ROCK N ROLL BOOK CLUB BEATLES SPECIAL! David Stark and Richard Porter

October 5th at the Dublin Castle, Camden, London

RNR Book Club ‘Love Me Do’ 60th Anniversary Beatles Special – “It’s All Too Much – Adventures of a Teenage Beatles Fan in the ’60s and Beyond” is the unique memoir by music industry veteran David Stark, who grew up in north London during the 1960s as a dedicated Beatles fan and was lucky enough to meet his musical heroes on various memorable occasions.

From gate-crashing the Yellow Submarine film premiere in 1968 (aged just fifteen) and ending up sitting directly behind the group, to meeting them individually in some extraordinary circumstances, Stark has some highly entertaining stories about his many Beatles encounters which have never been told before Stark’s stories don’t end with the 1960s, as he continued to encounter all the individual Beatles into the 1970s and beyond, culminating in 2006 when Sir Paul McCartney inducted him as a ‘Companion of LIPA’ at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts for his work with songwriting students. He also knew the late Sir George Martin, who has his own chapter in the book, as does John Lennon’s legendary Aunt Mimi, whom David visited and became friends with just months after Lennon’s senseless murder in 1980.Stark is also a life-long drummer who plays with the Trembling Wilburys tribute band, as well as having played with The Quarrymen on one memorable occasion. He was also responsible for the erection of an official Blue Plaque for the late Brian Epstein at his old offices next to the London Palladium; and was one of a small group who, in 2019, achieved the placing of a long-awaited Blue Plaque at 3 Savile Row to mark the Beatles’ final live appearance on the roof of Apple in 1969. In conversation this evening with Tony Gleed…as will be London’s premier Beatles ambassador Richard Porter and Merseyside’s very own guardian of all things Fab David Bedford, with their new book (written with Susan Ryan) ‘The Beatles Fab Four Cities – Liverpool, Hamburg, London and New York’ available next week, so an exclusive dip into this fascinating approach to all things Beatles, and hopefully books will be available to purchase on the night.

To paraphrase Lennon, we could say that: ‘The Beatles were born in Liverpool, grew up in Hamburg, reached maturity in London, and immortality in New York.’ Four cities. Four stars. The Fab Four – the Beatles – are revered the world over, but it is in these urban centres that their legacy shines brightest. Liverpool: where the band graduated from church halls, leaving their initial line-up as ‘The Quarrymen’ far behind. Hamburg: where their raucous stage act was honed; where arrests earned them a more notorious celebrity reputation, but they became a true emblem of rock ‘n’ roll. London: where The Beatles produced Sgt Pepper, and home to the iconic album cover for Abbey Road. And New York: the city that became John Lennon’s home, where their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show announced them to 73 million Americans.

The Beatles: Fab Four Cities invites the reader on a cosmopolitan trek across continents, tracing the Beatles’ rise to fame from one metropolis to the next. Flush with timelines, stories, trivia, the numerous links and connections between the cities and both pop cultural and local history, this is a travel guide like no other. Excellent! Buy both books! Get them signed! Buy two! Christmas is just around the corner!

Richard Porter runs the superb London Beatles Store and organises walking tours specialising in London Beatle history. David Bedford has written numerous Beatles books and is an acknowledged Beatles historian and scholar. So we’re in very good hands for a night of Beatle lore and larks. With some Beatles shaped musical interludes too, this erudite and entertaining evening promises to be an essential stopover for all lovers of all things John, Paul, George and Ringo. After all it was 60 years ago today The Beatles taught the world to play.

To buy your tickets click here