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2017 EVERGREEN 53<br />

Sadly, other details are sketchy,<br />

though we do know the band played<br />

two 60-minute sessions between 8<br />

and 11, taking the first and last hours<br />

while background music played<br />

during an extended interval from 9<br />

till 10. For this they were paid the<br />

princely sum of £27.10s.<br />

Chuck Berry numbers probably<br />

featured heavily, though the<br />

band’s quest for<br />

originality means<br />

the audience<br />

would also have<br />

been treated to a<br />

range of obscure<br />

tracks from<br />

records supplied<br />

by merchant<br />

seamen (known<br />

as “Cunard Yanks”<br />

on Merseyside).<br />

This would have<br />

introduced them to songs like Bobby<br />

Freeman’s “Shimmy Shimmy”<br />

or Little Willie John’s “Leave My<br />

Kitten Alone”, which they would<br />

record in 1964 (but which wouldn’t<br />

be released for over 30 years).<br />

Of course, there’s also the<br />

intriguing possibility that the boys<br />

might have tried out some of their<br />

own material, like “One After 909”<br />

or “Hello Little Girl”, both of which<br />

had been written by this time. John<br />

Lennon once commented that much<br />

of their best work was done during<br />

this “pre-theatre” period, so the<br />

audience would have been treated<br />

to a show packed with energy and<br />

excitement, whatever was played.<br />

Clearly, the Swindon gig came<br />

at a very interesting time in The<br />

Beatles’ career. It was, after all, one<br />

of Pete Best’s final concerts with the<br />

band and, though they’d signed a<br />

contract with EMI and had recorded<br />

sessions for BBC Radio, the big time<br />

was still just out of reach.<br />

The months ahead would see<br />

them edge closer<br />

with yet more<br />

live dates and the<br />

release of their<br />

first single, “Love<br />

Me Do”, on 5th<br />

October, its climb<br />

to number 17 in<br />

the hit parade<br />

doubtless aided by<br />

a live appearance<br />

on Granada<br />

Television’s People<br />

and Places. Three more television<br />

appearances came in December,<br />

along with a run at the Star Club in<br />

Hamburg. Then came 1963, the year<br />

it all went mad...<br />

The Beatles never returned to<br />

North Wiltshire, but many other<br />

bands — like The Who and The<br />

Yardbirds — did play at Mac’s before<br />

it closed when the whole building<br />

was modernised in the late 1960s.<br />

The department store survived<br />

until 1998, when the land was sold<br />

for development. The site is now<br />

occupied by a sports shop, but it<br />

will always have a tiny place in rock<br />

history.<br />

GREG MORSE

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