Readers of The Stray Ferret have been sharing their memories after we reported that an original poster for The Beatles’ only Harrogate show fetched £3,000 at auction.

Among several comments from people who had been in the audience that evening were: “Didn’t pay much attention to the Beatles, just dancing to their music” and “you couldn’t hear anything but screaming”.

Sandra Reed told us her memory of the night is rather hazy, although she does remember the “lovely atmosphere” and the dancing which was “such good fun”. She added:

“And the noise! The Beatles were so much louder than any performer. Girls were screaming … they were the start of boy bands.”

‘The Sensational Beatles’

The Beatles played their only Harrogate gig, billed as ‘Dancing for Teens and Twenties’, at The Royal Hall on March 8, 1963. They had been booked the previous year by Derek Arnold, an astute music shop owner from Halifax who also acted as a promoter for some of the Harrogate bands. Derek organised many of the shows that took place in the town around that time, and bagged a date from The Beatles after seeing their first UK single, Love Me Do, sell like hot cakes in his record shop on its release in October 1962.

By the time John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came to Harrogate just a few months later, The Beatles were beginning to make a name for themselves. Their second single, Please Please Me, had reached number 2 in the charts in January 1963. Their first number 1 would come just a month after their Royal Hall show with their April 1963 single From Me To You.

So when they came to Harrogate as part of a series of promotional dates across the UK in advance of their USA tour, the poster for the show described them as ‘The Sensational Beatles… The recording stars of Please Please Me’. They were supported by two of Harrogate’s biggest local bands of the time, Barry Corbett and The Mustangs with their backing singers The Chinchillas, and Ricky Fenton and The Apaches.

Mustangs memories

Lead guitarist John Whitley is the only surviving member of The Mustangs who performed with The Beatles in Harrogate.

Now 82 and living in West Yorkshire, John recalls how ordinary the soon-to-be megastars were. They were even paid the same amount for the show – £75 – as their support acts. Travelling to Harrogate by train – deemed the most reliable mode of transport during the famous Big Freeze of 1962/3 – The Beatles arrived at the afternoon soundcheck about ten minutes after John and his bandmates. John said:

“We were all backstage together with The Beatles and we just talked to them. We did look up to them a bit for getting successful, but we weren’t starstruck. We’d played The Royal Hall before with people like The Searchers and Freddie and the Dreamers, so it wasn’t such as big deal to us. Personally, I’d been more impressed with Freddie because he was very funny. But I have to say The Beatles were very good on the night.”

John remembers the crowd being similarly nonplussed by this up-and-coming foursome whose longer hair, Beatnik ‘art student’ appearance and different, less polished sound was in stark contrast to the groomed image and cleaner sound of their support bands. But it didn’t really matter too much who was playing anyway, he said:

“Most people were there because it was a show at the Royal Hall, which were always popular. There weren’t that many shows in Harrogate for kids so when one came along, everybody went.”

“We want Barry”

The Apaches were up first, followed by The Mustangs with The Chinchillas. The Mustangs had formed in 1960 and were made up of John, Barrie (stage name was Barry) Corbett, bassist John ‘Billy’ Bolton and drummer Johnny Lockhead. The Chinchillas were Barrie’s wife Eileen and John’s fiancee at the time, Gill Evans.

The Mustangs with The Chinchillas in the original programme for The Beatles concert at The Royal Hall. Top row from left: John Bolton, Johnny Lockhead, John Whitley and Eileen Corbett. Front: Gill Evans and Barrie Corbett.

In 1963, Barry and The Mustangs were top of the pile among a multitude of young local bands including The Crestas, The Escorts from Bradford and The Ensigns from York. Mainly performing covers of songs from the Top 20, The Mustangs were playing gigs two to three times a week in pubs, clubs and youth clubs around the area. Some of the local venues they appeared at were the Lounge Hall and the Connaught Rooms in Harrogate, where there were dances every Friday night, and the Assembly Rooms in Ripon. As lead singer of The Mustangs, therefore, Barrie had quite a following. John said:

“Barrie was Harrogate’s pop star. He was very well known in the town. He was a good singer as well as being one of life’s gentlemen.”

So it’s quite possible that John’s memory isn’t playing tricks on him when he recalls that after The Mustangs had finished their set, The Beatles took to the stage to chants of “We want Barry” from the audience.

