The Beatles & Bournemouth

A Hard Day's Night in Poole

2012-02-26T09:16:00.000Z

A rare print of A Hard Day's Night will be screened at Lighthouse, Poole on Tuesday (28 February) as part of the exhibition of photos from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth which is showing until 10 March.

The original print, one of just two available for public screening, shows at 7.45pm and copies of the book will be on sale at the screening.

Read more about the Lighthouse exhibition here.

To whet your appetite, here's an extract from the book in which Tony Crawley talks about meeting the boys on the set of A Hard Day's Night...

“Afterleaving Bournemouth in 1964 I joined a Rank Organisation magazine called Showtime and was sent down to the end ofshooting on A Hard Day’s Night to bethere when the producers handed out their gifts to the boys. They were filmingthe final scenes where you see The Beatles at liberty running through a park.They’d shot most of it, but they just had the lads jumping off thesestepladders – of course no one knew why until we saw the final film, but theyseemed quite happy.

“Paul,of course, was doing his routine. He would come up to you and greet you withyour name: ‘Oh hiya, you’re Tony, aren’t you? What are you doing up here?’ Itmade you feel good, you know: ‘My pal Paul’. It wasn’t until later you realisedhe didn’t have a clue who you were, he’d just been smart enough to find out.”

Thefilm came out on 4 July, followed by the soundtrack album four days later. Itwas almost as big a hit with the critics as with the public.

“TheBeatles’ films were incredibly popular as well,” says retired Gaumontprojectionist Joe Heathman. “We had people coming in to see them and stayingall day, which you could do back then.”

Ofall the band’s films A Hard Day’s Nightnow seems the least dated. Although there’s a satirical edge to Alun Owen’sOscar-nominated script, Richard Lester directed it as a feel-good romp throughthe life of The Beatles at that time, portraying four likeable lads in searchof a little peace and quiet. He continued the theme in the more experimentalfollow up Help!

When Help! came out in 1965 I saw that four or five times at the Electric cinema (in Bournemouth) in Commercial Road next to where Marks & Spencer is now," says Martin Bartlett.

Love from Liverpool...

2012-02-26T08:47:00.000Z

My lords, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me considerable pleasure to proudly announce that our own dear Beatles tome, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth has made a bit of a splash back where it all began - in the fair city of Liverpool.
Catherine Jones, arts editor at the Liverpool Echo, has written a magnificent feature about the book with the printed edition carrying a fine selection of photos including the incredibly rare shot of John with baby Julian and Aunt Mimi by the Sandbanks Ferry.
The feature appeared in the paper dated Monday, 20 February 2012 if you want to order copies.
You can read the full feature here.

Beatles' meal deal

2012-02-09T08:32:00.000Z

The Beatles on stage at the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth

The Beatles’ date at the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth on 16November 1963 was a pivotal moment in their conquest of America with film crewsfrom the three major US TV networks on hand to film them. Broadcast on 22November, CBS footage from the Winter Gardens introduced The Beatles toAmerican television and set in motion a chain of events that ensured I Want To Hold Your Hand was top of theUSA charts when they landed in New York on 7 February 1964 ahead of theirlandmark appearance on the Ed SullivanShow.

Barely a fortnight before the Winter Gardens shows the Daily Mirror had coined the termBeatlemania to describe the fevered reception The Beatles enjoyed wherever theywent. They were the biggest band in the land and the Bournemouth audience was justas wild as any they encountered at that time. For their own safety they were deliveredto the venue in a police van, which also took them away at the end of thenight.

It had previously been thought they returned immediately tothe Branksome Towers Hotel overlooking Branksome Chine where they stayed thenight, but freelance journalist Roger Guttridge recently uncovered a fascinatingfootnote to the Winter Gardens episode. Writing in the Blackmore Vale Magazine, he reports The Beatles went in search of alate-night meal after leaving the Winter Gardens and found themselves at arestaurant in Exeter Road, Bournemouth where they had eaten the previous Augustduring their week-long residency across town at the Gaumont.

But the doorman initially turned them away as the restaurantwas closed for a private party hosted by Javier Revuelta Pineiro and his newwife Joan who were celebrating with friends and family who had been unable toattend their wedding on 26 October.

The host, known to his friends as Rev, recalls: “Ringo cameover and said, ‘We’ve eaten here before after the show. Can we join the party?’”

Rev offered to cook for them himself and asked what theywould like.

“Ringo said they’d like eggs, bacon, sausage and chips and Icooked them their meal. They were smashing lads and one of them asked how theycould repay us. I said I didn’t want anything so they offered to go out and gettheir stuff and play for my guests.

“They played and mucked about for an hour. Twenty or 30girls also turned up and the party went on till 2 o’clock in the morning. JohnLennon gave me his personal number and the Cavern Club number and said theywould repay me.”

: Photos of The Beatles at the Branksome Towers Hotel and from the Winter Gardens shows on 16 November 1963 can be seen at the Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth exhibition at Lighthouse, Poole until 10 March.

The book, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available now at www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Bright Lighthouse

2012-02-02T18:50:00.000Z

Photos from the book Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth went on show at Lighthouse, Poole's centre for the arts last night.
The exhibition, expanded from the recent show at Bournemouth's Central Library, features many of the photographs from the book and several that could not be included, as well as a range of memorabilia related to The Beatles and the impact they made on Bournemouth and Poole.
Skilfully curated by the venue's deputy CEO Sara St George and artist-in-residence Hazel Evans, the exhibition provided the ideal opportunity for those with stories to tell to meet and swap tales with author Nick Churchill, pictured above.
Among the many messages of support received before the opening was one from former Beatles press officer Tony Bramwell.
Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles and Bournemouth is available from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com
Photo by Sally Adams, courtesy of the Daily Echo, Bournemouth.

Lennon cover

2012-01-31T10:11:00.002Z

The February issue of Dorset magazine features an exclusive extract from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth that details how John came to buy a home for Aunt Mimi on the shores of Poole Harbour at Sandbanks.
The incredible cover shot has been licensed from photographic artist Jayson Hutchins whose nan Rose Payne owns the photo having inherited it from her friend Betty Derrick. John is wearing the famous Afghan coat he wore to the press launch of Sgt Pepper on 19 May 1967 and is holding a bucket and spade in one hand and four-year-old Julian in the other. It looks as if they have just stepped off the ferry at Sandbanks, a few yards from Mimi's home - perhaps they had just been across the water to Shell Bay to play in the sand?
Intriguingly, the man to left of the cropped image appears to be holding a film camera... could this footage survive somewhere? Was it something official? John appears to be looking directly at the camera, did he know what the film was for?
Do you know the answer? If you can shed any light on the mystery email me here.
In a tidy little footnote to the story, years later Julian Lennon bought the coat back for his personal collection.
The full story - and many others relating to John's visits to Sandbanks - can be found in Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth which can be ordered at the special price of £14.95, here.
You can order a copy of Dorset magazine from here.

Photos shine at Lighthouse

2012-01-24T22:02:00.001Z

Johnand Ringo at the after show party in the bar at the Bournemouth Gaumont withreporter Tony Crawley and his wife, the actress Jeanette Wild. Photo byHarry Taylor © DaveRobinson

An exhibition of photographs from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth and Poole will be displayed on the top floor foyer at Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts from 1 February to 10 March.

The exhibition features photographs, posters and stories from the book and author Nick Churchill will be at Lighthouse for the launch of the exhibition on 1 February to sign copies of his book from 6.30pm.

With stunning images of The Beatles taken in and around Bournemouth and never-before-seen images of John Lennon’s aunt Mimi at home in Sandbanks, the story is told using first-hand accounts from the people who were there – the fans, reporters, photographers, venue staff and musicians.

Exhibition highlights include Robert Freeman’s iconic half-shadow photo that adorned the With The Beatles album sleeve which was taken in the restaurant at the Palace Court Hotel in Westover Road (now a Premier Inn) during the Beatles’ week-long summer residency at the Gaumont in August 1963. Also on show are

posters from Beatles shows at the Bournemouth Gaumont and Winter Gardens, plus a remarkable colour photograph of John Lennon by the Sandbanks Ferry in Poole with his Aunt Mimi and four-year-old son Julian.

Lighthouse also hosts a Beatles Film Special on 28 February, with a screening of Richard Lester’s classic A Hard Day’s Night, which perfectly captures The Beatles in all their irreverent glory.

Nick Churchill comments: “Interest in The Beatles is as strong as ever and this part of the world played a significant part in their incredible story. The reaction to the book and these remarkable images has been astonishing and I’m really excited to see these photographs showcased in one of the south’s premier arts venues.”

Nick would love to hear new stories from anyone who saw The Beatles in Bournemouth and especially from people who met them.

“The links between this area and The Beatles are made even stronger by people’s memories of seeing the Fab Four or meeting them,” he says. “I’m sure there are lots more stories to be told by hotel and venue staff, fans or even passers-by who may have encountered John Lennon on a trip to Sandbanks to visit his Aunt Mimi.”

