With the Beatles

by Alistair Taylor

  ‘Alistair,’ he said, ‘I have never paid over bribes or illicit money to anyone and I am not about to start now.’

  ‘Love Me Do’ changed everything. The first record might have peaked at a modest 17, but it launched the group on to a new level and it registered their astonishing ability to shrewd observers. The Beatles were suddenly wanted on television on Granada’s People and Places which was a regional programme for the north that went out from Manchester. The Beatles went down well and then had to dash off to Hamburg for two previously booked fortnights of live appearances. The whirlwind of excitement was really starting to blow at the time. Brian was on a permanent high. The boys kept coming into the shop, as if there were going to be daily bulletins on their rise to super stardom.

  George Martin was pleased with the success but totally won over to Brian’s view that the boys had it in them to be something very special. The most important task was to find a follow-up record which would build on the sales of ‘Love Me Do’.

  Mitch Murray sent in a catchy little song to George Martin called ‘How Do You Do It?’ George thought it was definite hit material. The Beatles tried it out and hated it. Gerry Marsden couldn’t agree less and turned it into a number-one hit. The boys didn’t regret their decision. ‘Lots of shit rises to the top of the charts,’ observed John laconically one night. ‘We don’t do shit.’

  There was a lot of rivalry between the groups in those days. Gerry felt with some justification that Brian concentrated all his efforts on the Beatles and the boys frankly thought they were a whole lot better than Gerry and the Pacemakers. When the Beatles rejected ‘How Do You Do It?’ George Martin was annoyed and told them that if the song wasn’t good enough for them then they had better come up with something that was acceptable. And quickly.

  ‘Please, Please Me’ was the Beatles response to the challenge. It was the song that changed everything. It was released on 11 January 1963 and by 22 February it was number one. Admittedly, it initially shared the prized top spot with Frank Ifield’s ‘The Wayward Wind’. 1963 was the year the rest of the country discovered what the people of Liverpool had known for some time, that the Beatles were simply the greatest group the world has ever seen.

  This was the time that Brian had been waiting and hoping and planning for. The Beatles worked incredibly hard as Brian put them through 12 months of the toughest and most punishing schedule of concert tours, one-night appearances, recording sessions, radio recordings, television appearances, photograph sessions and Press interviews. The Beatles did everything that was asked of them and Brian asked an awful lot.

  They obeyed Brian’s rules about behaviour to the letter. Well, almost. The boys always liked a drink as they performed and alcohol was banned at Granada cinemas where many of the concerts were held. They got round this by taking in Coca Cola which had already been heavily laced with whisky. I’d never heard of scotch and Coke before I met the boys, so to me it always seemed like a Beatles’ invention.

  But with a record at the top of the charts they knew this was the moment they had been waiting for since the three of them got together as schoolboys. And Ringo knew enough to do as he was told. The boys’ emergence on to the national stage did not please all of their most fervent Liverpool fans who realised early on that they would see less of their favourites in future as they moved out of the grasp of Merseyside. Local legend has it that when the news of their first number one was announced at The Cavern, it was greeted with stony silence. But there wasn’t much silence in the office as interest in the boys spiralled amazingly.

  Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, and The Big Three started having hits as well and the whole world just went completely mad for a while. Phones rang constantly. More secretaries and assistants arrived and went as Brian struggled to stay in control. The boys were on tour with Helen Shapiro. When it began, she was the star of the show, but by the time it had finished the screams for the Beatles drowned out just about everything else.

  In April, they released ‘From Me To You’ which was written by John and Paul on the coach during their Helen Shapiro tour. The first LP, Please, Please Me, included both sides of their first two records, as well as ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘A Taste of Honey’. Both single and LP shot to the top of the charts and the Beatles were booked for another exhausting tour in May, this time with Roy Orbison. At the start, Orbison topped the bill and the Beatles were all impressed by his amazing voice. But as the Beatles’ popularity grew and grew, the positions were reversed, and they followed The Big O. This was right because of their fanatical following, but Roy Orbison was such a great singer that his final version of ‘Pretty Woman’ had the fans on their feet. The Beatles were left behind the curtain wondering how on earth they were going to follow that. But they did it every time.

  They could do anything and John could do more than the others. He might have left a lasting image as an anarchic rebel but I can remember clearly how excited he was when the Beatles were asked to appear on the Morecambe and Wise show.

  I did have a scare at the NME Awards night when the Shadows were announced, at which the Beatles all leaped up and cheered and I was scared they were going to start taking the mickey. But they were serious. They would not have crossed the road to listen to Cliff Richard but they wanted to see the Shadows in action because they had always admired their musicianship. ‘You see, Al, we’re not taking the piss all the time,’ said John. They just stood at the side of the stage watching in appreciation.

  The boys enjoyed their fame. In those days, Brian was always keen that they should know whenever a Beatles record was going to be played on the radio. I’d pass on the information and they would stop the car, or whatever they were doing, to listen. The Beatles would have special celebration dinners for every number one. Brian loved to reward them for doing well. And as the money poured in, they started to eat a lot better as well. In that first couple of years of success, they all steadily put on a little weight. They say a true Beatles fanatic can tell from a photograph just when in that period it was taken!

