Songwriting, Working with George and Ringo and Getting Robbed

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:10]Hello everyone and welcome back to The Beatles Forever.

[00:00:13]In the last episode Mal was very busy as usual in the recording studio as well as trying to keep ties with his mother and father.

[00:00:21]Mal also seemed to be a bit stressed out. He snapped at his mother and his wife.

[00:00:26]He was aware it was wrong and then tried to make up for it by spending more time with them on vacation.

[00:00:32]Let's see what's going on today.

[00:00:35]In November Ringo had his annual bonfire night and it was bigger and better than ever.

[00:00:41]There was the usual crowd, the Harrison's, Starkey's, Evans's and Aspinall's. Then there were the hard drinking types like Harry Nilsson and Marc Bolan.

[00:00:50]For Gary Guy Fawkes night would be a rite of passage.

[00:00:53]Preteen Zak Starkey had caused a major ruckus when he set off a parcel of fireworks prematurely leaving Gary to take on the role as Mal described it in his diary of chief firework setter-offer.

[00:01:06]Mal at this time as usual had a lot of duties.

[00:01:08]On a quiet early December evening 23-year-old American tourist Phil Hildebrand and his friend Tom were standing outside EMI's Abbey Road facilities hoping to glimpse one of the former Beatles in the flesh.

[00:01:22]After a while they decided to sneak inside the building.

[00:01:25]Hildebrand recalled walking straight past the receptionist who said, "Stop, you can't go back there." "Steps away from the doors to studio two, we were grabbed by the back of our coats with our feet dangling."

[00:01:36]Mal Evans had us. He carried us to the front door, kicked it open and threw us like rag dolls down the front steps.

[00:01:43]"Don't ever come back." Mal snarled as the two Americans stood up in the car park. They looked to see the angry roadie.

[00:01:51]He was dressed in an ivory shirt with a button-down collar and black slacks.

[00:01:55]His goatee'd face glaring at them beneath his Beatles haircut.

[00:02:00]In 1972, Mal started composing more lyrics than ever before.

[00:02:04]His diaries and notebooks were bulging with potential songs.

[00:02:08]He decided that this time he took his future in his own hands and not wait for other people to decide his future.

[00:02:15]He wondered what a career as a songwriter would be like, imagining the quarterly residuals that he would earn for his work.

[00:02:22]Mal wanted to create his own publishing venture. It would be called in deference to the Beatles shout-outs to him back in the Cavern Club more than a decade earlier, Mal Content Music. I thought that was a good name.

[00:02:34]Post-production work continued into the new year with the roadie putting in long hours at Trident with George.

[00:02:43]Mal's lyrics began taking on a model in tone.

[00:02:46]He was ready to begin a new creative life, but it seemed impossible to shed the old one. For one thing, he needed the money.

[00:02:53]Sure, his £38 weekly wage covered the mortgage at Stands Road East, but it didn't seem to stretch as far as it used to.

[00:03:00]And for another thing, his loyalty to ex-Beatles George and Ringo mostly dominated his time and energies.

[00:03:08]Their wishes were his commands, a situation that seemed impossible for the roadie to shake. As George's remixing sessions went forward, Mal wrote, "Seems I've been building castles made of cards.

[00:03:18]Now it seems instead of dreams, some effort kicked the table."

[00:03:24]George Harrison at this time was preparing to produce a feature film entitled Little Malcolm in his struggle against the Eunuchs.

[00:03:31]It was based upon the stage comedy George and Pattie had seen back in February 1966 at London's Garrick Theatre.

[00:03:38]Little Malcolm was set to star John Hurt in the title role.

[00:03:42]George was on the lookout for the soundtrack material.

[00:03:45]Thanks to him, the boys from Splinter were cast to perform in Little Malcolm during a nightclub scene.

[00:03:51]Mal had continued putting efforts into making Splinter a reality.

