THE BEATLES – ’A Hard Day’s Night’/ ’Things We Said Today’ (Parlophone R 5160) July 1964
Chris Hutchins goes for a car ride with THEM and discovers – BEATLES STILL LOVE TO PLAY JOKES
A HARD day’s flight from London! Fantastic crowds thronged Liverpool Airport, thrusting towards the Beatles, grabbing at their coats. Then followed the journey through their home town streets in a chauffeur-driven limousine; the same streets the quartet once trod as unknowns, first with school satchels and later with guitar cases slung from their shoulders.
But last Friday they were back as world famous stars, having conquered America, Australia, Scandinavia and Hong Kong. Liverpool was now at their feet—and in a holiday mood. Usually only a Cup-winning football team received this kind of welcome.
Office workers and shop girls took time off. A crowd of 150,000 lined the Beatles’ route to the Town Hall where Liverpool’s civic dignitaries waited to welcome John, Paul, George and Ringo.
The Beatles arrived exhausted from the trip, but they had no time to rest up. Wherever the four of them went, autograph books were thrust under their noses, people clamoured to shake their hands.
As John picked up a sandwich a civic dignitary grabbed his arm. “Careful, that’s my bad arm,” said John. Then an autograph book and pen were thrust before him. “Sign please,” said the owner, a civic dignitary.
The Beatle hesitated, then he took book and pen with one hand and thrust his sandwich into the man’s mouth, saying “Hold this.”
After signing his autograph he gave back the book and pen (one in each hand) and crossed the room to join the other Beatles—leaving the dignitary standing with the sandwich gripped between his teeth!
Food
When it comes to autographs, the Beatles don’t mind obliging. But they have healthy appetites and resent anything that comes between them and their food.
I have heard a similarly funny story about an incident on their Australian tour when, at reception after reception, hordes of police who were guarding the group, beat them to the food and polished it off before any of the boys had a chance.
So the Beatles sneaked into one reception room before time and prepared the rolls for the food hunting policemen—by filling them with pepper!
But their ever-hungry assistant road manager, Malcolm Evans, also took it into his head to get at the food first—and accidentally became the victim of the Beatles’ joke!
Incidentally, Malcolm lost his wrist watch during a scramble with fans as the Beatles edged their way into a car in Liverpool last Friday night. In the car he told the group about the incident and George remarked, “Oh stop grumbling. We’ll buy you another one.”
Chuffed
“I’ll take you up on that,” responded Malcolm.
The following day, when he arrived with the Beatles equipment van at ABC-TV’s Teddington studios, where they were appearing on “Lucky Stars Summer Spin,” George handed Malcolm a box.
“It contained this,” said Malcolm, displaying a brand new watch on his wrist! “What chuffed me was that George took the trouble to go out and buy it himself,” he added, as we watched the Beatles rehearse” A Hard Day’s Night,” for the TV show.
Early last week, I travelled across London with the Beatles between two television studios. As we went past the London Pavilion, where their film had just opened, we saw an enormous queue snaking round the building, waiting to go in.
“That’s the stuff. A couple of hundred more for the seven-and-sixes and we’ll all be rich,” exclaimed John.
At that moment another car crossed the path of the Beatles’ and forced it to halt suddenly. “Blow the horn,” yelled George to their driver-companion, Bill Corbett.
“Yeh, with your good hand,” countered John.
By now everybody in the queue had spotted the Beatles and the resulting chains seemed almost as noisy as the previous night’s scenes for the premiere. John, George and Ringo smiled and waved to the crowd, and Paul gave his familiar wink and thumb-up sign.
We arrived at Rediffusion TV’s Kingsway studios ten minutes ahead of the time they were scheduled to appear live in the Northern programme, “Scene At 6.30.”
As they sat waiting for transmission time, a girl interviewer asked George, “What do you think of top-less swim suits?”
Replied the Beadle drily: “Fine. I’ve been wearing them for years.” (NME, 17/07/64)
Leave a Reply