Mal Evans
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| Malcolm (Mal) Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 May 1935 Liverpool |
| Died | 5 January 1976, Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Telephone engineer, Road manager, Personal assistant, Record producer |
| Spouse | Lily (Lil) Evans |
| Children | Gary Evans, b. 1962 and Julie Evans, b. 1966 |
Malcolm 'Mal' Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) is best known as the road manager, assistant, and a friend of the Beatles. In 1961, Evans married a local girl, Lily, after meeting her at a funfair in New Brighton, Merseyside. Evans was working as a telephone engineer when he saw The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club. Shortly after starting work as a doorman at the Cavern Club, Evans was hired by Brian Epstein as a road manager in 1963.
Evans contributed to many Beatles recordings, including lending his voice to "Yellow Submarine", and appeared in some of the films they made. When The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, Evans continued to work for the band and to work with them in the studio.
Evans was shot and killed by police on 5 January 1976 in his rented duplex at 8122 W. 4th Street in Los Angeles. The officers mistakenly believed that the air gun Evans was holding was a rifle. Evans was cremated on 7 January 1976 in Los Angeles. His ashes were sent by post back to England, but were misplaced and lost in the postal system.
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[edit] Early life
Evans' early life is unknown (apart from his birth date) as no book has ever been written about him. His own memoirs—Living the Beatles' Legend—has never been fully published, although extracts have been released.[1][2] Anything known about him starts in 1961, when Evans married a local Liverpool girl (Lily) after meeting her at a funfair in New Brighton, Merseyside. Gary Evans, their first child, was born in the same year[3] Evans was living in Hillside Road, Mossley Hill, and working as a telephone engineer for the Post Office in 1962, when he first heard The Beatles perform at Liverpool's Cavern Club during his lunch break.[3] He became a committed fan, even though his musical hero at the time was Elvis Presley.[4]
He first befriended George Harrison, who put forward Evans' name to the Cavern Club's manager, Ray McFall, when he needed a Doorman. The 27-year-old Evans was accepted—even though he wore thick-framed glasses—mainly because of his large 6' 2" well-built frame, which was an asset when holding back the numerous fans at the Cavern's door, and later as an unofficial bodyguard for the Beatles. He was later nicknamed "The Gentle Giant" and "Big Mal".[5] Evans later wrote in his (unpublished) memoirs that 1962 was "a wonderful year", as he had Lily (his wife), his son Gary, a house, a car, and was working at the Cavern club.[3]
[edit] The Beatles
Three months after starting as a doorman at the Cavern Club, and becoming a friend of the Beatles, Evans was hired by Epstein as the band's road manager in 1963.[6] Evans (and Neil Aspinall) drove the van while the band were on tour, set up and tested their equipment, and later packed it up again.[7] On 21 January 1963, Evans drove The Beatles back to Liverpool from London at night through heavy fog, and during the trip the windscreen cracked and Evans had to break a hole in it to see the road ahead.[3]
Evans not only helped set up the Beatles' equipment (and acted as a bodyguard) but had other duties, like buying things for them, such as suits, boots, meals, or drinks.[8] If Lennon said, "Socks, Mal", Evans would have to rush to a local Marks and Spencer store and buy six pairs of cotton socks for him.[3] In 1967, Evans wrote in his diaries that he "bought Ringo some undies for his visit to the Doctor".[2]
When The Beatles went on their first European tour, in January 1964, Evans took his wife and son with him, but was involved in a "big punch-up" with photographers in Paris whilst protecting the Beatles.[3]
After The Beatles became successful, Alistair Taylor asked Evans why the Beatles had chosen an Austin Princess limousine to be driven around in, rather than a Daimler, a Bentley, or a Rolls-Royce. Evans explained that they had tested every car to see how wide the doors would open because the Beatles (literally) had to "dive into the car" to escape their fans.[9]
When the Beatles were introduced to cannabis by Bob Dylan in New York in 1964, Paul McCartney remembered asking Evans "again and again" to write down McCartney's newly-found cannabis-influenced thoughts about life by repeating "Get [write] it down, Mal, get it down!"[10] Evans was as affected by the drug as everybody else, so took a very long time to find a pencil and a piece of paper.[11] The next morning Evans gave the sheet of paper to McCartney, who noted that he (McCartney) had dictated, "There are seven levels!" (of life, as he later explained).[10] When the Beatles attended "The Night of 100 Stars"[12] at the London Palladium on 23 July 1964, Evans constantly supplied them with whisky and cokes during the show, which he delivered to them balanced on an old, wooden oar that he had found backstage.[13]
