By the power of email, author Nick Churchill was interviewed by the highly rated Comic Books and Movie Reviews website this week. The text is reproduced below by kind permission or you can read it in situ here.
Do you know
what? I was always confused by the Beatles song 'Money Can't Buy Me Love'.
Well, I just presumed that it was about a bad past experience that the band
once had, with a disgruntled prostitute in Hamburg. How the hell was I suppose
to figure out that it was about the eminent social reforms in Greece, complied
with a subliminal message about smoked beetroot!!! True story - my mate, Nick
Churchill, told it to me, just before he started to tell me about his
Bournemouth and Beatles book, ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’.
For more
than over 25 years now, writer, Nick Churchill has been writing professionally
about music and many other things in the public eye – most of them for the
Daily Echo in Bournemouth. He is a passionate music fan with broadening tastes,
as well as having a love for film, theatre, art, and literature. Presently, he
is 45 years old and lives in a Dorset village with his partner, who, in
conjunction with his 17-year-old son, Jack, has been kind enough to pull him
back whenever he has gotten lost in Pepperland whilst writing his book.
What now
follows is an interview I conducted with Nick about his book.
CBAMR: What
book?
NC: Now ‘this
book’ – entitled ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’ – is the definitive account of the many and
unexpected connections between a small town on the south coast of England and
the greatest rock 'n' roll group the world has ever seen. It's a kind of
biography of the relationship, plotting the story of both parties before they
met and after the stopped seeing one another. The connection goes back to the
very first time John, Paul, and George, played together as the Silver Beetles
right up to the funeral of John's aunt Mimi in 1991 – which was attended by
Cynthia, Julian, Yoko, and Sean. Also, the subsequent sale and eventual
destruction in 1994, of the home John had bought for her at Sandbanks - back in
1965. John was a frequent visitor until he and Yoko left for New York in 1971,
enjoying boat trips around Poole Harbour and up the River Frome to Wareham
('picture yourself on a boat on a river...'!) and called it 'one of the
loveliest places I know'.
CBAMR: In your
opinion, which Beatles song best represents 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah', and why?
NC: Now there
are a couple of contenders, but I would have to say it is ‘She Loves You’. The
title of the book is taken from the song's refrain and was chosen because ‘She
Loves You’ was released on the Friday of The Beatles' six day summer season of
shows at the Bournemouth Gaumont from 19-24 August 1963. Although they were
already big news and chart topping stars, those shows were among last they
played before full scale Beatlemania broke out. All week they introduced ‘She
Loves You’ as their new single and encouraged the audience to buy it. After it
came out on Friday 23 August 1963, it went on to become their biggest selling
UK single – and still is.
The sound
of them singing 'yeah yeah yeah' became shorthand for Beatlemania as it headed
for the number one spot. They played two shows a day for six days and while
they were certainly lively, with some screaming, not all of them were sold out.
A recording
of one of the shows captured the band on great form - their version of ‘Baby
It's You’ is particularly impressive with its close harmonies and John's
chilling lead vocal. The point being, you can actually hear them play and understand
the banter with the audience. The term Beatlemania was coined by the Daily
Mirror just two weeks before they came back to Bournemouth to play the much
larger Winter Gardens venue on 16 November 1963. By then the screaming in the
audience all but drowned out the band.
The Beatles
went on the play more shows (16 in total) at the Bournemouth Gaumont than any
other UK theatre outside London.
CBAMR: If
Bournemouth was a Beatle, which one would this costal town be, and why?
NC: That's an
interesting question. Much like The Beatles, Bournemouth has many different
faces. It's quite a young town (it celebrated its bicentenary in 2010) and
can't boast the thousand years of history of its neighbours Poole and
Christchurch. Like John, it can be brash, a little wild and irreverent, not
always getting things right but brim-full of the confidence to try. Like Paul,
it is charming, sweet but fiercely ambitious and quite calculating in its
methods. Like George, it has a quite confidence with a mysterious side that has
seen literary figures like Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Percy Florence
Shelley and Paul Verlaine drawn to the town. Like Ringo, Bournemouth likes a
good time, is generally cheerful and holds a rock solid beat. It could also be
Brian – whose father, Harry, died in Bournemouth in 1967 – because it is
naturally conservative, profitable and shrewd.
CBAMR: What was
the main reason for you to write this book?
NC: I grew up
about 15 miles from Bournemouth and have been sharing stories about The Beatles
playing in Bournemouth since I was a kid. I sang along to their records on the
radiogram as a child and a fascination with their music and story stayed with
me all throughout my youth and into my professional life as a journalist. A few
years ago, a contact of mine bought a set of rare and unseen photos of The
Beatles taken in Bournemouth at auction. The photos were by Harry Taylor, a
freelance press photographer who had worked for the Bournemouth Echo and the
Bournemouth Times in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He captured The Beatles in their
dressing room, posing on a hotel balcony, at dinner, at a party, being
interviewed etc. He had incredible access to the band and produced wonderful
documentary-style photos. Coupled with the various significant connections
between Bournemouth and The Beatles, the photos made a book the next obvious
step. When I was made redundant by the Bournemouth Echo last Christmas, I
suddenly found that I had the time to write the book as I established myself as
a freelance writer.
CBAMR: Is there
any exclusives in your book, that would make it any different to any of the
other Beatles related publications?
NC: Many of the
photos have never been seen before, or not seen since 1963 or 1964. Harry
Taylor had incredible access to The Beatles and got some great photos that neither
the Bournemouth Echo nor Bournemouth Times of the day made full use of. There
are also the memories of photographer Tom Hanley and the day he spent with Mimi
at her home – at John's request just before he left for New York – in 1971
photographing and generally making a fuss of her. The photos and story of David
Stark's weekend at Mimi' house in 1981, a few months after John's death, have
never been published before. There are various anecdotes about The Beatles,
such as the fleet of ice cream vans used to distract fans as they were ferried
from their hotel to the venue in August 1963, that have never been published
before.
CBAMR: What is
your favourite Beatles Album, and why?
NC: That's a
tough question, it changes all the time. I've always loved ‘Revolver’ because
it is their most complete record and a real triumph of creativity when you
consider they were still touring when they wrote the songs and recorded the
album. They had more time to spend on ‘Sgt Pepper’ and it shows, but on
‘Revolver’ they managed to meld so many musical ideas and produce great lyrics
as well. They sound like they're enjoying their freedom as well. That said,
‘Rubber Soul’ comes close to it for exactly the same reasons - George's guitar
playing is particularly effective. Lately I've given more time to earlier
albums like ‘With the Beatles’ (the cover shot was taken at the Palace Court
Hotel in Bournemouth) and ‘A Hard Day's Night’ which are more subtle than many
people think – there's a lot of music going on there from country & western
to show tunes as well as John's throat-ripping rock vocals. Abbey Road also has
some splendid moments that makes me wonder what they cold have gone on to
achieve had they stayed together.