Paul Tucker, communications officer for Lighthouse adds: “Lighthouse is thrilled to have such an extraordinary exhibition in the building and it’s incredible to see photographs of members of such an iconic group in such recognisable local locations like Sandbanks and Westover Road. The top floor foyer is an ideal space to display exhibitions and we are using it regularly now, with particular focus on work either by local artists or that has an interesting local connection.”

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is published by Natula Publications, and will be available from Lighthouse ticket office shop or www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Praise be to Blog

2012-01-23T17:58:00.000Z

Thanks to the mighty Beatles Blog for it's thorough appreciation of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth. The support of the online Beatles community has been absolutely vital in spreading the word about this endeavour and it is massively appreciated.
See what the Beatles Blog has to say in situ here. Words reproduced below...

There’s anew book which came out just before Christmas with what you might think is aslightly unlikely title: “Yeah Yeah Yeah – The Beatles and Bournemouth”:

On firstseeing the title you wonder if there could be so many links with this southernUK city to warrant a whole book on the subject? After all, the Beatleshailed from the far more well-known and much larger northern Englishcity of Liverpool….

Bournemouth is a large seaside resort town – well south of London:

Well, thebook’s author – journalist and Beatle fan Nick Churchill – has been intouch and I can now vouch for the fact that there are a great number of veryinteresting links and stories connecting the world’s most famous band toBournemouth. His book on the subject contains a wealth of fascinating materialand a great number of previously unseen photographs. Nick uncovers oftensurprising connections….for example the house John purchased for hisaunt Mimi at Sandbanks in the Bournemouth area in 1965. In mid-1965 Mimi hadsold Mendips, her Liverpool home, and so John bought her a watersidebungalow where she lived until her death in 1991. On various visits he wasspotted in the area by locals in either a Mini Cooper or in his famous psychedelic Rolls Royce.

The bookhas a foreword written by Howie Casey, of Howie & the Seniors. Howie,originally from Liverpool and a long-time friend of Paul McCartney,played with Wings in the 1970′s and since coming off the band’s 1980 tour haslived in Bournemouth. He shares his memories of seeing the Beatles from theirvery earliest days in Liverpool and in Hamburg.

“Yeah YeahYeah – The Beatles and Bournemouth” features over 200 rare and previouslyunpublished photos as well as lots of memorabilia, show posters and ticketsfrom the time. Local photographer Harry Taylor was there to record the groupsvisits at every step – and until now his images have remained largely unseen.Here’s one of them, taken on the balcony of the Palace Court Hotel inBournemouth on the 19th or 20th of August, 1963:

If you’rewondering what the boys are chomping on its probably a hard, sticky Englishtoffee known as rock which is still very popular at Britishseaside towns. Maybe it was some “Bournemouth Rock”?

It waswhile staying at the Palace Court Hotel that August in 1963 that one of theband’s most iconic photo shoots took place, the half-shadow shot by RobertFreeman that appeared on the sleeve of their second album, “With TheBeatles”. George Harrison wrote “Don’t Bother Me” at the samehotel during that week. It was his first song for the Beatles, pennedwhile he was holed up in his room suffering a heavy cold at the time.

There’s awonderful photo of John with baby Julian and Aunt Mimi by the ferry nearMimi’s house (which was just around the corner on Panorama Road at Sandbanks)in 1967 – as well as photos from inside Mimi’s house including John’s golddiscs – and lots of first-hand accounts from those who met and worked with the Beatles.

Seems likeJohn gave his Aunt Mimi the gold records the band received for three USreleases. I can just make out (l to r): “The Beatles Story” (Capitol); “TheBeatles Second Album” (Capitol); and what looks like the United Artistspressing of “A Hard Days Night”:

There aremany, many great stories in this book proving that Bournemouth really did playa big part in the lives of the Beatles. It was there, at the verybeginning of their success, that they played 18 gigs during a six-day seasonbetween the 19-25th August, 1963. They then returned in November, 1963 to themuch bigger Winter Gardens venue; and then twice more at the Gaumont Theatre on2 August and 30 October 1964. The band played more shows at the Gaumont than atany other UK theatre outside London. During their first stay in Bournemouth theBeatles’ third single “She Loves You” was released. That was on the 23rdof August 1963 and it stayed in the charts for 31 weeks, returning to numberone the week they arrived back in town to play the Winter Gardens in November.

They wereexciting times and Nick Churchill has captured it all in “Yeah Yeah Yeah – TheBeatles and Bournemouth”. Through the stories and the often evocativeimages he gives us a feel for the times – the mood of the early to mid 1960s.Nick also highlights the importance of regional touring in those days and therole that smaller towns and cities played in feeding talent through to London,and on to the world stage. Underlying all this is a sense of it being a moreinnocent time, too.

The BeatlesRarity page has also written about the book here, and Happy Nat conducted an interviewwith Nick which you can access at this page.

You canvisit the “Yeah Yeah Yeah – The Beatles and Bournemouth” sitefor more, you can order the book here (where I notice it is on sale at aspecial price at the moment!), and you can find out more about Nick and readmore of his work at nickchurchill.org.uk

All you've gotta do is call

2012-01-10T19:56:00.000Z

Thanks to the wonder of the trans Atlantic phone line, the estimable Happy Nat from the excellent Beatles Rarity website interviewed author Nick Churchill yesterday.
You can hear their conversation in full right here.
Nat has also sent the interview to Fab4Radio.com to be streamed as part of his regular contribution.

In case you're wondering, Happy Nat takes his name from a character played by actor Nat Jackley, the Rubber Man on the Magical Mystery Tour bus (pictured).

'There was a dream scene from the MMT film that has him by the seaside with one or two pretty young ladies in bikinis,' explains Nat. 'The scene was deleted though due to time constraints, but can still be seen in the MMT comic strip booklet packaged with the LP and British double EP. Originally Nat was a pantomime comic who had a very cool rubber-neck dance as his trademark. So there you go... a dirty old man with a rubber neck. My hero!'

The interview that never was...

2012-01-09T17:26:00.000Z

Theresponse to Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth has been incredible.Not only is the book finding favour with readers all over the world, a host ofnew stories relating to The Beatles and their adventures in Bournemouth has come to light.

One such isfrom Edward Petty, who has been prompted to set up a blog called In My Lifetimeto record some of his memories.

Edward metThe Beatles at the Gaumont on 20 August 1963 under the pretext of interviewingthem for a college magazine – he was a student at Bournemouth College of Art& Design in those days, studying to be a commercial artist.

Having goneto the show with a girlfriend, Jacquie, and friend Melvin, while queuing to getin Edward spotted the Gaumont manager who he knew and asked him if there wasany chance of meeting The Beatles. The three teenage fans were told to waitwhile the manager made his enquiries. Soon after The Beatles started theirfirst half set a man approached Edward and Jacquie (desperate to see his heroesMelvin had gone to take his seat) and introduced himself as The Beatles’ roadmanager.

Edwardtakes up the story…

‘Iunderstand you would like an interview with The Beatles,’ he said! My heart wasnow thumping like Ringo’s drums as I fell into this suggestion. Off the top ofmy head I said: ‘Yes! I’m here to write an article on them for the collegemagazine.’ ‘OK,’ he said, ‘in ten minutes or so they will be having an interval,so you can meet them in their dressing room,’ and asked us to follow him.

‘I havenever been so butterflied out in my life as he led Jacquie and me through themain doors to the aisle that led down through the theatre. I can remember tothis day, the look of horror and disbelief on my friend Melvin’s face as hewatched us from his seat as we walked by him and down to the side steps thatlead up to the door that took us to the side of the stage. We were now stood inthe wings watching our idols performing to all these screaming people out intheir seats, where we should have been. We felt very privileged. It was amoment to cherish. They finished their set and retired to their dressing room beforethe next act took over, this was Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas.

‘The road managerreturned to us and took us into the dressing room where The Beatles weresitting having a drink and a smoke. It was quite an intimate room and seatingconsisted of two three- or four-seater bench-type couches and a chair at oneend. We were ushered in and I squeezed in between John Lennon and Ringo Starr,while Paul McCartney got Jacquie to sit on his lap on the chair. Opposite mesat George Harrison and as an extra surprise we were to learn about and meetJohn Lennon’s wife Cynthia.

‘It was nota known thing at the time that he was married.

‘It soonbecame obvious to everyone that we were not there to do an interview for anymagazine. John was very quick to point out that I had neither notepad or paperor any device to record anything. Very soon we were laughing and joking aboutthis. ‘Good on you.’ he said and we were not thrown out. I think they admiredour cheek. ‘Noticing my college scarf that I wore in those days of yellow andblue stripes, John indicated he would like it.

‘I supposewe were with them about 15-20 minutes in all, it went too fast to recall everydetail but before we were asked to leave I had to ask them for their autographs.This they all agreed to but again pointed out I had nothing to write on. Mythinking quickly revealed that I had a wide tan coloured leather belt on andsuggested they all signed this for me.

‘Different,’they said, but all agreed and duly signed all around this belt includingCynthia next to John’s name. I was made up and over the moon. They were nowexpected back on stage, so we all shook hands with a few kisses for Jacquie andmade our farewells.’

- Read thefull story, including an all too familiar sting in the tail, at In My Lifetime.

- Yeah YeahYeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available to order here.

