Summary of Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack: The Untold Story of Mal Evans

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Summary of Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack: The Untold Story of Mal Evans
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Mal Evans, the Beatles' long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an essential part of the group's story. Despite being older, married, and lacking music business experience, he threw himself into their world and became indispensable. After the disbandment, Evans continued in their employ as each pursued solo careers. In 1974, he set out to become a songwriter and record producer in Los Angeles. However, his life and death were tragically ended in 1976 during a domestic standoff with the LAPD. Living the Beatles' Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans is the first full-length biography of Evans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Nov 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9783755461289

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Summary of

Living the Beatles Legend

A

Summary of Kenneth Womack’s book

The Untold Story of Mal Evans

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Summary of Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack: The Untold Story of Mal Evans

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FOREWORD

Mal Evans, the youngest member of the Beatles, was a dedicated cyclist and swimmer who worked as a telecommunications engineer for the General Post Office. He was known for his physical prowess and enjoyed swimming in various bodies of water. On January 11, 1962, Mal was forced to drive the Beatles to London due to illness. The band's second single, Please Please Me, had been released on January 11, and the song was released on November 26. The author, Lily, wanted his collection returned to their family back in England.

In July 2018, the author decided to follow in his father's footsteps and retrace the famous Mad Day Out photo session on its fiftieth anniversary. They met filmmaker and Beatles aficionado Simon Weitzman, who assured them that he knew just the guy to make it happen. Through Simon, the author met Ken Womack via Zoom in 2020, who had already authored several books about the Beatles.

Working with HarperCollins, the author is proud to share the present book, a full-length biography detailing Mal's life with and without the Beatles, and a second, richly illustrated book providing readers with highlights from his collection. Mal's experience with the Beatles exceeded all expectations, earning him £45 (£767 in present-day pounds) from Brian Epstein. He began keeping a journal for the first time after receiving his annual Post Office Engineering Union diary, chronicling his impressions of the Beatles, his experiences in London, and the people he had met along the way.

A RIGHT LITTLE BASTARD

Mal Evans, an Englishman, was drawn to the Old West and the lawless era of North America. He was particularly drawn to The Gunfighter, a 1950 film that depicts the gunslinger Jimmy Ringo as a casualty of his own sordid business. The film's impact on Evans was attributed to three key elements: the ability of a man to adapt to his surroundings, a man's unquenchable yearning for companionship, and the idea that the person a man hurts most often and to whom he is most vulnerable ends up being himself.

Frederick William Jones Evans was born in 1905 in West Derby, Lancashire, to Elizabeth Evans and William Fitzsimons. He worked as his stepfather's assistant at W. David and Son and later became an overachiever, spending much of his summers on the Wirral Peninsula. Fred became an avid motorcyclist and competed in events sponsored by the Auto-Cycle Union across the region. After leaving his stepfather's employ, Fred took a job as a tally clerk for J. A. Sloan Importers, where he emerged as a successful tradesman and natural leader.

In 1934, Fred met his match in twenty-year-old Joan Hazel Evans, a championship swimmer from West Derby. They married in October 1935, and their first child was born in 1935. Mal recalled riding in Fred's sidecar while being held close in the warmth and security of my mother's arms.

In 1939, Fred and Joan moved to a semi-detached council house in Wavertree, where they were joined by Fred's widowed mother, Elizabeth. Mal's early years were uneventful, but he enjoyed a budding friendship with Ronnie Gore, who lived nearby. His sister Pamela Joan was born in 1936, followed by Barbara Hazel in 1938.

As Great Britain recognized the signs of a looming world war, the Evans family moved to Dyserth, Wales, where Fred served as a private attached to the Royal Air Force's Signals Corps. The port city suffered the loss of over four thousand lives during the Blitz, second only to the death and destruction in London.

