Sunday 26th April 1964
By the next time that I saw the Beatles live, they had conquered America and completed their first film "A Hard Day's Night", but today they took to the stage at the Empire Pool in Wembley for the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert. I hadn't been to the Poll Winners Concert since 1961 and was there mainly to see the Beatles, but I was also keen to see the Rolling Stones who were by now becoming a major act and in a short time would be rivalling the Beatles.

These concerts tended to reflect the current climate of the British Pop Music industry and apart from Cliff Richard and the Shadows it was a completely different line up to the show that I had seen in 1961. Although the Beatles were by now the biggest thing since sliced bread, strictly there was no top of the bill, as all of the artists were listed in alphabetical order, and the line up was amazing:-.

Beatles, Joe Brown, Dave Clark Five, Freddie and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Jet Harris, Hollies, Frank Ifield, Big Dee Irwin, Kathy Kirby, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Joe Loss Orchestra, Manfred Mann, Merseybeats, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Cliff Richard, Rolling Stones, Searchers, the Shadows, Swinging Blue Jeans.

The equipment for each band was on small individual stages, which were wheeled to the front of the main stage by stage hands who wore white coats. At last a small stage was wheeled out with Ringo's drums and that all too familiar Beatles logo, 10,000 people went crazy. Of all the places I saw the Beatles play live, Wembley's Empire Pool was the worst for sound. There was the four of them with three small amps and a drum kit, using the PA system that was used for the ice shows with a few small speakers in the roof and nothing at ground level. With 10,000 kids screaming, you really could hardly hear a thing. They sang "She Loves You", "You Can't Do That", "Twist and Shout", "Long Tall Sally" and finished with "Can't Buy Me Love". The Beatles were not the last act on, so when they had finished the Merseybeats came on stage to sing a couple of their hits to an audience who were coming down to earth after the mass hysteria of seeing the Beatles and I felt quite sorry for them. The reason for this was that while the Merseybeats were singing, the Beatles were making their exit from Wembley before 10,000 people made their escape impossible.

The concert was recorded by ABC Television and shown in two parts and the sound quality and balance in general was awful. There was only about a minute between each act to reset the stage and set up microphones so I wasn't really surprised. The stage was built specially for the show out of planks which wobbled and made the vocal microphones sway. One of the mikes was loose in the stand and about every thirty seconds gradually swivelled until it was at a 90 degree angle to the performer who then had to push it back to face him. At no time in the whole show did one of the white coated stage hands think to just tighten the mike holder.

The Beatles suffered badly with the TV sound. John had a bit of a mental block and sang a wrong verse in “She Loves You”, Paul and George obviously couldn't hear him, and hadn't noticed, as they sang the correct verse over the top so it was a bit of a shambles. Ringo's drums could barely be heard.

Sunday 12th July 1964
The Beatles new single “A Hard Day's Night” had been released a couple of days ago and this morning my group the Cortinas were frantically learning the song ready for tonight's gig at Hatfield's Hilltop pub. I had recently bought a fairly cheap Hawk acoustic 12 string guitar with a pick up and was trying to find the opening chord, something which has puzzled guitarists up to this day. It was played on George's Rickenbacker 12 string guitar.

I think George Harrison may have forgotten what he played because I heard an interview with Guitarist Gary Moore, who had asked George to show him the chord. It didn't sound quite right and Gary Moore said to him “are you sure” and apparently George gave him a look and said “I was there”.

My own way of playing it is G.D.C.F.C.G. on a twelve string guitar. Is it right? Answers on a postcard.

                                                     Monday 10th August 1964
I was on holiday in Llandudno, North Wales, with a couple of mates and we decided to drive to Liverpool and visit the famous Cavern Club where the Beatles had played almost 300 times before they were famous. We parked the car and walked up Mathew Street and found the entrance. We went in, down the stairs that we had seen so many times on TV into this dark dank cellar, with bare brick walls. My first impression was how small and cramped it was. We bought a bowl of soup and a roll and sat down on rather uncomfortable wooden chairs and watched a Liverpool band called Earl Preston and the Realms perform a lunchtime session. It was only half full but I could just imagine the atmosphere that there must have been when it was packed, and the Beatles were playing on the rather small stage. Before we left I bought a Cavern badge as a souvenir.


Wednesday 4th November 1964
It was Beatles time again. The Beatles were nearing the end of their 1964 British tour and this evening they were back in Luton, this time at the Ritz Cinema. I had managed to get three tickets for myself, my brother Nigel and a friend with a car (which was important as I didn't drive).