- The photoabove of Billy J Kramer with The Beatles in their dressing room at the Gaumontwas taken between houses on 19 August 1963, when The Beatles held a party tocelebrate Billy’s 20th birthday and his single Bad To Me – penned by Lennon andMcCartney – getting to number one. Copies of the photo and many others areavailable to order here.

The French connection

2012-01-02T19:00:00.000Z

Happy New Year all you good good people...
And we begin 2012 with a great, big, heartfelt 'merci' to our bon amis at The Cornershop blogspot for posting a lovely review of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth this very day. What a great way to start the year.
Read the full piece right here.
Echoing the theme of The Cornershop piece, if there's anyone still in need a little late Christmas treat, then look no further than the selection of previously unpublished photos from the book which are available to buy, printed to order, from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Everywhere It's Christmas

2011-12-20T10:29:00.001Z

In this extract from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth, Dorset and Hampshire regional fan club secretary Eileen Denton recalls how she got involved with The Beatles and why John was so upset before the Winter Gardens show in November 1863. She also remembers the thrill of receiving free Beatles records from the boys, especially at Christmas...

Forall the hype and breathless headlines, The Beatles’ success depended on the continuedenthusiasm of the fans. As ever, the media machine can’t manufacture a careerfrom scratch, it needs the raw material to work with – a groundswell ofinterest.

Inthe 1940s, the bobbysoxers had hollered for Frank Sinatra in America and adecade later the scream crossed the Atlantic as English fans cried for JohnnieRay, but there had been nothing like the reception for The Beatles. Othergroups had dedicated fans, but The Beatles had many more – and they shriekedlouder.

Amongthe first wave of die-hard fans was 22-year-old junior school teacher Eileen Denton,who became the Dorset and Hampshire regional secretary for the Official BeatlesFan Club in 1963 and held the post until their split in 1970.

“I’dfallen in love with The Beatles’ music straight away and I used to buy the Beatles Monthly magazine. Then I saw anadvert they were looking for district fan club secretaries, so I applied andwas thrilled to be accepted. I loved the fan club work. They used to send thefan mail on to us secretaries to reply to as they simply couldn’t have copedwith it all themselves, they’d never have got anything done. We never repliedpretending to be one of the boys, or signed any signatures, we always repliedfrom the fan club.

“Theyalso used to send us all their records before they came out and special fanclub records – free Beatles records – that was quite something. I suppose someof those fan club records are worth a bit now. They used to send Christmascards and presents as well. I’ve got a bracelet and a nightdress, a black lacynumber, way-hay!”

Likeany Beatles fan though, Eileen lived for the chance to see the boys in concert.

“Theatmosphere at the shows was electric, it made you want to scream. We went tosee The Beatles wherever we could, usually in Southampton or Bournemouth. Thatweek of the Gaumont run was really, really busy, but most weeks I could only dofan club work at weekends as I was teaching at the other end of Hampshire, atHartley Wintney.

“Youcouldn’t really hear the group and a lot would depend on the acoustics of thesevenues, but I never went to what felt like a bad Beatles concert. People werein such heightened states. It was such fun and my Mum came to all the showswith me as well so it wasn’t just screaming young girls by any means.”

Eileenwould have been a Beatles fan without the fan club, but being in the positionof seeing more than the average ticket holder made the post all the moreattractive. And even if it meant she didn’t always see her idols in their bestlight, there was always a good reason for their irritation.

“At one of the Bournemouth shows they ushered in allthese disabled children to meet The Beatles, much to John’s annoyance. I thinkhis anger had to do with his own childhood. He used to play with children fromone of these homes – it was called Strawberry Field. He knew he wasn’t going tomake their lives better and he thought it was because the adults with themwanted to meet The Beatles. No wonder he was so angry.

“I saw them walking along the promenade by thebeach late one night. We passed by quite quickly as they were obviously havinga relaxing time – they didn’t want to be bothered by fans at that late hour. Iactually felt sorry for them. The biggest downside to being a Beatle must havebeen the times when it was like being in prison.

"They may have had nice hotels,good food and a bar, but they couldn’t come and go as they pleased. They werevirtually prisoners in those days – they could hardly leave the hotel. Iremember Paul used to have a disguise and he would use it to slip past the fansso he could go out in the evening and he never told anyone what it was. Henever got caught out so nobody knows what the disguise was.”

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The interview

2011-12-12T17:44:00.000Z

Author Nick Churchill spoke to Scoop of the Day on Wave 105FM about the connections between The Beatles and Bournemouth. Here is a YouTube clip showcasing the interview and some of the photos from the book. You have been watching...

In the Life of... review

2011-12-12T12:36:00.000Z

More love from the Beatles community, this time from the endlessly fascinating In the Life of... The Beatles blog.
There's a deep well of Beatles and Beatles-related news, views, photos, detail and discussion that makes a more than worthy distraction from the business of the day - or a very happy destination in itself.
Here's what they say...

Likelooking through a scrapbook or time capsule, Yeah Yeah Yeah capturesmany unseen moments of the Beatles appearances in Bournemouth, England. Thereare plenty of rare photos, facts, and remembrances contained in this impressivevolume. For example, I was not aware the Beatles started their Roy Orbison Toursets in 1963 with "Some Other Guy," underlining their fondness forthe Richie Barrett song (John Lennon would later lift the riff for the intro ofhis 1970 single, "Instant Karma"). I had previously only seen onealternate shot of the With the Beatles album cover, while page 49contains two. There are an abundance of Beatles backstage photographs I havenot seen before that add life to the recollections of the people that werethere interspersed throughout. So many interesting tidbits are to be found,including what happened to the 1963 Beatles audience tape at Gaumont that wentup for auction several years ago. There are also some great pictures from laterin the Beatles' career as well, including a unique photo of John, Julian, andAunt Mimi at the Sandbanks ferry in 1967. All in all, a wonderful collection.

Anexhibition of rare and previously unseen photos is running at BournemouthCentral Library until January 18. Art prints of many of the photos are nowavailable to order at www.beatlesandbournemouth.com along with copies of thebook.

The Beatles Rarity review

2011-12-09T11:47:00.001Z

The estimable Happy Nat, owner of The Beatles Rarity website, has kindly given Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth a great big Macca-style thumbs up with this splendid review. Cheers!
The Beatles Rarity features all manner of Fab Four curios and is currently hosting a wonderfully raw version of John's Gimme Some Truth from the 1971 Imagine album sessions. It also
Here's what he says...

If youhappen to be looking for a unique holiday gift for any avid Beatlemaniacs inyour life, then allow me a suggestion. Back in June (2011) I made a brief postabout Nick Churchill’s upcoming book Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, The Beatles &Bournemouth, which was released back in September (2011). Now, after havinga chance to actually read through the book, it comes across not only as a greatholiday gift idea, but an entertaining read for any occasion.

Bournemouth,as I’m sure many reading already know, is a resort town on the southern coastof England. But did you also know that there are so many historical events thatlink The Beatles to this beautiful settlement in the British county of Dorset?

As pointedout on the back cover of the book, The Beatles played more theater shows at theBournemouth Gaumont (16, in all) than any other concert venue in the U.K.outside of London, and a taping of one of their shows there is the earliestknown recording of a theater performance by the group. A gig at Bournemouth’sWinter Gardens Theater on November 16, 1963 was the source of footage used byall three U.S. television networks covering the new “Beatlemania” craze inEurope. The resulting Nov. 21st telecast predated the Beatles’ Ed Sullivan Showappearance by two and a half months. The famous cover art photo used on the WithThe Beatles album was taken in Bournemouth by Robert Freeman in 1963.George Harrison’s first Beatles song, “Don’t Bother Me” was written whilestaying in Bournemouth. And, believe it or not, the story told in the 1969Beatles single “The Ballad of John and Yoko” began while John was traveling toMimi’s house where he ended up “standing in the dock at Southampton”.

JohnLennon, was a regular visitor to Bournemouth after buying his Aunt Mimi a homein the area. Nick has shared with me that he has had very positive feedbackabout the wonderful photo in his book of John, with baby Julian and Aunt Mimi.It was shot by the ferry, near Mimi’s Bournemouth home in 1967. Additionally,there are around 200 previously unpublished photographs of The Beatles duringtheir visits to Bournemouth, John’s gold discs displayed from inside Mimi’shouse, and other rare images.

The bookalso features a foreword written by Howie Casey (of Howie & the Seniors).Howie, originally from Liverpool and a log-time friend of Paul McCartney’s,played with Paul’s band Wings in the 1970′s and has lived in Bournemouth sincecoming off the ill-fated 1980 Wings tour. He shares his memories of seeing theSilver Beetles in Liverpool and how they had improved by the time they arrivedin Hamburg a few months later.

Thebook can be ordered from the publisher’s website at  www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.

