71 - The Beatles with Stuart Maconie (Liverpool)

Stuart Maconie is well known as the host of The Freak Zone on BBC Radio, he has written for NME, The Times, The Guardian & many more.

His books have been widely published & include Long Road From Jarrow, The Nanny State Made Me, Cider With Roadies & Pies & Prejudice.

His new book is published by HarperNorth - With a Little Help From Their Friends - The Beatles Changed the World. but Who Changed Theirs?

We discuss a number of people who have an impact on the Beatles lives & career, from the more obvious such as Brian Epstein or George Martin to the obscure including John Mustard (of Mean Mr. Mustard fame) & Harry Graves (Ringo Starr’s stepdad who bought him his first drum kit).

We touch on the many former members of the Beatles - some more well known such as Pete Best & Stuart Sutcliffe, and some less familiar such as early bassist Chas Newby & Tommy Moore who skipped a Beatles gig to fulfil a shift at Garston Bottle Works.

Others such as temporary drummer Jimmie Nicol were unable to move on from their brief tenure with the band while others such as photographer Astrid Kircherr were forever linked with the Beatles.

There are those who let the band slip through their fingers such as Allan Williams & Dick Rowe as well as those that stayed loyal to the Fab Four such as fan club founder Freda Kelly.

Find out about the £5 flat fee Ivor Arbiter received for designing the iconic Beatles logo still used today or the £200 received by Sgt. Pepper cover designer Peter Blake.

Another curio is George Harrison’s 1963 visit to the US to visit his sister Louise - the only time a Beatle would visit the country without being treated like a superstar.

A handful of people have received a credit on a Beatles track including Billy Preston who the band had met back in Hamburg & who joined them for the Get Back sessions as seen in the documentary.

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