Description
The day after the release of their first single “Love Me Do,” The Beatles signed records at Dawson's Music Shop on Church Street in Widnes, Cheshire. It was one of only three official autograph sessions by the group during their career.
Related events
- The group and their manager Brian Epstein decided to fire drummer Pete Best. Best played his final concert the following night at The Cavern in Liverpool. Ringo Starr, who was nearing the end of a three-month engagement with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes at a Butlin’s holiday camp, received a phone call from John Lennon asking him to join. Ringo gave Rory Storm three days' notice and made his first appearance as a member of The Beatles on August 18.
- Granada TV filmed The Beatles' lunchtime performance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, including the song “Some Other Guy”, which was the first time the group was filmed by television cameras. However, because of the grainy picture and poor sound quality, Granada did not broadcast the footage at the time and placed it in its archive. It was first broadcast on November 6, 1963, on the program “Scene at 6:30”. In the meantime, The Beatles' actual television debut took place live from a studio in Manchester on October 17, 1962, on the program “People and Places”.
- The Beatles officially performed with their new drummer Ringo Starr for the first time at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, just days after the dismissal of original drummer Pete Best.
- The Beatles played their first official concert with new drummer Ringo Starr at the Cavern Club in Liverpool after Pete Best was dismissed.
- The Beatles performed at lunchtime at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and in the evening at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester with Gerry & the Pacemakers.
- The Beatles recorded their first proper recording session for EMI at Abbey Road Studios, where they recorded “Love Me Do” and “How Do You Do It”.
- After a lunchtime appearance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, The Beatles played the first of three Monday evening concerts at Queen’s Hall in Widnes, Cheshire. The bill also included Billy Kramer and the Coasters, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and Sonny Kaye and the Reds; admission was 3 shillings and 6 pence.
- The Beatles held their first formal joint recording session at EMI Studios at Abbey Road, following an earlier June 6 session with which George Martin was dissatisfied. They rehearsed and recorded a total of six songs, including “Love Me Do.” Sources differ on the other songs and details of the session, citing such tracks as “Please Please Me,” “P.S. I Love You” and a version of “How Do You Do It?” that remained unreleased until its appearance on Anthology 1 in 1995. It was also Ringo Starr's first recording session with the group.
- Brian Epstein signed The Beatles’ first formal management contract with the group. John Lennon and Ringo Starr signed it themselves, while the parents of the underage George Harrison and Paul McCartney signed on their behalf. The contract entitled Epstein to 25% of the group’s income above a specified earnings threshold.
- The Beatles' first single, “Love Me Do” backed with “P.S. I Love You,” was released in the UK. That same evening it was played on Radio Luxembourg, marking the Beatles' first radio broadcast. In December it reached No. 17 on the UK chart, spent 26 weeks on the chart and later appeared on the debut album Please Please Me. In the US, the single was released in April 1964 and reached No. 1.
- The Beatles began a two-year period during which they served as the main band at Liverpool’s Cavern Club.
- The Beatles performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the afternoon and then played on the riverboat M.V. Royal Iris on the River Mersey as the support act for Acker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Band. It was one of four “riverboat shuffles” in which the group participated.