Biography
Largely by coincidence, Mal Evans joined Neil Aspinall as one of the Beatles’ primary road managers during the height of Beatlemania. Between 1963 and 1966, the years of the band’s greatest global exposure, Evans and Aspinall—aside from manager Brian Epstein—spent more time in the company of the Fab Four than almost anyone else. Once the Beatles ceased live performances in late 1966, Evans continued as a personal assistant and occasionally appeared in minor capacities on their recordings and in their films. He nevertheless harbored larger ambitions, venturing into record production toward the close of the decade. Though lacking formal credentials for the role, he produced material for Badfinger, the Apple Records act he had first recommended to the Beatles.
A 27-year-old telecommunications engineer employed by the Liverpool post office, Evans encountered the Beatles accidentally in 1962. During a lunch break he entered the Cavern Club, returned repeatedly, and eventually took a job as a bouncer there. In summer 1963 Brian Epstein recruited him as the Beatles’ second road manager because the group’s expanding tour schedule had become too demanding for Aspinall alone. Evans handled the transport, assembly, testing, and dismantling of their equipment at every show—an assignment far more glamorous than his postal work. Because he traveled constantly with the band, he appears fleetingly in numerous surviving film clips from that period.
Even after touring ended, Evans continued to manage equipment for recording sessions and promotional films. His frequent presence in the studio led to small, incidental contributions on several tracks, offered simply because he was a trusted friend on hand. These included counting bars on an outtake of “A Day in the Life,” shoveling gravel for “You Know My Name,” singing in the chorus of “Yellow Submarine,” striking one of the final piano notes on “A Day in the Life,” playing harmonica on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” adding percussion to Magical Mystery Tour, performing on trumpet for “Helter Skelter,” and supplying handclaps on “Birthday.” None of these tasks required musical skill. He also received brief screen roles in the Magical Mystery Tour film, portraying one of the magicians, and in Let It Be, where he is seen speaking with police officers before they halted the rooftop concert at Apple headquarters.
While the Beatles operated Apple, Evans participated modestly in A&R decisions. In 1968 he submitted demo recordings by an unsigned group called the Iveys; his strong advocacy prompted Paul McCartney to listen and endorse them. The Iveys signed with Apple that year, and in 1969, after several releases under their original name, they became Badfinger—one of the most accomplished pop-rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s and Apple’s most successful non-Beatles act.
Late in 1968 Evans began producing sessions for the Iveys and, subsequently, Badfinger. He oversaw much of the material that appeared on their album Magic Christian Music as well as the hit single “No Matter What,” although Paul McCartney produced their earlier hit “Come and Get It.” In mid-1970 he was removed from the band’s affairs, reportedly because manager Bill Collins suspected Evans of seeking a managerial role as well. Production duties passed to Geoff Emerick, the engineer who had worked closely with the Beatles from 1966 to 1969. Evans’s other late-1960s production attempt—an unreleased track by the little-known British band Rupert’s People—was later described in a Record Collector article as suffering from “the rather muddy, distant feel” that demonstrated he was “no producer.”
Following the Beatles’ breakup and Apple’s downturn, Evans found fewer opportunities in the music industry. He relocated to Los Angeles and, in 1974, produced several tracks for Keith Moon’s solo album Two Sides of the Moon. Those sessions were judged so unsatisfactory that many parts were later re-recorded under a different producer, Skip Taylor. The project’s failure appeared to deepen Evans’s depression and substance problems. At the close of 1975 he was fatally shot by Los Angeles police during an incident at his girlfriend’s apartment.
A 27-year-old telecommunications engineer employed by the Liverpool post office, Evans encountered the Beatles accidentally in 1962. During a lunch break he entered the Cavern Club, returned repeatedly, and eventually took a job as a bouncer there. In summer 1963 Brian Epstein recruited him as the Beatles’ second road manager because the group’s expanding tour schedule had become too demanding for Aspinall alone. Evans handled the transport, assembly, testing, and dismantling of their equipment at every show—an assignment far more glamorous than his postal work. Because he traveled constantly with the band, he appears fleetingly in numerous surviving film clips from that period.
Even after touring ended, Evans continued to manage equipment for recording sessions and promotional films. His frequent presence in the studio led to small, incidental contributions on several tracks, offered simply because he was a trusted friend on hand. These included counting bars on an outtake of “A Day in the Life,” shoveling gravel for “You Know My Name,” singing in the chorus of “Yellow Submarine,” striking one of the final piano notes on “A Day in the Life,” playing harmonica on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” adding percussion to Magical Mystery Tour, performing on trumpet for “Helter Skelter,” and supplying handclaps on “Birthday.” None of these tasks required musical skill. He also received brief screen roles in the Magical Mystery Tour film, portraying one of the magicians, and in Let It Be, where he is seen speaking with police officers before they halted the rooftop concert at Apple headquarters.
While the Beatles operated Apple, Evans participated modestly in A&R decisions. In 1968 he submitted demo recordings by an unsigned group called the Iveys; his strong advocacy prompted Paul McCartney to listen and endorse them. The Iveys signed with Apple that year, and in 1969, after several releases under their original name, they became Badfinger—one of the most accomplished pop-rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s and Apple’s most successful non-Beatles act.
Late in 1968 Evans began producing sessions for the Iveys and, subsequently, Badfinger. He oversaw much of the material that appeared on their album Magic Christian Music as well as the hit single “No Matter What,” although Paul McCartney produced their earlier hit “Come and Get It.” In mid-1970 he was removed from the band’s affairs, reportedly because manager Bill Collins suspected Evans of seeking a managerial role as well. Production duties passed to Geoff Emerick, the engineer who had worked closely with the Beatles from 1966 to 1969. Evans’s other late-1960s production attempt—an unreleased track by the little-known British band Rupert’s People—was later described in a Record Collector article as suffering from “the rather muddy, distant feel” that demonstrated he was “no producer.”
Following the Beatles’ breakup and Apple’s downturn, Evans found fewer opportunities in the music industry. He relocated to Los Angeles and, in 1974, produced several tracks for Keith Moon’s solo album Two Sides of the Moon. Those sessions were judged so unsatisfactory that many parts were later re-recorded under a different producer, Skip Taylor. The project’s failure appeared to deepen Evans’s depression and substance problems. At the close of 1975 he was fatally shot by Los Angeles police during an incident at his girlfriend’s apartment.
Albums