Evans accompanied The Beatles on their American tour when they played two shows at the Hollywood Bowl in the summer of 1965. Epstein arranged for them all to have a four-day rest in a luxurious horseshoe-shaped house on stilts in Benedict Canyon off Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles. They spent their time there smoking large marijuana joints, and Evans and Lennon swam in the large outdoor swimming pool with cigarettes in their mouths, to see who could keep them alight the longest.[14]
After recording sessions in London, Lennon, Harrison, and Starr would be chauffeured back to their houses in the 'stockbroker belt' of southern England, but Evans, Aspinall, and McCartney would drive to a late-night club to eat steak, chips, and mushy peas.[15] The Bag O'Nails night-club was one of their favourites, at 8 Kingly Street in Soho, London, as it also presented live music.[16][17] In his memoirs Evans wrote:
| “ | January 19 and 20: "Ended up smashed in Bag O'Nails with Paul [McCartney] and Neil [Aspinall]. Quite a number of people attached themselves, oh that it would happen to me... freak out time baby for Mal.[3] | ” |
After the Beatles' last concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on 29 August 1966, Evans continued to run errands for them and to work with them in the studio. After recording Revolver in 1966, McCartney went by himself on holiday to France, but arranged to meet Evans in Bordeaux at the Grosse Horloge church, on the corner of cours Victor Hugo and rue St. James.[18] At exactly the pre-arranged time of one o'clock Evans was standing under the church clock when McCartney arrived.[19] They later drove to Madrid together, but got bored, and phoned Epstein's office in London and asked to be booked on a safari holiday in Kenya. When they arrived there they visited the Amboseli Reserve at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and also stayed at the exclusive Treetops Hotel, where the rooms are built on the branches of the trees.[19]
They spent their final night in Nairobi at a YMCA, before they returned to London. On the flight back, Evans and McCartney played with words to arrive at a new name for The Beatles. Evans asked McCartney what the letters 'S' and 'P' stood for on the pots on their meal trays, and McCartney explained that it was for salt and pepper, which led to the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band name, although McCartney denies the rumour that Evans came up with the name.[20] They arrived back in London on 9 November 1966.[21] Before the cover of Sgt. Pepper could be completed by Peter Blake, Evans and Aspinall were sent out to find photographs of all of the people that were to be shown on the front cover.[22]
In late 1967, Evans and the Beatles went to Greece—with encouragement from Greek-born Alex Mardas, who was employed by The Beatles—to buy an island or a group of islands. The idea was that the whole Beatles' entourage would live on the islands in their own separate homes, but would be connected to each other by tunnels leading to a central dome. Evans and his family were included in the plan, but it was abandoned when the Beatles lost interest.[23] McCartney had no housekeeper in 1967, so Evans moved in with him at 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood, near the Abbey Road Studios.[15] It was at Cavendish Avenue that McCartney bought his first Old English Sheepdog, Martha, and Evans wrote that he often complained about the dog fouling the beds.[3] Evans later bought a house in Sunbury-on-Thames, which was between McCartney's house, and the other three Beatles' houses outside London.[3]
Whilst working on the Magical Mystery Tour film, Evans wrote about his work duties:
| “ | I would get requests from the four of them to do six different things at one time and it was always a case of relying on instinct and experience in awarding priorities. They used to be right sods for the first few days until they realised that everything was going to go smoothly and they could get into the routine of recording... Then I would find time between numerous cups of tea and salad sandwiches and baked beans on toast to listen to the recording in the control room.[3] | ” |
In February of 1968, Evans flew with The Beatles to India, to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram, after meeting him on 24 August 1967 at the London Hilton. Evans wrote in his diary on 17 February 1968:
| “ | The press really tried kicking down the gates into the Ashram — the Indian people on the Ashram called me half way through, but as soon as an Indian reporter told me "No bloody foreigner is going to stop me in my own country" I cooled it.[2] | ” |
When Apple was formed in 1968, Evans was promoted from road manager to The Beatles' personal assistant, although his £38-a-week salary remained the same.[3]
