Mal Evans' Beatles memoir reveals Elvis encounter and tour perils

A long-unheard voice from the Beatles' inner circle is finally entering the conversation. The unpublished memoir of road manager Mal Evans, dictated into a portable cassette recorder in 1975, will be published this December as 'With the Beatles: Mal Evans' Illustrated Journey'. The 95,000-word manuscript, curated by Beatles scholar Kenneth Womack, provides a raw, firsthand perspective on the band's most iconic moments and darkest tragedies, drawn from Evans's stored recordings and a vast personal archive.

Evans began his association with the group as a bouncer at Liverpool's Cavern Club, later becoming their road manager, bodyguard, and confidant from August 1963. He carefully collected ephemera and took thousands of photographs, hundreds of which will feature in the illustrated volume alongside artifacts like handwritten setlists and hotel receipts. Womack, who gained access to the recordings through Evans's family, has called the memoir a treasure trove of new material where Evans pulls no punches.

The Elvis meeting

Evans's first-hand account details the August 27, 1965, meeting between the Beatles and Elvis Presley at Elvis's Bel Air mansion. Evans idolised Elvis, writing that meeting him was the biggest day of all his years with the famous Beatles. He recalled Presley playing Beatles LPs for the group before finding guitars for each of them. According to Womack, Evans loved Elvis more than he loved the Beatles for music.

The encounter hit a snag when Elvis asked if anyone had a guitar pick. Paul McCartney told Elvis that Mal always carried picks. Evans's suit pockets were sewn shut, however. He had to break plastic spoons in the kitchen to make makeshift picks. Evans considered this failure the biggest disappointment of his life, marring what he described as a summit of rock's greatest heavyweights of all time.

Danger in the Philippines

Evans provides a vivid recollection of the Beatles' perilous 1966 tour of the Philippines. The trouble began after the band unintentionally insulted first lady Imelda Marcos by turning down an invitation to an official event. Evans described a large number of the promoter's staff wearing automatic pistols in their back pockets. A morning of terror ensued at the airport, with men impeding their progress and jostling the group.

Evans was confronted by a gentleman brandishing a gun in his face demanding autographed pictures. He wrote that it was obvious they were looking to cause trouble because of the fiasco the previous evening with the first lady. Seeing his beloved Beatles treated so roughly was heartbreaking. Evans stated he would give his right arm for any of those boys but, under these circumstances, it was most inadvisable to retaliate in any way whatsoever.

A life cut short

The memoir's creation in 1975 came just a year before Evans's own tragic end. He died in January 1976 at age 40, shot by Los Angeles police during a confrontation at his home. The incident is believed to have been a suicide by cop, with Evans repeatedly pointing an air rifle at officers while distraught over the breakup of his marriage.

His account captures more than crisis, however. Evans listened in awe as the band began to make the place rock with improvised beat music in their early days. He contributed as a makeshift session musician, striking an anvil on 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', playing Hammond organ on the climax of 'A Day in the Life', and helping shape the soundscapes of 'Yellow Submarine'. He was present at key moments including first encounters with Bob Dylan and the trip to India for transcendental meditation. The memoir also sheds light on internal tensions that led to the group's dissolution, viewed through Evans's lens. It closes on the theme of his deep, almost familial loyalty, particularly to John Lennon and George Harrison.