Beatles For Vale

2011-12-06T20:47:00.001Z

This week's Blackmore Vale Magazine published a first person feature linked to Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth in which experienced Dorset journalist Roger Guttridge interwove his experiences of seeing The Beatles at the Bournemouth Gaumont in 1963 with a review of the book.
"I was 13 and my mother had asked if I would like to see The Beatles in Bournemouth," he writes. "I jumped at the chance, although she admitted later she had confused the Fab Four with another foursome, The Shadows, whose guitar instrumentals and clean-cut image were more to her taste than the loud, long-haired lads from Liverpool."
Roger goes on describe the show - on 20 August 1963 - saying he just about heard the group above the screams "and - agonisingly for me - had to leave before the final number to catch the last bus back to Sturminster Newton."
After dipping into stories, notably Robert Freeman taking the With The Beatles LP sleeve shot on the afternoon of 20 August, Roger says Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is "a delightfully written and attractive book charting the Fab Four's various local connections..."

A Christmas present for you

2011-12-05T21:21:00.001Z

Merry Christmas... or should that be Happy Crimpole...?! For a limited period only Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available for the reduced price of £12.95, but only from the official website at www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Obviously a splendid time is guaranteed for all, but while you're there check out the previously unpublished photos of The Beatles taken in Bournemouth in 1963 and 1964 by Harry Taylor. As well as being featured in the book, a selection of these very special photos is available to buy... juts in time for Christmas!

BHbeatles

2011-11-29T10:46:00.001Z

Bournemouth's independent what's on guide, BHbeat has published a great little feature about the book. The text is below, or you can read it online here.

ABournemouth-based writer has published a book about the Beatles and theirconnections with the town.

NickChurchill, whose first musical memory was singing along to the band’s I WannaHold Your Hand, worked to compile a collection of memories, images and reportswhich would form the book named Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.

He metwith Dave Robinson, owner of Bourne Beat hotel, and the owner of one of thelargest collections of music memorabilia on the south coast.

In thecollection was an array of unseen photographs of the Beatles, which wouldbecome the inspiration and idea behind the book.

Thebook gives an insight into the life of one of the biggest bands in musichistory, with stories from the people who were there – the reporters,photographers, musicians, venue staff and of course, the fans.

In theband’s early days, they played a six night summer season residency at theGaumont Cinema (now the Odeon) and they stayed at the Palace Court hotel inWestover Road, Bournemouth. One of their biggest hits, ‘She Loves You’, wasreleased on the Friday of their residency.

Author,Nick Churchill, said: “The Beatles played 18 times in Bournemouth overallbetween August 1963 and October 1964 which is quite a lot in 15 months.

“Theyactually played in the Bournemouth Gaumont more times than any other theatreoutside of London.”

Contraryto popular belief, the book talks about the band’s first American televisionappearance which was filmed in Bournemouth Winter Gardens. The report aired onCBS on the morning of Friday, 22nd November 22, 1963 – the morning thatPresident John Kennedy was assassinated. Of course by lunch time, Kennedy wasdead, and the Beatles were forgotten.

Luckilyfor the Beatles, the show was re-broadcasted in December of the same year.

TheNatula publication also tells the story of John Lennon and his Aunt Mimi.Lennon bought a £25,000 bungalow in Sandbanks for his Aunt who was like amother to him, so she could escape the hassle of ‘Beatlemanie’ then rife inLiverpool.

Nickconcluded: “I am pleased that the story is out there because it’s very much aBournemouth story. Bournemouth is an area I have written about for 25 years ormore so it is something I care about and I just hope everyone shares mypassion.”

The book canbe purchased in Waterstones and various local book shops. For more information,www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.

Marvel-ous interview!

2011-11-23T07:21:00.001Z

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 knowwhat? 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 bandonce had, with a disgruntled prostitute in Hamburg. How the hell was I supposeto figure out that it was about the eminent social reforms in Greece, compliedwith a subliminal message about smoked beetroot!!! True story - my mate, NickChurchill, told it to me, just before he started to tell me about hisBournemouth and Beatles book, ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’.

For morethan over 25 years now, writer, Nick Churchill has been writing professionallyabout music and many other things in the public eye – most of them for theDaily 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, heis 45 years old and lives in a Dorset village with his partner, who, inconjunction with his 17-year-old son, Jack, has been kind enough to pull himback whenever he has gotten lost in Pepperland whilst writing his book.

What nowfollows is an interview I conducted with Nick about his book.

CBAMR: Whatbook?

NC: Now ‘thisbook’ – entitled ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’ – is the definitive account of the many andunexpected connections between a small town on the south coast of England andthe greatest rock 'n' roll group the world has ever seen. It's a kind ofbiography of the relationship, plotting the story of both parties before theymet and after the stopped seeing one another. The connection goes back to thevery first time John, Paul, and George, played together as the Silver Beetlesright up to the funeral of John's aunt Mimi in 1991 – which was attended byCynthia, Julian, Yoko, and Sean. Also, the subsequent sale and eventualdestruction in 1994, of the home John had bought for her at Sandbanks - back in1965. 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 theloveliest places I know'.

CBAMR: In youropinion, which Beatles song best represents 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah', and why?

NC: Now thereare a couple of contenders, but I would have to say it is ‘She Loves You’. Thetitle of the book is taken from the song's refrain and was chosen because ‘SheLoves You’ was released on the Friday of The Beatles' six day summer season ofshows at the Bournemouth Gaumont from 19-24 August 1963. Although they werealready big news and chart topping stars, those shows were among last theyplayed before full scale Beatlemania broke out. All week they introduced ‘SheLoves You’ as their new single and encouraged the audience to buy it. After itcame out on Friday 23 August 1963, it went on to become their biggest sellingUK single – and still is.

The soundof them singing 'yeah yeah yeah' became shorthand for Beatlemania as it headedfor the number one spot. They played two shows a day for six days and whilethey were certainly lively, with some screaming, not all of them were sold out.

A recordingof one of the shows captured the band on great form - their version of ‘BabyIt's You’ is particularly impressive with its close harmonies and John'schilling lead vocal. The point being, you can actually hear them play and understandthe banter with the audience. The term Beatlemania was coined by the DailyMirror just two weeks before they came back to Bournemouth to play the muchlarger Winter Gardens venue on 16 November 1963. By then the screaming in theaudience all but drowned out the band.

The Beatleswent on the play more shows (16 in total) at the Bournemouth Gaumont than anyother UK theatre outside London.

CBAMR: IfBournemouth was a Beatle, which one would this costal town be, and why?

NC: That's aninteresting question. Much like The Beatles, Bournemouth has many differentfaces. It's quite a young town (it celebrated its bicentenary in 2010) andcan't boast the thousand years of history of its neighbours Poole andChristchurch. Like John, it can be brash, a little wild and irreverent, notalways getting things right but brim-full of the confidence to try. Like Paul,it is charming, sweet but fiercely ambitious and quite calculating in itsmethods. Like George, it has a quite confidence with a mysterious side that hasseen literary figures like Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Percy FlorenceShelley and Paul Verlaine drawn to the town. Like Ringo, Bournemouth likes agood time, is generally cheerful and holds a rock solid beat. It could also beBrian – whose father, Harry, died in Bournemouth in 1967 – because it isnaturally conservative, profitable and shrewd.

CBAMR: What wasthe main reason for you to write this book?

NC: I grew upabout 15 miles from Bournemouth and have been sharing stories about The Beatlesplaying in Bournemouth since I was a kid. I sang along to their records on theradiogram as a child and a fascination with their music and story stayed withme all throughout my youth and into my professional life as a journalist. A fewyears ago, a contact of mine bought a set of rare and unseen photos of TheBeatles taken in Bournemouth at auction. The photos were by Harry Taylor, afreelance press photographer who had worked for the Bournemouth Echo and theBournemouth Times in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He captured The Beatles in theirdressing room, posing on a hotel balcony, at dinner, at a party, beinginterviewed etc. He had incredible access to the band and produced wonderfuldocumentary-style photos. Coupled with the various significant connectionsbetween Bournemouth and The Beatles, the photos made a book the next obviousstep. When I was made redundant by the Bournemouth Echo last Christmas, Isuddenly found that I had the time to write the book as I established myself asa freelance writer.

CBAMR: Is thereany exclusives in your book, that would make it any different to any of theother Beatles related publications?

NC: Many of thephotos have never been seen before, or not seen since 1963 or 1964. HarryTaylor had incredible access to The Beatles and got some great photos that neitherthe Bournemouth Echo nor Bournemouth Times of the day made full use of. Thereare also the memories of photographer Tom Hanley and the day he spent with Mimiat her home – at John's request just before he left for New York – in 1971photographing and generally making a fuss of her. The photos and story of DavidStark's weekend at Mimi' house in 1981, a few months after John's death, havenever 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 ferriedfrom their hotel to the venue in August 1963, that have never been publishedbefore.

CBAMR: What isyour favourite Beatles Album, and why?

NC: That's atough question, it changes all the time. I've always loved ‘Revolver’ becauseit is their most complete record and a real triumph of creativity when youconsider they were still touring when they wrote the songs and recorded thealbum. 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 lyricsas 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 guitarplaying is particularly effective. Lately I've given more time to earlieralbums like ‘With the Beatles’ (the cover shot was taken at the Palace CourtHotel in Bournemouth) and ‘A Hard Day's Night’ which are more subtle than manypeople think – there's a lot of music going on there from country & westernto show tunes as well as John's throat-ripping rock vocals. Abbey Road also hassome splendid moments that makes me wonder what they cold have gone on toachieve had they stayed together.

