Their First, Their Last, and a whole lot of history....

I took a walking tour today which was actually an extension of a bus (hop on and off) tour. At 4PM each day in London, the Big Bus company takes people on a walking tour through the SOHO district of London and tells them all about the band from Liverpool who came to London in 1961 and tried to make a name for themselves. The tour covers the Beatles life here through 1969 when they played their last live performance ever.....even though it was an impromptu performance. The building in this picture was where the Beatles performed in London for the first time in 1961 (very close to Picadilly Circus...latin for Circle). They were already famous in Liverpool but wanted a record and needed to come to London to win over a record company label. Thier manager did all he could but only 17 people showed up in this theatre to watch them. They went through lots of changes including switching drummers when Ringo Star came on the scene. I didn't know this but their first record company was so nervous about using Ringo that they recorded every song twice, once with a show drummer, and once with Ringo. They used the show drummer versions on singles and Ringo on the album cuts. When John Lennon was later asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, he jokingly said, hell, he ain't even the best drummer on the Beatles! It was a great tour and I filmed almost the entire portion where the guide was telling us stories. He also pointed out places where Eric Clapton and Jimmy Hendrix became famous. He told us the story of Jimmy Hendrix's last live performance in a little club that is still there. Jimmy Hendrix died of a drug overdose in London two days after playing at the club the tour guide took us to. We stood in front of the club as he told the story.

When YOKO ONO entered onto the scene, the Beatles really started to fall apart. They recorded Let It Be in a recording studio they eventually moved into (recorded in the basement) but one day decided to take all their gear upstairs and play on the roof. That was in 1969. The building can be seen here on the right. It was sort of a residential area and the people all came out and went wild. A bank manager got pissed off (figures) at all the ruckus and called the police. The police came and almost broke down the door to the studio so they could get up on the roof and stop the hysteria below. The Beatles stopped playing, John said in the microphone, "Thank you all for coming to our audition"....and the group never played together again...ever. The tour was awesome, it was great to hear such a great speaker know so much regarding the history of that band. I would love to share the video I have of the highlights of the walking tour . The tour took us by an awesome building that was very modern and had the letters "pml" over the entrance. The guy said, "ladies and gentleman, welcome to the in-town studio of Paul McCartney Limited. He also said he has been doing the walking tour for 2 years, every day at 4PM and never has seen Paul yet! So there you have it, it seems like years and years they were together but it really wasn't. These buildings though, represent where they played their first "gig" in London, and their last "gig" together. Tony....this is the SOHO you must see in your lifetime. Tomorrow I hope to find a way to get to Abbey Road......