Fact #186023
When:
Short story:
The Beatles start a new tour at The Granada Cinema, East Ham, London, England, UK, Europe, supporting Chris Montez and Tommy Roe.Full article:
Andy Gray (reviewer, NME) : This all-action quartet from Liverpool has everything – exciting new sound, terrific instrumental attack, exhilarating solo and group vocal effects, and a fresh energy that leaves Them (they told me later) limp at the end of each act.
Tony Bramwell (assistant road manager) : This was less than a week after the end of the Helen Shapiro tour, and the country was still deep in snow.
I think these were the best shows The Beatles ever played. They were at their peak as a performing band and you could actually see and hear them. Beatlemania was just beginning, but the intense, prolonged screaming hadn't really started.
It wasn't hard work for them, compared to playing Hamburg or The Cavern, because the sets were much shorter. I think the American acts who topped the bill were quite baffled by The Beatles.
Chris Montez : They would get the show going and I would close the show. I would watch them every night and they had such energy and power.
Tommy Roe : I toured with The Beatles just before they broke really big. They used to carry a a record player around with them wherever they went and played everyone their next release to get opinions on it.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black)
George Harrison (guitarist, The Beatles) : In March we toured with Tommy Roe and Chris Montez, who were supposed to share equal top billing: one of them closing the first house and one the second house for the show. Chris Montez had a big hit, Let’s Dance, and Tommy Roe had Sheila.
The Beatles were getting more and more popular – unfortunately for Tommy and Chris. Barking in London was the opening night of the tour and there was a big huddled meeting after the show because Arthur Howes, the promoter, said The Beatles had better close the first half. I think Chris Montez was closing the end of the performance and Tommy Roe the end of the first half. We said, ‘No, no, Tommy and Chris close,’ because they still sounded like big names to us. I remember Tommy Roe getting all uptight, saying, ‘I’m contracted, and I’m going to leave if I don’t close the show!’
I felt sorry for Chris Montez; he was just a little Mexican bloke. He did a slow song on a chair, a Spanish tune, and the Teds were all shouting, ‘Boo, fuck off.’ He said, ‘Oh, you don’t like it, OK,’ and he stopped and put down his guitar and tried something else. It was sad really, but Beatlemania was coming on; Please Please Me had been a hit and From Me To You was on the way.
(Source : George Harrison - Anthology)
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Tony Bramwell (assistant road manager) : This was less than a week after the end of the Helen Shapiro tour, and the country was still deep in snow.
I think these were the best shows The Beatles ever played. They were at their peak as a performing band and you could actually see and hear them. Beatlemania was just beginning, but the intense, prolonged screaming hadn't really started.
It wasn't hard work for them, compared to playing Hamburg or The Cavern, because the sets were much shorter. I think the American acts who topped the bill were quite baffled by The Beatles.
Chris Montez : They would get the show going and I would close the show. I would watch them every night and they had such energy and power.
Tommy Roe : I toured with The Beatles just before they broke really big. They used to carry a a record player around with them wherever they went and played everyone their next release to get opinions on it.
(Source : interview with Johnny Black)
George Harrison (guitarist, The Beatles) : In March we toured with Tommy Roe and Chris Montez, who were supposed to share equal top billing: one of them closing the first house and one the second house for the show. Chris Montez had a big hit, Let’s Dance, and Tommy Roe had Sheila.
The Beatles were getting more and more popular – unfortunately for Tommy and Chris. Barking in London was the opening night of the tour and there was a big huddled meeting after the show because Arthur Howes, the promoter, said The Beatles had better close the first half. I think Chris Montez was closing the end of the performance and Tommy Roe the end of the first half. We said, ‘No, no, Tommy and Chris close,’ because they still sounded like big names to us. I remember Tommy Roe getting all uptight, saying, ‘I’m contracted, and I’m going to leave if I don’t close the show!’
I felt sorry for Chris Montez; he was just a little Mexican bloke. He did a slow song on a chair, a Spanish tune, and the Teds were all shouting, ‘Boo, fuck off.’ He said, ‘Oh, you don’t like it, OK,’ and he stopped and put down his guitar and tried something else. It was sad really, but Beatlemania was coming on; Please Please Me had been a hit and From Me To You was on the way.
(Source : George Harrison - Anthology)