Sunday Times Magazine, December 9, 2018
One afternoon I was sitting with John Lennon in the kitchen at his Tittenhurst Park home in Berkshire when he asked me if I’d written his obituary yet. It was 1970, and amused, at … read more
When the Lunatic Beatles Took Over The Asylum
November 9, 2018
When it comes to rock music, events of half a century ago are almost ancient history. So, we can imagine the thrill that Giles Martin, the son of record producer George Martin, must have got, when he … read more
Macca at the Cavern
Daily Mail, July 2018
The place won’t have looked the same, that’s for sure. Not the way it did when Paul made his debut at the Cavern with the Beatles at lunchtime on February 21, 1961. It can’t, because it … read more
So We Lost…
Daily Mail, July 2018
So, that’s it. We lost. England won’t now be in the final of the World Cup on Sunday and Croatia will meet France. We’re disappointed. Of course, we are. But what an incredible ride our team … read more
Paul McCartney Gets Back to Liverpool
Daily Mail 23.6.18
When Paul McCartney was a teenage boy dreaming of greatness he would sit on the loo in his father’s council house on a Liverpool estate, play his guitar and sing. With that slight bathroom echo of lino … read more
Me and My Hollyhocks
Daily Mail, June 2018
Someone broke the growing tips off two of our hollyhocks last week. For some wanton reason he or she stopped on the West London pavement outside our front garden, leaned over the fence and removed the … read more
‘As Time Goes By’ – a review of Derek Taylor’s memoir
Daily Mail, 13.4.18
One morning in 1969 I was sitting at my desk at the London Evening Standard when we got a tip-off that John Lennon had been arrested on a drugs charge.
My job at the time was, among … read more
The Beatles Go To India
Daily Mail 6.4.18
When the Beatles set off for India in February 1968, they left behind a degree of bemusement and even ridicule among many of their fans. Why on earth were the four most famous young men in the … read more
On the Origins of the films That’ll Be The Day and Stardust
Daily Mail, September 30, 2017
One day in the early-Seventies I had a huge stroke of beginners’ luck. Going over to a friend’s house to borrow a book, I was asked, over a cup of tea, if I would like … read more
The F-Word And ‘Kenneth Tynan Should Have His Bottom Smacked’
Daily Mail, September 7, 2017
Back in November 1965, writer Kenneth Tynan, then the literary manager of the National Theatre, was asked during a late-night BBC television discussion if he would allow sexual intercourse to take place on stage.
It … read more
