91July 19, 2015

SUNDAYMOVIES MOTORS PUZZLES

AYPUZZLES2GAMES

JOURNALIST’SNEWBOOKRECALLS HISFAB 5WEEKSTOURING INSTATESWITHLEGENDS

WHEN Ivor Davis was invitedto join The Beatles on theirfirst American tour over 50years ago, nothing preparedhim for the wild adventurethat lay ahead.

The young Los Angeles-basedBritish showbiz journalist brief-ly became the fifth member ofthe band, documenting theirU.S. escapades and ghost-writ-ing George Harrison’s columnfor his London newspaper.

A goggle-eyed Davis spent fiveweeks jet-setting across the Statesas the Fab Four fought their way

through hordes of screaming fans,bedded an endless supply of

groupies and hookers, gothigh on marijuana with

Bob Dylan, sparred withCassius Clay (Muham-mad Ali) and had theirone and only encounterwith ‘The King’ ElvisPresley.

TURN TO P92

In bedwith theBeatles

MAGICAL MYSTERYTOUR: Paul, John,Ringo and George

clowning around and(below) Eddie Rowley

with Ivor Davis

93July 19, 2015

BECAME EXCESS ALL AREASHELP!: FabFour were

humiliated byMuhammad Ali

Dylan had brought along astash of pot and passed it aroundThe Beatles, who weren’t familiarwith the drug at the time.

At the end of the night, Ivorrecalls that Ringo looked theworse for wear.

“He could barely stand upstraight, couldn’t string a fewwords together and giggled a lot.”

One of the most disappointingencounters on the trip for Daviswas the historic private meetingbetween Elvis Presley and TheBeatles. Other than Dylan, Elviswas the only celebrity they had areal interest in meeting.

That famous hook-up tookplace the following summer, in1965, with Davis in the room to

tell the tale, although no cameraswere allowed.

“It had taken a year to set upthe meeting, and John reallywanted it to happen because hewas a big fan,” Ivor tells me.

“But when it did take placeit was a very uncomfortablesituation. Elvis was jealous ofThe Beatles and he didn’t havegreat people skills.”

When The Beatles enteredPresley’s home, he was loungingon a sofa surrounded by hisentourage and hangers-on.

“The Beatles sat on the groundand for a while there was notalk,” Ivor remembers.

“Elvis was not friendly orgregarious. He was alright with

his ‘Memphis Mafia’ becausethey all came from the sameneighbourhood, but he was souncomfortable with people hedidn’t know.

“Eventually Elvis said: ‘If youguys are gonna just sit around,I’m goin’ to bed.’ Everyonelaughed and Elvis’s demeanourvisibly eased. ‘Didn’t you guysshow up to jam?’ he asked.Thatwas the signal The Beatles hadbeen waiting for.

“It should have been a joyousget-together, but later TheBeatles agreed that Elvis was aboring guy to meet,” Ivor adds.

• Ivor Davis’s book, The Beatlesand Me, is out now.

Eddie Rowley

LOVE MEDO: Girlsflockedto theband

HARDDAYS

WRITE:Ivor withGeorge

Harrison

€239*

92 July 19, 2015

HOW U.S TOUR22SUNDAY

Myhardday’snightwith theFAB FOUR

BEDDING GANGS OF GROUPIES,SMOKING POT WITH BOB DYLAN,SPARRING WITH MUHAMMAD ALIAND MEETING ELVIS PRESLEY –

AUTHOR IVOR DAVIS RECALLS FIVEHECTIC WEEKS ON THE ROAD WITHJOHN, PAUL, GEORGE AND RINGO

FROM PAGE 91Ivor was also on the scene during

a night in LasVegas when JohnLennon was interrogated by policeafter a mother complained that hertwo underage daughters were beingdetained in his suite.

Lennon and the band’s manager,Brian Epstein, were questioned

through the night, but the authoritiesdecided there was no case to answer.

Davis learned that after the motherthreatened to go to the Americanmedia she was paid $10,000 hushmoney by the band’s management.

Davis has now written a book,TheBeatles and Me, giving the full insidestory of his five incredible weeks withthe band back in 1964.

“The road managers workingwith The Beatles on the tour weresupposed to vet the girls beforeletting them in, and they did for themost part,” Ivor tells the SundayWorld, as he recalls the incident inVegas involving two young sisters.

“But when a pretty girl camealong nobody asked ‘do you have apassport?’ So these underage girls

were allowed through with themother’s consent.

“She came back a bit drunkfrom a casino sometime later,and demanded to be let up to thesuite.When she was refused bysecurity, the woman got royallypi**ed off and called the cops.

“John insisted to them thatnothing untoward had happened.Brian Epstein, who had beenasleep in his own room, had a fitwhen he was called.

“Epstein was scared sh**lessbecause this had the potential todestroy The Beatles.

“That LasVegas incident was adangerous wake-up call and fromthen on greater care was takento vet women who were usheredinto the Beatles’ company.”

As he recalls those heady times,Davis, who was then a single guyin his 20s, admits that he tookadvantage of the sex on offer.

“Female fans, looking to forge aBeatle connection, even a remoteone, were not shy about offeringsexual favours,” he reveals.

“Wherever the Beatles wentthere were legions of womenwilling to oblige the boys’ everydesire. It was not uncommon forthe younger girls to recruit theirmothers to help accomplish theirmission. Girls jammed hotellobbies zeroing in on anyone whohad an English accent.

“One woman, hearing mespeak, brazenly cornered me as Ibooked into Seattle’s EdgewaterInn on the third day of the tour.‘I need to meet The Beatles,’ shesaid to me. ‘I just want to makemy daughters happy.What can Ido to make you happy?’”

Although Davis says that allfour Beatles were “like kids in acandy store” with the females,he said Paul McCartney was thenumber one ladies man.

“John labelled him ‘a sexualgladiator.’ As such, he glidedthrough the U.S. tour withconsummate ease.”

Writer Davis also reveals that

The Beatles were introduced toa parade of hookers in AtlanticCity and told by the localpromoter: “These gorgeousladies are here for your pleasure.Take your pick.”

He says: “Each of the selectedgirls took the arm of a Beatle,and headed off to moreappropriate quarters.”

The Beatles also hooked upwith other celebrities on thetrip. Ivor recalls in his book thatMuhammad Ali, then known asCassius Clay, publicly humiliatedthe group when they met him fora series of set-up pictures.

Davis says: “Ali embarrassedthem. He made them lie on theirbacks in the ring. He bossed

them around. And they took it.He tapped Ringo and they allwent down like dominoes.”

The hilarious pictures of Aliand The Beatles flew around theworld – but the Fab Four foundthem embarrassing and werefurious. Davis says that Ali laterclaimed to have had no idea whoThe Beatles were, afterwardsasking: “So who were those littlesissies?”

Although Ivor insists that TheBeatles weren’t star-struck bythe celebrities they encounteredin the States, Bob Dylan was theexception.

They finally hooked up withhim for a bonding session in NewYork at the end of the tour.