May 18, 1960
Although the (Silver) Beatles were rejected earlier as a backing band for Billy Fury, Larry Parnes thought he might have a place for them with one of his lesser "artists". He contacted Allan Williams on this day with an offer for the Beatles to accompany a singer called Johnny Gentle. (Paul McCartney recalls being vaguely disappointed by the rather mild stage name.) The tour would visit seven venues "up north" in Scotland. The tour was to commence two days later. Of course, they accepted enthusiastically.
Getting into the spirit of the thing, the Beatles adopted stage names of their own, Paul Ramon, Carl Harrison (after rock hero Carl Perkins) and Stuart de Stael (after russian artist Nicholas de Stael).
It's been a little less than 50 years since the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show February 9th, 1964 and changed our lives forever. The Beatles started their professional careers with a trip to Hamburg, Germany in August of 1960. I'm going to post to this blog what the Beatles were doing 50 years ago to the day from just before that first tour until the historic Ed Sullivan appearance. "Follow by email" for ongoing updates. (Eternal thanks to Mark Lewisohn.)
About Me
- Mike Wilhelm
- After a 30 year career in IT, I got a retirement offer from Ford Motor Company that was too good to pass up. Since then I've been devoting my time to enjoying life, especially through reading, biking and music. I'm a member, with Alison Donahue, of the Guitar/Cello Duo called "Cello Bella" and the Beatles tribute band, The Buntles. (We don't get smash hits, but we can usually bunt our way on base!)
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