JOHN LENNON was so impressed by the fervour of Glasgow shipbuilders determined to fight for their jobs, he sent them £1000 – and a bunch of roses.
The Beatles star, who would have been celebrating his 82nd birthday next week (October 9), heard about the 1971 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in in the revolutionary newspaper The Red Mole.
He and his wife Yoko Ono sent the gift in support of the struggle (and legend has it that one worker, on hearing the news, said: ‘But Lenin’s deid?’ to the delight of everyone who heard him.)
The flowers, which were sent on to the Southern General Hospital’s maternity unit, were accompanied by two cards, one which read: “'To The Workers UCS. Good Luck! From John and Yoko” and another which said: “Power to the People, with love from John and Yoko.”
Born in Liverpool, John was originally a member of the Quarrymen, who evolved into the Beatles in 1960. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with Yoko Ono and quit the Beatles to embark on a solo career. He was shot and killed in December 1980.
In 1964, our photographers snapped John with fellow Beatle Ringo Starr backstage at the Odeon cinema on Renfield Street. It was shortly before the band was due to take to the stage at the venue, in October 1964.
The Fab Four kicked off their final tour of the UK with two shows at the cinema, which seated 6000 fans. On a previous visit to Glasgow, in October 1963, this newspaper had reported that screaming from the crowds meant almost no one in the audience could hear any of the music.
Under an article entitled ‘Beatles fans tore up concert hall’ the newspaper reported: “So much damage was done by spectators at the Beatles jazz group concert in Glasgow Concert Hall on Saturday that it is unlikely the corporation will let the hall again to similar groups.”
A year later, and The Evening Times captured photographs of happy fans queuing up from nine o’clock in the morning, eager to catch a glimpse of their heroes - even though they had no chance of getting in to see the sold-out show.
An advert, buried in the listings pages of the newspaper, announced that the Beatles would play at 9pm, adding: “All Seats Sold”.
The set list would include big hits, such as Can’t Buy Me Love, A Hard Day’s Night and the Little Richard cover Long Tall Sally.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here