Beatles star John Lennon 'stole fan's pint during mystery gig before Liverpool band hit the big time'
John Lennon swiped a fan's pint of beer and then pledged to buy one back for him during a gig which had long been forgotten, it is claimed. The singer was performing with band mates Paul, George and Ringo at the Ritz Ballroom in Kings Heath, Birmingham, in 1962.
The mop topped rockers had yet to hit the big time when they appeared in the second city and former Cadbury's worker Malcolm Ward told how he met Lennon - only to lose his drink to him. Now aged 75, Malcolm said: "I put my glass, as I always did, by a speaker. I shouted at Lennon ‘Oi, that’s my ale!’ "He shouted back ‘I’ll buy you one’. But he never did."
Malcolm, from Bartley Green, is among many readers who responded to the Sunday Mercury's call for details of the Beatles ’ ‘lost’ concert.
Last week the paper revealed how rock historians Bob Prew and Ken Whittaker issued an SOS after being tipped off about the group’s mystery February 1962 appearance, which predates what has always been thought the group’s first Birmingham appearance the following year. They wanted to know if it really happened. It did.
Malcolm, who now lives in Kent, knows – because he was there. And the place was almost empty. “Just days before, Jean Metcalfe had introduced The Beatles on her radio show, Two Way Family Favourites,” he recalls.
By: Mike Lockley
Source: The Mirror