Evans was the only member of The Beatles' entourage to be invited to attend and be a witness when McCartney and Linda Eastman were married at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969.[24] Evans wrote in his diary that he was due to be there at 9.45am but Michael McCartney's train from Birmingham was delayed. Peter Brown and Evans passed the Registry Office at 9.15 and saw that there were only a few photographers and ardent fans standing in the rain, but when they left—after the wedding—at 11.30am they were mobbed by a crowd of about 1,000 people.[2]
Despite going everywhere with the Beatles, and showing their devotion by carrying out whatever demeaning errands the Beatles wanted to be done, Evans and Aspinall were sometimes reminded that they would never totally be a part of the group. One sarcastic look, or an unkind word from one of the Beatles would make them realise what their position really was.[25]
[edit] Musical contributions
Evans contributed to many Beatles' recordings, including lending his voice to "Yellow Submarine". Before recording it on 26 May 1966, at Abbey Road, Evans and Aspinall ransacked the store cupboard next to Studio Two for a range of instruments and implements, such as chains, a ship's bell, whistles, hooters and thunderstorm machines that were to be used on the recording. After recording the overdubs, Evans strapped on a marching bass drum and led everybody in a line around the studio doing the conga dance whilst banging rhythmically on the drum.[26]
Evans played single organ notes on "You Won't See Me", and harmonica, kazoo, and organ on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!". McCartney explained that he showed Evans where the note was on the organ, and then nodded his head when he wanted Evans to play, and shook it when he wanted it to stop.[27] During the recording, Evans was sent to Abbey Road's toilets to collect toilet paper (which was stamped with the words, "PROPERTY OF EMI").[28] This was used to cover hair combs, which Evans and others blew through to resemble the sound of a kazoo orchestra.[29]
On "A Day in the Life", Evans controlled an alarm clock and counted the measures in the original 24-bar break. The intent was to edit out the alarm clock when the Beatles had filled in the missing section, but as it complemented McCartney's piece (the first line of McCartney's section began with, "woke up, fell out of bed") the decision was made to keep the ringing, although George Martin later commented that editing it out would have been unfeasible.[30][31] Evans was also one of the five piano players simultaneously hitting the last chord of the song.[27]
Evans played tambourine on "Dear Prudence" and saxophone on "Helter Skelter". He played a double solo with Lennon, although neither of them was proficient on the instrument.[32] Evans contributed background vocals and shovelled a bucket of gravel (as part of the rhythm) on "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)".[27] Evans also contributed to the White Album outtake "What's the New Mary Jane", and hit an anvil on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer".[27] Evans later co-wrote "You and Me (Babe)" with George Harrison, which appears on Ringo Starr's 1973 solo album.
[edit] Writing credits controversy
According to Evans' diaries—from which extracts have been released—he helped McCartney to write the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" song, as well as "Fixing a Hole". Evans wrote in his diary, on 27 January 1967:
| “ | Sgt Pepper: Started writing song with Paul upstairs in his room, he on piano. What can one say about today — ah yes! Four Tops concert at Albert Hall. Beatles get screams they get the clap. Off to Bag after gig. Did a lot more of "where the rain comes in". [Evans' title for "Fixing a Hole"] Hope people like it. Started Sergeant Pepper.[2] | ” |
He also wrote on 1 February 1967:
| “ | "Sergeant Pepper" sounds good. Paul tells me that I will get royalties on the song — great news, now perhaps a new home.[2] | ” |
He never received royalties and had to make do with his £38-a-week pay. McCartney and the Apple label have not commented about the diaries, or the songwriting credits. Keith Badman, who is the author of "The Beatles off the Record", stated that he obtained a tape of Evans talking before his death, on which Evans repeated the claims. According to Badman, Evans was asked (before the record came out) if it would be a problem that his name was not credited, as the Lennon-McCartney writing name was "a really hot item".[33] * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
[edit] On film and portrait
In The Beatles' film Help!, Evans plays a confused channel swimmer who pops up through an ice-hole in Austria, and on a beach in the Bahamas.[34] Evans was later painted for a portrait by Philip Townsend on 24 August 1967, whilst the Beatles were visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India. The painting is on display in Room 32 at the National Portrait Gallery.[35]
For the Magical Mystery Tour film, Evans and Aspinall located and hired the actors that the Beatles wanted in the film, and found an old sixty-seater coach, on which they painted the Magical Mystery Tour logo, which McCartney had designed.[36] Evans appeared in the film as one of the magicians who cast mysterious spells on the passengers of the bus.
