By Eilidh Dorgan, Sunbury Resident
‘Big Mal’, Mal Evans – the Beatle’s road manager from 1963-1970 lived in Sunbury for a few years in the late sixties (address unknown).
Mal Evans, was often referred to as the ‘fifth Beatle’ and was their bodyguard, road manager, and general right-hand man. After seeing The Beatles perform during his lunch break at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, Mal quickly became a fan and went to watch them regularly during their residency there and eventually became a doorman for the club in 1962 owing to his 6’6 height.
After befriending George Harrison, Mal later became employed by the band to be their bodyguard and road manager when they set off on tour in 1963 and was with them until their eventual break-up in 1970. During his time with The Beatles, he became indispensable by handling anything and everything and can even be heard on some of their hit records playing a myriad of instruments such as the tambourine, alarm clock, trumpet, stirred gravel, and an anvil. Mal can also be seen in four out five of The Beatles’ movies in roles such as himself, a confused swimmer in an ice hole in Austria, and a man hitting an anvil. Mal moved to Sunbury in 1967 when he relocated his family from Liverpool in order to be closer to the band by choosing to settle in a location that was equidistant from the four member’s houses scattered throughout Surrey and London.
Of all of the things that Big Mal did for The Beatles – fetch socks, perform instruments that weren’t instruments, and lend his acting talents, I would argue that the most notable incident involving Mal was when he took a beating in a Filipino airport after the band accidentally snubbed Imelda Marcos, the first lady of the Philippines, causing the entire country to turn against them.
After arriving into the Philippines on July 3rd 1966 tired and groggy, the band was informed of a breakfast meeting invitation that the first lady had extended to them for the next day. Rightly or wrongly, the band declined this invitation as a result of their jet lag and also out of a desire to keep themselves out of politics. Unfortunately, word of this polite “thanks, but no thanks” did not appear to have reached Imelda Marcos, who waited for The Beatles to arrive the next morning alongside a slew of cameramen. The band then awoke to chaos after turning on the television to see a dramatic scene of a humiliated first lady with cameras resting on the empty plates of the absent band members while also intermittently panning to the children of the crowd who were inconsolably crying due to the disappointment of the band’s non-arrival.
Alas, it was only downhill from there for The Beatles and their crew – and, despite trying to issue an apology, they were ultimately barred from doing so and the damage was irreparably done. All security supplied to them by the state went missing and the band and crew were left to fend for themselves amid the crowds both en route to, and at the airport. Upon arrival, the treatment of the band and crew became rough which resulted in pandemonium and several physical altercations. It was during this kerfuffle that Mal Evans was kicked in the ribs, tripped up and had to stagger across the tarmac with blood streaming from his leg. Before leaving the country, the band also had to give back any profits gained from their performances in the Philippines and, once allowed to board the flight, it is said that they all kissed the airplane seats. The Beatles vowed never to go back to the Philippines ever again, and it is safe to say that Mal Evans was probably not in a rush to go back there either.