Mal Evans - The Beatles

The Beatles

Three months after starting at the Cavern Club, Evans was hired by Brian Epstein as a road manager, on 11 August 1962. Evans and Aspinall’s duties were to drive the van while on tour, and to set up and test the equipment. The Beatles were being driven back to Liverpool from London by Evans through heavy fog on 21 January 1963, when the windscreen was hit by a pebble and crazed over, so Evans had to break a large hole in it to see the road ahead. This was in winter, so the group had to lie one on top of the other in the back with a bottle of whisky and try to stay warm in the freezing temperatures; something McCartney later referred to as a "Beatle sandwich".

Evans had many other duties: as well as acting as a bodyguard, he was sent to buy anything they needed, such as suits, boots, meals, or drinks. If Lennon said "Socks, Mal", Evans would have to rush to a local store and buy pairs of cotton socks for him. In 1967, Evans wrote in his diaries that he "bought Ringo some undies for his visit to the doctor". Although Beatles' memorabilia is in continuous demand, a full set of autographs by all four could be forgeries: Evans and Aspinall used to sign many of them when Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr were too busy.

The Beatles started their first European tour in January 1964, and Evans was allowed to take his wife and son with him, but was involved in a "big punch-up" with photographers in Paris whilst protecting them. Epstein’s associate, Alistair Taylor, once asked him why he was driving an Austin Princess limousine, rather than a Daimler, a Bentley, or a Rolls-Royce. Evans explained that The Beatles were forced to choose an Austin, because they had tested every car to see how wide the doors would open as they (literally) had to "dive into the car" to escape their fans.