REVEALED: The Month Ringo's Tonsils Nearly Broke The Beatles Fan Club Telephone (And Other Fab Tales From January '65!)
A delicious deep dive into the chaos, charm and pure pandemonium of being the biggest band in the world – as captured in the pages of Beatles Monthly Book No. 18.
The inside story of how the Beatles Fan Club handled thousands of worried calls about Ringo's tonsillectomy
Exclusive peek into Paul McCartney's many faces and why he was the band's master of disguise
Behind the scenes of the Beatles' Christmas special featuring the band as waxworks alongside Freddie & The Dreamers
FANCLUBS AND FEVER DREAMS: JANUARY 1965
Darlings, let me take you back to a time when the Beatles fanclub office was drowning in Christmas cards, Ringo was minus his tonsils, and Paul McCartney had more faces than a pound shop mirror ball. The year was 1965, and the Fab Four were about to enter what would become one of their most transformative years.
TONSIL TERROR AT TELEPHONE EXCHANGE
Picture this: It's December 1964, and the Beatles' fan club is experiencing what can only be described as The Great Tonsil Telephone Meltdown. Poor Ringo had gone into University College Hospital London for a spot of tonsil-bothering, and the fanclub switchboard went absolutely bananas. The genius solution? They set up an answering machine (cutting edge tech for '65, sweeties!) with updates about our Ringo's recovery. The secret password to get the latest news? "KEYSTAR!" How deliciously cloak-and-dagger!
THE MANY FACES OF MACCA
Speaking of disguises, let's dish about Paul McCartney's legendary ability to transform himself faster than a chameleon at a disco. The magazine devoted an entire feature to cataloguing his various expressions – from the "blank-faced McCartney" (apparently perfect for avoiding awkward conversations) to his "singing face" (which apparently had fans swooning in seventeen different countries). They even mentioned his "enquiring face" – used specifically for chatting up stage hands and waitresses. Work those angles, Paul!
CHRISTMAS CHAOS AND HORROR SHOWS
By January '65, the boys had just wrapped their second Christmas show at the Hammersmith Odeon. But the real tea was about their upcoming TV specials. Plans were afoot for them to appear as waxworks in something called "Chamber of Horrors" alongside Freddie and the Dreamers. Totally normal behavior for the biggest band in the world, right?
MAL'S MOMENT
The unsung hero award of the month goes to Mal Evans, the band's equipment manager turned road manager turned general miracle worker. This gentle giant started as a Post Office engineer who wandered into the Cavern Club one lunch break and ended up becoming the band's secret weapon. When equipment needed fixing or a revolving stage went wonky (yes, this actually happened), Mal was there to save the day.
SWIMMING POOLS AND ELECTRIC DREAMS
The magazine also revealed some fab plans for '65: John and George were plotting to install swimming pools (though the magazine helpfully pointed out they'd only be able to use them on Christmas Day at 8am unless they fancied turning into fab four ice lollies). Meanwhile, John had ordered an electric piano for his home studio – a detail that would prove significant as the band's sound evolved over the coming years.
DEAR BEATLE PEOPLE...
The letters page of the January '65 issue was pure gold, darlings. One fan wrote about meeting Ringo's mum in Liddypool (that's Liverpool to you young ones) and vowed never to wash her hand again. Another penned what they called "A Beatles Tragedy" - a poem about having to take down their Beatles posters during room redecoration. The drama! The passion!
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
By 1965, the Beatles' fan club had become a sort of unofficial United Nations of teenage pen pals. The magazine listed dozens of "Beatle Pen Pals" from places as far-flung as Montreal, Stockholm, and Brisbane. One German fan wrote begging for translations of Beatles news, noting that there were "not half a dozen journals" about the boys in all of Germany. Imagine that - a time when Beatles news wasn't available at the click of a button!
THE PALMISTRY FILES
In what has to be one of the most gloriously random moments of Beatles history, the magazine featured a palm reading of George Harrison. The fortune teller (one Eva Petulengro) spent fifteen whole minutes examining George's hand and declared he would "live to a ripe old age." She also noted his "mental concentration remarkable for his 21 years." Who needs a career counselor when you've got a palm reader, eh?
ROAD MANAGER REVELATIONS
The mag gave us a proper peek behind the curtain with a feature on Mal Evans, who'd evolved from telecommunications engineer to Beatles' right-hand man. Picture this: he first heard the band at The Cavern during his lunch break, and by '65 he was the chap responsible for everything from fixing broken equipment to acting as an impromptu bodyguard. When a revolving stage broke down mid-show in Washington, it was Mal who had to get up there and manually turn it while trying to look totally professional. Now that's what we call dedication to the cause!
CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AND GREY JAGUARS
The boys weren't doing too badly in the pressie department either. Their road manager Neil Aspinall got a rather swish 2.4 grey Jaguar as a Christmas gift from the band. Meanwhile, Paul received a stuffed 5ft kangaroo from their Australian tour (as you do), which promptly took pride of place in his trophy room. Because where else would you put a massive stuffed kangaroo?
1965: THE YEAR AHEAD
Looking forward, the magazine teased some rather exciting plans. Two TV spectaculars were in the works, both possibly to be produced by Jack Good. There were whispers about a return to America in August '65 (spoiler alert from 2025: they did go back, and it was at this time they would meet a certain Mr. Elvis Presley).
The boys had just wrapped their second Christmas show at the Hammersmith Odeon, and after three weeks off (during which Paul hung out with his dad and new stepmum in their Cheshire home), they were ready to tackle whatever 1965 had to throw at them. Little did they know they were about to enter one of their most creative and transformative years.
WHO CLEANS THEIR BOOTS?
And finally, in answer to the burning question apparently on everyone's lips in January 1965 - yes, John and Ringo did actually clean their own boots. The photographic evidence was right there in the magazine, though we suspect it might have been more for the cameras than a regular occurrence. But who are we to judge? Even Beatles have to do their own shoe maintenance sometimes!
As we peer back through the mists of time to January 1965, what emerges is a picture of four lads still trying to navigate the choppy waters of mega-stardom while keeping their feet firmly on the ground (in very clean boots, naturally). They were simultaneously the biggest band in the world and just a group of young men who sometimes had to get their tonsils out, clean their shoes, and deal with their mums showing off to fans. And isn't that just perfectly Beatles?