralph Whitmore, the original band that I started out with. Well, this place went wild, for if you can imagine that in a small town like this 1000 teenagers going into one building on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday night was exciting. They were all paying the equivalent of $1.00 at the door and 50 cents for checking a coat. And there was no drinking, just coffee and soft drinks. While this went on we still went to the Jack for lunch.

The Beatles Approach Allan Williams

Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe weren't getting anywhere. They approached Allan Williams and asked him if he would manage them. Allan Williams didn't know if he could afford it at the time and he felt that they didn't have a name worth bothering with. Nonetheless he agreed to let them play on a trial basis.

Bill Harry reminds the reader 'Bob says they approached Allan Williams to be their manager. Untrue. He never managed them. He got them a number of bookings as an agent and in his autobiography (ghosted by Bill Marshall, who claims to have made most of it up) he claimed to be their first manager - but the only contracts he had were for agency bookings through his Jacaranda Enterprises.'

Now this was when Stuart Sutcliffe was genuinely getting very bad headaches. And you'd meet Stu and he would be in the Jacaranda having a coffee and he'd have one hell of a headache. And the Beatles used to laugh at them then. They'd say that he always had headaches even though he didn't drink very much.

With regard to Stuart's headaches Mr. Harry writes 'Bob also says that Stuart was having headaches and continues to mention headaches throughout his text. This is also nonsense. The type of internal bleeding which killed Stuart, by its very nature, could only have happened a relatively short time before his death, not a couple of years prior. Both Stuart's mother and Astrid Kirchherr's mother Nielsa, stated categorically that Stuart's headaches began when he fell down the attic steps of Astrid's house in Hamburg some months before he died. Stuart was one of my closest friends at the time and didn't suffer from headaches until the Hamburg incident.

Stuart Sutcliffe had a girlfriend named Ingrid and she was always with him. She had a camera and everywhere they went she was photographing. Lennon and McCartney had girlfriends as well. In fact, they had two or three girlfriends, but nothing very serious.

Bill Harry comments 'Who is Ingrid who was always taking photographs? Is he thinking of Stuart's girlfriend Astrid? At the time John's girlfriend was Cynthia and Paul was Dot Rhone. They were what is called 'going steady' and they weren't going out with all different girls as Bob stated.

They began to call themselves the "Silver Beatles." And it was rather a corny name in Liverpool. The Silver Beatles. Like a beetle. Slowly places were opening up, a club here a club there. Nothing much. Then these two fellows asked me to go with them once again. So we went to the Exchange Hotel on Lime Street. And this night there was a man walking around and he was the manager of the group playing. So Allan Willlams brought Lennon, Paul McCartney, Stuart Sutcliffe and George Harrison to see what was going on there. And they approached this man as to whether he would help these Silver Beatles. Now in this room, which was dull with old wallpaper and photographs of the queen, a group got up on the platform named Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. And as they started to play, the Silver Beatles realized that they were lacking very badly in comparison to Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Rory was very hot. So they approached Rory Storm's manager.

The details as revealed by Bill Harry were 'Rory Storm & the Hurricanes never had a manager. Rory saw to everything. Some years later, after 1964, London promoter Arthur Howes managed them briefly. The group had dropped the short-lived term Silver Beatles long before Brian Epstein ever heard of them.

He told the Silver Beatles if they tried to copy Rory Storm they might become half as good. This went on then, the Silver Beatles trying to perform like Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

The Silver Beatles Sought by Brian Epstein

There was a place that opened up in Liverpool called "NEMS Enterprises." And Brian Epsteln managed this business that was originally owned by his father. I know I'm repeating things that occurred In the film, but I was there at the time. People were asking about the Silver Beatles' records. Nobody had really heard of the Silver Beatles. And that is what made Epstein think about it. Now Epstein was particular, what we call high-class English. At least he thought he was. He spoke very "lah dee dah." Epstein was dressed in a suit, white collar, tie, "shot his cuffs." He was very well educated.

The only problem was that we were in a different era at the time. In these days there was no such word as "gay." There were no gay bars, In those days you could be put In jail for being gay. But Epstein was gay and we knew that. And so did the Beatles. But according to the Beatles he was just a bloody gay whatever way you look at It. But Epstein wanted to hear the Silver Beatles play and he wanted to know where they were playing.

