Book

Authors:	Garry Marsh, Alf Bicknell
Title:	Baby, You Can Drive My Car!
Publisher:	Number 9
Country:	UK
Date:	1989
Format:	Paperback
Genre:	Biography, Music
ISBN-10:	0951525506
Rating:	Rate
Collection:	I Own It I Want It
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Price Guide:	Valuation Page
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Notes

208 pages. Limited edition of 1,000 presented in a plastic protective case with a cassette tape of a recorded interview by Garry Marsh with Alf Bicknell.

Foreword by George Harrison.

From the back of the plastic case:

Alf Bicknell spent most of his early working life earning a creditable reputation as a first class chauffeur, working for a host of names. It was as a result of high recommendation, in the Autumn of 1964, that Alf obtained his most prestigious appointment to date, that of 'Chauffeur to the Beatles'.

Alf spent the next two years - at the height of Beatlemania - as part of 'The Beatles Touring Team', working alongside Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall.

As well as personal memories of John, Paul, George, Ringo and Brian Epstein, Alf has a wealth of memories concerning their two world tours of 1965 and 1966.

Garry Marsh spent the whole of the 'Sixties' in school though he does remember being allowed home occasionally.

He became a 'Beatle Fan' in 1963 - he still is and always will be.

He trained as a teacher and today lectures in a wide variety of subjects, including The Beatles.

Price: £12.95.

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Comments and Reviews


JPGR&B SUBS ● 15th Mar 2022		On 14 March 2022 author Garry Marsh posted the following on the Beatles In Print - Together And Solo Facebook Group: “Baby, You Can Drive My Car!/ Beatles Diary” by Garry Marsh If you care to look back through photographs of 'the boys' between 1964 and 1966, particularly those giving witness to Beatlemania at its height, you will find the ever faithful Alf Bicknell. Sadly though, should you care to read about those times you would be hard pressed to find his name mentioned. Alf Bicknell was an 'insider', not only because of his position but also because John Lennon said so. It was John who stole Alf's Chauffeurs' hat, and flung it out of the car one day, saying: "You don't need that any more Alf, you're one of us now." Perhaps it was that closeness that kept Alf from seeking publicity in the years since he left the boys. Offers to 'make money' by selling stories to Sunday Newspapers came his way fairly regularly over the years, but Alf always valued his friendships more. Sadly this also meant that Alf became the forgotten 'insider', even by those researchers who relentlessly re-told 'the Beatles Story'. Those who wrote about those wondrous times, with such exacting memories as to remember even whole conversations, failed to remember that Alf was even there! In stark contrast the boys remembered him well. George, Paul and Ringo all said good things of Alf and had fond memories of him. “Alf Bicknell was originally hired to be the Beatles' chauffeur in 1964 and although he drove us everywhere for the following few years ... he did so much more than that. Along with Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans, Alf Bicknell lived moment to moment with the Beatles through those years, sharing every moment from dawn to dusk (sometimes dawn to dawn) in cars, planes, trains hotels, concert halls ... every minute of those tours ... Alf was present. Alf was a friend-protector-bodyguard and confident, serving us through the fun and also the tough times. During those exciting but hectic years it was so important to John, Paul, Ringo and myself to have help from people we knew we could trust. To not have to worry about whether the right arrangements were being made for our travel and security or for maybe just a good pot of tea! Trust, maybe, is just a word we have heard around a wide-angled curve, but we all have experienced trust misplaced over the last twenty five years, and I can tell you all it is pretty ugly. Alf, along with Neil and Mal, was priceless. Their contribution to the "Fabness" of us four was immeasurable, yet through the years that followed ... having had plenty of opportunities to "sell" their "true story" - the real true story is that they were our uncorruptible (sic) friends and we all know that no amount of money can buy true friendship. Anybody who was beaten up by Imelda Marcos' bully squad is a friend of mine! Even back in Manila in 1965(?) we had a gut feeling that the Marcos' were vile. The Beatles always had good taste! I hope you (the reader) enjoy "The Beatles' Chauffeur" as much as we did, and incidentally Alf ... I'm still in Bob Dylan's wardrobe.” With love George Harrison “Alf, good old Alf, who chauffeured us around and helped out as a ‘roadie’ during the days of Beatlemania. Alf was special though! Not only did he accompany us through an important period in our career, but he always had a great sense of humour and could handle the teasing that inevitably came with the job. Not everyone you meet is loyal, not everybody is someone you can trust, and not everyone is a likable person, but Alf scored easily on all three points. He came with us through the craziness, the emotion, the fun and the nonsense, and I was always glad to have had him on our side.” Paul McCartney “Alf Bicknell was always a very pleasant chap” Ringo Starr And so to put the record straight a short passage on Alf Bicknell, the Beatles' Chauffeur: Alf, born on October 28th.1928, spent the majority of his early working life as a first-class chauffeur, working for a host of famous names. It was then, as a result of high recommendation, that in the Autumn of 1964, Alf obtained his most prestigious appointment to date; that of Chauffeur to the Beatles. Alf spent the next two years at the height of 'Beatlemania' as part of 'the Beatles Touring Team', working very closely alongside Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall. Although he was official 'Chauffeur-General', his tasks were many and varied, as indicated in his anecdotes. As well as personal memories of John, Paul, George, Ringo and Brian Epstein, Alf had a wealth of memories of their two world tours of 1965 and 1966. [End of Part 1]



