I was a child in 1964, when the Beatles first came to North America. Ivor Davis, a young reporter for the London Daily Express, came with the Fab Four; he was the only British writer invited on that entire tour. He witnessed musical history in the making, but not just that. As a writer, he recorded the history he saw.
1964 was the year our family emigrated from England to Canada. We settled near Toronto and took our popular English accents to our new school. We already knew a lot about the Beatles and were avid fans. Our classmates pumped us for information. We knew the lyrics to every song.
We understood that the British Invasion of North America was just beginning. But we also knew and understood that our idols were beyond reproach. Despite their long hair, they dressed neatly. They were funny and hugely talented, and they didn’t have the bad-boy leather-jacketed image of the Rolling Stones. The Beatles couldn’t possibly be drug takers or sexually promiscuous.
In this book, Ivor Davis tells an unvarnished tale of travelling with John, Paul, George, Ringo and their entourage. In 1964, it was understood that journalists embedded with the band were to report only ‘good’ stories; they were not to tell scandalous tales. In that age, even though everyone suspected that rock n’roll also involved drugs and sex, it just wasn’t considered good form to report those salacious stories.
But here, we learn the whole detailed truth about those years. Ivor tells us he was on the scene when Bob Dylan introduced the guys to the joys of marijuana. They used it daily from then on.
Ivor tells of witnessing a member of the Beatles’ entourage constantly recruiting pretty girls of the right age to spend time in the boys’ bedrooms. We hear about their experimentation with other illicit substances too, provided by a member of the entourage who would sacrifice himself should the luggage be searched.
We also hear about how the Beatles finally met their idol, Elvis Presley, at his mansion in Bel-Air, California. According to Ivor, the meeting was awkward. Elvis saw the Beatles as his main competition. The Beatles saw Elvis as their rock and roll idol. John, Paul, George, Ringo AND Elvis were all terribly nervous, said Ivor.
And we also hear from Ivor details about how the Beatles themselves became completely jaded about touring. Young girls screamed everywhere they went. They screamed through concerts, outside the guys’ hotels, in airports. There was no end to the chaos. The Beatles became prisoners in their suites, and they could not hear themselves think, let alone hear themselves playing music during the stadium concerts.
Leaving the concerts became a game of espionage. Deceptions, ruses, multiple vehicles, diversions, were all fair ways to allow the Beatles to evade the rabid fans. Eventually, there were helicopters. But Ivor said John, Paul, George and Ringo were frustrated at every turn. It was no longer about making the music that they loved. Ivor witnessed the lot.
Many of us from the generation that came of age in the ’60s remember fondly those years of being Beatles fans. With every new record that came out, we hiked downtown to Sam the Record Man to spend our babysitting money. We were transfixed by the innovations, interesting lyrics and instruments, and the sheer musicality of what we were hearing. The Beatles’ music became the soundtrack of our generation and beyond, and there were few who didn’t share our love of their work. The music of the world would never be the same.
And now, in this book, Ivor Davis takes us right inside the lives of the Beatles during their North American tour. It’s a fab journey. http://www.IvorDavisBooks.com will tell you how to get your hands on it.