Fred began his tour of duty as a dispatch rider, stationed at the RAF base in Prestatyn. He suffered a grievous injury while teaching motorcycling to young recruits at the base. During his posting in Prestatyn, Fred earned a promotion to lance corporal and the nickname Fishy Fred.

Life in Dyserth was idyllic for Mal and his sisters, attending a three-room schoolhouse together. They enjoyed playing on rock formations outside Dyserth, renting bicycles for sixpence apiece, and riding along the promenade in Rhyl. Years later, Mal would wax nostalgic about his family's Welsh respite during the war, describing the period as five of the happiest years of my life.

Growing taller and stocky, Mal stood out among his peers, wanting to avoid attention but also being known for being extraordinary. He reflected on the profound experiences of his time in Wales, including the emotional pain of being caught hiding behind a girl's skirt when an older boy wanted to bash him and the realization that fighting was a dead-end proposition, especially given his large size.

Mal and his family experienced the horrors of war during World War II, with the Evans family living in Dyserth, North Wales. Fred, a Signals Corps officer, witnessed the ravages of war in London, patrolling for V-1 flying doodlebug bombs. The family's Welsh hiatus ended in 1945 when the Evanses returned to Liverpool, celebrating VE (Victory in Europe) Day in Dyserth. They were fortunate to have a father and a child who was placed in the care of foster parents.

Mal and his family remained close to home in Liverpool, with their neighbors never ventured down the road towards them. However, they experienced sweeping changes, including the birth of a newborn baby sister named June in 1946. Mal accepted the new arrival and continued their regular trips to Dyserth, but soon found himself tall and broadshouldered, unable to join his family on motorcycling trips to Wales.

During his preteen and early teen years, Mal's physical awkwardness forced him to retreat into shyness. He tried to join a gang of neighborhood kids but couldn't bring himself to do so. However, he couldn't resist his thieving impulses when it came to guns, the weaponry of choice for his Western heroes. One day, he hid a shiny toy revolver in a nearby bush, which he still holds in his bedroom.

FUNFAIR

Mal, a boy from Northway Primary School, was the first member of his family to pursue a formal education. His schoolmates nicknamed him Hippo, which would continue into his high school years. Mal's growing affection for a female classmates led him to develop intense personal emotions that he struggled to express. Drawing proved a fulfilling outlet for self-expression, and he became enamored with comic book series. He started a newspaper route to earn extra money, but grew bored with it and eventually bought several comic books and classic novels.

At age eleven, Mal entered grammar school at Holt High School. He was at a familiar teenage crossroads, craving attention from the opposite sex but painfully shy and lacking confidence to engage the world in meaningful ways. His teachers mocked him, and Mal overcompensated for his awkward demeanor by resorting to wisecracks and tomfoolery. To win Fred's affections, Mal attempted to develop a liking for sea fishing, the sport his father had enjoyed since boyhood.

Mal's father's good-natured, friendly outlook contrasted with Mal's paralyzing shyness. Their father-son trips revealed a key difference in their personalities, with Fred's easy, outgoing nature being exposed in a strange pub. Mal hoped to adopt Fred's easy, outgoing nature one day.

In May 1951, Mal turned sixteen and considered leaving Holt High School, following his father's advice. His father, Fred, believed Mal was ready for a career in the civil service rather than academics. Mal was accepted into the Youth in Training Program, the General Post Office's apprenticeship scheme, which offered technical courses and internship opportunities. Mal began his first romantic relationship with Audrey, but the experience left him heartbroken. Mal found solace in music, particularly Hank Snow's country-and-western style.

Mal also sought physical fitness, transforming his stocky frame into a more lithe physique through cycling. His increasing physical exertions led to an ingrown toenail that had to be surgically removed. His newfound love for fitness and his studies with the Youth in Training Program led to an exponential increase in Mal's appetite. His mother would make sandwiches for him, and his sister June recalled that his mother would make a plate-size pie just for Malcolm.

In summary, Mal's journey to a career in the civil service and his love for music helped him achieve his goals.

