The Beatles and Me on Tour, by Ivor Davis
Stories of the Beatles’ 1964 North American tour have gone down in legend — the screaming girls, the mob scenes, transporting the group from airport to hotel, and jellybeans hurled onstage because American audiences misunderstood interviews where the band professed to love “jelly babies.” While fans may be well acquainted with those tales, they will never fully comprehend what it was like to be in the center of the Beatlemania hurricane. Journalist Ivor Davis paints a vivid picture for readers in The Beatles and Me on Tour, an account of his month traveling with the band as an embedded correspondent. At once humorous and terrifying, Davis’ recollections lend a new and thoroughly detailed perspective on how the Beatles coped with those early days of fame. Davis found himself in the middle of the madness due to a special assignment. As the West Coast correspondent for London Daily Express, he was ordered to travel with the Beatles during their hectic 1964 trek, earning their trust and submitting reports from the road. In addition, Davis assumed another role: George Harrison’s ghostwriter.
Hired to write a weekly column for the newspaper, Harrison had little time nor interest in the task. In turn, Davis initially found it difficult to work with the reluctant Beatle. At first Harrison refused to talk to him, forcing Davis to make up material, trying to capture Harrison’s voice through prose. Eventually Harrison confronted the journalist, proclaiming “I’m told my column is boring — a load of old shite.” Davis retorted: “Well, it might help if you bothered to tell me what exactly you want to say,”
Source: Something Else Reviews
