Dream
on, You Fifth Beatle….
As the senior junior Detective in a North London police station, the Detective Sergeant in
charge chose me to accompany him to collect a prisoner from Hyton, just outside Liverpool. As it was a
long train journey from London in
those days, and we are talking about 1960, the escort for the prisoner had to
be two officers. As it was
also late afternoon, arrangements were made with local officers that we would
stay overnight in a local Liverpool hotel..........
The train journey was
uneventful and when we arrived in Lime
Street station in the centre of Liverpool, two likewise young plain-clothes
officers met us. I could tell by the smiles on their faces that we would not be
lonely for the next fourteen or fifteen hours. They drove us to the hotel where
we booked in and deposited our overnight bags. "Right then" said
Shane, the
senior local officer, in a lovely Liverpuddlian
accent "let’s show
you our fair city".
As we entered a Merseyside Dock pub,
everything went quiet but as soon as we had pints in our hands, and the crowd
decided that the local officers were not in fact working or looking for
someone, the laughter and noise recommenced.
"Hey Joe" Shane
almost had to shout to his partner to be heard "look over there, see who it is"?
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Joe answered "that silly twat, Pete Best. If
he'd stayed with them other lads, he could be going somewhere by now. Let’s
have a chat".........
Shane went over to the one they
were talking about and brought him back to where we stood. He introduced us and
after a few minutes, Joe said "Awe
come on Pete. You owe us a big favour: let’s have a few passes for the Cavern,
you always have some". "So long as you tell no-one where they came
from", Pete begged "that John will chin me if he finds out. Freebies
are not his style. Anyway, good luck, it's probably 'Grab a Granny' night there this evening".
Half-an-hour and three pints
later, there we were, in the darkest dingiest Liverpool back street you could
imagine where a crowd of about five hundred, mostly young women, were crowded
outside a small door. A
shoddy sign, with peeling paint, above the door was hand-painted The
Cavern......
Shane went up to the entrance
and when the doorman saw him, all panic broke loose. "Relax Stevie" Joe
said to him "off
duty". He produced the complimentary tickets and Stevie
looked twice before taking them "Sure
you didn't need them Mr. O'Brien, I'd have let you
in for nuttin". "Just take us backstage
Stevie and all is forgiven" Shane winked at him.
And there we were, in the
comparative silence of the backroom, which passed for a changing-room with the
four young men known as the
Beatles who were to take the world by storm in the next few years.
They were just ordinary youngsters but the big one, John, had something
mysterious about him. He was
all eyes and looked us up and down before speaking................
"And to what do we owe
this great pleasure Mr. O'Brien?" he asked. Shane pushed me
forward and said, "I
thought John that maybe you need another bloke in the band?" "Is
he one of yours?" George, the quiet one asked "’cause if he is I've got a great
idea for a song.......here, let me sing a bit of it".
He picked up his guitar and
began to strum. Quickly the others joined in and began to sing a popular
football song of the time "All
coppers are baskets" or words to that effect, over and
over again. "I'll
tell you what Mr.O'Brian" Paul, the cheeky one was now
getting brave "we'll
be here for a lunchtime gig tomorrow and he can have a go on the drums. Ringo's
off form lately".
"Despite your crass
behaviour Paul" John put on his posh accent "I'm actually glad we're getting
this time together with the Constabulary of this parish". He
was obviously taking the mickey. "I
would like your opinion, Mr. O'Brien and that of your colleague Mr.
O'Shea, on the delicate subject of
marijuana". Shane's reply put a smile on John's
face "Go forth and
multiply" was all he said.
Joe was now getting in on the
act "We had a
prisoner in the nick last night lads, by the name of Vincent Van something or
other, a Dutchman. You should try writing a song about him, interesting man
that" he joked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah", Shane
joined in "I had a
word with this Van Gogh last night. He said if he could do it all again, he'd
be down here shaking his bottom to Blue Suede Shoes. I gave him your regards.
Somehow, though, I don't think he has a good ear for music". Seconds
later there was a call for them to go on stage while we stood in the
wings. Suddenly
the lads let rip and it was total bedlam............
All this went on while the
sergeant and I just stood there transfixed. It was only a couple of years later
when the boys were indeed world famous that this meeting with them had any
significance for me...............
The Beatles and me......
Honestly my mind boggles at the very idea..........Yeah, yeah, yeah……………………….
(Always remember: Believe
nothing that you hear and only half of what you see........Mike)
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