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2017 EVERGREEN 51<br />
many different bands they actually<br />
became.<br />
It took just four years to reach the<br />
lush, pastoral tones of “Strawberry<br />
Fields” from the nasal hum of “Love<br />
Me Do”. Four years, and yet it was<br />
practically a whole dimension away.<br />
There was a world out there to<br />
be conquered, and conquer it they<br />
would, but back in January 1962<br />
they had only played in the south of<br />
England once — on 9th December<br />
1961 when they took part in one<br />
of Sam Leach’s Big Beat Sessions<br />
at the Palais Ballroom, Aldershot.<br />
Billed as a “battle of the bands”<br />
between the boys and Ivor Jay and<br />
the Jaywalkers, a major publicity<br />
blunder resulted in only 18 people<br />
turning up.<br />
Undeterred, manager Brian<br />
Epstein started to extend the band’s<br />
reach by booking venues further<br />
out of Liverpool, in places like<br />
Northwich and Rhyl. He also began<br />
dealing with the London-based<br />
Cana Variety Agency.<br />
Jack Fallon, who owned Cana<br />
(and who ended up playing fiddle<br />
on “Don’t Pass Me By” in 1968), also<br />
ran Jaybee Clubs, which promoted<br />
dances predominantly in the west of<br />
England. With contracts signed and<br />
hands shaken, The Beatles’ first gig<br />
for Jaybee was at the Subscription<br />
Rooms, Stroud, on 31st March 1962.<br />
The second, on 17th July, was at<br />
McIlroy’s Ballroom, Swindon.<br />
This came near the end of a run<br />
of 61 live engagements and a look<br />
During the day a department store, in<br />
the evening McIlroy’s became a popular<br />
entertainment venue.<br />
at the shows before and after gives<br />
a good idea of just how busy the<br />
boys were. On the 16th they played<br />
a lunchtime session at the Cavern,<br />
followed by an evening concert at<br />
the Plaza, St. Helens. They then<br />
came all the way down to Swindon,<br />
only to go virtually straight back<br />
to Liverpool for another lunchtime<br />
booking at the Cavern the next<br />
day — where they also played that<br />
night. Now that was hard work —<br />
for the band and their van!<br />
McIlroy’s, or “Mac’s” as it<br />
was known, was within a plush<br />
department store. What was a<br />
restaurant by day was converted for<br />
evening use by moving the tables<br />
to the carpet around the central