John left The Mustangs in 1965 when he moved to Australia. He returned to Harrogate in the late 1970s, and teamed up again with Barry from 1980 to 2000, performing The Smurfs songs with him under the name of Evergreen.

In 2013, the four members of The Mustangs reformed for a special concert at the Royal Hall to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ appearance in Harrogate.

The Mustangs reunited for the 50th anniversary in 2013. Pictured from left are John Bolton, John Lockhead, John Whitley and Barrie Corbett.

John has fond memories not just of that one night at The Royal Hall which has gone down in Harrogate history, but of the whole music scene in the town during the 1960s that he, Barrie and The Mustangs were privileged to be a big part of. He said:

“In hindsight, it would have been an even better story if we’d gone for a drink with The Beatles after the show or something, but at that time they were just another group so we’d probably have declined anyway… Who knew! But even so, that era of pop music was a very special time for everyone.”

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Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra opens its 2023/24 season on Saturday (November 11) with a programme, featuring the work of three major composers.

Beginning with Grieg’s ever-popular Holberg Suite and culminating in Tchaikovsky’s virtuosic tour-de-force for strings: Souvenir de Florence, the concert at Holy Trinity Church will also include Benjamin Britten’s atmospheric song cycle exploring the calm and sinister aspects of night: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings.

The Holberg Suite  harks back to the music of the 1700s but with a distinctly Romantic twist. It is one of most readily recognisable pieces of the string orchestra repertoire, with its rhythmic and driving opening Prelude, lyrical Sarabande and boisterous Rigaudon (featuring sparkling solos from the first violin and viola).

Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings was composed for his partner, Peter Pears and horn player Dennis Brain, who premiered the work together in 1943.

The 6 sung movements draw on poetry from across the ages, from an anonymous writer in the 1400s through to Blake, Keats and Tennyson, framed at the opening and close by two movements played by the horn alone.

St Cecilia Orchestra will accompany soloist performances from Yorkshire tenor, Nicholas Watts, known to local audiences for his work with Opera North and French horn player, Catherine Hewitt, who enjoys a busy freelance career across the north of England.

After the interval the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence. Originally composed for string sextet, but often played by full string orchestra, this is a hugely challenging work, which reflects the composer’s delight in writing for string instruments.

A real virtuosic tour-de-force, promises to send the audience away musically fulfilled and uplifted

Tickets for the concert priced at £20 for adults and free for under 18s can be obtained online from Ticket Source (www.ticketsource.co.uk/st-cecilia), They can also be purchased in person from Harrogate Theatre and the Little Ripon Bookshop, or can be bought on the door from 7pm on Saturday.

The choice of music signals a busy Saturday evening for the string section of the orchestra (pictured above) Picture: St Cecelia Orchestra

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A percussionist performing in Knaresborough next month is hoping to inspire other young women to follow in her footsteps.

Sophie Mullender is an accomplished musician and will be playing percussion with the Knaresborough Choral Society.

She hopes seeing her perform on the drums will help girls in the audience to realise that the instrument is open to everyone.

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I did try out pretty much every instrument. The reason I stuck with drums was because, growing up, I never saw anybody that looked like me playing drums.

“It was a bit of a duty to show it’s possible. Every time I perform, I think, ‘if one person looks at me and says, if she can, maybe I can, I’ve made a difference’.

“There are plenty of women out there doing it, it’s just finding ways for them to gain exposure. Social media has been great for that.

“We’re making progress, but I still think fundamentally there’s a lot of work to do.”

She only moved to Harrogate in 2021 and works for the Diocese of Leeds as a fundraiser and in its music department.

In her spare time, she often accompanies choirs at concerts – but the Knaresborough event on July 8 is particularly special.

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She will be joining her boyfriend, conductor William Bruce, for the performance, and it will feature some of her favourite songs.

Under the title The Great American Songbook, the choir will perform songs by Duke Ellington, Rogers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and More.

Sophie said:

“I’m a jazz drummer by trade, but I also did quite a lot of musical theatre growing up. I haven’t had much opportunity to play it since moving to Harrogate.

“It’s a very varied, lively, upbeat programme. I think it will uplift everybody that comes to see it.”

Knaresborough Choral Society will perform The Great American Songbook at King James’s School on Saturday, July 8 at 7.30pm.

