The Beatles Unravelled #22
The Royston Ellis Influence
British beat poet Royston Ellis was a big influence on the Beatles, particularly John, who stayed in touch – the Royston Ellis influence.
11 to 17 March
…guest feature on the Mop Tops and The King show
Steve Chelmsford presents the Mop Tops and the King show. As the name suggests, the show is all about the music of The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Every other week, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Derek Shelmerdine presents The Beatles Unravelled, alternating with Elvis Presley Unravelled.
The podcast provides a 1-minute look at a little bit of Beatles and Elvis Presley history.
The MTK Network broadcasts the show, with 100 radio stations around the world. Consequently, the Mop Tops and the King is playing somewhere in the world, every day of the week.
Show Schedule for times and radio stations.
(Times on the Show Schedule are Eastern Time. The UK is five hours ahead.)
Listen Again – PODCAST
The Royston Ellis Influence
British beat poet Royston Ellis…
put the “beat” into Beatles
British beat poet Royston Ellis had quite an impact on the Beatles. They first met in Liverpool in May 1960. On his website Ellis claims credit for the spelling of the band’s name. Suggesting that it came about as a result of his meeting with the Liverpool lads. To reflect fashionable beat poetry at the time, they changed the spelling of “Beetles” to “Beatles”.
In addition, Ellis is also accredited as the first person to introduce them to naughty substances.
He particularly bonded with John and was an influence for Paperback Writer. The Abbey Road track Polythene Pam came about as a result of John and Royston’s adventures.
At the time, there was talk of the Beatles travelling to London in order to back Royston Ellis. A glorious fusion of poetry and music but sadly, that never happened
Extracts from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
All of the Elvis Presley Unravelled and The Beatles Unravelled podcasts are based on extracts from Derek Shelmerdine‘s book Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.
The Beatles – Extracts taken from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
Elvis Presley – Extracts taken from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
These extracts are only a small fraction of the stories, discographies, and other associated Beatles and Elvis information in the book.
About the book – Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled tells the story of rock’n’roll from its roots to mid-1970s punk.
In addition to the music, the book looks at the social factors influencing the music. The Vietnam War, fear of communism and Civil rights struggle certainly helped to shape the sounds of the time.
If it’s relevant to the music of the 1950s. ’60s, ’70s and its roots – it’s in the book. In addition to bands, artists, classic albums and singles, recording sessions, gigs and festivals, you’ll also find stories about influential managers, how bands came together, lineups and – SO MUCH MORE…
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled‘s unique three-part structure
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled has three sections: Timeline, What Happened Today and Pocket Histories.
What Happened Today – looks at the events happening on a day-by-day basis.
Consequently, as the review in Record Collector magazine puts it in its review of the book, “Shelmerdine has made a painstaking effort to documented pretty much every event that will prove significant in shaping popular music”. In addition, the review went on to describe the book as, “comprehensive… invaluable”.
Moreover, the cross-referenced events in What Happened Today create the other two sections, Timeline and Pocket Histories.
Timeline – consequently provides a date-order listing of all of the events in What Happened Today.
Pocket Histories – further extends the cross-referencing to build a picture of the lives and times of the artists, bands and events in What Happened Today.
TO BUY – a signed copy of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
For all the previous editions of…
The Beatles Unravelled and Elvis Presley Unravelled
First Broadcast: The Royston Ellis Influence
11 to 17 March 2022, on the MTK network.
