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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