The Cavern in the Beginning

Now in between times, with these few clubs that had opened, there was a street called North John Street. This street went right down to Pier Head where the ferry boats were. And off North John Street there was a very big building. It was really nothing more than a big whare- house. But underneath this wharehouse were cellars or caverns as they called them. And suddenly a man named Ray McFall took this place over and opened the basement. He announced in the paper that this basement would be called "The Cavern." This was the newest club going.

According to Bill Harry 'The Cavern had opened in Mathew Street in 1957. The founder and owner was Alan Sytner and he was the person who named it the Cavern, after a jazz club in Paris called Le Caveau. It wasn't new and it was well established when the Beatles began appearing there regularly in 1961. They never appeared at the Cavern as the Silver Beatles. They had appeared there when it was a jazz club when they had a skiffle group called the Quarry Men.'

So these Silver Beatles, still with Stuart Sutcliffe, had been playing in a club and this was the time that Stuart Sutcliffe had these terrible headaches. And he died. Stuart's death went all over Liverpool. So the Beatles were without any sort of drummer. They approached a drummer from another group and his name was Pete Best. But Pete Best was a little reluctant and said he would try It for only a few nights. Pete Best was a good drummer but his character was totally different to the Beatles. He couldn't let himself go with them. John Lennon used to fool around when he was on stage and talk wack but Pete Best couldn't do that.

In discussing The Beatles' first drummer Mr. Harry writes 'Pete Best became the Beatles drummer in August 1960 when Stuart was still a member of the group. It is ludicrous to suggest that Pete only joined the group after Stuart's death - and why would they need a drummer if their bass guitarist died? Pete Best was never reluctant to join the Beatles and accepted the job immediately after they'd okayed his audition. Pete didn't talk 'wack' to the audience because he was the drummer and sitting behind the three guitarists who each had mikes. "Before the Silver Beatles approached the Cavern they called in Brian Epstein" They weren't the Silver Beatles and they already had their own lunchtime residency at the Cavern before I arranged for Epstein to go down and see them for the first time. No fluorescent blue lights were ever used at the Cavern. He's talking about the type of lighting used in small nightclubs such as the Cabin in Wood Street. Epstein didn't go down the Cavern and think 'I have to get these fellows out of there'. He actually encouraged their appearances, as it was the biggest showcase in Liverpool.'

The Silver Beatles, Brian Epstein and the Cavern

Before the Silver Beatles approached the Cavern they called on Brian Epstein who had a nice office in a shop in Liverpool at NEMS. And he spoke with Jim Ireland who had opened the Majorca Coffee Bar. He told Jim that he wanted to see the Silver Beatles because everyone had been coming into the shop asking for them. Jim Ireland told him that they were appearing at the Cavern now and then.

Now about the Cavern. I don't want to disillusion you or depress you. The Cavern was a cellar in a basement. The water was dripping on the floor and the walls because of the condensation on the brick walls. And there were passage ways and columns like going through the tombs. So Ray McFall had rented this place but he had to have a male and female toilet. His male toilet was nothing but a trough. When you went to the toilet in the Cavern it overflowed and it went through the door and through the Cavern. So when you went into the Cavern, you descended from the street and after you entered through this gloomy opening you started walking and suddenly you felt this squishy sensation. And you could stamp it and make a froth of it. The stench was dreadful. It would hold up to 800 people and they were all shoulder to shoulder mixed in the stink of sweat, urine and dripping walls.

But the atmosphere was very good. They used fluorescent blue lights. So any girl wearing something white would stand out. So this brought a fashion in Liverpool. The girls would wear white stockings or something white to catch the blue lights. And that's all there was, blue lights and a tiny stage built up. The stage was a platform about two feet high in the corner with a microphone and a couple of amplifiers.