  These were the most amazing times for the Beatles because the public discovered them before the newspapers. There were massive crowds everywhere they performed and riots to get near them became a constant problem for the boys. George unwisely mentioned that he liked jelly babies and the fans hurled millions of the sweets at them whenever they could.

  There was a real closeness between the boys in those heady early days. They felt like they were taking on the whole world and all they needed was each other. They had their own private language and a sense of humour that was all their own. If anyone was being boring in the dressing room, the Beatles had a code for getting rid of them. They would just catch roadie Mal Evans’ eye and yawn in the appropriate direction and the bore would be swiftly steered towards the exit.

  But the national Press remained largely uninterested for a long time. Maureen Cleave of the London Evening Standard had done one of the earliest London interviews in February when she marvelled at their humour and freshness and described their famous fringes as a French hairstyle. Brian was desperate to get more national paper coverage but it didn’t really arrive in a big way until the autumn. It was completely the other way round from today when tedious, talentless unknowns are hyped into the charts by carefully orchestrated Press, TV and radio campaigns. The Beatles had to earn their amazing national following the hard way.

  But when it came to performing or recording, they were fantastic. They recorded their first album, Please, Please Me, in one remarkable 12-hour session at Abbey Road. George Martin was trying to capture live the sort of excitement the Beatles generated in their live performances in Liverpool or Hamburg. That album is still one of my favourites and I’m always amazed that John’s throat holds out for the final raucous rendition of ‘Twist and Shout’. John said that last effort almost killed him and his throat took months to recover. He drank pints and pints of milk because he thought it would help. In the end, they were ha
ppy with the result and it still sounds great to me today. Paul loved working at Abbey Road so much it was one of the reasons he bought a house round the corner in Cavendish Avenue.

  One story the Press certainly didn’t get at the time was that in April, in the middle of the euphoria that followed all the early success and acclaim, Brian and John went off to Spain for a holiday. So much invention and rubbish has been made of this trip by so many people since, that the truth deserves at least a brief mention. The most sensational version, of course, is that the holiday was a chance for Brian to consummate his overwhelming passion for John, which inspired him to sign the group in the first place. I’m afraid it wasn’t like that.

  John roared with laughter at the rumours that began afterwards. Typically, he encouraged the stories that he and Brian were gay lovers because he thought it was funny and John was one of the world’s great wind-up merchants. He told me afterwards in one of our frankest heart-to-hearts that Brian never seriously did proposition him. He had teased Brian about the young men he kept gazing at and the odd ones who had found their way to his room. Brian had joked to John about the women who hurled themselves at him. ‘If he’d asked me, I probably would have done anything he wanted. I was so much in awe of Brian then I’d have tried a night of vice-versa. But he never wanted me like that. Sure, I took the mickey a bit and pretended to lead him on. But we both knew we were joking. He wanted a pal he could have a laugh with and someone he could teach about life. I thought his bum boys were creeps and Brian knew that. Even completely out of my head, I couldn’t shag a bloke. And I certainly couldn’t lie there and let one shag me. Even a nice guy like Brian. To be honest, the thought of it turns me over.’

  All the same, John was very selfish to have gone off on holiday with Brian then because it was just after Cynthia had given birth to his son Julian. John’s whole romance and marriage to Cynthia was kept a secret at the time because Brian feared the effect of publicity about one of the Beatles having a wife, let alone a family.

  The Beatles were on tour in April 1963 when Cynthia went into labour in Liverpool’s Sefton General Hospital and it was a week before John even went to see Julian. John used to ring Mimi every night for reports on the baby and Brian had arranged a private room for Cynthia for a remarkable 25s a day. John tried to disguise himself to avoid publicity when he eventually went to see his wife and son and Cynthia laughed at him when she saw the fake moustache, hat and dark glasses. But it was still a wonderful moment for her as John rushed into her room and told her how clever she was. His first question was, ‘Who does he look like?’

  Julian had suffered from jaundice when he was born but the yellow colour had subsided by then. John took Julian in his arms and said, ‘He’s bloody marvellous, Cyn, isn’t he absolutely fantastic?’

  But even this intimate family moment was interrupted because the private room had a window on to the main ward and one of the mothers shouted, ‘It’s him. One of the Beatles.’ John’s cover was blown and he told Cyn he would have to go to avoid a fuss. He just had time to tell her that he wanted Brian to be the baby’s godfather and he and Brian were taking a holiday in Spain at the end of an exhausting tour.

  Cynthia told me afterwards that she was very shocked by this whole experience. Her most personal moment with her husband and their new baby had been hijacked by fans screaming at them through the window, and John had reacted by running off on holiday with his manager. Cyn knew perfectly well that John didn’t have a homosexual inclination in his body, but she still didn’t like being left quite literally holding the baby. But when she questioned her husband’s holiday plans, John snorted, ‘Being selfish again, aren’t you? I’ve been working my ass off for months on one-night stands. Those people staring from the other side of the glass are bloody everywhere, haunting me. I deserve a holiday. And, anyway, Brian wants me to go, and I owe it to the poor guy. Who else does he have to go away with?’

