Live Performance - January 1, 1959
From BeatlesWiki
| Event | |
| Date | January 1, 1959 |
| Short description | Performance at Wilson Hall. |
| Location | Liverpool |
A slightly late Christmas 1958 party for the Speke bus depot social club. Harry Harrison, George's dad, was the club's chairman, which is why they played this gig this afternoon. John and Paul had ruined the gig by getting drunk. Hunter Davies, who wrote the official biography on The Beatles, wrote this, "It was a very nice club, very professional, he said. It had a proper stage as well, with proper curtains. You didn’t just climb up onto it – you entered from the side. Very professional. The dressing rooms were clean with pictures round the walls of the people who had played there, like Ken Dodd. And there was going to be a theatre manager coming in to watch us who might book us to play in the intervals at his shows. At half-time, when we’d finished our first five songs, the curtain was supposed to close but the guy pulling them couldn’t quite manage it. So John ad-libbed, and was very funny, and we did a sixth song. We went down really well and the audience loved it. When we came off the bloke in charge said, ’Very good lads, there’s a pint for you at the bar.’ Well, that was the worst thing he could have said to us, said Colin. Because in those days we didn’t just stop at one pint – not when it was free. Colin Hanton said they all got pissed (meaning drunk) except little George. His mum and dad were in the audience so he was being careful, he said. The second half was a right disaster. We were so pissed, John and Paul got the giggles and started taking the mickey out of George who was sober and trying to play properly. Afterwards, the guy in charge came into our dressing room and said, ’You’ve really blown it now lads, but I’ll ask the theatre manager to come and see you.’ So he comes into our dressing room with rouge on his cheeks, all made-up, because he’s been appearing on stage at this place, and the sight of him cracked John and Paul up. They were pissing themselves even more, laughing in his face, then they started mocking him. I was getting a bit cheesed off by now, and rounded on Paul, telling him to stop it, and we got into a huge argument. We were all pretty drunk of course, so that didn’t help. It wasn’t quite a fist fight – just lots of shouting and arguing." Colin got off a stop early on his way home and the band never saw him again. Because George thought the band was over, he joined the Les Stewart Quartet shortly after this.
[edit] Source
- LEWISOHN M., 1992, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, Hamlyn -- Buy it on Amazon.com
