SAM’S old Beatle buddy back in the UK, Martin Creasy, is looking forward to the publication of his first book and it contains a fair sprinkling of extremely rare photographs of the world’s greatest ever band. Legends On Tour - The Pop Package Tours Of The 1960's contains a special section on The Beatles, featuring all of their tours, and Martin has unearthed some fab pictures of John, Paul, George and Ringo, courtesy of some journalistic pals on UK newspapers.
 

Martin has tracked down 21 1960s pop stars to interview and dozens of fans to bring the tours to life… and one of the stars interviewed was a lady with a golden voice who topped the bill on The Beatles first UK tour. Martin said: “It was amazing talking to Helen Shapiro about her 1963 tour with The Beatles, Danny Williams, Kenny Lynch etc and hearing at first hand about what those tours were like. “Helen’s got an incredible memory, considering how many years we are going back, and she was happy to recall what was obviously a fun and exciting period of her life. “It was clear that she loved the company of all of The Beatles and she wasn’t shy in mentioning several times the enormous crush she had on John. She spoke of the antics on the tour bus and in the hotels where they stayed, including the infamous occasion when they were ejected from a posh hotel near Carlisle. “I wanted to secure some unusual pictures of The Beatles rather than rely on the familiar shots we have seen so many times and I was lucky that a few newspaper pals were able to persuade their bosses to open up their files and dust down some old photos. “There are plenty of pictures that capture the full excitement of a Beatles gig and plenty of funny stories of harassed stewards trying to cope with the legions of girls. There are also some unusual pictures of The Beatles relaxing in the humble cinema and seaside venues they played in those early days.”

 

The rest of the book features seven tours - followed across the UK - and they all have one thing in common… they all played the old ABC cinema in Aldershot. Martin explained: “I work for the local paper and had already started researching these gigs when I discovered a few years back that around 150 photos survive. Hardly any have ever been seen before, and they are amazing. They include about 40 from the incredible night when The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens, Jimi Hendrix and Engelbert Humperdinck played Aldershot. To think that lot toured the UK together for a month. What a line-up!” Plenty of other famous faces fill the book, including top Americans like Del Shannon, Gene Pitney and Roy Orbison, and UK stars like The Small Faces, The Hollies and The Searchers. Martin said: “I thought it would be fun to follow the seven tours across the country, and it was. So many funny stories emerged of what life was like for the stars, the fans and even the struggling cinema staff who often had the responsibility of keeping the show going.

 

“Aldershot will bring plenty of memories back for Sam too. He’s never forgotten the night he brought The Beatles down to Aldershot and nobody turned up, apart from half a dozen people, a snowstorm and a Yeti! “I first met Sam through that gig though. I had the happy task - exactly 25 years later - on December 9, 1986, of investigating what happened for a special report in the Aldershot News. Sam was the first person I interviewed and I was immediately struck by how philosophical he was about it all - and of course there was the Scouse wit and charm as well, God bless him.”

 

Legends On Tour is out in mid-July, courtesy of Tempus Publications, and Amazon has already featured it on pre-sales sites. More info is available on Martin’s site at www.martincreasy.co.uk.