Stuart Maconie ‘With A Little Help From Their Friends’

The Beatles changed the world. But who changed theirs? This is the question that radio presenter, rock journalist and author, Stuart Maconie, is asking in his new book ‘With a little help from their friends.‘ Last week he stopped off at Birmingham Waterstones to talk about the book, and some of the one hundred people who were, in some way, important to the story of The Beatles. As both a huge Beatles, and Stuart Maconie fan, this was something I could not miss. As I expected, it was riveting and enlightening entertainment.

The Beatles Changed the World

I don’t think anyone can argue with that. It is a fact. They defined a decade, and then changed every decade to come after it. Stuart Maconie believes that The Beatles story is Shakespearean, a great national story. But the story he wanted to tell was not of the band themselves – the King Lears and Hamlets so to speak, but that of the side characters, the Rosencratz and Gildenstein’s of the story.

He mentions that he feels that part of his love for The Beatles came from seeing them in concert at the Wigan ABC when he was a lad, and the fact that he felt like a near contemporary of them – he was born the week they first went to Hamburg. He fell in love with them all over again after viewing the Get Back series during the lockdown and knew then that he wanted to write a book about The Beatles, but that he didn’t want to write a biography. Instead he wanted to write something that was almost Beatles adjacent.

So if it’s not about The Beatles…

Then who is it about? Well, No 1 in the book is Ivan Vaughan. We might never have had The Beatles without Ivan. He was a friend of both John and Paul, and he was the person who took Paul to the Woolton church fete where he introduced  the 15 year old to another friend, John Lennon. This is the moment where Stuart Maconie says the world shifts.

Ivan stayed in touch with Paul for the rest of his life. It was his wife who suggested the French name Michelle to rhyme with ma belle. He also went to work at Apple. He died young from Parkinsons disease and basically changed the world when he went to that church fete.

Astrid and Mal

Two more interesting and integral cogs in the formation of The Beatles were Astrid Kirchher and Mal Evans. Astrid was one of the first people to be smitten by The Beatles. As Stuart says, this happened all the time as they were cheeky, funny, irreverent and charming, filled with natural charisma. Astrid met the band in Hamburg, where she fell in love with Stuart Sutcliffe. It was, as Stuart says, Astrid that ‘washed the grease out of their hair’ and made them more European, cooler. Astrid was a talented photographer and took a lot of their early photos in Hamburg where she basically begins the iconography of modern rock photography – a role that was later filled by another talented photographer, Linda Eastman.

Mal Evans was someone who Stuart didn’t want to spoil the story of, but he said that watching him in Get Back made him want to know more about him. He was absolutely a right hand man for the band, so much that there is now a book about Mal himself. (See that here)

Brian and George

Brian Epstein was the man who discovered The Beatles, and is absolutely integral to their story. Suave and brilliant,he was the man who loved them, who nutured them, and smoothed them out. He was dedicated and devoted to the band, but he was also the person who gave away the merchandising rights to Nicky Byrne (who is also in the book). It is estimated that this decision cost the band about a billion pound in merchandising as The Beatles only owned 10% of the rights after this move.

George Martin is, of course, a musical genius. In Stuart’s eyes, The Beatles were very lucky to have come up against him. Softly spoken and sophisticated, he was actually from a working class background, and, musically, he was very adventurous, and also very astute. He knew a hit when he heard one.  As Stuart says ‘He is the fifth Beatle.’

Jimmie Nicol

Jimmie Nicol is someone who I know little about. During a tour of the far East in 1966, Ringo fell ill and required hospitalisation.  This was during a huge tour, so a replacement drummer was bought in. This was Jimmie Nicol, a London based drummer who was described in the press as like Frankenstein without the bolt. He was a Beatle for around 12 days and it is said his whole life was bent out of shape by those days. When trying to have a quiet drink in a bar he was pulled out by Mal Evans, who told him ‘You’re a Beatle until we put you on a plane.’

He is a mercurial character in The Beatles story, and Maconie is not sure if he is still alive, or where he might be, for that matter.

There are many other characters in the story, from the positivity of Jane Asher and her family, to the villain of the piece Allan Klein. The book can be read in any order, dipped into, or read from front to back, culminating in meeting the man who signified the end of The Beatles, Allan Klein.  As Stuart Maconie says ‘Yoko Ono didn’t split The Beatles up, Allan Klein did.’

This was a brilliant night that was entertaining, enlighting, and was frankly far too short. To find out about the rest of the 100 people… you will just have to read the book!

 

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