Allan Williams
Allan Williams | |
---|---|
Bootle, Lancashire, England | |
Died | 30 December 2016 Liverpool, England | (aged 86)
Occupation(s) | Talent manager, businessman |
Years active | 1959–2016 |
Allan Richard Williams (21 February 1930 – 30 December 2016)
Ancestry and early life
Williams was born in Knowsley Road,
In 1955, Williams married Beryl, a school teacher born in Liverpool to Chinese immigrants. The Williams' mixed-race marriage subjected them to verbal abuse from locals.[4]
Early business ventures
Nightclubs
In 1958 Williams was inspired by London's
In 1960, Williams took on a number of additional projects, such as backing Lord Woodbine's
In spring 1960, Williams bought the lease for a social club with plans to convert it into a nightclub called the Blue Angel.[12] The Blue Angel opened in March 1962.[13]
Rock concert promotion
In March 1960, Williams attended a
In May 1962, Williams booked
Beatles management
In May 1960, as Williams began supplying Parnes with
Around 8 August 1960, Bruno Koschmider asked Williams for another Liverpool rock act to perform at his
The Beatles returned from Hamburg in December 1960, simultaneous with the collapse of Williams's Top Ten Club and the planned opening of the Blue Angel. Distracted by these matters, Williams stepped back from rock management and asked
When the band returned to Hamburg in late March, they (except for Stuart Sutcliffe) refused to pay Williams's 10% commission, citing unhappiness with German tax deductions from their weekly paycheck.[30] An irate Williams threatened to have the Beatles' residency terminated and their behavior reported to the Agency Members Association, which could have jeopardized the group's ability to seek management in the UK.[31] He did neither of these things, but in July 1961 he threatened to sue the band for 104 pounds.[32] The Beatles hired a solicitor to rebut Williams's claim, and Williams let the legal action lapse by December.[33] In December, Williams met with the Beatles' second manager, Brian Epstein—memorably warning him, "Brian, don't touch them with a fucking bargepole"—but eventually lifting his ban on the Beatles' entry to the Blue Angel.[33]
Life after the Beatles
Years later, Williams and the Beatles spoke fondly of one another, with McCartney describing Williams in The Beatles Anthology as 'a great guy'. In the 1970s, Williams played a crucial role in producing the first Beatles conventions to be staged in Liverpool, and he was a perennial VIP guest at the city's annual Beatle Week Festivals. In 1975, he published a memoir, The Man Who Gave the Beatles Away, to which Lennon gave his endorsement. Recovering a tape of a latter-day Beatles show in Hamburg (performing on New Year's Eve of 1962–63), he saw it released (in 1977) as Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962. The tapes were subsequently rereleased and bootlegged multiple times in the years since under different titles on budget labels. In 1999 the micro-budget film All Those Years Ago was released by Shotmaker Productions. The film is largely based on William's own recollections of his time managing the fledgling Beatles. Although initially flattered and sympathetic to the film, in his second book, A Fool on the Hill, Williams described the film makers as being deceitful and the film as "utter rubbish". The Man Who Gave the Beatles Away is also the title of a musical by Irish playwright Ronan Wilmot, which was performed at the New Theatre in Dublin in 2002.[34]
Williams carried on speaking at Beatles conventions from Liverpool to Singapore and South America. The Jacaranda reopened after a brief hiatus under new management in the mid-1990s and saw success build upon its cult status throughout the following decade; it remains a popular venue for young and old lovers of live music and hosted many gigs for Liverpool's Sound City[35] music festival.
Williams gave an extended interview in the 1982 documentary, The Compleat Beatles.
In the early to mid 1980s he had a stall at the entrance to the burgeoning Camden Market in London, where he would sell old brassware including taps and accessories.
In 2012 French comics Gihef and Vanders published Liverfool (Emmanuel Proust Editions) in which they relate Allan Williams's encounter with the "Fab Four" and their first steps together.[36]
On 9 May 2016, at a ceremony in Liverpool Town Hall, Williams was made a Citizen of Honour of the City of Liverpool, awarded by Liverpool City Council for his services to the local music scene.
Williams is briefly seen in Peter Jackson's 2021 The Beatles: Get Back documentary constructed from unused footage originally shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg while making the Let It Be film in 1969.
Allan Williams died in Liverpool on 30 December 2016, at the age of 86.[37][1]
References
- ^ a b Kozinn, Allan (31 December 2016). "Allan Williams, First Manager of the Beatles, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4055-2730-9. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
- ^ "Family tree on Ancestry.co.uk". Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 188–189
- ^ "The Jac Is Back". Archived from the original on 20 October 2013.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 188–189.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 189.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 188, 297
- ^ a b Lewisohn, p. 297
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 351–352.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 402–403
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 314
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 439
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 301–302.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 303, 307–308.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 307–308.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 312.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 648
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 312–313.
- ^ Scott Wheeler: Charlie Lennon: Uncle to a Beatle (Boulder, Colorado: Outskirts Press, 2005)
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 341
- ^ McCartney, Paul. "A Little Bare". Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 354
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 358
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 359–364.
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 377
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 378
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 403–404
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 426
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 420–421
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 448
- ^ Lewisohn, p. 480
- ^ a b Lewisohn, p. 509, 538
- ^ "Liverpool Beatles - The Man Who Gave The Beatles Away". BBC. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ "Liverpool Sound City 2021 - Home". Soundcity.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^ "Liverfool par Gihef et Vanders". Archived from the original on 18 July 2013.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (30 December 2016). "Beatles' first manager, Allan Williams, dies at 86". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2016.