JPGR&B SUBS ● 15th Mar 2022		[Part 2] Alf joined the boys for their late 1964 British tour, and first made the front pages when pictured bringing Ringo out of hospital, minus his tonsils. He spent Christmas with the Beatles, the Yardbirds, Freddie and the Dreamers, Elkie Brooks and Jimmy Saville, during 'Another Beatles Christmas Show'. Whilst driving the boys down to Salisbury Plain, during the filming of 'Help!' John asked Alf if he'd like to accompany them to the States. "When John asked you something like that, you didn't think twice", said Alf. So off to America with the boys, from Shea Stadium, New York to the Cow Palace, San Francisco, where Alf was pictured world-wide carrying girls from the stage, while the boys played on. "I remember attending a party with the Beatles, thrown by Capitol Records boss Alan Livingstone. the guest list was incredible; there was Gene Barry, Tony Bennett, Richard Chamberlain, Jane Fonda, Groucho Marx, Dean Martin, Hayley and Juliet Mills and James Stewart. I knew James Stewart from before, and him and his misses invited me back, but Brian wouldn't let me go." On Friday 27th.August 1965, Alf accompanied the Beatles to their historic meeting with Elvis Presley. "He shook my hand and called me 'Sir'" recalled Alf. Back in England, he was attending recording sessions for 'Revolver', escorting the boys to Chiswick House, and spending time with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and many other pop stars. Back on tour it was first to Germany then on to the Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, and finally to the Philippines. "There's a photo of me, in Manila. They're supposed to be helping me up. It was taken just before they threw me down some stairs!" On a happier note, Alf took part in the recording sessions for 'Yellow Submarine', producing sound effects with a chain in a tin bath and singing along on the chorus. Finally the Beatles last tour anywhere, from the International Amphitheatre, Chicago to their last ever concert performance at Candlestick Park, San Francisco on August 29th.1966 - Alf saw it all! The Beatles were to tour no more and so on their return, Alf and the boys went their separate ways. Alf took with him his memories, a few treasured 'presents' from the boys and returned to chauffeuring less well know personalities; but he was never to forget those wonderful years with 'four lads who shook the world'. After more than twenty years Alf related his memories to me. A chance meeting with Alf in 1987 led me to convince him that true Beatle fans would want to hear his stories. And so for two and a half years I researched, and talked him through every day he spent with the boys, bringing back those memories "Baby, You Can Drive My Car!" (the original title), now “Beatles Diary”, is the day-to-day account of the years 1964, 1965 and 1966, when Alf was 'Chauffeur to the Beatles'. The memoirs illustrate not merely Alf’s own astonishment at the adulation and publicity that followed the group - the response of the man in the street who finds himself caught up in wholly remarkable and unexpected events - but also the bemusement of the 'Fab Four' themselves who seem quite unprepared for the depth of emotion and devotion they evoke. The 'biographical diary' presentation, although in reality ‘faction’, lends itself to Alf's way of relating anecdotes and stories. "We met by chance, and it was a comment about your tee-shirt Garry! Jean asked me the other day, she said "I bet Garry didn't half believe you the very first time that you met", you know, the day when I sort of commented about your Beatles Fan Club shirt and the whole bit. It was good for me too! Suddenly moving, and being in a strange place and suddenly meeting somebody, really it's like meeting someone from the past on a much higher plane. Although, we could immediately start talking and we would know exactly what we were talking about. Yes it was funny that. It must have been strange for you! You had the right impression from the word go, we'll do it for the fun! That's great and if we can get quips etc. out of it then that's fine. I'm happy for everybody to know now. I mean I wouldn't have anything to do with the newspapers, because if it's going to be documented it's to be done in a book. That's what I say. It's going to be for posterity in the fact that it isn't going to be picked up one Sunday, looked at, great, then thrown away. This is going to be a book that is going to sit on the shelves. I love books. I've a big chest over there, it's full of books. Had a fabulous book bought me for Christmas, on angling. I love fishing, but I love books. That's the way that I would feel, that if anybody was going to buy this book they'll put it in their library, whether it's a big house or somebody who just has a couple of dozen books. People who enjoy having books around them, like me. I think that's important." [End of Part 2]



JPGR&B SUBS ● 15th Mar 2022		[Part 3] Since the first limited edition of the book, only 1,000 copies with an accompanying audio cassette (now a much sought after item), Alf Bicknell became a regular face at Beatle Conventions around the world; guesting at Mark and Carol Lapidos’ BEATLEFEST, in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and in Liverpool and Europe, where he delighted audiences with his anecdotes of his days on the road with John, Paul, George and Ringo. Alf died on 9th March 2004. I am happy to have found Alf and to have written his biography, but I leave the last word to Alf himself: “I would like to thank Garry Marsh for all the hard work and dedication, trust and loyalty to me. His efforts have made this book possible. Thanks Garry, a true Beatle fan and a friend” Best wishes Alf Bicknell © 2017 Garry Marsh’s Beatle Daze Archives/Number 9 Books. [End of Part 3]

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