Between 1963 and 1966 I managed to see the Beatles live on stage ten times (the restraining order has now been lifted) and I can honestly say I never had much problem getting tickets. These days it can be difficult getting tickets for major acts either on the phone or on the internet, but in the sixties all I had to do was find out from the venue when tickets were to go on sale, I would then send a cheque or postal order and a stamped addressed envelope. Only once did I have my cheque returned because they had sold out.

Once again we had to sit through six acts before the Beatles came on. One of the acts was Mary Wells an American singer that the Beatles admired and she was good. The Liverpool band the Remo Four were also good, but the rest of the bill I found a bit hard going.

Finally they were on stage and it was the best I'd seen them and despite the screaming girls I could hear them well. They opened with a shortened version of “Twist and Shout”, followed by:- “Money”, “Can't Buy Me Love”, ”Things We Said Today”, “I'm Happy Just To Dance With You“, “I Should Have Known Better”, “If I Fell”, “I Wanna Be Your Man”, “A Hard Day's Night” and finished with “Long Tall Sally”.

1965

Thursday 7th January 1965
The Beatles performed a series of Christmas concerts for the second year running calling them “Another Beatles Christmas Show” which ran from Christmas Eve 1964 to Saturday January 16th 1965. This time it was at Hammersmith Odeon in London and I had sent away for tickets a couple of months ago and managed to get two seats for this evening in the third row of the circle at £1.00 each.

Nigel and I travelled up to London by train, and made our way to Hammersmith. When we reached the theatre we were greeted by an amazing sight. There were crowds of girls outside screaming at anything that moved inside the building. If a person ' s shadow was seen at an upstairs window, it must have been made by a Beatle, so the girls erupted, it was mayhem. We eventually made our way inside, found our seats, and waited for the curtain to rise.

On the show with the Beatles were Freddie and the Dreamers, Sounds Incorporated, Elkie Brooks, The Yardbirds, Michael Haslem, The Mike Cotton Sound, and Ray Fell. The show was compered by DJ Jimmy Saville. The Beatles appeared in a couple of sketches, but in my diary I wrote that the show, in general, was a bit boring until it was time for the main attraction.

The sound was good with the Beatles performing a great set, even better than at Luton, last November, and they were now including tracks from their latest album “Beatles For Sale” which had been released a month earlier. They opened with a shortened version of “Twist and Shout” followed by, “I'm a Loser”, “Baby's in Black”, “Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby”, “Can't Buy Me Love”, “Honey Don't”, “I Feel Fine”, “She's a Woman”, A Hard Day's Night”, “Rock n' Roll Music”, and finally “Long Tall Sally”.

One thing I found rather annoying was that during the Beatles set; Jimmy Saville found it necessary to watch the show from the side of the stage, not behind the curtains but in full view of the audience. This really pissed me off and I guess he was just trying to show off to everyone that he was close to the Beatles; they were now so big that it gave great kudos if one was seen to be their friend.

Eric Clapton was still playing guitar with the Yardbirds and it was probably at this show that he and George Harrison met for the first time, in a friendship that would last until George died in 2001.

GUITAR FACT. I noticed that John Lennon was playing a Rickenbacker “Fireglow” 1996 guitar tonight instead of his custom built “Jetglow” 325 model. This was apparently because he had damaged his 325 by dropping it. The 1996 was one of the first series of Rickenbacker Guitars imported into this country by Rose Morri s .

                                                      Thursday 11th February 1965
Once again I had sent away for tickets for the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert at Wembley on Sunday April 11th. There was only one show and it was always over subscribed, especially as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones would be appearing. Once again I was lucky, very lucky. This morning the tickets arrived and they were for the second row.

Today Ringo Starr married Maureen Cox.


Friday 26th February 1965
A few weeks ago I had applied to buy shares in the Beatles music publishing company Northern Songs. John Lennon and Paul McCartney's songs were published by a guy called Dick James who had set up their own company in which he had the controlling interest. They had now decided to change Northern Songs from a private company to a public company that would be listed at the Stock Exchange. This meant that anyone could apply for shares, and it was an opportunity I couldn't miss.

The buying price was 7/3d (36p) and I had sent a cheque for £72 for the minimum amount of 200 shares, and today I found out that I had been successful and my share certificate arrived. I now owned a little piece of the Beatles.