So Epstein went to this place to see If the Silver Beatles were playing. And Epstein couldn't stand the smell of this. He said this is putrid. I have to get these fellows out of here. Pete Best was drumming for the Beatles on this particular occasion. The other place the Beatles played was a very ordinary place called Litherland Town Hall, in Litherland, a place 20 miles outside of Liverpool. Litherland Town Hall had a ballroom and on a Saturday night they'd open it up for people to dance and anyone to play. But Epstein had been in the Cavern and he saw this group and he thought about them. So he eventually asked the Beatles to come to see him with an appointment at his office. Now they went to his office at NEMS.

Mr. Bill Harry adds 'Litherland Town Hall wasn't 20 miles outside Liverpool. It is actually a district of Liverpool and only about 5 miles from the city centre. The Beatles appeared there regularly from Tuesday 27 December 1960 until Thursday 9 November 1961. Most of their engagements were on Monday and Tuesday evenings - not Saturdays.

Lennon-McCartney and Liverpool Wack

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were throwing the Liverpool accent in these days. They were heavy smokers and they smoked a cigarette called a "Woodbine." And in Liverpool that was called a "Woody." If you spoke Liverpool a cigarette became a "Ciggie." It was a ciggie or a dofor. If you put it down it would do for after or it would do for tomorrow. The Beatles who were really reasonably well-spoken started talking wacker on purpose as a sort of gimmick to push It. They did it because there were other groups springing up in places like Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. In Manchester there was a group called the Rolling Stones, and they came to Liverpool, but they spoke Manchester. So each group was playing using its own particular dialect.

Bill Harry adds 'I thought everyone knew the Rolling Stones were a London-based R & B band.'

Epstein Manages to Clean Up Silver Beatles

So eventually Epstein asked the Silver Beatles if they would consider him as their manager. And they really thought about this because they weren't exceptionally keen on the idea. But they felt that they better have someone lead them and get some bookings because they weren't getting anywhere. And Epstein outlined his plans to them. But he said if you come with me you're going to sign something and I'm going to clean you up. The Beatles were what you called rough. They wore leather jackets and they were scruffy. They held cigarettes in their hands like the dock workers. They covered the cigarette up when they held it in their hand. Consequently, the inside of their hands became brown with nicotine. They smoked them in the Liverpool way by taking in a big drag and blowing it out hard. They had all these mannerisms but Epstein told them that he was going to clean them up. To make a long story short he became their manager.

The Silver Beatles had unkept hair and wore leather jackets and corduroy trousers. In fact they wore anything. But Epstein was very fastideous. So he had them wash their hair every night before they went on stage. Eventually he initiated the uniform that they wore, the blue suit jacket without lapels. Their hair- was combed with bangs in the front and a fringe in the back.

Pete Best was still with the Silver Beatles then. Now before Epstein wanted to push them he wanted some of their internal problems solved. Lennon and Paul McCartney were upset about these problems. They claimed that Pete Best was not mixing in properly. He wasn't the right type, but he was a good drummer. So Lennon and McCartney arranged to have Epstein fire Pete Best. So Epstein had to tell Pete Best that they were going to get rid of the Silver Beatles and become the Beatles. But Pete Best would not be the drummer. And Pete Best was very upset about this. The Beatles began their search for a new drummer but the search continued for some time. Occasionally, they would bring in Pete Best when they were short a drumner.

Mr. Harry notes 'For the whole two years Best was with them, the group were called The Beatles, not the Silver Beatles. Once Pete was told that Ringo Starr was replacing him he never appeared with them again. The drummer who deputised was Johnny Hutchinson.'

Ringo Starr Joins The Beatles

Ringo came on the scene from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo was the ugliest bugger in Liverpool and he wasn't as well educated as the rest of the Beatles. He had a very big nose and coming from the lower class he didn't have to put the accent on--it was natural. He also wore many rings on his fingers. The fans cheered for Pete Best when Ringo first began to drum. So Ringo picked up the beat " we-want- pete-Best, we-want-Pete-Best." But Ringe was fairly good and the chant suddenly changed to "Ringo, Ringo Ringo". All of this happened in the Litherland Town Hall. Ringo was not an exceptionally good drummer and Lennon was still playing a harmonica at this stage.