Cracking the Colonies

2011-11-16T10:27:00.001Z

NBC footage of The Beatles at the Winter Gardens broadcast on 3 January 1964

Many people believe Ed Sullivanintroduced The Beatles to America, but their first television appearances usedthe footage shot in Bournemouth – initially on CBS and then on NBC’s Jack Paar Show, a month before the Ed Sullivan Show.

Until the Winter Gardens footage wasshown though, the group’s track record in America was virtually non-existent.

At first, Capitol turned down the group andtheir debut single, Love Me Do, wasnot even released. The follow-ups, PleasePlease Me and From Me To You, bothflopped on the Veejay imprint, before EMI struck a deal with the Swan label torelease She Loves You on 16 September1963. It bombed.

But with coast-to-coast airplay, I Want To Hold Your Hand topped the USBillboard charts on 1 February 1964. A week later The Beatles landed in NewYork – at the newly renamed John F Kennedy Airport – and on 9 February madetheir debut on the Ed Sullivan Show.The show was watched by 73 million people; 40% of the entire population.

Beatlemania was in its pomp and afterseven weeks at number one I Want To HoldYour Hand was replaced by, of course, the re-released She Loves You.

This extract is taken from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth which is available to order from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.

Listed magazine review

2011-11-14T10:24:00.001Z

Another great review, this time from Listed magazine...

While drawing links between Bournemouth and the biggest popband the world has ever known at first seems tenuous, did you know the Beatlesplayed more theatre shows at Bournemouth Gaumont that any other concert venuein the UK outside of London? That the first appearance of the band on AmericanTV was filmed in the town’s Winter Gardens? John Lennon even bought his dearAunt Mimi a home in nearby Sandbanks.

Author Nick Churchill, a reporter for the Bournemouth DailyEcho for more than 25 years (not quitetrue, but it was a long time! –NC), reveals this and more in his thoroughlyresearched biography, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth. Churchillis clearly a fan of the Fab Four to have been inspired to write this history,but is never sycophantic. The book is brimming with facts and figuresdocumenting the rise and fall of the band and how a seaside resort acted as abackdrop along the way.

However, Yeah Yeah Yeah is not a dry, paperweight of a tome.Rather it is elegantly written and never loses its train of thought amongst thevastness of its sprawling subject. It is also broken up with many previouslyunpublished pictures of The Beatles and you can even dip in and out as you likeand enjoy the wealth of information resigned to the side panels, such as theband’s further travels in Dorset and their rivalry with The Kinks.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is availableto order from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.It would make a great Christmas present!

It took me years to write, will you take a look?

2011-11-08T14:04:00.000Z

Beatles fans Arthur Macfarlane (left) and Martin Bartlett, who appears in the book, with me at the Beatles Day launch event in Bournemouth in September. Photo by Richard Crease, Daily Echo

People keep asking me, so how did I come to write a book about TheBeatles? After all, it’s not like there’s any shortage of Beatles books, many of themwritten by people far more qualified to do so than me. But the thing with TheBeatles, more than any band before or since, is their music belongs to all ofus.

Nearly 50 years after they released their first single, TheBeatles’ music is almost part of human DNA, something that connects young andold alike across national boundaries, a shared consciousness. Man.

Which is a roundabout way of explaining how The Beatles lefttheir mark on my tender ears growing up in the late 1960s and 1970s in the village of Stoborough on the Isle of Purbeck in South Dorset, at least hundreds of miles away from anywhere to do with The Beatles. Or soI thought.

I don’t know why dad and mum had three Beatles' singles inthe radiogram because they weren’t fans, but those records constitute myearliest musical memories. I used to tape a hairbrush to the Ewbank carpetcleaner and sang along to I Want To HoldYour Hand, I Feel Fine and Can’t Buy Me Love so many times I stillknow the words by heart.

All through the punk rock wars and into my immersion in theMod revival, those songs stayed with me. They were there when I was dancing toNorthern Soul all night and right at home next to later passions like The StoneRoses. By the time their mix of classic guitar pop and dance music’ssensibilities had morphed into Britpop I was less concerned with music of themoment and far happier in the broad church of sound to which The Beatlesministered.

(It’s worth noting that childhood exposure to The Beatlesalso instilled in me a healthy distrust of heavy metal and it’s bratty Americancousin, grunge. I Hate Myself and Want ToDie? Not round our way, Kurt!)

And so to Yeah YeahYeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth…

I first heard stories about Beatles’ concerts as a kid. Theyalways seemed to be told by hairy hippy types with acoustic guitars and toomany folk records who had ‘grown out of all that’, but when pressed wouldreveal they had such tremendous fun. By the time I heard the first Clash albumI already knew about The Beatles playing in Bournemouth so when Clash fansrioted in the Winter Gardens in 1977 and the town’s burghers called for punkrock to be banned, I knew it couldn’t have been much worse than Beatles fanswetting the seats more than a decade earlier.

I was further tantalised a few years later when an old boyon Wareham Quay correctly spotted the Beatles reference in the Nelson cap I wassporting on top of my teenage Mod regalia and told me John Lennon had a drinkin the Quay Inn one night. He couldn’t add to the story, didn’t talk to theBeatle, just noticed he’d come in the pub. A few months later I got up to go toschool and dad told me John Lennon had been shot dead. That made me sad.

And ever since then I’ve never been far from a Beatles storywith a Dorset connection. There’s the waterside home John Lennon bought hisbeloved aunt Mimi at Sandbanks, the instantly recognisable half-shadow covershot for With The Beatles that wastaken in the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth, George Harrison writing hisfirst song in the same hotel, American newsreel footage of the Winter Gardensconcert, people who met The Beatles and McCartney’s ex-Wings-man, sax playerHowie Casey who was there the first time John, Paul and George played as theSilver Beetles. He said they were rubbish, but when they joined him in thefleshpots of Hamburg a few months later they were well on their way to becomingthe greatest band the world has ever known.

The stories mounted up, my interest only grew, but was Ialone? Who else could share this passion for the improbable links between TheBeatles and Bournemouth?

The die was finally cast when, after more than 20years plying my trade in regional journalism, I was granted access to a cacheof rare and previously unpublished photographs of The Beatles taken inBournemouth.

What else could I do but start writing?

- Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is availablenow from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

- An exhibition of rare and previously unseen photographs from the book can be seen at the Central Library in Bournemouth until 18 January. Copies of selected prints from the book can be bought here.

Unseen Beatles photos

2011-11-01T18:55:00.000Z

This photo by Harry Taylor of The Beatles eating sticks of Bournemouth rock on the first floor balcony of the Palace Court Hotel overlooking Westover Road is just one of some 200 rare and previously unpublished photos of the Fab Four to be found in Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.
An exhibition of those photos opens on Monday, 7 November at the Central Library in Bournemouth and runs until 18 January 2012. Nick Churchill will be on hand to sign copies of the book from 5-7pm on Monday.
And with Christmas on the horizon we thought we'd produce our own version of those Beatles Fan Club Christmas presents and make a selection of these very special photos available to buy from the official website here.

NOTE: The exhibition has now been expanded to include new images and moved to Lighthouse, Poole where it will run until 10 March. The venue is hosting a special screening of A Hard Day's Night on 28 February and the book Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is now on sale at the Lighthouse ticket shop.

All together on the wireless machine ... again

2011-11-01T18:38:00.000Z

BBC Radio Solent presenter - and ardent Beatles fan - Alex Dyke interviewed Nick Churchill in The Big Hour feature on his show today. Listen here. The interview starts around 2 hrs 39 mins.

'Magic' Alex Dyke

2011-10-30T11:36:00.000Z

BBC Radio Solent presenter Alex Dyke has invited me back on his show on Tuesday (1 November) to take part in the Big Hour feature from 12-1pm. You can listen live on 96.1FM or 103.8FM, or online here.

British Beatles Fan Club review

2011-10-25T20:25:00.000+01:00

Not only did they put us in touch with Mimi's nurse Lynne Varcoe and allow us to use their interview, but The British Beatles Fan Club magazine has given a Macca-style thumbs up to Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.
Here's the text...

A wonderful 178 page book depicting The Beatles’ visits toBournemouth and the surrounding area compiled by Nick Churchill, a journalistwho has spent over 25 years working in and around Bournemouth.

There are some fascinating photographs included from theirweek of shows at the Gaumont in August 1963 (incidentally, outside of Londonthis is where The Beatles played the most theatre shows during their career).

The With The Beatlesalbum sleeve was also photographed here, at the Palace Court Hotel, and ofcourse John bought his Aunt Mimi a house in Sandbanks, just outside ofBournemouth. All of this is wonderfully documented, including accompanyingphotographs and memorabilia. The chapter on Aunt Mimi is particularlyfascinating – something I have not seen in any previous Beatle book. Itincludes a wonderful colour shot of John, Mimi and Julian at Sandbanks Ferryterminal.

The book moves on to solo Beatles performances inBournemouth, from Paul McCartney and Wings in 1973, right up to the present daywith Ringo’s recent gig there earlier this year.

All in all a new Beatle book that will please readers,particularly those local to Dorset and those who want to know more about Mimi(for me these pieces are the most interesting, which also include personalletters from Mimi to fans, after John’s passing).