This in a way was the start of a long and bitter struggle over any Beatle's composition assigned to Northern Songs. In a few years time amid much acrimony, Dick James would sell Northern Songs, against the Beatles wishes, to Lew Grade and his ATV Music company and it would eventually be owned by Michael Jackson and Sony. This would effectively mean that Michael Jackson would earn more from each Lennon / McCartney song than either Paul McCartney or John Lennon's estate.

Thursday 11th March 1965
Today my shares in “Northern Songs” dropped to 6/- (30p).


Sunday 11th April 1965
Nigel and I travelled to Wembley by bus and underground for the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert, and as I've already said we were in the second row.

The complete line up for the show was:- the Animals, the Beatles, Cilla Black, Donovan, Dusty Springfield, Freddie and the Dreamers, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Hermans Hermits, the Ivy League, the Kinks, the Moody Blues, the Rolling Stones, the Searchers, the Seekers, Sounds Incorporated, Them (featuring Van Morrison), and Wayne Fontana.

Once again the line up reflected the changing face of Pop music with quite a few new acts in the line up, and quite a few missing from last year. Way ahead of the pack in popularity were the Beatles with the Rolling Stones not that far behind.

This was the first time the Beatles had sung live since they had finished their Christmas shows in January and at present they were in the middle of filming their second film “Help”. Despite the Wembley sound system they sounded good and for the first time were wearing their beige military jackets that would feature in their momentous, Shea Stadium Concert in America in a few months time.

Our seats were on George Harrison's side of the stage which meant I could get a good close up of his playing but the guitarist in me was a bit disappointed that he wasn't using his Rickenbacker 12 string guitar. They performed “I Feel Fine”, “She's a Woman”, “Baby's in Black”, their latest single “Ticket to Ride” and finished with “Long Tall Sally”.

When the TV broadcast of the concert was shown a week later the sound was much better than last year with the screams of the crowd not swamping their music. “The Beatles” did suffer one of the usual problems, as Paul and George's microphone wasn't turned on until about a minute into “I Feel Fine”.

Public transport eventually got us home at around 9.00pm but we were in time to see the Beatles appear live on TV. They were all interviewed, and then sang their latest record “Ticket to Ride”, on the Eamon Andrews Show.

Tuesday 26th October 1965
A friend and I decided to make one of our regular visits to London's Charing Cross Road to look at the guitar shops (something I still enjoy doing to this day). It was the day the Beatles were at Buckingham Palace to receive their MBE awards from the Queen, so we decided to make a detour to The Palace and see what was going on.

When we arrived it was mayhem, the Beatles were already inside and there was a crowd of several hundred girls going crazy outside trying to climb the gates. We stood for a while by the Victoria and Albert Memorial watching a handful of police trying to cope, and then a black limousine drove through the gates and we caught a glimpse of Ringo waving.


Sunday 31st October 1965
I was in a queue at the Finsbury Park Astoria to get tickets for what would be the last ever British Tour by the Beatles. There were only about ten dates on this tour and at Finsbury Park there were no postal applications, so we got there quite early as tickets went on sale at 11.00am. Despite being in a long queue I managed to get two tickets for the first performance.


Saturday 11th December 1965
It was back to the Finsbury Park Astoria to see the Beatles on their last British tour. It was a great show which featured several tracks from their new album "Rubber Soul". This had been released a few days earlier on 3rd December, and would become my favourite "Beatles" album. They sang:- “I Feel Fine”, “She's a Woman”, “If I Needed Someone”, “Act Naturally”, “Nowhere Man”, “Baby's in Black”, “Help”, “We Can Work it Out”, “Yesterday”, “Day Tripper” and finally “I'm Down”.

We saw the first show and when we came out we found a ticket tout selling two tickets for the second show at double the list price, which we bought and went back inside and saw them again. The following day they played two shows in Cardiff and that was the end of British tours for the Beatles. In 1966 they would perform only once in this country and in August they would make their last ever live appearance, (apart from the Apple roof top show on January 30th 1969) in America.

We bumped into the Beatles road manager Mal Evans outside the Theatre and I got his autograph. (Mal Evans was shot dead by police in an incident at his Los Angeles home on 4th January 1976).

Throughout their touring years the total entourage of the Beatles was just eight people: The four Beatles, their driver Alf Bicknell, roadies Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall and manager Brian Epstein. How different things are today.

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(Click on Photo to enlarge, plus more photos)
NME Poll Winners Concert 1964
The Ritz, Luton.4th November 1964
Christmas Show 1964
NME Poll Winners Concert 1965
Finsbury Park Astoria. Sat.11th Dec. 1965