Mr. Harry clarifies 'The occasion when the fans were chanting for Pete took place at the Cavern, not Litherland Town Hall. Lennon played rhythm guitar, he used the harmonica on one or two numbers, but this gives the impression that he played harmonica as his main instrument.'

British Groups At The Cavern

At this time the Cavern was announcing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, non-stop music, all day and night--never closing. So on a Friday afternoon thousands of girls and boys began descending on Liverpool on trains, buses, cars and anything. They came from all over England. They would sleep anywhere, even in the streets. The tavern could only take about 800 people and if they didn't get in Friday night they would stay until Saturday night. And that is when the Cavern started going best. The tavern was also showing Gerry and the Pacemakers, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, the Cyclones, and the Swinging Blue Jeans managed by my friend Jim Ireland, and Ralph Whitmore and his band. The Dave Clark Five played in Liverpool and so did the Mersey Beats which started the name of the newspaper the "Mersey Beat."

Mr. Bill Harry adds many interesting comments and corrections to Mr. Percevil's recollections in the previous paragraph and points out 'The Cavern opened at lunchtimes and in the evenings and had the occasional all-night session. The Dave Clarke Five were unknown at the time Bob Percival is talking about. When they appeared in Liverpool they'd had their hit records and appeared at the Empire Theatre. I know, I invited them down to join me at the Blue Angel club that night. "The Mersey Beats which started the name of the newspaper the Mersey Beat" Where is this man coming from? I coined the phrase 'Mersey Beat' and launched the newspaper of the same name on July 6 1961. I registered the name in a limited company which I still own today. Bob Wooler, the Cavern disc jockey suggested that a group called the Mavericks should change their name because people would think they were a country group. He suggested they ask my permission to name themselves after the newspaper and they approached me. I let them use the name. Brian Epstein also approached me for permission to use the name for some of his promotions. But I still have the name legally registered under my company Mersey Beat Limited.'

The Mersey Sound and the Teddy Boys

Jim Ireland opened a new club called the "Denby" and I had to do the art work in this place. He told me to put the word "Sound" in my murals instead of the word "Jazz." The big word going around at the time was "Mersey Sound," or "Liverpool Sound." So I painted over the word Jazz in every club and put Sound, the Mersey Sound. It was the Beatles who were largely responsible for this change In sound.

You also have to remember that Liverpool was a hell of a place with a lot of people who had nothing to do with the music side of things. Some of these people were called "Teddy Boys." These Teddy Boys formed gangs and went around beating people up. They wore leather clothing with narrow pants at the bottom. They would stand outside clubs and wait for people. They got Epsteln one night when he came out of the club and they heat him severely because they didn't like his type. They got him down and kicked him and Epstein was all smashed to hell.

Mr. Harry comments 'The Teddy Boy phase had ended in the 1950s. They didn't wear 'leather clothing'. Teddy Boys were named after the clothes they wore, which were long Edwardian jackets - from King 'Teddy' Edwards reign. Teddy Boys never beat up Brian Epstein.'

Hamburg

This was the time when Hamburg became the place. Everyone was mentioning Hamburg. Now Epstein had agreed to manage the Beatles and after they got Ringo Starr he decided to send them to Hamburg. The Whole Idea of Hamburg was "Big Beat Scene." And if you hadn't been to Hamburg then you were considered no good. I was just a gimmick but it was the thing at the time. So eventually Epstein got the Beatles over to Hamburg. And all hell was let loose at Hamburg. And Liverpool became very quiet for a time.

Mr. Bill Harry corrects Percivil's account and comments ' Epstein never sent the Beatles to Hamburg in the first place. They went there in August 1960, over a year before he knew them. After the Indra club they appeared second on the bill at the Kaiserkeller. The lead billing went to Rory Storm & the Hurricanes, whose lead guitarist was Ringo Starr. Liverpool didn't become quiet when groups went to Hamburg. Liverpool had hundreds of venues and hundreds of groups. Hamburg had the Kaiskerkeller, which soon reverted to a strip club, the Top Ten club and later the Star Club and no real home grown rock bands until the Rattles. Out of 400 Mersey groups, about two dozen went to Hamburg over a long period of time - how did this make Liverpool go quiet?