[00:03:56]Later, when George was editing the film, he turned to Mal and asked, "The song they're singing is really beautiful. Who wrote it?"

[00:04:03]Mal said Bobby Purvis had written the music and that he himself had written the lyrics.

[00:04:08]At first, George couldn't believe what he was hearing.

[00:04:10]Mal Evans, his roadie, had written a song, and one that was as beautiful and stirring as Lonely Man?

[00:04:18]George was excited over the band and its catchy tune.

[00:04:21]He decided to produce a single version of Splinter's Lonely Man and synchronize its release with the premiere of Little Malcolm.

[00:04:28]But it wouldn't be anytime soon.

[00:04:31]The Apple Films production turned into a 2-year odyssey.

[00:04:34]Its stops and starts in nature was due to the precariousness of the Beatles' post-breakup finances, which had necessitated Apple's being placed in receivership.

[00:04:44]The most important part as far as Mal was concerned was that George lavished unqualified praise on the song.

[00:04:50]After indulging his creative energies over the past several years, the long-time Beatle roadie felt validated.

[00:04:57]And this is why Mal jumped at the chance to join Ringo in Southern California that March.

[00:05:02]Maybe he could have an opportunity to build a platform for his songwriting ambitions.

[00:05:08]Ringo was at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, and the drummer was set to make his first album since the 1970s Beau Coup of Blues, and Richard Perry, the hot producer, was producing it.

[00:05:20]Mal had a plan on the first day in the studio with Ringo.

[00:05:23]Mal was expected to stage the LP. He was determined to ensure Ringo's triumph was also his, and he would do more than merely provide tea and sympathy to his rock and roll betters.

[00:05:33]Mal's plan unfolded on the very first day of the sessions for Ringo's new LP.

[00:05:38]On the afternoon of March 4th, 1973, Ringo took his inaugural pass at a cover version of Randy Newman's Have You Seen My Baby?

[00:05:47]Ringo with Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, and Beatles buddy Klaus Voormann.

[00:05:52]No sooner than they had rehearsed the song that Mal suggested they try their hand at the latest incarnation of You're Thinking of Me, the Mal Evans original he had played with Klaus back in September 1971.

[00:06:05]Ringo did the lead vocals and and the All-Starr session band joined in, supplemented by Harry Nilsson, who did the organ accompaniment.

[00:06:14]The session concluded with Ringo and the band jamming on a new version of You're Sixteen, the Sherman Brothers 1960 hit with Johnny Burnette.

[00:06:22]But for Mal, most of the evening was a blur. You're Thinking of Me had come off beautifully that night at Sunset Sound.

[00:06:29]Was it possible that a Mal Evans composition might finally see the light of day?

[00:06:34]As the sessions continued, Ringo made his way through one catchy song after another, including the disco-tinged Oh My My, the hard-rocking Devil Woman, and the tender Photograph, which he co-written with George. At the same time, Mal was growing tired of the regular parade of musicians who played on George's and Ringo's records, believing they were exploiting the ex-Beatles' generosity.

[00:06:56]Their fees seemed to increase with each new album.

[00:06:59]At one point, Mal described the guest studio musicians as the usual star-studded yawning cast.

[00:07:04]Well, familiarity does breed contempt.

[00:07:08]I love Ringo so much it really makes me mad when other people take advantage of his easy-going nature.

[00:07:14]After he arrived in Los Angeles, Mal picked up his usual wad of petty cash at the Capitol Records Tower, and on March 10th, not long after retrieving a jet-lagged George from LAX, he was separated from the money.

[00:07:28]That night, back at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Mal rode up the elevator to his floor, only to be greeted by a strange sight.

[00:07:36]As he stepped out of the lift, a rather tall gentleman lurking by the elevator door asked me for the time and on my saying 8:45 thought it strange he should shout in a loud voice, "Time goes by quickly, doesn't it?" As Mal continued on his way, I turned the corner to find the two gentlemen walking towards me and the click of a door closing behind them as they had come down the corridor immediately told me that I had been robbed.

