No Private Life

(cont.)
   

George Harrison and John LennonThe group only ever experienced a single gig. This was to be an audition at the British Legion Club, Dam Wood Road, Speke, near to where George lived at the time.

Rehearsals had taken place at Arthur's house in Wavertree and in one of the bedrooms of George's house.

The boys were in for a shock when they arrived at the British Legion and discovered that the band who'd been booked officially to perform that evening hadn't turned up. The Rebels were asked to take their place and perform a lengthy set, which worried them, as they only knew two numbers. However, no one seemed to notice and the boys were pleased to receive a fee of ten shillings at the end of the evening.

George was able to tell his school friend Paul McCartney about the gig on the bus to school the next morning.

The mention of the Liverpool Stadium gig is puzzling because the only Stadium gig I am aware of where Cass & the Cassanovas, Gerry & the Pacemakers and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes appeared took place on Tuesday May 3 1960 and George, John and Paul did not appear on it.

Stuart received £65 for a painting at the John Moore's Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery, which he attended with his girlfriend Susan Williams. He didn't buy a guitar outright with the money, but used part of his winnings to place a deposit on a guitar at Frank Hessy's. The painting in question was only half a painting. It was a large work which Stuart had originally completed in his Percy Street flat and when they moved to Gambier Terrace, it proved so large that he cut it in half. One half was lost, the other he placed in the exhibition. John Moore himself bought the painting, which was called 'Summer Painting'. Moore died in 1994 at the age of 93.

Cass was Casey Jones, leader of Cass & the Cassanovas and the drummer mentioned was Tommy Moore, who played with them on their short Scottish tour in May 1960. Moore later worked for Liverpool Corporation and played in a jazz group in the evenings. He died of an apoplectic fit at the age of 47.

Although 'Apache' was the only Shadows number played in Hamburg, while in the German city George composed (with a little help from John Lennon), a Shadows pastiche which he called 'Cry For A Shadow,' which the Beatles recorded with Bert Kaempfert.

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