Fact #53290
When:
Short story:
The Beatles play at The Co-op Hall, Middleton, Manchester, England, UK, Europe, supported by local band Shaun And Sum People.Full article:
Anthony Fitzpatrick (fan) : Myself, Tony Duckworth, David Tierney and Jimmy Eckersley used to hang around Middleton Gardens during the week after we’d been home from school.
“The night The Beatles were playing at the Co-op, the four of us decided t owalk from the Gardens near the picture house up to the Co-op near the Assheton Arms to see if anything was on that night.
“You had to be 16 to get in, the four of us were only 13 and, as usual, skint.
“That night we’d arrived at the back of the Co-op Hall, at the stage door entrance.
At the front of the Co-op Hall were two doors, one took you into the Co-op store which was on the left side and the other took you up to the dance hall. The four of us were waiting for a good opportunity to sneak into the dance hall upstairs, we knew something was on as we could hear music from outside.
“We were standing at the back of the Co-op Hall at the stage door when a Thames van pulled up, and when I looked towards the van I was looking at Paul McCartney – although at the time he was just another bloke. I had no idea who he was, but I soon came to realise.
“Four blokes got out of the van and started to unload equipment, we were standing watching them and I asked if they needed any help and one of them said ‘yeah, come on’.
“That bloke was Paul McCartney. So my three mates and I helped the Beatles up the stairs with their equipment. When the van had been unloaded the four of us were standing with The Beatles, in the Co-op Hall, at the back of the stage.
“The Beatles were having a laugh with us and were calling the four of us scallywags.
“Paul McCartney had a box of photographs of the band.
“He’d taken some of them out of the box and was holding them in his hand when I asked him if I could have one. He said ‘yes’ and he offered one to me and I asked him if he would sign it.
“He did and then passed it to John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who also signed it. We had no idea what an important moment in history for the four of us had just taken place.
Then, one of the staff in the Co-op Hall came along and told us we’d have to leave as we were under age, ‘come on you lot, out’ we were told. The four of us began to make our way home up Wood Street onto Langley. We all lived on Fairfield Drive at the time.
“As we were walking up Wood Street Duckie, Tony Duckworth, asked me to show him the signed photograph. I took if out of my pocket and gave it to Davi
Tierney who took if off me, looked at it, then gave it to Duckie. He lookedat it and said ‘That’s great, can I have it?’
“I said ‘No, it’s mine’, to which he replied, ‘No it’s not, it’s for all of us.’ He then ripped it up.
“I was 13 years of age at the time, it was absolutely nothing to me, the photo was left to be blown away.
(Source : Manchester Evening News, interview, 2013)
Middleton Guardian (review) : For well over an hour in the Co-op Hall, Long Street, 300 screaming teenagers jived and twisted to the bouncing rhythm of beat ballads being performed by The Beatles. The music was deafening and the record fans were keyed up to a fever pitch. Almost hysterical enthusiasm hit you in the face as you walked in, but promoter Barry Chaytow had taken great care in making sure that if his patrons did get over-excited there were sufficient 'bouncers' to take care of the trouble.
The four Beatles came off the stage pouring in sweat. They were cheerful and cracking jokes with each other as though two years of one night stands was all in day's work for them, which of course it was. They ran the inevitable gauntlet of autograph hunters as they tried to wind down and get changed in time to get back to Liverpool for a well earned rest. Inside the hall the teenagers were still going strong to the music of Shaun and Sum People.
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“The night The Beatles were playing at the Co-op, the four of us decided t owalk from the Gardens near the picture house up to the Co-op near the Assheton Arms to see if anything was on that night.
“You had to be 16 to get in, the four of us were only 13 and, as usual, skint.
“That night we’d arrived at the back of the Co-op Hall, at the stage door entrance.
At the front of the Co-op Hall were two doors, one took you into the Co-op store which was on the left side and the other took you up to the dance hall. The four of us were waiting for a good opportunity to sneak into the dance hall upstairs, we knew something was on as we could hear music from outside.
“We were standing at the back of the Co-op Hall at the stage door when a Thames van pulled up, and when I looked towards the van I was looking at Paul McCartney – although at the time he was just another bloke. I had no idea who he was, but I soon came to realise.
“Four blokes got out of the van and started to unload equipment, we were standing watching them and I asked if they needed any help and one of them said ‘yeah, come on’.
“That bloke was Paul McCartney. So my three mates and I helped the Beatles up the stairs with their equipment. When the van had been unloaded the four of us were standing with The Beatles, in the Co-op Hall, at the back of the stage.
“The Beatles were having a laugh with us and were calling the four of us scallywags.
“Paul McCartney had a box of photographs of the band.
“He’d taken some of them out of the box and was holding them in his hand when I asked him if I could have one. He said ‘yes’ and he offered one to me and I asked him if he would sign it.
“He did and then passed it to John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, who also signed it. We had no idea what an important moment in history for the four of us had just taken place.
Then, one of the staff in the Co-op Hall came along and told us we’d have to leave as we were under age, ‘come on you lot, out’ we were told. The four of us began to make our way home up Wood Street onto Langley. We all lived on Fairfield Drive at the time.
“As we were walking up Wood Street Duckie, Tony Duckworth, asked me to show him the signed photograph. I took if out of my pocket and gave it to Davi
Tierney who took if off me, looked at it, then gave it to Duckie. He lookedat it and said ‘That’s great, can I have it?’
“I said ‘No, it’s mine’, to which he replied, ‘No it’s not, it’s for all of us.’ He then ripped it up.
“I was 13 years of age at the time, it was absolutely nothing to me, the photo was left to be blown away.
(Source : Manchester Evening News, interview, 2013)
Middleton Guardian (review) : For well over an hour in the Co-op Hall, Long Street, 300 screaming teenagers jived and twisted to the bouncing rhythm of beat ballads being performed by The Beatles. The music was deafening and the record fans were keyed up to a fever pitch. Almost hysterical enthusiasm hit you in the face as you walked in, but promoter Barry Chaytow had taken great care in making sure that if his patrons did get over-excited there were sufficient 'bouncers' to take care of the trouble.
The four Beatles came off the stage pouring in sweat. They were cheerful and cracking jokes with each other as though two years of one night stands was all in day's work for them, which of course it was. They ran the inevitable gauntlet of autograph hunters as they tried to wind down and get changed in time to get back to Liverpool for a well earned rest. Inside the hall the teenagers were still going strong to the music of Shaun and Sum People.