The Casbah Coffee Club Suites 8 Haymans Green West Derby Liverpool 12 8 Haymans Green, the former home of the Best family and the Casbah Club On Wednesday, 21 August, I was lucky enough to attend the official opening of the Casbah Coffee Club Suites in the company of the Best family - including Pete and his brother Roag – and other invited guests.   The Best’s former home at 8 Haymans Green has been transformed into an AirBnB, with all three floors of the house transformed into Beatles’ themed suites. While the basement Casbah Club has operated as a tourist attraction f ..read more

4 June 2024 Tony Bramwell, the Beatles' friend and associate has passed, age 78, I went to bed last night as the news started to come through, and I was hoping that it wasn't true, but on waking this morning posts have started appearing on FB and elsewhere stating that Tony Bramwell has passed. Tony grew up in Hunts Cross, an area of Liverpool between Halewood, Speke and Woolton, practically the same spot as where I live now. He went to the same school as my Dad (Hillfoot Hey) so when we finally met we already had that local connection. In his teens he met George Harrison who was working as a ..read more

Alternate titles: Plaque’s Man Blue Plaque Way Deep Blue Plaque For You Blue Plaque Tired of Midnight Blue Plaque 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, L15 8HP On May 24, 2024, Historic England unveiled a national blue plaque commemorating George Harrison – music icon, songwriter and humanitarian – at his birthplace, 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool. The unveiling ceremony was performed by George’s wife Olivia Harrison, with Historic England’s Chief Executive Duncan Wilson, and introduced by Journalist, Broadcaster, and Blue Plaques panel member, Samira Ahmed. Historic England ..read more

20 Forthlin Road, Allerton,Liverpool 18 Co-authored by Beatles historians Steve Bradley and Mark Ashworth.  Simultaneously published on Steve's blog here: Link Days after spending an afternoon with Paul McCartney's brother Michael,  Steve messaged me again to see if I wanted to join him for a tour of 20 Forthlin Road.  Naturally I jumped at the chance. We enjoyed our visit so much we decided to share our experiences in this co-authored blog, a first. I've let Steve take the lead and incorporate my observations at the appropriate time.  The former McCartney family ..read more

        C entral Library William Brown Street Liverpool 3  Self portrait in Forthlin Road (credit: Mike McCartney) On the Wednesday 24 April I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon at Liverpool Central Library in the company of Mike McCartney, who was the special guest at a talk entitled ‘Things We Said Today: The Beatles’ Lyrical Poetry’.   The event, presented by Liverpool City Council with Liverpool Library and Informational Sciences was hosted by Susan Peterson Ph.D and Associate Lecturers Dominic Abba MA, and Damion Ewing MA.   Mike arr ..read more

  Regular readers of this blog will know that one of my all-time favourite Beatles’ books is The Beatles’ London, A Guide to 467 Beatle Sites by Piet Schreuders, Mark Lewisohn and Adam Smith. It has inspired me and similar minded friends to walk (on feet) something like forty miles around the streets of the capital photographing Beatles’ locations and prompted me to start There Are Places I Remember – The Beatles’ Liverpool Locations as I made clear in my very first blog way back in 2009.   From day one, I’ve loved researching new places with a proven Beatles’ connection and photo ..read more

The release date of the 'final Beatles' song', Now and Then, an unfinished demo recorded by John Lennon in 1979 and worked on by the remaining Beatles during the Anthology project in 1995, and again over the last couple of years was announced today.  The track will be released on a number of single vinyl formats, a cassette, and as the final song on reworked versions of the classic red and blue 'best of' compilations The Beatles 1962-66 and The Beatles 1967-70. Predictably the news has sent Beatles fan pages and social media groups into overdrive, with fans sharing some very mixed opinion ..read more

23 May, 2023 I am greatly saddened to report that Charles ‘Chas’ Newby has passed away at the age of 81. When the Beatles returned from Hamburg in December 1960, Stuart Sutcliffe decided to stay in Germany. With gigs booked and missing a bass guitarist, drummer Pete Best suggested his friend Chas Newby fill in. Chas had been a member of Pete’s group the Black Jacks , and was now at college however, he was on holiday, and so he agreed to play with the Beatles. Chas first enters the Beatles’ story in 1959 when, as a guitarist in a group called the Barmen, he performed at the Pillar Club in ..read more

Liverpool Beatles Museum Mathew Street Liverpool Thursday 27 April 2023  Some of the invited guests waiting for today's big reveal at the Liverpool Beatles Museum This morning I attended the latest reveal at the Liverpool Beatles Museum, on Mathew Street owned by Pete and Roag Best.  The Saville Theatre (now Odeon) opened on Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in 1931.  In 1965, Brian Epstein, a former drama student, leased the theatre and began promoting plays and Sunday night concerts by such acts as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Chuck Berry, and The Who.  The Beatl ..read more

Day 2 - Part 2 Chiswick House and Gardens, Burlington Lane, Chiswick, W4 Despite some strong competition from St Pancras Old Church and the area around Soho, our penultimate location on this trip was quite possibly the best location of the entire weekend. The Beatles came here on 20 May 1966 with director Michael Lindsay-Hogg to film promotional films for both sides of their new 'Paperback Writer' / 'Rain' single.  They had spent the previous day being filmed at EMI studios by Lindsay-Hogg - with whom they would later  make both the ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Revolution’ promo clips in 196 ..read more