The Beatles At The Mardi Gras

There were many Beat Clubs in Liverpool. Each with their own groups and they were all very jealous of one another. They were all trying to play for the Big Time. These groups began to want more money to perform. Jim Ireland eventually opened the Mardis Gras and it was a fantastic club. When they had the opening they all had these black lights. There were over a thousand people at the Mardis Gras dancing on the floor. They were shoulder to shoulder with the group on the stage hanging it out. A few minutes later Jim Ireland told me that he had had a call from Epstein and he was coming down to the Mardis Gras to see him. He wanted to discuss the Beatles. But Ireland had to go out for an appointment that evening for an hour or so and he asked me to entertain Epstein. The drinks were on the house. So Epsteln came in with two or three other fellows whom I didn't know. Epstein was very well dressed and very smooth. So I just got drinks from the bar and told him that Jim would return shortly. I kept Epstein for about two hours and finally he asked me what he was waiting for. I had to admit that I didn't know why he was waiting but Jim Ireland considered that it was very important. But Epstein asked me again and I told him that it concerned the Beatles but I wasn't sure if Jim wanted them to play at the Mardi Gras. When Jim Ireland failed to show up Epstein apologized and said that he would have to set up another appointment.

So the next night the Mardi Gras was going strong with another group. There were bouncers at the door and still only soft drinks were served. But they'd all been to the pubs before they came to the clubs so they were ready for anything. Jim Ireland came over to me and said Ringo Starr and George Harrison were outside. He was worried about what would happen if he let them in. I felt that they were just spectators who had come to see the club. So eventually Ringo and George Harrison came In. In two minutes everybody in the club realized that the Beatles were there or at least some of the Beatles. The atmosphere was absolutely impossible to explain. Everything went crazy. So the group that was playing asked Ringo and George Harrison to come up on the stage. So Ringo came up and the girls started chanting Ringo, Ringo, Ringo! You've got to understand that most of the people in the club were age 13, 14 or 15. All very young people--non-drinkers. This was Beatlemania. So Ringo went on stage and took over the drums and George Harrlson played a guitar. But Jim Ireland didn't know if he was paying for this performance or not. They played for about an hour. But Epstein would never let any of the Beatles perform without getting some money out of it. Epstein was a very good businessman.

Bill Harry informs the reader 'I remember the Mardi Gras well and used to go there while I was still at the art college. There was a huge mural behind the stage of the Liverpool skyline. Bob mentioned that the club had two bars, yet later on says, "most of the people were age 13, 14 or 15. All very young people non-drinkers." This is ridiculous, the Mardi Gras was licensed to sell alcohol and only people 18 years or over were allowed in.'

Ed Sullivan, Bluecoat Inn and Hollywood Bowl

There were now many big groups and many clubs opening. We had to shut down the Kinkajou because It was too small. The whole thing was absolutely fantastic and every time you picked up the newspaper in Liverpool it was the Beatles. The Beatles were beginning to get bookings. They were going to Manchester and Birmingham and suddenly there was an announcement that the Beatles would be performing on television on the Ed Sullivan Show. Epstein got this booking. So that night every club closed the bandstand to put the Beatles on just because they were on the Ed Sullivan Show. Well Liverpool went wild. It went crazy. The Beatles couldn't walk in a foursome. They had to split up to go to the pubs. The couldn't go to have a drink with a friend. Everybody was looking for the Beatles.

Mr. Harry notes 'The Ed Sullivan Shoe was an American TV show. There wasn't the technology to beam it across the Atlantic in those days. It was business as usual in Liverpool.

The Bluecoat Inn was a studio for artists, dramatists and painters in Liverpool. I got a phone call from Epstein and he asked me to do a painting of the Beatles. So we agreed to set it up for a Sunday when it was quiet. I arrived at my studio about 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning and I waited, and I waited but nobody arrived. So I went out of the studio and when I went to the front door I saw hundreds of girls standing around the Bluecoat Inn. Suddenly George Harrison came In and he was out of breath. He said he got in the back way and that he left John and Paul and he didn't know what happened to Ringo. There were hundreds of people in the streets. You couldn't get a car by or anything. George told me that he had to get back home. But I never did get them all together. I never got them painted.

