‘It will change the way we think about their story’: mythical archive of ‘first Beatles historian’ comes to light

Mal Evans neglected his family life to go on tour with the Beatles, amassing a priceless trove of ephemera and diary entries. Long after his untimely death, a new book has finally uncovered it

Behind every creative genius, there often stands a cast of supporting players. “I don’t care if you’re Charlotte Brontë, James Joyce, or Steve Jobs,” says writer Kenneth Womack. “Nobody does it alone.” He should know, having spent the last three years delving into the story of Mal Evans, an assistant to the Beatles, whose protean job description encompassed roadie, bodyguard, tea-maker and procurer of marijuana.

When Evans first laid eyes on the Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, something changed inside him. “He became intoxicated,” Womack puts it. Within a year, he was moonlighting as the club’s bouncer. The year after, he quit his respectable day job to drive the group on tour across the country. And, when Beatlemania sent them around the world, Evans followed, carrying the guitars and amplifiers.