Very few people penetrated The Beatles’ sanctum. Mal Evans was one of the fortunate few brought into the Fab Four’s incredibly tight inner circle where he served a professional role as a hardworking roadie and personal assistant who catered 24/7 to the band’s whims, and he was also a trusted and loyal friend. Remarkably, during his tenure with the band, Evans was a first-hand witness to arguably every historic moment in Beatles history; he’s almost “Zelig” like in his ubiquity of presence. From their formative days playing Liverpool’s Cavern Club to the zenith of Beatlemania on global tours spanning 1964-66, the historic meetings between the Fab Four and Bob Dylan in 1964 and a year later with Elvis Presley, landmark recording sessions (he contributed lyrics uncredited to several Beatles songs), The Beatles’ feature films A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be, the climactic January 1969 rooftop concert and more. Upon the group’s split in April 1970, Evans continued to work closely with all four Beatles in various capacities up to his untimely death in 1976.
A new book, Living The Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans, penned by Kenneth Womack, provides the first examination of Evans’ life and journey with The Beatles and beyond. Beautifully written and exhaustively researched, utilizing Evans’ own copious diaries, paperwork and rare imagery alongside over 200 new interviews, Living The Beatles Legend shines a well-deserved spotlight on a lesser known hero in The Beatles universe.
GOLDMINE: Detail the back story behind how this book came about
KENNETH WOMACK: In 2020, I was contacted by Gary Evans, via a mutual friend, filmmaker Simon Weitzman. Gary was interested in bringing his father’s story to life. Naturally, I was interested — who doesn’t love Big Mal? While I knew that Mal had assembled a personal archive, I had no idea about the wide range of materials he had accumulated. A few weeks after I signed onto the project, Gary sent the materials to New Jersey, and I was positively blown away.
GM: Going into the project, what were your expectations, and what were some of the major surprises you uncovered?
KW: Honestly, I figured I could get the requisite 80,000 words out of tracing Mal’s life history. Gary Evans is such a wonderful, kindhearted and generous guy. I planned to write the biography if for nothing else than for Gary, who is so gracious. But after he sent me the materials, I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. One of the most incredible surprises was the amount of recorded material that Mal left behind, including several hours of him reading his memoirs.
GM: Describe the materials you had access to — diaries, letters, photos, etc.—