Tickets are £12 for adults, and free for under 18s and essential companions and carers.

Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra is promising a programme of epic proportions on Saturday evening, as it unites with the horn section of Opera North.

Entitled ‘Horns and Heroes’, the concert at Ripon Cathedral calls for a large orchestra, which will include no fewer than 12 French horn players.

Helen Dawson of St Cecilia Orchestra said:

“The concert will open with Tchaikovsky’s romantic classic Romeo and Juliet. Described by Classic FM as Tchaikovsky’s ‘first true masterpiece’ and one of his most enduringly popular works, this fantasy overture is full of drama and sweeping melodies, and its love theme has been used in countless films.

“Next, the orchestra will be joined by the four horn players of Opera North – Alex Hamilton, John Pratt, Sam Yates and David Tollerton – in Schumann’s inventive and compelling Konzertstück.

“Written in 1849 to showcase the horn section of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzertstück is a virtuosic work, exploiting the full range and capability of the valve horns that were only just coming into fashion.”

After the interval, the concert will turn to Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben, which he began working on in 1898 with the intention of writing a “heroic work” like Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony.

Called A Hero’s Life, the piece features eight French horn players, a large wind and brass section, multiple percussion players, two harps and a string section.

Ms Dawson added:

“Strauss’s writing for orchestra is always virtuosic and Ein Heldenleben does not disappoint here – the eighth of his tone poems, Heldenleben exceeds any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands and should make for an exciting and spectacular conclusion to the concert.”

Tickets, priced at £20 for adults and free for under 18s, are available via Ticketsource, from the Little Ripon Bookshop, and on the door.

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Four hundred children from 13 local primary schools will be taking centre stage at Harrogate’s Royal Hall in just over a week for the bi-annual Kids Aloud concert.

The Last Dragon, which is organised by Harrogate Brigantes Rotary, is a musical extravaganza featuring pupils from the Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon areas.

The young performers have written a lot of the music themselves, with help from storyteller Guy Wilson and composer Roland Fudge.

Hundreds of pupils take part. Pic: Charlotte Gale

The children have also illustrated a book to accompany the show, which is available from local independent bookshops, Imagined Things in Harrogate and The Little Bookshop in Ripon.

Some 200 children will be involved each night on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.

Guy said:

“This is the eighth Kids Aloud concert Harrogate Brigantes Rotary has put on and the first that is entirely original.

“It gives our children a memorable chance to celebrate post-covid freedom with a lung-bursting performance at a full Royal Hall. We’re grateful to all the local businesses who’ve sponsored us and to Arts Council England who’ve given us a Youth Music grant.”

Guy paid particular tribute to This will be the last Kids Aloud for Harrogate primary schools music teacher Carmel Wake.

“As usual, Carmel has brought all her musical and organisational skills to the show. She has sourced and adapted music, conducted performances and coordinated the work of the schools.”

Carmel Wake conducting the choirs in rehearsal. Pic: Guy Wilson

The Last Dragon is a tale of good and evil, courage and victory set in the imaginary country of Rubovernia. It tells how two children, helped by the very last dragon in the country are able to fight off the evil that threatens it.

Any money that’s left at the end will help to fund the next Kids Aloud or go towards local good causes Brigantes Rotary supports.

Tickets are £15 for adults and £5 for under 17s and can be purchased from Harrogate Theatre box office or online here.

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A new professional choir based in Ripon that performs everything from choral music to opera is putting on a local concert.

Jervaulx Singers was founded by Charlie Gower-Smith and Jenny Bianco, who are based in North Yorkshire and perform across the UK.

Group members include baritone Edmund Danon, who has performed at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne, Opera North, Cadogan Hall and the London Southbank; Yorkshire-born mezzo-soprano Beth Moxon has performed as ‘L’enfant’ in Ravel’s ‘Lenfant et les sortilèges’ for Opéra de Lyon and Royal Opera House Muscat; bass Laurence Williams, who has toured the Messiah solos with Stephen Layton to Australia, singing with the Auckland Philharmonic and soprano Eleanor Garside, who was described in The Guardian as giving a ‘standout performance’ in Waterperry Opera’s Mansfield Park by Jonathan Dove.

Further details of the Sharow event are available here.

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