Then they really hit the Big Time and all we did was read about the Beatles in the Liverpool Echo. Epstein was good as he eventually got them into America. Now he booked them into the Hollywood Bowl. When he got to Hollywood with the Beatles he had another offer for another place that was offering more money than the Hollgwood Bowl. So to told the manager of the Hollywood Bowl that they would play somewhere else. This fellow went crazy because he had sold thousands of tickets. So Epstein being a good businessman doubled their fee and stayed at the Hollywood Bowl. And that night the Beatles played for one and three-quarter hours and they got $200,000 dollars between the four of them.

Mr. Harry interjects 'He's also got the Hollywood Bowl story wrong. The Beatles were the first rock and roll act ever to perform there when they made their debut at the venue on Sunday August 23 1964. They only did a 35 minute show, not "one and three-quarter hours".'

Brian Epstein's Death

Now I'm going to finish so you really know the whole position. You might read and see films about Epstein committing suicide and you might want to know why. Epstein was a homosexual. He was very struck with John Lennon. In other words, Epstein loved John Lennon. And John Lennon wouldn't have anything to do with him. John was the typical Liverpool wack. He liked females, he didn't like males. And this got Epstein along with money matters.

With regard to Mr. Epstein, Bill Harry writes 'Brian Epstein didn't commit suicide. It was an accidental overdose of pills. I'd take the coroner's verdict. Epstein did not love John Lennon in that way, this is another myth.'

A Meeting With Ringo Star

The Beatles were making a film on some tropical island. I was In London and I was flying back to Liverpool. When I got on the plane I sat on a seat and there was a fellow sitting there with a sailbr's P-jacket on. He wore a cap and had his collar up with just a nose stlckingout. Itwas Ringo. I said "Hi Ringo." But he told me to shut up and that he was travelling "incognito." In "F" ing cognito." He told me he was coming home for some sleep and that he was going to sleep for three weeks. Then the stewardess recognized Ringo and then the whole plane recognized him. The air hostesses told Ringo that they would manage things for him when they got to Liverpool Airport.

When we got off the plane it was fantastic. There were photographers everywhere and thousands of girls lined up on the deck. Eventually Ringo came out on the top of the steps. He still had his P-jacket on. So he walked down the steps very slowly. Suddenly a black car came up to Ringo and stopped. Ringo walked a few paces and then ran to the car. Paul McCartney was in the car and said "Run Ringo Run."

The Price of Success

This type of living is what got to the Beatles. They couldn't go anywhere. They couldn't lead the life that they once could. And once they were in Liverpool they just had to stay in the house. There were police cars around their homes. So this was really the whole tragic side of the Beatles. They were becoming multi-millionaires, If you spoke to them they would tell you they would swap the success anytime to get back to the way they used to live. They wanted to see their friends. This got to Epstein as well. He also became a multi - millionaire but he was just too young to organize it. He couldn't cope with it, or with the John Lennon problem. So he committed suicide. From then on you never saw the Beatles in Liverpool. You would hear that one of them was home but you wouldn't read it in the newspaper.

Mr. Harry responds 'Rubbish, they were always down at the Blue Angel, at parties and always loved socialising at clubs. Like any celebrities, they found exclusive places to go. When in London they used to go to clubs like the Ad Lib, Scotch of St James, Revolution, Speakeasy, Bag O Nails etc. From that day to this Paul McCartney has continued to visit Liverpool on a regular basis, which is always reported in the Liverpool Echo.'

Concluding Remarks

Meanwhile an awful lot of other groups had appeared. In Liverpool, there were many people who said that some of the groups were better than the Beatles. Many people thought the Beatles were just okay. Just something that happened. I used to try to find out what was so terrific about their music. It's like art, in painting there's no answer why some painters are successful and others are not. I really have enjoyed this. You people have a good club and you see the Beatles in a different way to me. You understand their music. I know the Beatles, they're great guys. They are really down to earth and they would really let themselves go on a night like this. And they'd really get smashed. I've been happy to talk to you about Liverpool.

Article Submitted on May 30, 1999
Revised August 22, 2000