In the Let It Be film, Evans can be seen playing the anvil during early versions of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", and can be seen talking to police officers on the Saville Row rooftop when they came to stop the Beatles' live performance.[27] Before the rooftop concert, Evans placed a camera and a microphone in a corner of Apple's reception area, so that when the police came in to complain about the noise—which was expected—they could be filmed and recorded.[37][38] Evans often filmed the Beatles himself during his time with them (without sound) and a collection of his recordings was later released on DVD.[39]
[edit] Producer
In 1968, Evans discovered the band Badfinger (then known as the Iveys) and introduced them to the Beatles, who eventually signed them to Apple Records. Although not trained as a studio technician, Evans produced several songs recorded by the Iveys/Badfinger in 1969 and 1970. The most notable of these tracks is the song "No Matter What" by Badfinger, which charted on Billboard's Top 10 in December 1970, although he did not produce their first hit, "Come and Get It," which was produced by McCartney. Evans also produced some tracks for Keith Moon's solo album Two Sides of the Moon.[40]
[edit] Allen Klein
Evans enjoyed an executive position at Apple until The Beatles hired Allen Klein in 1969 to reorganise the whole Apple company--Evans was fired by Klein during the next year. Part of the reason Evans was fired was because Klein complained to Lennon that Aspinall and Evans were "living like kings—like fucking emperors", although Evans was later reinstated after the other three Beatles complained.[41][42] On 13 September 1969, Evans accompanied John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Klaus Voorman, Alan White and Eric Clapton to Toronto, Canada, for the Toronto Rock 'N' Roll Revival Concert.[43] He later commented about the concert:
| “ | I was really enjoying myself. It was the first show I had roadied for three years and I was really loving every minute of plugging the amps in and setting them up on stage, making sure that everything was right. Everyone wanted the show to go particularly well because Allen Klein, who had flown over, had organised for the whole of John's performance to be filmed. This was on top of it being video-taped by Dan Richter.[43] | ” |
[edit] Later life and death
Evans separated from his wife in 1973, and subsequently moved from the UK to Los Angeles, where Lennon had moved to with May Pang after his own separation from Yoko Ono.
Evans was the second of The Beatles' inner circle to die (after Brian Epstein) when he was shot and killed by the police on 5 January 1976, in his rented duplex at 8122 W. 4th Street in Los Angeles.[44] The officers mistakenly believed that the air pistol Evans was holding was a rifle. Before his death Evans was working on a book of memoirs about The Beatles called Living The Beatles Legend, which he was supposed to deliver to publishers Grosset and Dunlap on 12 January 1976. Friends said that Evans was depressed about his separation from his wife Lil Evans—who had asked for a divorce before Christmas—although he was then living with new girlfriend Fran Hughes.[1]
On the night of Evans' death he was so despondent that Fran Hughes phoned Evans's collaborator on his book, John Hoernie, and asked him to visit them. Hoernie saw Evans "really doped-up and groggy", and Evans told Hoernie to make sure that he finished Living The Beatles Legend.[1] Hoernie helped Evans up to an upstairs bedroom, but during an incoherent conversation Evans picked up a .30.30 air rifle. Hoernie struggled with Evans, but Evans (being much stronger) held onto the weapon.[1]
Hughes phoned the police and told them that Evans was confused, had a gun, and was on valium. Four policemen arrived and two of them, David D. Krempa and Robert E. Brannon, went up to the bedroom. The police report stated that as soon as Evans saw the policemen he pointed the rifle at them. The officers repeatedly told Evans to put down the rifle (which they did not know was an air-rifle) but Evans constantly refused. The police fired six shots, of which four struck Evans—killing him instantly.[45] Evans had previously been awarded the badge of "Honorary Sherrif of Los Angeles County".[1] Evans was cremated on 7 January 1976 in Los Angeles. Harry Nillson and other friends were there, but none of the Beatles attended his funeral. His ashes were sent by post back to England, but were misplaced and lost in the postal system.[1]
[edit] The Mal Evans archive
Beatles memorabilia is in continuous demand, but a full set of autographs by all four of The Beatles could be forgeries, as Evans and Aspinall used to sign many of them when the Beatles were too busy.[46] In 1992, Lennon's original pages of lyrics to "A Day in the Life" were sold by the Evans estate for £56,600 at Sotheby's, in London, to an unknown collector.[47]
