Beatle News

Late Coach

As all the National press found out very quickly, the Mystery Tour coach which the Beatles had hired for their trip round South West England was two hours late arriving to pick Paul McCartney up on the first day, Monday September 11th.

Paul spent the time being photographed, signing autographs and having a cup of tea at a nearby canteen.

The forty-three seats of the coach were filled by 7 technicians, the 4 Beatles, Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, Press Officer Tony Barrow, Freda Kelly and several other friends including an elderly couple and fan club secretaries Sylvia Nightingale from Sussex, Barbara King from Essex and Jeni Crowley from London . . . lucky girls?

Director John

As you know, the Beatles have planned the whole Mystery Tour themselves and they're also directing it. On Wednesday September 13th John directed a sequence in which Scotch comedian Nat Jackley chased a bevy of girls round a swimming pool. Although the Beatles are completely in charge, they do have a camera director with them who is taking care of the technical side.

Big Change?

Lots of clothes designers down Carnaby Street have been wondering whether the Beatles were about to spark off a craze for gangster style clothes after the pictures appeared in the papers of them wearing Al Capone suits at the start of their Mystery Tour. Sean Connery wore a similar outfit to a big fancy dress party that Brigitte Bardot gave only a few days before. But reports from people on the Mystery Tour say it's not happening yet. To quote one, "As soon as they got into the hotel they changed straight back into their 'love' gear".

No Studio

When the Boys came to book a film studio in which to shoot the interior scenes for their Mystery Tour, they found that all the film studios around London were booked up solid. But a little problem like that has never stopped a Beatle yet and they got hold of an empty hangar in West Malling, near Maidstone in Kent.