Mal Evans, a working man, found himself at a mental crossroads with his father, Fred, who associated denim jeans with dockhands. As the situation escalated, Mal countered Fred's anger by pointing out that he was old enough to make his own decisions. Fred, however, struck out and punched Mal on the jaw, leaving him stunned.

In 1953, Mal turned eighteen, living under his parents' roof and struggling with emotional maturity. He was dealing a personal blow when he was rejected from the National Service Act for mandatory conscription. His childhood mates Ronnie and Spud were accepted into the army, but Mal was turned down. His national service card listed him as Grade IV, meaning he was unsuitable and dismissed from service due to his missing toenail.

Mal's Grade IV classification was disappointing, especially given his vigorous personal fitness program. His missing toenail was the primary reason for his rejection, suggesting he would be unable to withstand the physical exertions of marching and other military practices. Not being selected on medical grounds might have been a welcome result for many recruits during World War II, but Mal was not swinging the lead, as the practice was known in the nautical world.

Mal, a young man, faced rejection from the Medical Board and continued his pursuit of the opposite sex through the GPO's Youth in Training Program. His virginity was kept hidden from others, and he began dating a telephone operator. His lack of sexual experience led to an overarching fear of physical intimacy. Mal learned that certain telephone numbers could engage in obscene conversations and accidentally eavesdropped on one of these conversations.

In 1954, Mal joined the ranks of the GPO as a full-time telecommunications engineer, earning a £15 weekly wage. He worked alongside Billy Maher, a three-year GPO veteran, and they bonded over a shared love of music, especially rock 'n' roll. They spent most of their time away from Lancaster House, installing automatic telephone and telex exchanges in governmental and commercial buildings.

Gordon Gaskell, a six-year veteran of the GPO, became Mal's first supervisor. He taught him how to be a good engineer and responsible member of society. Gordon's tutelage buoyed Mal's self-esteem, and he felt competent in his job.

Shortly before settling into his new position with the GPO, Mal joined a friend for a Saturday night in New Brighton, where he met 18-year-old Lily White. They enjoyed a relaxing stroll among the fairgrounds, and when Lily complained of feeling ill, Mal escorted her on the ferry ride across the Mersey before depositing her at the tram shed bound for Allerton.

A CELLARFUL OF NOISE

Mal White, a man who had grown up in suburban Liverpool, finally found a genuine girlfriend in Lily White. Born in 1936, Lily was the youngest of five siblings and had a vivacious, outgoing personality. She was working as a secretary for a shipping firm in the Cunard Building and enjoyed sunbathing but didn't enjoy swimming or cycling. Mal spent his early teen years at Holt High, while Lily studied at Morrison Secondary Modern School and Anfield Secretarial College.

Lily's sisters were fascinated by their brother's and his new girlfriend's contrasting proportions. As Mal and Lily's relationship progressed, they often joined the family for day trips to the beach at New Brighton. Mal quickly ingratiated himself with Lily's family, who marveled at his outsize appearance and good-natured demeanor. He was especially fond of Lily's niece, Shirley Ann White, whose uncle Ken nicknamed her Shan because of her penchant for drinking the dregs out of his glasses of Shandygaff beer.

In Shan's memory, Mal adored children—being a sort of big child himself. On one unforgettable occasion, Mal attempted a handstand in the Whites' rear garden in Woolton and broke his arm. However, he never left Woolton in a cast, and he could always be counted on to show off his three-foot model schooner at the Sefton Park Boating Lake.

Mal and Lily Evans were inseparable from each other during their early years of courtship. They spent every minute together, sharing meals at the Pier Head and enjoying the music. By 1956, Elvis Presley became a popular figure in Liverpool, and Mal discovered him for the first time. He began collecting Elvis's U.K. releases and purchased his first LP in the British Isles, entitled Elvis Presley Rock 'n' Roll.

Mal's unbridled enthusiasm