BIEBERMANIA hit Liverpool last month when the diminutive 17-year-old Canadian Justin Bieber caused traffic to stop in Liverpool city centre.
Appropriately, it was in the city where music mania began . . .
The Hard Days Night Hotel was a no go area as hundreds of fans crowded outside the hotel were the star was staying.
Now a new book by two historians looks at the four lads from Liverpool who became bigger than Elvis.
Kevin Roach, of the Liverpool Record Office, teamed up with writer John Gannon to revisit a very special week in the life of The Beatles.
Kevin says: “In 2007, when I discovered the Beatles Civic Reception archive, we went on to do radio shows and a major exhibition with a lot of the material displayed later in Central Library.”
John had researched the band’s tours in the US, Australia and New Zealand. The book – The Beatles: Living In The Eye Of The Hurricane – was a natural progression for the two.
In the 110-page book, packed with rare archive material and never-seen-before documents, Kevin and John recreate the magic and the whirlwind moments for the Beatles at home and abroad.
Says Kevin: “John Lennon said it was like ‘living in the eye of a hurricane’, thus the title of our book.
“As a record keeper, I found the guest list that The Beatles wanted at the civic reception fascinating.
“We found the photographs of the route the Beatles took to the Town Hall and the size of the crowds that had turned out to welcome the boys home – also the photos of the lads outside and inside the Town Hall.
“They look so relaxed because they were back home – and the fans had come out onto the streets. They were initially worried no one would turn out!”
Kevin says the book unlocked some whole new stories for him.
One shock was a leaflet being handed out outside the Town Hall accusing Paul McCartney of fathering – then deserting – a child.
Says John: “It was, undoubtedly, the Beatles’ most important year: this was the worldwide recognition of their talents. In this same year Liverpool officially recognised this extraordinary achievement.”
The Beatles: Living In The Eye Of The Hurricane is available from Pritchard’s Book Shop, Formby, and online at www.beatlesliverpoolandmore.com
