Sunday, October 30, 2011

Raymond Jones, Where Are You?

October 30, 1961

Well, Bob Wooler has been loaned the only pressing the Beatles had of their newly released 45 (sent to them by Stuart Sutcliffe from Germany) and has been playing it at all of the jive shows that he MCs around Liverpool.  It must have been pretty exciting for everyone that one of the local Liverpool bands had achieved this milestone.  So it was inevitable that one of the listeners would make his way to North End Music Stores in hopes of buying his own copy.  According to legend, his name was Raymond Jones and he spoke directly to the proprietor, Mr Brian Epstein.  Mr Epstein assured him that, although he did not have the disk on hand (in fact he had never even heard of it) he would bring all of his considerable talents to bear to obtain a copy.

At first Epstein thought these "Beatles" must be a German band.  Soon enough, he had discovered that that particular group was playing almost every day just a short distance away from the door of  his shop.  In his most proper English way, Epstein pulled a few strings and arranged a visit for himself to the Cavern through Bill Harry, publisher of Mersey Beat Magazine.  Who were these musicians, performing under such an unlikely name so near to this own store?

Beat Brothers = Beatles :-)
I love how the label tells you what dance you can to to this recording - the Twist!

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