My First Concert: The Beatles & Mary Wells, October 1964

Right Next Door...Motown's First Diva & John, Paul, George & Ringo!

Being actively involved in the world of soul music for sixty years, I have been asked on occasion what was the very first live concert I attended.

My life in particular being one in which often I can see - and say - the phrase ‘truth is stranger than fiction,’ I literally walked from the top floor flat above Crusoe’s (the busy fish-and-chip shop my father Mark managed in Kilburn, north-west London) after coming home from grammar school on the night of Friday, October 23, 1964.

Right next door with my then-just-turned twelve-year-old sister Sylvia, we were at the glorious Gaumont State cinema to see The Beatles (yes, the real Fab Four, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) and Motown’s then-First Lady, Mary Wells!

It had been less than a year since I had been captivated by another American female chanteuse, one Dionne Warwick whose March 1964 breakthrough with the now-immortal “Walk On By” had lodged itself in my teen consciousness as an antidote to the angst I felt with my unrequited love for Marilyn Wolff , the school girl who had dismissed my request to go on a date with her with words that stung deep: “I don’t go out with younger boys!” She was 17, I was 16…

Unquestionably the biggest band in the land - if not the world - by 1964, The Beatles returned to the UK just weeks before capturing American audiences on their first US tour.

Liverpool’s Fab Four had made no secret of how much R&B musical innovators including Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, The Shirelles, Chuck Berry and a slew of then-emergent Motown hitmakers (including The Miracles, The Marvelettes and Barrett Strong, whose American chart-toppers, respectively “You Really Got A Hold On Me,” “Please Mr. Postman” and “Money [That’s What I Want]” had been introduced to British fans by virtue of cover versions on The Beatles’ best-selling LPs).

Thanks to the ‘sleeve’ notes on the back of the LPs, we discovered that the group chose material “selected from the recording repertoires of the American R&B artists they admire most” and indeed, the albums “Please Please Me” and “With The Beatles” included an amazing ten cover versions of US hits, almost none of which were known to UK radio listeners or record buyers. When I’ve been asked how I got to know about R&B artists at the very start of my own journey into the world of soul music, I have to say that indeed, The Beatles had a whole lot to do with my fascination in finding out more about the artists whose original recordings had inspired the group.

Almost seven months after their first performance at The State Cinema in April 1964, The Beatles were back to do two memorable shows on a bill that included other British artists, Tommy Quickly, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, Remo Four and The Rustiks. The poster for the national tour gave pride of place to “Special Guest Star, direct from America, Mary Wells,” a smart move given that Mary had scored Motown’s first Top 10 hit in Britain with “My Guy.”

My dad Mark was used to having pop stars of the day come in to the busy fish-and-chip shop, given it wasn’t too far from recording studios like Abbey Road and Decca’s facility: that hitmakers of the day such as Cliff Richard had also performed at The State which may have explained why my bedroom wall included a signed photo of him among others!

Friends with the cinema/theatre’s manager, my Dad secured two tickets for me and sister Sylvia to attend the 6:40pm first performance at The State but there was more: because there were two shows that night (after a press conference for The Beatles at The State earlier that day), the venue’s manager had asked my Dad if he could help with having The Beatles leave after the second show at 9pm.

The after-show plan…

John, Paul, George & Ringo would climb a ladder in our backyard so they could hide in the storeroom where my Dad kept the big vats of oil for frying the fish & chips to escape the throngs of female fans hoping for a glimpse or even snag an autograph!

While my sister and I were thrilled to be to going to our first-ever live show, we were beyond belief that the actual Beatles could be in our flat! I imagined what it might be like to go to school on the Monday afterwards boasting (no doubt with a signed photo as proof) that we had played host, even if briefly) to the Fab Four! Stay tuned…

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