A Life With The Beatles
For some of us among ‘the olds,’ the Beatles provided the lush soundtrack of our lives. From first love (I Want to Hold Your Hand) to wedding song (All You Need Is Love) to funeral music (In My Life), the Fab Four gave us the tunes and lyrics that remain permanently on our personal playlists.
So what a treat to hear a lot of those much-loved melodies and get a look at the behind-the-scenes history of how John, Paul, George and Ringo got together, and why they split apart, in the high-spirited, expertly acted solo bio-show A Life with the Beatles, playing at Sweet Venues Grassmarket. Glasgow actor Ian Sexon stars as longtime Beatles road manager Neil Aspinall, the man who drove the van, ironed the shirts, bounced the stalkers and soothed frayed nerves on hundreds of days and nights of international tours.
'I have witnessed the beginning and ending of everything at the same time,' says Aspinall in the show. 'I don’t know why I’m still alive.' (In real life, he isn’t, having died in 2008 at the age of 66.)
Often regarded as one of several men known as a 'fifth Beatle,' along with bounced drummer Pete Best, first manager Brian Epstein and longtime producer George Martin, Aspinall knew McCartney and Lennon as fellow 'Teddy Boys' in secondary school. Rewinding to those early years, bouncing from gig to gig before the hit records happened, Aspinall describes John and Paul as 'ambitious and scared, shameless and delicate.'
By: Elaine Liner
Source: Broadway Baby
