Mersey Beat - Allan Williams

Allan Richard Williams was born in Knowsley Road, Bootle on the 21st of February 1930 and will be known forever by the title of his memoir as 'The Man Who Gave The Beatles Away'. He was described by Paul McCartney in 'The Beatles Anthology' as " the little Welsh manager" so endorsing the fact that he was considered their first manager.
In 1958, this former plumber leased a former watch-repair shop at 21 Slater Street, Liverpool and following the London trend for coffee bars, he converted it into a coffee bar which he named The Jacaranda and opened it in September 1958. It was soon an attraction for art students, amongst whom were Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon, from the Liverpool Art College, who pestered Allan to let them practise there. He agreed, on one condition, that they would decorate the basement including the Ladies Room, shared with the Sweet shop next door. Here Stuart painted a mural, and in turn they were allowed use the space to rehearse. Subsequent stories that John Lennon assisted in the decorating were   'off the mark' and denied by Bill Harry who was present at the time. Subsequently the 'Silver Beatles' played the 'Jac', as it became known, on several occasions with Allan also getting them bookings at other venues.

In 1960, Allan opened the first beat club in Liverpool city centre, called the Top Ten. but the club burned down after six days on the 1st of December 1960, however his late-night cabaret venue, the Blue Angel, managed by Harold Philips (Lord Woodbine), thrived. In 1963 he also promoted a beat festival at the Liverpool Stanley Stadium as he was then a prominent part of the music scene in Liverpool and so it was no surprise when Larry Parnes contacted him to promote his rock 'n roll show which was to star Eddie Cochran. However Eddie was killed in a car crash two weeks before the show and so Allan suggested putting some Liverpool groups on for the first half which Parnes agreed to. John, Paul, George and Stuart went along to watch as they weren't participating, with Allan unaware they were a proper band as they had no drummer. Cass, from 'Cass and the Cassonovas' would remedy this when he gave them Tommy Moore.

Williams also had a share in the New Cabaret Artists' club, a strip joint in Liverpool, where he got work for the 'Silver Beatles' by enlisting them as the backup band for a stripper for a week. When he sold the venue, he and his partner, the calypso singer called Lord Woodbine (Harold Phillips) who played with a Caribbean steel band at The Jacaranda, went to Amsterdam and then to Hamburg to assess the club life there. In Hamburg he made contact with Hamburg club owner Bruno Koschmider, and began to send Liverpool rock bands to Hamburg, acting as their agent. 'The Beatles' were not the first band he sent as they were not regarded good enough at the time, so were preceded by 'Derry & the Seniors'. When Koschmider wanted more bands sent over, Williams' first choices were 'Rory Storm & the Hurricanes' and 'Gerry & the Pacemakers'. They were unavailable or unwilling, however, so 'The Beatles' got their chance, securing a new drummer, Pete Best, just days before leaving. Allan with his wife and Lord Woodbine drove them in a van to Hamburg, via The Netherlands, in August 1960 for their first engagement at Bruno Koschmider's Kaiserkeller. 

From L-R, Allan Williams, his wife Beryl, Lord Woodbine, Stuart Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, at the Arnhem War Memorial in the Netherlands

By continuing to help send Liverpool bands to Hamburg, Allan Williams, without realising it, was helping them all serve an apprenticeship, giving them the opportunity to sharpen their acts in long arduous sets in front of raucous, demanding audiences, which helped spark the new Mersey Beat sound. 

It was during 'The Beatles' second visit to Hamburg in 1961 that their break-up with Allan took place when Stuart Sutcliffe phoned him to say that John Lennon felt that while they had got their own bookings this time they wouldn't be paying him any commission. Allan wasn't at all happy and when Brian Epstein asked his advice some time later about managing them he told him 'not to touch 'em with a f*cking bargepole'. He barred them from the Blue Angel and it took Brian Epstein to cool things down when he visited the club to inform Allan, "The boys are very sorry about how they behaved in Hamburg. Can you find it in your heart to forgive them?" Allan said, "OK, the next time they're in town they can come in." Brian said, "Actually, they're outside now". So they came in and threw their arms around him.
Although he knew and had contacts with many of the best Liverpool's bands at that time, Allan would appear too disorganised, and lacked the resources and managerial expertise to take advantage of this.
Allan was often to be seen and heard regularly on Beatles conventions all over the world sparring with his friend Bob Wooler but he sadly passed away on 30th December 2016 in Liverpool aged 86 years.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2017/04/mersey-beat-bob-wooler.html