The Beatles' road manager from the summer of 1963 until the Beatles
broke up, twenty-six year old Malcom Evans was working as a
communications technician for the Post Office in 1962 when he discovered
the Beatles playing at the Cavern during his lunch break, and he was
hooked. He started spending a lot of time at the Cavern, and became
friends with George Harrison, who recommended him as bouncer at the
Club. He had been guarding the door at the Cavern for about three months
when the pace was getting so hectic for Neil Aspinall and the Beatles
that they decided to take on Mal to help.
For all of the Beatles' tours, Mal drove the van, set up and tested
the Beatles' equipment, and then packed it all up again after each show.
It was mild-mannered and friendly Mal who interacted with the excited
crowd before the show while the Beatles stayed in their dressing room.
This freed up Neil Aspinall, the original road manager, to look after
the boys' personal needs and safety. Mal also assisted Neil in forging
the Beatles' signatures on their publicity photos.
While John was off filming How I Won The War in 1966, Mal
accompanied Paul on his African Safari. In the later years, after the
Beatles stopped touring, Mal continued to be their constant companion,
assisting them in the studio. He can be seen setting up equipment in the
very first scene of the Let It Be movie, and is pictured here
with Paul, John, Ringo and Billy Preston during the rooftop concert. In
addition to Let It Be, Mal can also be seen in the movie
Help! in the recurring joke as the swimmer asking for directions to
the White Cliffs of Dover, and was also in Magical Mystery Tour.
Mal even made it onto many Beatles recordings. He's among the voices
on Yellow Submarine. He played the Hammond organ on You
Won't See Me. He counted off the measures in the breaks of the song
A Day In The Life during early sessions of recording the rhythm
track, his voice can still barely be heard on some of the released
mixes, and he was one of the four piano players simultaneously hitting
the last note of the song. He played some harmonica on Being for the
Benefit of Mr. Kite. He played the tambourine on Dear Prudence
and the trumpet on Helter Skelter. And he sang along on You
Know My Name (Look Up The Number) and the long unreleased
What's The New Mary Jane. In the Let It Be movie, Mal can
be seen playing the anvil during early verions of Maxwell's Silver
Hammer, but Lewisohn records that Ringo actually played that on the
record. In 1968, Mal brought his discovery the Iveys, who later
became Badfinger, to the Apple recording family.
Mal was the only person of the Beatles family to attend Paul and
Linda's wedding in 1969. After the dissolution of the Beatles, Mal moved
to Los Angeles, and died tragically on January 5, 1976 in a
misunderstanding with the police because he had a gun.
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