The Beatles and Other Bands at the Co-op Hall, Nuneaton

Co-op Hall, Nuneaton.
Image by Louise Essex, donated to Nuneaton Library

In 1961-1962, I went to see the Beatles at the Co-op. You had to queue all the way down Edwards Street. We had to buy the tickets in advance. They were 2s 6d in old money. It was that full no-one could move. We’d heard about them, but to see them live was a different thing all together. They were selling their records and had just brought out an EP – two tracks per side. It was called their Long Tall Sally. This was 1s 6d and if you were lucky you got them to sign it. We didn’t know then how valuable this would be today.

I played that record on our Dad’s old gramophone until it was just about destroyed. After I left home, it disappeared. I also had my ticket – stuck to the actual record and that disappeared too.

Billy Fury

I also saw Billy Fury, Screaming Lord Sutch, Freddie and the Dreamers, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and the Rolling Stones there in their early days and the tickets were affordable for us then though our parents didn’t have disposable cash, so you had to earn it. They were doing the circuit to get known and you could talk to them then.

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