  Since then, one or two so-called ‘friends’ have come out of the woodwork to say that John told them he slept with Brian on the trip to Barcelona. I don’t believe it. When Paul was asked years later about the incident, after all the aggro and acrimony had long since spoiled the relationship, he said John had never said anything to him about sleeping with Brian. If it had happened, he would have known. I’m sure if there was anything to tell, it would have been Paul John would have told. Forget what happened later – at that time, they were closer than any two men I’ve ever known. The four Beatles were all rock solid mates in those early days. That’s how they got through it all. But John and Paul were like brothers. In fact, they were a lot closer than most brothers.

  I asked John about it because I couldn’t ask Brian and because I wanted to know what happened. I also knew that Brian did have a weakness for what is charmlessly known as a ‘bit of rough’. All the problems he encountered in his life followed from taking into his home or his hotel room guys with a certain basic earthy charm. I suppose John could have come into that category. He could certainly be rough, but I believe Brian’s relationship with the Beatles was stronger and more important to him than any sexual thing. He did love the Beatles, all of them, but not in that way, I’m absolutely convinced of it.

  6

  THE PRICE OF FAME

  At the time of Brian’s holiday with John, we had just had our first taste of success. That was what Brian had been striving for. He was starting to see his dream come true. He knew the Beatles could take over the world. He knew they could become bigger than Elvis, and this was the ambition that sustained him. Once we had seen them at The Cavern, Brian was absolutely sure the Beatles could make it. That was his mission and he wasn’t going to ruin it by risking antagonising John. Brian used to say to me that John was the genius of the Beatles and he was incredibly excited about John’s talent. Brian used to say, ‘Sometimes when they play, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. They’re electrifying.’ It was beyond money. He wanted the world to see what he could see – the talent of the Beatles.

  In any case, if Brian had been planning to try it on with John he would never ever have openly taken him on holiday. He took me on holiday several times to show his appreciation of my work. It was his way of saying thank you. But we always had separate rooms and the thought that he might knock on my door in the middle of the night never crossed my mind. I worked closely with Brian from the start of the ’60s until his death and he never once gave me any actual concrete evidence that he was gay. Times were different then. Homosexuality was illegal and undercover and not spoken about. Brian honestly thought that people did not know he was gay. He was much too discreet for that. Brian was so aware of the importance of the Beatles’ public image, and he was also worried about the impact of the knowledge that John had a wife would have on the group’s popularity. The idea that John Lennon was a ‘queer’ would have been totally abhorrent to Brian.

  Before he left for the holiday, Brian got me to make sure Cynthia received a brand-new Silver Cross pram. He was very moved that John had asked him to be Julian’s godfather and he certainly intended to take his responsibilities seriously. He felt very sorry that Cynthia had been sidelined so effectively. She was a very nice person and Brian often said how good an influence she was on John. But it suited the grand plan to keep her well in the background, baby and all. They lived as quietly as possible with John’s Aunt Mimi in Liverpool.

  Brian took John to Spain because he wanted to share with him his great love – bullfighting. The colour and the violence and the spectacle of the gruesome sport was something that Brian really loved. He knew it would impress John and it did. Brian told me that John hadn’t wanted to come with him to the bullfighting at first, but he’d persuaded him. And John had loved the pure theatre of it and hadn’t minded the blood at all.

  Brian told me that John seduced an American tourist on holiday with her husband. The couple were celebrating their first wedding anniversary with a grand tour of Europe. The husband was a grade-one bore who spoke in an emb
arrassingly loud voice about how much money his stocks were earning him.

  Brian was astonished because they found themselves joined by this couple as their dinner tables were rather too close. While the husband droned on, the wife, who was in her thirties and very attractive in a large, blonde American way, was almost effortlessly seduced by John without the husband noticing. When the wife made an excuse to go to the powder room, John was soon following and they were gone such a long time that Brian became concerned for the husband.

  ‘It was obvious something had gone on when they returned to the table,’ said Brian. ‘John came back first and then the wife followed just afterwards looking very flushed. When they left to go to bed, I just raised my eyebrows in astonishment and John grinned. “She was a friendly girl.”’ It was quite remarkable, and neither of them had even heard of the Beatles.’ Brian seemed amazed that John had taken the opportunity for casual, dangerous sex when he had the lovely Cynthia at home.

  John wasn’t so relaxed when a disc jockey teased him about his Spanish trip at Paul’s twenty-first birthday party. It was a lively afternoon occasion at Paul’s aunt’s house in Birkenhead and everyone was merry until John took exception to the DJ ‘calling him a queer’ as he described it to me afterwards. John was fairly drunk by then and he lashed out wildly at the DJ, knocking him to the ground and breaking three ribs before he was dragged off. Afterwards, he threatened legal action and we had to pay him off. I think he got £200 for an agreement to drop any claim and promise to keep quiet about the assault. There was no chance of eliciting an apology from the still furious Lennon. John told me afterwards that he thought he was asking for a good hiding so he gave him one. ‘No one calls me a queer,’ he said. ‘And nobody bad-mouths Brian while I’m around.’