Hi Arthur,

 

He was featured in a recent article in the Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/lord-woodbine-the-forgotten-sixth-beatle-2015140.html

 

And an obituary in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/jul/10/guardianobituaries1

 

All the best

 

Ricky joseph

 

 

 

16 August 2010 marked 50 years of the Beatles, and I attended a British Library event yesterday to commemorate their achievements. One on the presenters was Philip Norman a Beatles biographer who is regarded as a leading expert on the pop group. It is said the August performances in Hamburg, Germany in 1960 were the beginning of Beatlemania.

 

I have been informed that in 1960 the group was under the unofficial management of Allan Williams and Lord Woodbine. No, the later was not a real Lord, but a Trinidadian, an ex-serviceman (WWII), and he was among the men who had arrived here in June 1948 on the Empire Windrush. He settled in Liverpool, and was one of the musical mentors to John and Paul, who were teenager in the late 1950s.

 

I asked Philip Norman why he did not mention in the Beatles biography that Lord Woodbine’s name was Harold Phillips, but he did not respond, and I requested that Harold be identified when the biography was updated. Harold had driven five members (they later were reduced by one) to Hamburg, and was instrumental in organising the German gigs. I knew Harold, and his story of those days is on record.

 

But, it cannot be denied that it was Brian Epstein’s professional skills that brought world fame to the Beatles. 

 

My point at the British Library event was that the Beatles' early influences also should not be forgotten.
 
 
arthur