The Birth of Beatlemania: The Fab Four on Tour, 1963

NOTE: Martin Creasy spent two years tracing the trajectory of the Beatles' UK tours, interviewing scores of people who in some way connected with John, Paul, George and Ringo en route. They include other performers on the bills, theatre and hotel employees, police who guarded them, provincial journalists and photographers who interviewed or photographed them, and – most of all – fans, some of whom were lucky enough to meet and talk with the group. Their testimonies uncover a fascinating and previously undocumented side of the Fab Four. This extract is taken from the chapter about their first-ever national tour. It is March 1963, and the Beatles, largely unknown outside of Liverpool when the tour started, are halfway up a bill that is headlined by Helen Shapiro and compered by Dave Allen. Midway through the tour their second single 'Please Please Me' reaches the top of the UK charts – and things will never be the same again.

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