On 20th May I flew out to Germany with Rod Davis from the Quarrymen.
Rod, like many people, didn’t realise that I play guitar and sing a bit too! So he suggested that ge would do a talk with songs, I would do my talk, and then we would sing some songs together. What an honour that was for me and we had so much fun too!!
Have a look at the video I’ve just uploaded to our YouTube channel and I hope you forgive the camera work from those watching and my singing too!
Join me on episode 2 of my Beatles walking tour of Liverpool city centre.
In this episode, I discover Eleanor Rigby and the story behind the sculpture.
Watch the video now and don’t forget to download the FREE map.
When I look back 10 years, most of my friends on Facebook and Twitter wouldn’t have known me. This last 10 years has been a whirlwind as my life took another turn.
Having had to give up work through ill health in 2000, I wasn’t sure what would happen from there. I started to write for the London Beatles Fan Club magazine – which later became the British Beatles Fan Club – and found that I enjoyed writing about The Beatles that I started on a project that would take 9 years to complete; “Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles“. Little did I know where that would take me.
Liddypool was published at the end of 2009 and, much to my amazement, became a worldwide hit. I had never written a book before, and couldn’t have done it without my publisher, Glyn Morris, and Marshall Terrill, my editor. The book sold out in 18 months and the second edition came out in 2011 and a third edition in 2017. It has taken me to America numerous times and around Europe to Beatles conventions and festivals. I never expected any of it. I have met and interviewed so many people connected to The Beatles; what a privilege and honour.
In 2013, my follow-up to “Liddypool” was “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles“, which has also sold well and has had some incredible reviews too.
From that book, film producer Garry Popper contacted me and asked me to be the historian for a documentary about John Lennon. “Looking for Lennon” came out in 2018; what a privilege to work on that with Garry and director Roger Appleton.
Through a good friend of mine, Mark Naboshek – who also edited The Fab one Hundred and Four and Finding the Fourth Beatle – introduced me to Michael Hill, John Lennon’s school friend from the age of 5. It was a privilege for me to edit and help Michael publish his book, “John Lennon: The Boy Who Became A Legend“. A fascinating book.
I was then contacted by Hunter Davies, the only ever official Beatles biographer, to collaborate with him, Keith Badman and Spencer Leigh, on a book called The Beatles Book. What an honour!
Garry then suggested that he and I should write the follow-up to The Fab one hundred and Four, based upon the number of drummers I had identified in that book; 12! So we started with 12 Drummers Drumming, but then I started finding more and more drummers who had played with The Beatles, eventually ending up with 23 drummers, while also solving the mystery of what happened to Pete Best in 1962; he wasn’t sacked! Finding the Fourth Beatle was published in 2018.
While working on all those other projects, I wanted to also indulge my love of crime fiction, so I combined my Beatles research with crime fiction and published my first detective book, “Inspector Rocke: That’ll Be The Day That I Die” in 2017. More books are planned there too!
I am so grateful for everyone who has purchased one of my books. I never expected anything and I still get the biggest thrill whenever I am asked to autograph a book.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. 2020 promised to be an exciting year, with several books planned.
Keep in touch with the latest news by signing up at this website. And don’t forget that you can listen to me and my friend Paul Beesley on our Podcast, “Liddypod“.
A final thank you to my wonderful family and friends for their unending support, which means so much.
What a decade! I am so thankful for everything.
David Bedford
Why Percy Phillips got there before George Martin did
This small studio tucked inside a Victorian terraced house at number
38, Kensington is where The Quarrymen made their first and only
demo record. It was a disc that eventually became one of the most
historic recordings in popular music. John, Paul, George, Colin
Hanton and John Duff Lowe paid seventeen shillings and sixpence
(87.5 pence) and cut a two-sided disk made of shellac. They couldn’t
afford to pay for a tape and so the recording was made straight to
disk.
The five-piece ensemble recorded Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be
The Day” and “In Spite Of All The Danger”, an original McCartney-
Harrison tune. It was seen as Paul’s song with George providing
the guitar solo.
Percy Phillips owned the studio, which was on the ground floor.
His clients waited in the front parlour and recorded in the back room
studio. The studio consisted of two tape-recorders, a microphone
hanging from the ceiling, a piano and disc-cutter, which produced
these shellac discs.
Colin Hanton spoke about that famous first recording. “We met at a theatre and walked up there. All I remember was this back room with electronic equipment in the corner. We set up our equipment with me in the corner and the lads with their guitars: there were no amps, it was all-acoustic. John Lowe was over by the wall on the piano. I was hitting the drums and he said that they were too loud, so I tried again but there was still the same problem, which was finally fixed by putting a scarf over the snare to soften it and keep it as quiet as possible.
