Living the Beatles Legend–a Review

Last updated on: March 18, 2024 at 1:02 am by Ben Witherington

Living the Beatles Legend–a Review 2024-02-25T16:53:00-05:00 Ben Witherington

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The subtitle for this book is The Untold Story of Mal(com) Evans. A better title might have been Malcom in the Middle, as he was indeed in the middle of everything from the early days as a bouncer for the Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, although the way up to the break up of the Beatles at the end of 70s, and beyond. By British standards, Mal was a giant of a man, and that in itself made him an ideal roadie for lugging around huge amps, guitars, and the like. But Mal also had a very friendly demeanor that made those who knew him well describe him as like a giant teddy bear. But he was also an enforcer during Beatlemania, keeping screaming fans off the stage during concerts. In fact, he was a jack of all trades– bring anything needed by the Beatles to them— food, drink, drugs, women, musical equipment, not to mention driving them all over creation. But I digress.

This book was put together by Kenneth Womack, based on the vast memorabilia and diary of Mal himself, who was in the process of writing his memoirs in the 70s when his life suddenly was ended by a policeman who entered his bedroom, saw Mal holding some sort of gun, and shot first and asked questions later. Today that policeman might well be facing charges.

It’s a sad and tragic story about a man who himself longed to be an entertainer, a producer, a song writer, but his own inner doubts and insecurities, fueled by drug induced paranoia, prevented him from ever full realizing his dream. And in the process he betrayed his wife by adulteries and children by neglect, in order to serve the Beatles every whim and demand. His desire to be near them and his love for the Beatles always prevented him from telling them no. They were always priority one. It would be unfair to call him merely a sycophant or a mere groupie, as he was so much more than that– he really was someone who helped the Beatles realize their full musical potential. And he was often kind and generous to a fault. He especially loved children.

Kenneth Womack, as an English professor at Monmouth University does a fine job of putting together a very good and lengthy account (over 500 pages) which finally saw the light of day last November after languishing since the 70s, and indeed lost for much of that time until someone found it in the basement of Putnam publishers.

But for me this is a story about losing one’s naivete, by which I mean my own. Growing up, starting with the Ed Sullivan show in the early 60s where the Beatles premiered in America, the Beatles and their music seemed larger than life, and special. As a musician these were the kind of persons you wanted to be like. I immediately went out and got a guitar after seeing them in the early days. But sadly, this music revolution also involved lots of illicit sex, and lots of drugs, most of which was hidden from the public’s eyes, that is until stories leaked out about Paul’s drug bust in Japan, and other such occurrences. And unfortunately, Mal Evans did his best to emulate his idols with vast quantities of sex and drugs.

Just how much dissolution was involved is painstakingly laid out in this book. For instance John not only ditched his first wife Cynthia for Yoko Ono, but then adding insult to injury went after Yoko’s assistance May, a much younger woman. There was no end to this with the Beatles and their entourage. Eventually Ringo and Paul straightened out enough to still be alive and compos mentis. John was tragically shot by a deranged fan, and George died of an incurable condition prematurely. Mal himself didn’t make it past 40.

I’m glad that this book finally saw the light of day, but the truth is that none of the Fab Four or Mal were Magic Christians, despite Ringo in the 1969 movie of that name. You have to weed the wheat from the chaff in the story of these folks, and inevitably it’s mostly the music that is admirable, although at times there were admirable traits displayed by all these persons. They were not all bad, but at the same time they were no one’s role models for proper ethical behavior. And that’s the sad truth. So… fare thee well naivete. These were not messiahs, not even musical messiahs, despite the outrageous behavior by fans who were hysterical fanatics during Beatlemania.

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