Mark Lewisohn - Evolver 62 - Bloomsbury Theatre, London 8/10/22 matinee show 2.30pm

[Lewis Marconi]

[link removed by admin]

Firstly I would say that it was a lovely way to spend 2.5 hours, but all is covered by the first volume of Tune In (especially the extended edition) so wouldn't worry if you weren't able to attend.
No merchandise except to buy Tune In books and some free badges with the Evolver62 logo.

IMHO the second half was better as contained more from The Beatles themselves (snippets of interviews etc.).

From memory, the first half covered:

Mark came on pretending he knew he has something to do but what... oh yes, write another book! Goes to his filing cabinet, turns round and is surprised by the audience! So may as well tell the story of 62...

Brian bought them alarm clocks so they wouldn't be late for appointments. Mentioned in here:



LOTS of examples (magazine covers etc) that 'groups' weren't the thing back then - solo artists were very much the order of the day (Cliff, Elvis etc) and music was often treated as fads (the twist, Acker Bilk with trad jazz etc.).

Despite what many books say, the lads DID NOT hear records of the day via sailors bringing them back from the US. They heard them via record booths in shops such as NEMS.

Paul was a big fan of James Ray's 'If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody'. Snippet of that song played along with a few other influences.

Ringo came back from Hamburg because of the bad floods - if he hadn't then may not have been available to be asked to join The Beatles. Plus a plane crash (the one in which Linda's mum died) had an influence.

The first time all 4 autographed something even though RS wasn't yet a member - covered here:



The infamous 'Prellies' photo. John did most, then George, Paul not much, Pete none. All in Tune In.

Unlike most managers of the day, Brian looked out for the lads and even didn't sign an early contract so it would be easy to void if necessary.

In one formal document (contract?) they were incorrectly named as The BeatTles. In the 2nd half there is mention of a document in which they are incorrectly named The BeatlesS ("a bit harsh on Ringo!").

Paul could have been 'Paul James' rather than McCartney... covered here:



Stuart's death - John is told in Hamburg and is subsequently photographed by Astrid in same location of the room as Stu was (including sitting in Stu's chair). GH had photo taken at same time. These 'half of face in shadow' photos would be mentioned again in the 2nd half.

At one point in the early 60s there seemed to be a flurry of quickly signing artists who wore glasses and looked similar to Buddy Holly (e.g. Hank Marvin), so maybe if John had worn his specs at Decca...

Brian DID NOT force them to wear suits. They were fully on board with it.

A special night at The Cavern, covered here:



Their setlists (not many exist) reveal that GH was singing as many songs as JL & PMc (approx. 4 each).

Pete never seemed to be 'one of them'; usually played with his head down, not looking at the group (compared with RS in 2nd half).

1st half ends with the realisation that they need to replace Pete...

[link removed by admin]

[lyntone]

Great stuff. Many many thanks for this. I would have loved to
have been there

[Lewis Marconi]

I'm trying to think if I've missed anything but don't think so. V nice guy, willing to sign anything after the show.

The first half was v much stressing how different the scene was pre-62, that music was all about solo artists, with most not using their real names. So to think that a BAND using their REAL NAMES (and who would write their own songs) would soon go on to change the world was unthinkable! In fact he showed the front cover of a magazine from around that time with the headline 'The Fab Four!'... the 4 referred to being Cliff, Elvis & 2 others!

One of the highlights of the 2nd half was seeing a picture of George Harrison's letter to his fan 'Sue Cement Mixer' in which he gives detailed instructions on how to wash his car. Mark Lewisohn has told the story before but I recall him saying that he sadly wasn't able to publish the letter in full in Tune In. I think it was something to do with copyright, and may be mentioned in his interviews here:

https://copyrightliteracy.org/2022/06/0 ... copyright/

https://copyrightliteracy.org/2022/06/2 ... e-beatles/

They're definitely worth a listen.


I know a lot of people couldn't get to the shows (not in the UK, train strikes etc) but if you have Tune In then you really do have all the info for 62!
He's planning on doing similar shows for the following years, so if he doesn't publish Tune In Volume 2 any time soon then his information in the next ones (Evolver 63, Evolver 64 etc.) should be so much more of a surprise.

[silverbeatal]

Thank You.

Really great show. Again pretty much everything in Tune In as expected. Had great seats for the sat eve. Hornsey Road had more insights, only because Mark has yet to publish Vols 2&3 of his work covering this period.
Wonderful eve.

[Paulis2006]

.
in Mark's You Tube preview he says it's 62, 2 minute stories that is 32 in each half. I'm sure it's an updated version of Tune-In as he will have found more
Mark says he won't be touring it like Hornsey Road as he has a book to finish
but he will do more shows in London if there is demand

in one of the YT previews he mentions Pete Best singing "Peppermint Twist" at the Cavern......anyone know what other songs Pete sang ?

[hallucalation]

.
in Mark's You Tube preview he says it's 62, 2 minute stories that is 32 in each half. I'm sure it's an updated version of Tune-In as he will have found more
Mark says he won't be touring it like Hornsey Road as he has a book to finish
but he will do more shows in London if there is demand

in one of the YT previews he mentions Pete Best singing "Peppermint Twist" at the Cavern......anyone know what other songs Pete sang ?

I think Matchbox too.

[Mr Bump]

This has just popped up on YouTube. Apparently he did an earlier preview performance, like a rehearsal, and this is the Q&A session at the end. A couple of interesting facts mentioned which he didn't know when volume 1 was published.

[Mr Bump]

in one of the YT previews he mentions Pete Best singing "Peppermint Twist" at the Cavern......anyone know what other songs Pete sang ?

In TUNE IN, Mark also names Elvis's Wild In The Country (which he describes as a "maudlin ballad") as one of Pete's.

[bobzilla]

This has just popped up on YouTube. Apparently he did an earlier preview performance, like a rehearsal, and this is the Q&A session at the end. A couple of interesting facts mentioned which he didn't know when volume 1 was published.

Thanks for the share! That was an interesting listen. I had to laugh at the closed captions because apparently they're not quite up on their Lewisohn accent.

[Paulis2006]

in one of the YT previews he mentions Pete Best singing "Peppermint Twist" at the Cavern......anyone know what other songs Pete sang ?

In TUNE IN, Mark also names Elvis's Wild In The Country (which he describes as a "maudlin ballad") as one of Pete's.

THANKS for those updates (for me) of what Pete sang "Peppermint Twist" "Matchbox" "Wild In The Country (Elvis Presley)"
I saw the Pete Best Band at an overcrowded Casbah show in 2018 and Pete was the 2nd drummer and never even spoke let alone sang