ALMOST A BEATLE

Much is being made of the events that led to The Beatles’ demise and the set of circumstances surrounding Let It Be, especially as it embodied the group’s final studio sessions.

Yet, it’s always good to go back to the beginning and explore the circumstances surrounding The Beatles’ start. So while the Fabs’ early years have been well documented, more so than any other trajectory in the whole of pop music history, there’s one piece of the puzzle that still remains relatively unexplored.

It revolves around singer and piano player Roy Young, who was already a well-known entertainer in England around the time The Beatles were beginning their residency in Hamburg, Germany. Having developed an early and intense interest in playing the style known as boogie-woogie, he, like many other kids of his age, was inspired to try his hand at rock and roll after seeing . His first professional break came when he was hired by entertainer Jack Good to become the featured musical performer on Good’s immensely popular TV program, , which later made him akin to a household name during the late 1950s. He eventually became known as England’s answer to Little Richard and he was given the nickname Roy “Rock ’Em” Young.