Alloa you need is love: Super fan on celebrating The Beatles’ first gig

It was May 20, 1960 when Alloa Town Hall welcomed the unknown Silver Beetles to its stage.

But for the soon-to-be-renamed Beatles it was a first ever gig in what would become a global phenomenon.

Fab Four fan Malcolm Robinson tells Tracey Bryce the Honest Truth about the concert…

Tell us about The Beatles gig in Alloa on May 20, 1960

It all started back in May 1960 when Liverpool singer Johnny Gentle was looking for a back-up band to tour Scotland with. A London-based promoter (Larry Parnes) suggested a band called the Silver Beetles, but they first of all had to pass an audition in Liverpool on of May 10, 1960. Needless to say, they passed.

They comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe (bass player) and Tommy Moore (drummer). John and Paul were 18 years of age, and George Harrison was 16 years of age at the time of the gig. They were never billed as the Silver Beetles on the flyers for the Alloa Town Hall.

All the flyers stated was “Johnny Gentle and his group”. They would change the name from the Silver Beetles, to the Beatles three months later (August 1960). Incidentally, the boys were all dressed in black jeans and black jacket that night, apart from John Lennon that is, who stood out in a sparkly white jacket.

Why Alloa. How did it all come about?

It’s hard to say looking back why Alloa when we consider the fact that they could have gone to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen, big cities with more people to enjoy the tour. It looks like Alloa was simply the first on the list because all the other gigs were further north. So it made sense to start the tour in Alloa.

What was the opening song?

Certainly their set list was different to what they would do a few years later when Love Me Do was released. Incidentally, the Beatles only met singer Johnny Gentle for the first time half an hour before the show. He had sent them his set list to rehearse so that they would know the songs on the night.

Research has shown that they started with It Doesn’t Matter Any More (a Paul Anka cover), followed by Raining In My Heart (Buddy Holly cover), I Need Your Love Tonight (Elvis Presley cover), Poor Little Fool (Ricky Nelson cover), (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do (Clarence ‘Frogman’ Henry cover), C’Mon Everybody (Eddie Cochrane cover) and ending with He’ll Have To Go (Jim Reeves cover).

Sir Paul McCartney remembers The Beatles’ first gig north of the border

How many people were there?

A far as I know, there are no records in regards to the attendance that night but by all accounts it was a full house of around 200 people or so.

Tell us about the Beatles’ attachment to Scotland?

As far as the Beatles attachment to Scotland at that time (the early 1960s), there was none. It would be in later years that the Beatles would come to Scotland on holiday and, of course, Paul McCartney had a home for a time on the Mull of Kintyre. John Lennon crashed his Austin Maxi car near Durness back in the 1960s, when he was visiting his Aunt Mater, who lived in Durness in the Scottish Highlands.

How did this gig pave the way for the Fab Four?

After the Scottish tour, the Beatles would travel to Germany when they tightened up their act and became solid. Alloa was a great stepping stone for the band, as they were honing their skills, learning the trade so to speak, and all that comes down to gaining experience. After Alloa and Germany, the Beatles would go on to rule the world with their brand of popular music and would leave Johnny Gentle in their wake.

Tell us a bit about the commemorative plaque

I just knew that the very fact that my all-time favourite band had played the Alloa Town Hall should be recognised by the placement of a commemorative plaque at the front of the hall. We are talking musical history here and I believe that this would encourage Beatles fans to pay a visit and put the Alloa Town Hall on the map.

A very dear friend of mine, Robert Ferguson, has come on board with me with this project. Our first port of call was to get in touch with Clackmannanshire Council. They are in agreement with us, this is a viable idea. At the moment, the wheels (as they say) are in motion.