There are some wonderful unseen photographs of The Beatlesboth as a group and solo artists, in this book.

Ernie Sutton

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is availableto order now from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Purbeck! magazine review

2011-10-22T23:23:00.000+01:00

The second issue of Purbeck! magazine includes a fine feature on Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth based on little more than the accident of geography that resulted in the author being brought up in that most beautiful part of South Dorset.

The full text is reproduced below by kind permission.

Copies available here.

NickChurchill is a son of Purbeck who joined our small stable of writers for thissecond edition. We knewhe could string a few sentences together but it still came as a surprise whenhe mentioned, almost in passing, that he’d published a book – Yeah Yeah Yeah:The Beatles & Bournemouth.

The bookitself is full of fascinating insights into the impact the Beatles made on theseaside resort town, but it’s also a treasure trove of memorabilia, pepperedthroughout with reproductions of original posters and tickets, album covers, newsclippings and some fantastic, previously unpublished behind-the-scenes photos.The stories are told by the very people who were there - from the stars whoshared the stage with the fabulous quartet, their fans, venue staff, and thereporters who covered the phenomenon as it took hold.

How hefits it all in to 174 pages is a magical mystery yet nothing feels crowded;visually it is a joy to behold and the cover is, appropriately, iconic sixties.A design classic.

You canbe pretty sure there’ll be a few copies of Yeah Yeah Yeah heading up Liverpoolway - no Beatleography is complete now Nick Churchill is a paperback writer.

By whatroute did this book come to arrive at our door? A long and winding one, ofcourse. Growing up in sleepy Stoborough through the sixties and seventies, Nickfelt ‘hundreds of miles away from anywhere to do with The Beatles.’ Sitting inhis nowhereland, perhaps. ‘Or so I thought’. His parents had a hand in hisearly musical development.
‘I don’t know why dad and mum had three Beatlessingles in the radiogram because they weren’t fans, but those records constitutemy earliest musical memories. I used to tape a hairbrush to the Ewbank carpetcleaner and sang along to I Want To Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine and Can’t BuyMe Love so many times I still know the words by heart.’ Dig that ‘radiogram’,man.

Nick wasless than two months old when The Beatles quit touring in August 1966 anddidn’t become aware of the Bournemouth connection until a few years later. ‘I firstheard stories about Beatles’ concerts as a kid. They were always told by hairyhippy types with acoustic guitars and too many folk records - who had ‘grownout of all that’ Beatles business, but when pressed would reveal they’d

had suchtremendous fun.’ His musical tastes reflect the years in which he matured, butthe early influence stuck.

‘All throughthe punk rock wars and my immersion in the Mod revival, those songs stayed withme. They were there when I was dancing to Northern Soul all night and right athome next to later passions like The Stone Roses. By the time their mix ofclassic guitar pop and dance music’s sensibilities had morphed into Britpop, Iwas much less concerned with music of the moment and far happier in the broaderchurch of sound to which The Beatles ministered.

‘TheBeatles also instilled in me a healthy distrust of heavy metal and it’s brattyAmerican cousin, grunge. I Hate Myself and Want To Die? Not round our way,Kurt!

‘By thetime I heard the first Clash album I already knew about The Beatles havingplayed in Bournemouth - so when Clash fans rioted in the Winter Gardens in 1977and the town’s burghers called for punk rock to be banned, I knew

then itcouldn’t have been much worse than Beatles fans wetting the seats more than adecade earlier.’

Ever thededicated follower of fashion, his interest was piqued a few years later by ‘anold boy at Wareham Quay’ who had spotted the reference to The Beatles in theLennon-esque Nelson Cap he’d worn as part of his teenage Mod regalia. Hisinterlocutor happened to have been in the pub when John Lennon strolled in forrefreshment – way back when. A few months after hearing this story, John

Lennonwas shot in New York, which had a profound effect, as it did on many of us, onthe young Nick.

‘Eversince then I’ve never been far from a Beatles story with a Dorset connection.There’s the waterside home John Lennon bought his beloved aunt Mimi atSandbanks, the instantly recognisable half-shadow cover shot for With

TheBeatles that was taken in the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth. George Harrisonwrote his first song in the same hotel. I’ve seen American newsreel footage ofthe Winter Gardens concert and talked with people who met The Beatles, and metwith McCartney’s ex Wings-man and sax player, Howie Casey, whose band Derry AndThe Seniors was on the bill the first time John, Paul and George played as theSilver Beetles. He reckoned they were rubbish, but after they joined him in thefleshpots of Hamburg a few months later they were well on their way to becomingthe greatest band the world has ever known.’

As thestories mounted up, his interest grew, but that was as far as it went. Aftermore than twenty years plying his trade in regional journalism, a pivotalmoment occurred in his life.

‘I wassuddenly granted access to a cache of rare or previously unpublishedphotographs of The Beatles taken in Bournemouth. What else could I do but startwriting?’

Yeah YeahYeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available now from

www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

The Stage review

2011-10-18T21:13:00.000+01:00

The Stage, Britain's newspaper for the entertainment industry, has published a great review of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.
The text is below, or you can read it here.

Just as you thought you knew almost everything there was to know about The Beatles (if that’s your special interest) along comes a sparky new book linking them to a rather unlikely Dorset seaside resort.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth by Nick Churchill claims to contain “rare and previously unpublished Beatles pictures” — and the one on the cover certainly lives up to that claim. It shows the Fab Four in all their furry, wholesome youthfulness, each brandishing a stick of Bournemouth rock and pretending to bite it. Not exactly an image we’re used to.

And I bet you didn’t know that they played more gigs at Bournemouth’s Gaumont than at any other UK concert venue outside London or that Bournemouth was where John Lennon eventually bought his beloved Aunt Mimi a home?

The Beatles arrived in Bournemouth (in their new Ford Zephyr car) for the first time on 19 August 1963. They were there to do a week at Gaumont Cinema in Westover Road, playing two sets a night for six nights before moving on to a Sunday show in Blackpool. Harry Taylor was in the vanguard of the local press corps and it is predominantly his photographs - provided by his daughter Sandra who managed both his diary and his dark room - which make this book so fresh. There are lots of good backstage shots of the Beatles, and others, in their dressing room, reading the local paper, having dinner and so on. Also interesting is the archive material such as posters, handwritten notes and letters and newspaper articles.

The text, immaculately written by journalist Nick Churchill who has covered music and other topics for The Bournemouth Echo for over 25 years, gives a detailed account of the development of pop music in the Bournemouth area and the coverage of the Beatles’ work there. And it comprehensively follows through all other connections such as Aunt Mimi’s funeral in 1991 which was attended by Lennon’s first wife Cynthia as well as by Yoko Ono and Lennon’s five year old son, Sean. The other three Beatles and their families all sent flowers. I love the photograph (not by Taylor) of Lennon with his elder son Julian wearing his famous Afghan coat, looking magnificent… and clutching a bucket and spade.

Churchill is especially good at putting Beatles history into context. For example, he carefully traces Bournemouth-related links with other groups such as The Kinks and Billy J Kramer with whom they appeared at The Gaumont and elsewhere. There are also insights into sixties fans’ behaviour and management. The book includes many interviews with, and comments by, people who were there when the Beatles came to Bournemouth.

It is all this information which makes Yeah, Yeah, Yeah: The Beatles in Bournemouth a useful new contribution to Beatles study and a good read for anyone researching the development of post-war pop music in Britain. One for recommended reading list for any course which covers this ground, I think.

Susan Elkin

Copies of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth can be ordered here.

Fatea Magazine review

2011-10-11T08:36:00.000+01:00

The reception for Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth continues to be very positive and very kind. Here's the latest review, from Fatea magazine.

I guess trying to find a new angle for a Beatles book is a bit like hunting down the proverbial needle in the haystack, but "Yeah Yeah Yeah The Beatles & Bournemouth" seems to have managed that trick.

Ok, no disputing that Liverpool is number one in the Beatles connection list and with Abbey Road and EMI both being in London, that comes next, then there's the American connections, Indian mystics etc. But right there in the mix in Bournemouth, well Bournemouth and Poole.

There's an interesting set of bullets on the back cover of this Nick Churchill penned book:

* The Beatles played more theatre shows at the Bournemouth Gaumont than any other concert venue in the UK outside of London * A tape of The Beatles at the Gaumont is the earliest known recording of their theatre show * The iconic With The Beatles cover photo was taken in Bournemouth * The first appearance of The Beatles on American TV was shot at the Winter Gardens Bournemouth * John Lennon bought his Aunt Mimi a home just outside Bournemouth and was a regular visitor to the area.

But is that, combined with a whole series of rare and previously unpublished pictures enough to justify a 176 page tome covering those associations? The answer, an unequivocal yes. To put those shows in perspective, Bournemouth Gaumont sixteen, next highest venue, Empire Theatre Liverpool six. Listings and bill posters are, naturally, included amongst the regular pgotographs.

Whilst all books of this type have a certain amount of filler, the bands that played alongside The Beatles, The Beatles returning with their solo careers etc, Aunt Mimi's connection to the town, that brought John back on many occasions and helped keep some of the characters in the same place and Nick Churchill's excellent writing ensure all the threads join neatly together.

