Fact #132817
When:
Short story:
'Another Beatles Christmas Show', starring The Beatles, opens at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK. It runs until 16 January, with support acts including Freddie And The Dreamers, The Yardbirds, Elkie Brooks, Sounds Incorporated , The Mike Cotton Sound and Jimmy Savile as compere.Full article:
Eric Clapton (guitarist, The Yardbirds] : We'd be on for twenty minutes or half an hour, and either you were very entertaining or you did your hits. A lot of times the raveup bit got us through, and a lot of times it didn't. It became very clear that if the group was going to survive and make money, it would have to be on a popular basis. We couldn't go back to the clubs, because everyone had got that taste and seen what fun it would be to be famous.
Freddie Garrity (Freddie And The Dreamers) : I opened the show swinging on a rope, wearing a tutu just like a fairy. I mean … it was a Christmas Show!
Lulu : I went to see their Christmas Show at Hammersmith Odeon. I was standing at the side watching them, absolutely desperate to scream like all the other girls but I had to be contained and controlled because I was a professional singer as well.
When they came off, I got invited into the dressing room and there's Paul, just washing his hair, and they were so fabulous with me.
Giorgio Gomelsky (agent/manager The Yardbirds] : Brian Epstein gave me a lot of work for The Yardbirds. I remember him telling me he thought The Stones owed me a few too. For two years in a row we were on The Beatles Christmas Show, which took place for three-weeks around Christmas in the biggest halls in London, like the Odeon in Hammersmith [3000 seats]. It was their way of paying back their fans. Two shows a day, 6 and 8 o'clock.
Eric Clapton (guitarist, The Yardbirds] : The Yardbirds were on the bottom of the bill, but all of the acts in between were sort of music hall - English rock'n'roll groups. And The Yardbirds were an r'n'b band, or even a blues band, so there was a bit of, like, 'What's this all about?' George (Harrison) was checking me out, and I was checking him out to see if he was a real guitar player. And I realised he was.
Jim McCarty [The Yardbirds] : The Beatles weren't allowed to just play, they had to do all these little sketches. In one, they had to dress up as Yetties - Dr Who was dealing with Yetties at the time. It was part of Epstein's thing of promoting the band as individual characters. We got to know them. Paul and John were very matey - it was all 'Hello, Jim, how's it going?' - like you'd known them for twenty years.
The Beatles were just starting to buy their Rolls Royces, and they'd got the company to send the range down to the Odeon, where they'd closed off the area at the back. I'll never forget seeing John standing there in his Yetti costume at the stage door, saying 'No, lads, not that one. Let's see the next one.'
Chris Dreja [The Yardbirds] : These amazing Rolls Royces would be driven around this car park for them to choose from, while they were standing there in their yeti costumes. It was wild.
Jim McCarty : We still had our Morris Thousands, but it was great. It was before The Beatles started getting uptight. They were enjoying themselves and so were we.
Mike Cotton : We backed Elkie Brooks on The Beatles Christmas Show and all I recall is 3,000 little girls screaming their heads off for two shows a night. The Beatles clowned around the whole time, and Paul grabbed my trumpet for a photograph that was used on the cover of The Beatles Book… In contrast to all that, Eric Clapton, who was in The Yardbirds, was sitting in the pub, saying 'I've got to get out of this band'.
Chris Hutchins (reviewer, NME) : The Beatles are as tremendous as ever. From the moment they open with John Lennon singing Twist And Shout to the second they close on the strains of Paul McCartney's Long Tall Sally, they prove there's nothing in the field to touch them.
Alf Bicknell (Beatles' chauffeur) : The greatest getaway was for the Christmas shows at Hammersmith Odeon. It was off the stage, into the car, doors open - towels, Coke and ciggies all there - and then out and round to Hammersmith Broadway. We used to break all records going round there. I've ended up with all four boys on one side as we went round corners and there were plenty of profanities, but it had to be that way. We may 69were a mile down the road before the fans realised we'd gone. It was always hairy, but I didn't mind it.
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Freddie Garrity (Freddie And The Dreamers) : I opened the show swinging on a rope, wearing a tutu just like a fairy. I mean … it was a Christmas Show!
Lulu : I went to see their Christmas Show at Hammersmith Odeon. I was standing at the side watching them, absolutely desperate to scream like all the other girls but I had to be contained and controlled because I was a professional singer as well.
When they came off, I got invited into the dressing room and there's Paul, just washing his hair, and they were so fabulous with me.
Giorgio Gomelsky (agent/manager The Yardbirds] : Brian Epstein gave me a lot of work for The Yardbirds. I remember him telling me he thought The Stones owed me a few too. For two years in a row we were on The Beatles Christmas Show, which took place for three-weeks around Christmas in the biggest halls in London, like the Odeon in Hammersmith [3000 seats]. It was their way of paying back their fans. Two shows a day, 6 and 8 o'clock.
Eric Clapton (guitarist, The Yardbirds] : The Yardbirds were on the bottom of the bill, but all of the acts in between were sort of music hall - English rock'n'roll groups. And The Yardbirds were an r'n'b band, or even a blues band, so there was a bit of, like, 'What's this all about?' George (Harrison) was checking me out, and I was checking him out to see if he was a real guitar player. And I realised he was.
Jim McCarty [The Yardbirds] : The Beatles weren't allowed to just play, they had to do all these little sketches. In one, they had to dress up as Yetties - Dr Who was dealing with Yetties at the time. It was part of Epstein's thing of promoting the band as individual characters. We got to know them. Paul and John were very matey - it was all 'Hello, Jim, how's it going?' - like you'd known them for twenty years.
The Beatles were just starting to buy their Rolls Royces, and they'd got the company to send the range down to the Odeon, where they'd closed off the area at the back. I'll never forget seeing John standing there in his Yetti costume at the stage door, saying 'No, lads, not that one. Let's see the next one.'
Chris Dreja [The Yardbirds] : These amazing Rolls Royces would be driven around this car park for them to choose from, while they were standing there in their yeti costumes. It was wild.
Jim McCarty : We still had our Morris Thousands, but it was great. It was before The Beatles started getting uptight. They were enjoying themselves and so were we.
Mike Cotton : We backed Elkie Brooks on The Beatles Christmas Show and all I recall is 3,000 little girls screaming their heads off for two shows a night. The Beatles clowned around the whole time, and Paul grabbed my trumpet for a photograph that was used on the cover of The Beatles Book… In contrast to all that, Eric Clapton, who was in The Yardbirds, was sitting in the pub, saying 'I've got to get out of this band'.
Chris Hutchins (reviewer, NME) : The Beatles are as tremendous as ever. From the moment they open with John Lennon singing Twist And Shout to the second they close on the strains of Paul McCartney's Long Tall Sally, they prove there's nothing in the field to touch them.
Alf Bicknell (Beatles' chauffeur) : The greatest getaway was for the Christmas shows at Hammersmith Odeon. It was off the stage, into the car, doors open - towels, Coke and ciggies all there - and then out and round to Hammersmith Broadway. We used to break all records going round there. I've ended up with all four boys on one side as we went round corners and there were plenty of profanities, but it had to be that way. We may 69were a mile down the road before the fans realised we'd gone. It was always hairy, but I didn't mind it.