[00:08:00]Sure enough, the three men had burgled his hotel room of some $1,500 in petty cash along with a stray 200 pounds. Against his better judgment, Mal chased after the culprits, but by the time he reached the lobby they were long gone.

[00:08:14]In a crude attempt to allay the roadie's fears Detective Deegan, who was put in charge of the case, assured me that they are not usually armed in hotel jobs and will most likely just have beaten me up.

[00:08:27]As the sessions for his album progressed, Ringo fell ever deeper into a full alcohol abuse. Mal chalked it up to Ringo being his inimitable happy self, but it was more than that.

[00:08:37]One night at the studio, Mal wrote, "He gets through with a quart of Southern Comfort and crashes in the control room.

[00:08:43]So, on several occasions with the fellows, I had to pick him up, carry him to his car, and take him back to the hotel."

[00:08:51]That same night, after the two had returned to the Beverly Hills Hotel, David Bowie telephoned with an invitation to a party.

[00:08:58]It was like a battle cry to an old warhorse. A quick wash of the face and Ringo was off and running to enjoy the party.

[00:09:05]Mal could only stand back and marvel at the Beatle's remarkable stamina.

[00:09:10]For Mal, outside of Your Thinking of Me, the highlight of the production involved a March 13th session when John arrived on the scene.

[00:09:17]In the history of the ex-Beatles, very few, if any, recording sessions could rival the events of that night.

[00:09:22]When Ringo sang John's I'm the Greatest with no less than John, George, and Klaus working as studio musicians.

[00:09:30]For Mal, the 8-hour session was pure joy.

[00:09:33]Ringo, John, Klaus, and myself grouped around a piano in the studio to put the finishing touches on the song, Richard Perry recalled.

[00:09:41]Then someone called me out of the studio to say that George was on the phone.

[00:09:46]"I hear there's some recording going on." George said, "Can I come down?"

[00:09:51]So I said to John, "George is on the phone and wants to come down and record with us. Is that okay?"

[00:09:57]"Hell, yes." John said, "Tell him to get down here right away and help me finish this bridge."

[00:10:02]George arrived and without saying a word, he joined in the same wavelength we were on. He played guitar and John played piano and they complimented each other perfectly.

[00:10:12]There was Beatles magic unfolding right before my eyes. Back in London, Paul and Linda were belatedly getting into the spirit contributing 6:00 to the album, which was now set to be entitled Ringo.

[00:10:24]The LP wouldn't be a full-fledged Beatles reunion, but already promised, even in its unfinished form, something akin to the next best thing.

[00:10:32]The excitement continued a few nights later at Sunset Sound when several members of the band joined Ringo for Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond).

[00:10:40]The song had been composed by George, who was thrilled to play on the recording session with his But George in Southern California due to produce a Ravi Shankar LP at A&M Studios, Mal moved into George's rented home on Miradero Road in Beverly Hills.

[00:10:56]Then Mal called Lily to say that he planned to stay in California for at least another month, which left his wife in tears during a telephone conversation on March 17th.

[00:11:05]"It's nice to know you miss me and the children." she said, noting that Gary had a little cry upstairs after speaking with his dad.

[00:11:12]So I will stop the video here.

[00:11:15]In this episode, all kinds of things were happening to Mal.

[00:11:18]He started to think about songwriting career.

[00:11:21]He was in on the sessions with the Ringo LP.

[00:11:24]He got robbed, which wasn't a good thing. Mal was in the middle of everything.

[00:11:29]I hope you enjoyed the video and if you haven't subscribed, if you could do it, it would help the channel to grow as well as giving a thumbs up. It's all a great help. And if you haven't clicked on the notification bell, if you could do that, it lets you know when a video is posted. More importantly, I want to wish everyone a good day.

[00:11:48]And tune in again soon for another episode of The Beatles Forever.

[00:11:53]Thank you. Bye.