Without those interactions, "Yeah Yeah Yeah The Beatles & Bournemouth" would just be, they came, they played and they were photographed, but there is so much more to this. Lennon's relationship with the area is explored in a real depth and that is helped by clever use of the photos that in many ways were the inspiration for this book.

My initial thoughts when I heard about this book was what is the appeal going to be beyond the fans of the fab four and local music fans who may have been there at the time catching up on a few nostalgic memories, but having read the book, it's got a really wide appeal for any musicologist who wants to try and get an understanding of what happens to life and family when you are part of a global phenomenon.

It's here that Churchill really shows his strength, it wasn't always light and joy between Lennon and his aunt. Crack lines occasionally appeared, like when Lennon returned his MBE, but it's feeling through those movements that make this book such a good read.

Published: Natula Publications ISBN: 9781897887899

Neil King

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth can be ordered here.

George in his own write

2011-10-08T10:12:00.000+01:00

With so much attention focussed on Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, it seems fitting to pay tribute to George by reproducing the following excerpt from Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.

It relates the story of two letters written by George at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth during The Beatles' six-day summer season at the Gaumont cinema in August 1963...

Written on Palace Court Hotelstationery, George sent a two-page letter to a fan called Boote that came upfor auction a few years ago. Although they were still replying personally tofan letters, The Beatles had stopped doing so by the end of 1963.

Dear Boote

Thanks for yourletter. I’m glad you like ‘She Loves You’ now… (we hope you dig it!)

Actually I, orany of the others for that matter, don’t like Jelly Babies, and the press musthave made it up themselves!

I think we arein London more than Liverpool these days, because of Radio and Recording etc…

We don’t mindgirls screaming in the noisy numbers, but I think we would prefer them to be alittle quieter in the slow songs.

I don’t thinkyou are too old to write fan letters.

As far as Iknow, we are not on the State Kilburn, but we are on the Albert Hall.

I am sorry Ihave got to write this letter like ‘Question Time’ but I haven’t got enoughtime to answer properly, so I hope you don’t mind.

Cheers for now

Love from

George Harrisonxxx

In another letter written that week atthe Palace Court, George revealed to a fan, Lynn Smith, that Ringo was scared of singing:

“The general public always seems to think that John,Paul and I shove Ringo at the back, don’t let him sing, smile, or do anything,which is not very true, as we are always telling him to sing... we evensuggested him singing and dancing (as he can do all the dances) at the front ofthe stage... but Ringo wouldn’t do it, as I think he was a bit scared.”

He also complained again about the flying sweets.

“We don’t like Jelly Babies, or Fruit Gums for thatmatter, so think how we feel standing on stage trying to dodge the stuff,before you throw some more at us. Couldn’t you eat them yourself, besides it isdangerous. I was hit in the eye once with a boiled sweet, and it’s not funny!”

It must have been an occupational hazard for the boysat the time as Beatles Monthly alsoreported Paul McCartney being hit in the eye by a jelly baby at the Gaumont.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available now from www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Ob-La-DJ Dapper Dan

2011-10-03T17:31:00.000+01:00

Chris Brown, the rock 'n' roll town crier, civic MC to the beautiful Dorset town of Wimborne Minster, also masquerades as DJ Dapper Dan whose weekly reggae show Skanking Delights is a highlights of Forest FM 92.3.
Last week he cunningly constructed a winning sequence of reggae covers of Beatles songs and said some lovely things about the publication of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth. The podcast is available to download here. Cheers Chris!

The newspaper said...

2011-10-03T16:33:00.000+01:00

Saturday's Southern Daily Echo featured a TV & Leisure magazine cover story about Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth.
As many know the town's Beatles connection actually started in Southampton when Bournemouth-based reporter and photographer Tony Crawley and Harry Taylor were dispatched to interview French singer Louise Cordet who was appearing with The Beatles at Southampton Gaumont on 20 May 1963 - three months before they got to Bournemouth.
The report featured a selection of photos from the book including previously unpublished shots of The Beatles with Louise Cordet and Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Here's the text from feature writer Keith Hamilton's article...

We loved them, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those cheeky, mop-headed, Fab Four hailed from Liverpool, but John, Paul, George, and Ringo also had close connections here in the south.

Think of The Beatles and immediately Merseyside and the Cavern Club come to mind, after all they were an irreverent bunch of Scousers who took the world by storm. But dig down into their story and it doesn’t take long to undercover fascinating links with Hampshire.

A new book, Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth by Nick Churchill, containing rare and previously unpublished photographs of the Beatles, is published on October 6 and is the definitive account of the connections between the greatest of all rock ’n’ roll groups and the seaside resort.

A wonderful nostalgic trip for the baby boomer generation, the book goes back over the years to those far off days of Beatle jackets, Beatlemania, Beatle haircuts, Beatle magazines and posters, and of course, the unforgettable music.

Back in the 1960s, Bournemouth was still part of Hampshire and the Beatles’ initial, highly significant shows did much to establish and form their characters. Hence the group can arguably be claimed as part of the county’s culture heritage.

It was on August 19, 1963 when The Beatles began a six-day season at the former Gaumont theatre in Bournemouth, performing twice nightly in a total of 12 shows before returning a few months later in November to appear at the Winter Gardens, a much bigger venue.

The following year they were back for two more dates, returning to the Gaumont on August 2 and October 30.

“Surprisingly, this means The Beatles played more shows at Bournemouth’s Gaumont, now

the Odeon, than at any other UK theatre outside London,’’ said Nick, a former journalist

on the Daily Echo’s sister newspaper in Bournemouth.

“A tape of a full Beatles concert recorded during their first visit to Bournemouth is the earliest known example of their theatre show.

“Despite the excellent quality of the recording it remains unreleased.’’

One of the great strengths of the new book is the remarkable pictures taken by local photographer, Harry “Flash’’ Taylor, images which, up to now, have never before been published.

“A larger than life figure, ‘Flash’ Harry moved from his native London during the Second World War and built landing craft in a factory on Poole Harbour,’’ said Nick.

“After the war he started to promote his photographic abilities towards the local press, and was always on hand to record the event whenever The Beatles were performing in the area.

“For instance, he was in Southampton when The Beatles were on stage at the old Gaumont Cinema, now the Mayflower Theatre, on May 20, 1963.

“It was then he took the photographs of the Beatles with Gerry and the Pacemakers.’’

By the time The Beatles appeared in Southampton they had had three hits, Love Me Do, Please Please Me, and their first number one, From Me to You. They began the tour co-headlining with Roy Orbison and closed the show every night.

The Beatles returned on December 13 the same year to perform the last concert of their autumn tour, while their final visit to Southampton’s Gaumont was on November 6, 1964.

During John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s first stay in Bournemouth, they released their third single, She Loves You, which stayed in the charts for 31 weeks, returning to number one when the group arrived back in November, 1963.

The rather stuffy, British establishment, at that time, found the refrain “yeah,yeah, yeah” controversial. National radio in the form of the BBC broadcast the single, but in some quarters it was seen to “hail the collapse of civilised society”.

Some critics panned the song, dismissing the “yeah, yeah, yeah,’’ as “uncouth slang from a fad band’’, however, the “yeahs’’ were to have a great effect on The Beatles’ image. Indeed, in some parts of Europe, it was said, they became known as the Yeah-Yeahs.

While staying at the Palace Court Hotel that August, one of the band’s most iconic photo shoots took place, the half-shadow shot by Robert Freeman, which appeared on the sleeve of the second album, With The Beatles.

The occasion was a bittersweet time for George Harrison as he spent much of his time holed up in his hotel room suffering from a heavy cold, but during that week he wrote his first song for The Beatles, Don’t Bother Me.

The Winter Gardens shows on November 16, 1963 were filmed by crews from the three major US TV networks, CBS, NBC and ABC. Consequently, the first footage America saw of The Beatles was filmed in Bournemouth.

Although a one-off date, the two shows on August 2, 1964 were reported in Disc magazine and were also notable for the inclusion of The Kinks on the support bill.

Ray Davies has since recalled how John Lennon set out to intimidate the nervous Kinks and sparked the first battle of Britpop, the Blur versus Oasis of its day.

The Beatles’ final Bournemouth shows, in October 1964, were part of a UK tour, which saw them fly the flag for the music of black America with principal support act Mary Wells. She became the first Motown act to perform in the UK and the first female singer to open for The Beatles.

John Lennon enjoyed a close relationship with his Aunt Mimi, with whom he lived for most of his childhood, even though she could be highly dismissive of his musical ambitions, his girlfriends, and wives.

She often told teenager, John: “The guitar's allright, but you'll never make a living out of it’’.

Despite later losing touch with other family members, John kept in close contact and telephoned Aunt Mimi every week until his death in 1980. In the mid-1960s he bought her a waterside bungalow at Sandbanks, near Poole, where she lived until her death in 1991. Aunt Mimi’s house in Liverpool was later donated to the National Trust, and is now open to the public.

On various visits to Sandbanks, John was spotted by locals in either a Mini Cooper or, later, in his famous psychedelic Rolls-Royce.