Other Beatles lyrics collected by Evans have been subject to legal action over the years: In 1996, McCartney went to the High Court in England and prevented the sale of the original lyrics to "With a Little Help from My Friends" that Evans' widow Lily had tried to sell, by claiming that the lyrics were collected by Evans as a part of his duties and belonged to The Beatles.[48][49] A notebook in which McCartney wrote the lyrics for "Hey Jude" was sold in 1998 at an auction for £111,500. The notebook also contains lyrics for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "All You Need is Love". The pad also contains lyrics, notes, drawings and poems by other Beatles as well as by Evans.[50]
A suitcase that Evans was carrying at the time of his death, which was supposed to contain unreleased recordings, photos and other Beatles' memorabilia, was lost by the police during the investigation and became known as the lost "Mal Evans Archive". It was reported in June 2004 that an English tourist, Frasier Claughton, bought the suitcase for $36 at a flea market just outside of Melbourne, Australia, unaware of its contents. By August 2004, however, experts had determined that the documents within the suitcase were photocopies made in the 1990s and declared the supposed archive a fake.[51]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Miles 1998. p601
- ^ a b c d e f TIMESONLINE: March 20, 2005 - Mal Evans' diary Retrieved: 2 March 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k beatlesnumber9.com - Mal Evans’ diaries Retrieved: 23 February 2007
- ^ beatlesagain.com - Audio about when Mal first heard The Beatles Retrieved: 20 February 2007
- ^ Miles 1998. p93
- ^ Miles 1998. p92
- ^ memb.nl - Photo of Mal backstage Retrieved: 26 February 2007
- ^ Miles 1998. pp92-93
- ^ Spitz 2005. p445
- ^ a b Miles 1998. pp188-189
- ^ expectingrain.com - Evans writing down McCartney’s thoughts Retrieved: 26 February 2007
- ^ att.net - The Night of 100 Stars Retrieved: 21 February 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. pp515-516
- ^ Spitz 2005. p579
- ^ a b Miles 1998. pp166-167
- ^ revolverbook.co.uk - Location of The Bag o’Nails Retrieved: 11 February 2007
- ^ Miles 1998. p141
- ^ multimap.com - Location of the Grosse Horloge, Bordeaux Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ a b Miles 1998. p302
- ^ Miles 1998. pp304-304
- ^ Miles 1998. p303
- ^ Miles 1998. p336
- ^ Spitz 2005. p704
- ^ McCartney’s wedding to Linda – bbc.co.uk: 10 June 2002 Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p736
- ^ Spitz 2005. p612
- ^ a b c d e Miles 1998. p438
- ^ images.google.co.uk - IZAL toilet paper Retrieved: 2 March 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p670
- ^ stevesbeatles.com - A Day in the Life Retrieved: 2 March 2007
- ^ applecorp.com - A Day in the Life Retrieved: 2 March 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p793
- ^ timesonline.co.uk: 20 March 2005 – Evan’s writing of Beatles’ songs Retrieved: 3 March 2007
- ^ bbc.co.uk - Mal Evans on film Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ npg.org.uk - Evans’ portrait Retrieved: 26 February 2007
- ^ Spitz 2005. p723
- ^ Spitz 2005. p816
- ^ maccafan.net - Evans on the rooftop of Saville Row Retrieved: 27 February 2007
- ^ cduniverse.com - Evans’ films on DVD Retrieved: 26 February 2007
- ^ Credits for "Two Sides of the Moon". All Music Guide. Retrieved on March 5, 2007.
- ^ Spitz 2005. p827
- ^ Miles 1998. p546
- ^ a b homepage.ntlworld.com - Toronto Rock 'N' Roll revival concert Retrieved: 27 February 2007
- ^ Miles 1998. p600
- ^ Miles 1998. pp601-602
- ^ Forged autographs – bbc.co.uk: 20 August, 2004 Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ A Day in the Life lyrics sold by Evan’s family – bbc.co.uk: 18 January 2006 Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ Lyrics belong to The Beatles – bbc.co.uk: 7 August 1998 Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ listserv.muohio.edu - McCartney’s comments about the sale of Beatles’ lyrics Retrieved: 26 February 2007
- ^ The Notebook – bbc.co.uk: 15 September 1998 Retrieved: 19 February 2007
- ^ The fake Mal Evans suitcase - bbc.co.uk: 19 August 2004. Retrieved: 19 February 2007
[edit] References
- Lennon, Cynthia (2006). John. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-89828-3.
- Miles, Barry (1998). Many Years From Now. Vintage-Random House. ISBN 0-7493-8658-4.
- Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown and Company (New York). ISBN 1-84513-160-6.
[edit] External links
- An extensive biography of Evans
- Evans and the police on the rooftop video
- The Dutch “mal evans memorial band”
- TIMESONLINE: Evans' diaries say that he co-wrote the Sgt Pepper song and others