“John Duff Lowe reckons there was one microphone hanging down from the ceiling, which picked everything up. He was complaining because he said we should get the tape, which was a pound, but we just had enough each— three shillings and sixpence (17.5 pence). I always felt that was one of the reasons to invite John Lowe along to split it five ways. John and Paul went white at the thought of a pound. “Percy was fed up because we were taking too much time, and starting to look at the clock. ‘In Spite Of All The Danger’ was quite long, and he said to chop a verse off. John said no. John Lowe could see Phillips from where he was sitting and he was apparently telling John to finish. We kept going, so the record ended with the song going almost to the centre of the disc, right to the hole in the middle.
“He gave us the disc and off we went. It was a big thing. How many people had records like popular crooner, Matt Monro? So we had a record too, and could listen to ourselves. We had heard our group before because the girl who lived next door to me, Geraldine Davies, had a Grundig tape recorder. She’d record us and then we’d all sit down and listen to it. It was a momentous day for us. I can still remember it so clearly”.
The songs appeared on Anthology Disc 1.
This interview first appeared in “Liddypool“. Read the full interview in the book – get your copy here.
David Bedford
David Bedford’s fascination for Beatles History is shown in his books “Liddypool” (2009) and “The Fab one hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles” (2013). He has also published his latest book about The Beatles drummers with Garry Popper, “Finding the Fourth Beatle” (2018).
He collaborated with the Beatles’ only official biographer Hunter Davies on “The Beatles Book” (2016), and is working on a number of new projects.
David began writing for the London Beatles Fan Club, which became the British Beatles Fan Club
New from October 2021 are:
The Beatles Fab Four Cities, co-written with Richard Porter and Susan Ryan, tells the story of the four cities that defined The Beatles career: Liverpool, Hamburg, London and New York. BUY IT HERE
Bill Zygmant: Where Did You Get That Shirt? is also new out. David has spent the last 3 years working with ’60s photographer Bill Zygmant putting together a book of his photos, which include over 70 of John Lennon and The Beatles. BUY IT HERE
The Country of Liverpool (2020). David digs into the country music roots of Liverpool and, never told before, the country roots of The Beatles.
David’s website aims to chart Beatles History through his interviews and research that have contributed to his books. Simply select Beatles History and either look at the main page, or select the appropriate year in Beatles History. This will be added to regularly to build a unique insight into Early Beatles and Quarrymen history.
In a branch off The Beatles trail, David has published his first crime detective novel, Inspector Rocke, which is set in Liverpool, 1960, and features The Beatles too!
Because of his forensic way of analysing Beatles history, in 2019, he launched a new Blog called “The Beatles Detective”, where he examines aspects of Beatles history, and searches for the evidence to solve the mysteries, like The Beatles names, Beatles members and other Beatles history. You can follow that at Thebeatlesdetective.com
He was Associate Producer and Historian on the documentary “Looking for Lennon” (2018), which was nominated for a National Film Award.
David is a Beatles historian, author and researcher, and a guest at Beatles events in the US, UK and Europe. He makes regular appearances on Radio, TV and Beatles Podcasts.
“David is defining and refining Beatles history” – Edd Raineri, Beatledd Fab Four Hour
As well as many interviews with people connected with The Beatles, David’s original research has uncovered people, stories and events that no other author/historian has discovered:
The only book on The Beatles and Liverpool (Liddypool)
The real meaning behind the Beatles song “Penny Lane” (Liddypool)
Discovered Geoff Lee, who suggested to John Lennon that he should start a skiffle group; The Quarry Men (Fab104)
Has the only biography and photographs of Beatles drummer Norman Chapman; (Fab104)
The most complete biography of Silver Beatles drummer Tommy Moore; (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
Established that George Harrison joined The Quarrymen in December 1957, not 1958; (Fab104)
Established when the first colour photograph of John, Paul and George was taken; (Fab104)
Discovered who the “man on the flaming pie” was (Fab104)
Drummer Alan Leyland drummed with The Beatles in 1961; (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
That John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best signed a legal partnership agreement in 1961; (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
That Pete Best WAS NOT sacked and what really happened; (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
That The Beatles were not under contract at EMI in June 1962. (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
The between 1956 and 1970, 23 different drummers played with The Beatles at different times. (Finding the Fourth Beatle)
And much, much more, with many interviews being unique to him too.
Purchase David’s books in the Beatles Bookstore
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