He even visited in the run up to the release of Sgt Pepper when he was photographed with

Aunt Mimi and his son, Julian, at Sandbanks chain ferry.

In March 1969, just after Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman, John and Yoko Ono

announced they were to get married.

John sent his chauffeur, Les Anthony, to Southampton to ask if he and Yoko could marry at

sea, as related in The Ballad of John & Yoko, the Beatles’ final number one.

Finally, John’s two wives were together with their sons Julian and Sean at Poole Crematorium for Mimi’s funeral service.

- Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is published by Natula Publications, and is available at www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Day in the (Dorset) Life

2011-09-29T16:41:00.000+01:00

Dorset Life magazine ran a feature about the historic connection between The Beatles and Bournemouth in its September issue. It's now available to view online here.

Tell Me Why

2011-09-27T18:03:00.000+01:00

photo courtesy of Beatles Days

It's always great to see them, but it was especially kind of Howie and Sheila Casey to pop their heads round the door at Sunday's launch event and Beatles Day at the Bournebeat Hotel as they'd been out gigging the night before!
Howie wrote the foreword to Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth and both have shared memories of playing with The Beatles and being around the Fab Four.
They weren't the only ones to ask me why I thought it was a good idea a book about The Beatles' connections to Bournemouth.
I ended up telling the Daily Echo in a feature I wrote for them which has been published today and appears on their website with a lovely comment from Aunt Mimi's former milkman.
But in case you missed it, here's the text...

OF all the things to write your first book about, why choose The Beatles?

After all, millions of words and thousands of books have already been written about the group whose recorded output is the closest we have to a universal language. There’s barely a place on the planet where The Beatles are unknown and not a second passes without their music being played by someone somewhere.

In that sense The Beatles left their mark on Bournemouth the same as anywhere, but what has rarely been acknowledged is how much events in Bournemouth contributed to the history of what many consider the greatest rock ’n’ roll group of them all.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth makes those connections and cements them with a wealth of previously unpublished photographs.

As an ambitious and shrewdly managed young group, The Beatles were made incredibly accessible to the press in 1963 and 1964. Freelance photographer Harry Taylor made the most of that access, but the Bournemouth Times published only a handful of the shots he took of The Beatles in their dressing room or hotel, at dinner, even partying after a show at the Gaumont.

The Beatles finished touring in 1966, a year after John Lennon had bought his aunt Mimi a harbourside home at Sandbanks where she lived until her death in 1991. Having spoken to people who spent time with her there, I think history has been cruel to the woman portrayed as a manipulative snob in Sam Taylor-Wood’s film Nowhere Boy. In words and photos they recall her as a charming, private woman who couldn’t quite separate John Lennon’s fame from the little boy she brought up from the age of five.

In many ways, this is the most intriguing aspect of the story because it is the most unknowable. The truth has long been clouded by history so all we have left is interpretation and, as such, it neatly encapsulates the continuing fascination with all things Beatles.

I’ve spent most of my adult life writing about music and many other things in and around Bournemouth and heard dozens of stories about the times The Beatles came to town. I’m not alone in finding each new one as gripping as the last, at once prosaic and enthralling. I don’t need to know that John, George and Ringo had steak and chips, but Paul had a lightly-poached egg on toast when they stopped at Asker’s Hotel between Dorchester and Bridport on November 13, 1963 – but I’m oddly glad that I do.

I’m still not sure if I found The Beatles or they found me. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released on my first birthday (June 1, 1967), but it was years before I heard it as mum and dad weren’t interested. And yet they had three early Beatles singles in the radiogram and by the time I was six or seven I was in the habit of taping a hairbrush to the Ewbank carpet cleaner to make a mic and stand and miming along to I Want To Hold Your Hand, Can’t Buy Me Love and I Feel Fine.

Back then, yesterday was so far away that anything before that belonged in a history lesson. I made little distinction between 1963 and 1863… it was a black and white world of before now, long ago and far away. I’ve still got those records..

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth is available in paperback by Natula Publications, price £17.95. Available at www.beatlesandbournemouth.com.

Echo magazine feature

2011-09-26T09:38:00.000+01:00

Saturday's Daily Echo Magazine carried a two-page cover story by features writer Pat Gough about Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth, complete with a selection of Harry Taylor's photos. In case you missed it, here's the text...

BEATLEMANIAis set to return with the release of a new book that charts the Fab Four inBournemouth.

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth by author Nick Churchill offers acomplete account of The Beatles’ connections to the town.

It turnsout that Bournemouth was closely involved in the infancy of The Beatles. Yes,you did read that correctly.

WhileLiverpool was where the fledgling Fab Four played early gigs under such namesas The Quarrymen and The Silver Beetles, The Beatles played the Bournemouth Gaumontmore often Bournemouth than any other UK theatre outside

London,even though Bournemouth seems as far from the group’s north-west origins as TheFrog Chorus is from Twist and Shout.

Yet whileDorset can lay little claim to spawning the world’s biggest pop group, theregion hosted some crucial – and less-than-crucial, though interesting –episodes as the Beatle legend unfolded here, there and everywhere.

Just askformer Bournemouth Daily Echo journalist Nick Churchill who has unearthedstories of Bournemouth Beatles lore and eyewitness accounts before theydisappeared forever.

“Mostpeople’s reactions were that they didn’t know there were any strongconnections. There’s nothing in the town to mark the association with TheBeatles, let alone that Beatlemania ever happened here,” says Nick.

The Beatlesplayed four Bournemouth engagements in the early 1960s. The first, at theGaumont, involved two shows a night for six days back in August 1963.

“They werealready big stars in the UK at this point, with recent single From Me To You at the top of the charts.As for Beatlemania, there was a bit of screaming, but it was all quitesweet-natured,” says Nick.

“Theaudience was mainly teenagers, but there are reports of curious holidaymakerswandering in and buying tickets,” he added.

While ontheir first jaunt to Bournemouth, The Beatles had time to shoot the artwork fortheir second album, With The Beatles.

The sleevefeatured Robert Freeman’s iconic half-shadow photos taken in the restaurant atthe Palace Court Hotel in Westover Road during the Beatles’ week-long summerresidency at the Gaumont.

“Also at the Palace Court, GeorgeHarrison penned Don’t Bother Me, hisfirst Beatles song, while confined to his room with a nasty cold.

“In a letter written to a fan at thetime, Harrison expressed his views on the screaming: ‘We don’t mind girlsscreaming in the noisy numbers, but I think we would prefer them to be a littlequieter in the slow songs’.”

As for theactual shows, The Beatles headlined a bill that included Billy J Kramer and TheDakotas, Tommy Quickly, Gary and Lee, The Sons of Piltdown Men, compere BillyBaxter and light entertainers the Glamorous Lanas and Tommy Wallis & Beryl.

Luckily,the chief technician at the Gaumont recorded one of the Bournemouth shows forhis own personal use.

This tape,bought by Apple in 1998, is thought to be the only high-quality concertrecording from the period and has never seen the light of day.

The Beatlessecond appearance, at the Winter Gardens on November 16, created media interestfrom around the world. American film crews from CBS, NBC and ABC were allpresent to capture the action.

“The audiences were far wilder thanthose at the Gaumont, all but drowning out the group who had been driven to theWinter Gardens in an unmarked police van. One Beatle fan was so hysterical thatshe had to be treated in hospital.”

Six monthslater the Fab Four were back at the Gaumont on August 2, 1964. By this point,Beatle fever had started to spread across the globe with A Hard Day’s Night in cinemas and a full US tour in the offing.

The finalshow, at The Gaumont again, on October 30, 1964, marked the final

Bournemouthappearance by the Moptops.

“The final shows were part of a UKtour that saw them champion the music of black America that had influencedtheir songwriting from the earliest days. Support act Mary Wells was the firstMotown act to perform in the UK.”

No soonerhad The Beatles said hello, than it was goodbye to Bournemouth and the lastthey ever saw of the legendary group.

Althoughindividual band members continued to frequent the seaside town as NickChurchill explains.

“Lennon bought a seafront bungalowhome at Sandbanks in 1965 for his beloved Aunt Mimi, who brought him upfollowing the death of his mother.

“The Beatle famously phoned her everyday and made regular visits to Dorset to visit her.

“Paul returned to Bournemouth in the70s with his band Wings and of course Ringo continues to visit and was here atthe BIC this year.”

Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth by Nick Churchill is available nowfrom www.beatlesandbournemouth.com

Launch day special

2011-09-22T09:13:00.000+01:00

So many people have been so helpful in the research, writing and production of Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Beatles & Bournemouth that we've decided to give a little back by making the book available at a special launch day price of £15 - only at Sunday's Beatles Day event at the Bournebeat Hotel in Priory Road, Bournemouth from 11am.
We're also producing colour copies of the poster advertising The Beatles' summer season at the Gaumont in August 1963 and will be giving away a free poster with every book sold on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Daily Echo has features on the book scheduled to appear on Friday, Saturday and next Tuesday.

Good Bay Sunshine

2011-09-21T17:54:00.000+01:00

Bournemouth and Poole community radio station The Bay invited me to join Breakfast Show presenter Paul Stevens this morning to talk about all things Beatles, Bournemouth and book. Click here to listen.