The Beatles songs that feature the band’s road crew
Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall were indispensable allies to The Beatles at the height of their fame. The two men were officially considered the band’s road crew, with Aspinall originally being their road manager and Evans being the equipment manager. While these titles might sound impressive, they largely amounted to Aspinall driving the band from gig to gig and Evans schlepping amps and drums. It wasn’t glamorous work, but they were on the front lines when Beatlemania hit around the world.
Aspinall was a childhood friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, having known everyone in the band (minus Ringo Starr) since they were all teenagers. Evans was originally a bouncer at The Cavern Club, one of the most famous clubs The Beatles played at pre-fame. Brian Epstein employed both to assist the rising band on the road, and as the band’s touring schedule became increasingly hectic, both Aspinall and Evans provided physical and moral support to the band members on their long trips away from home.
As The Beatles decided to retire from touring after their final US tour in 1966, Aspinall and Evans took on new duties as assistants for the band in the studio. Aspinall eventually rose to become the head of Apple Corps, being one of the prominent figures that helped keep the band’s legacy alive after the group broke up in 1970. Evans briefly worked as a record producer for Badfinger, producing their hit single ‘No Matter What’, while continuing to be involved in various Beatles solo projects until his death in 1976.
While Aspinall and Evans weren’t musicians, that didn’t stop them from making musical contributions to The Beatles’ catalogue. Once the band turned their attention to the studio, anyone who was around was free to contribute to backing vocals or to the various musical experiments that The Beatles conceived. Since Aspinall and Evans were always around, they were frequently tapped to help lay down basic lines to various songs.
Together, the pair both appear on ‘Yellow Submarine’, chanting out the chorus in a sing-along fashion. Evans even strapped on a bass drum and led a conga line through the studio to create a party atmosphere. Aspinall and Evans again appeared on ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’, blasting out different notes on harmonicas, and ‘Magica Mystery Tour’, where the pair contribute various percussion sounds to the final mix.
Both Aspinall and Evans were instrumental in the making of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, with Aspinall offering up the ideas that Sgt. Pepper would MC the first song, and the group should reprise the song at the end of the album. According to his diaries, Evans was the one who helped create the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ name and helped write lyrics for both ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and ‘Fixing a Hole’, although he was credited for neither.
Evans’ contributions extended beyond those examples as well. During the recording of Rubber Soul, Evans blasted out the organ hits on ‘You Won’t See Me’. On ‘A Day in the Life’, Evans’ voice can be heard calling out measures in the first orchestral swell. He added tambourine and backing vocals to ‘Dear Prudence’, improvised percussion on ‘You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)’, and hit some sour trumpet notes alongside John Lennon in ‘Helter Skelter’. Perhaps most famously, Evans was seen hitting the anvil while The Beatles attempted to rehearse ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ in The Beatles: Get Back, although the final recorded anvil hits were more likely played by Starr.
See if you can pick out Evans’ and Aspinall’s contributions to ‘Yellow Submarine’ down below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.