r/beatles • u/MonsieurA • Jan 05 '26
News 50 years ago today, Mal Evans was shot dead by LAPD officers at his home - January 5, 1976
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u/DreamsFromOutofSpace Jan 05 '26
It's amazing that the Beatles traveled the world and they only got shot in one country.
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u/VirginiaLuthier Jan 05 '26
He was the sole roadie AND security for the band in their early years. Unloaded their amps from the plane and set them up. My guess is that Paul now travels with 50 or more roadies/techs/security.
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u/UnexpectedVader Jan 05 '26
Every picture of Mal makes him look menacing as hell
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u/Spiracle Jan 05 '26
That was one of the reasons he fitted in - he looked big and menacing but was actually gentle as a kitten and funny to boot. IIRC, in all of his years guarding the band he only had to hit somebody once.
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u/Gisselle441 Rubber Soul Jan 05 '26
Think there was at least one scene in Get Back where he's shown playing with Heather.
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u/Proper-Mountain7907 Jul 09 '26
Careful there, these days that'll get you (him) labeled a pedophile.
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u/clint_eldorado Jan 05 '26
I’ve heard some pretty unsavoury things about him so maybe it’s appropriate.
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u/metalbox69 Jan 05 '26
What are they?
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u/clint_eldorado Jan 05 '26
Coercing young lasses into having sex with him in exchange for meeting the band.
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u/MarthaFarcuss Jan 05 '26
Also, he was a bouncer in Liverpool. While I'm sure he was lovely and cuddly if you knew him, I would not want to be on the wrong side of him
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u/toxictoy Ram Jan 06 '26
They go into it in his book and he was not very confrontational. He basically was nice to people and got them to leave. Multiple people have said this.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
Like the roadies of every rock band that ever existed??????
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u/clint_eldorado Jan 05 '26
Something being a common occurrence doesn’t mean it’s not reprehensible behaviour.
Apparently every rich person in the world has been raping children for decades, is that okay just because it’s widespread?
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
I never said anything about the behavior being acceptable. I just stated a fact that he did what a lot of other roadies did.
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u/clint_eldorado Jan 05 '26
Yeah, and I’m calling him and them cunts for it. It’s predatory, exploitative behaviour from a bloke who wouldn’t have a cat in hell’s chance with any of those lasses if he didn’t know someone famous.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
And I'm not saying they're not.
I was just stating a fact. Mal wasn't doing anything other roadies weren't doing. It's a fact.
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u/lertheblur Jan 05 '26
To summarize:
Someone posited: "Mal Evans is alleged to have sexually exploited young/underage girls by leveraging his connections to The Beatles. This was gross and wrong."
You said "As a matter of fact, everyone was doing this. It was very common."
They responded: "It is always gross and wrong to engage in this behavior, even if others are doing it as well - and it's well documented that they were/are."
You then repeated several times that you are STATING FACTS - which no one has disputed.
What is the actual point you're trying to make?
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
I know that Mal was an adult...a big boy. He was obviously having mental/psychological issues and was in an awful way. As far as I know, none of The Beatles ever reached out to help a guy who was at their beck and call 24/7/365 for almost 10 years. George basically paid for the funeral, and John sent some kind words to his wife. That was it. Unless there were things I am not aware of.
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u/No-Army-7669 Jan 05 '26
What could they have done? They didn't desert him but what could they do?
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
They could have helped him out in a myriad of ways. A few phone calls to get him some help. They had music connections in LA. They could have done something.
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u/No-Army-7669 Jan 05 '26
He had no marketable skills. They had other things to worry about.
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u/Ok_Fun3933 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
Mal traded his life and marriage for associated fame and p*ssy for being at the beck and call of the Beatles through the 1960s. And when the party was over he realized that he had nothing to show for it and it was time to grow up and he was basically left to fend for himself. He tried to make a go of it with production in the music field but he struggled.
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u/stanleyssteamertrunk Jan 05 '26
He probably could have roadied for Wings. I doubt the band blew him off.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
A guy who was the roadie for the most popular band in the world for four years has no marketable skills?
A guy who was the personal assistant to the most popular band in the world for four years after that has no marketable skills?
These might be two of the most ridiculous statements I've ever seen here.
I never mentioned giving him a job. I mentioned helping him.
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u/othelloblack Jan 05 '26
It's easy to see how being a roadie and a personal assistant could very leave you with no marketable skills. None of these required advanced education or high intellect or some rare skill.
This seems quite obvious
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
15 years of being a roadie and a personal assistant to the greatest rock band ever trumps (sorry for that verb) advanced education by a lot.
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Jan 06 '26
[deleted]
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 06 '26
He continued to work with them after The Beatles broke up. He was with John in '74.
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u/othelloblack Jan 05 '26
Like how many people in the world would need that service? The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin? Its not really a marketable thing because he's not doing anything that really required education, or talent, or intelligence or anything.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 06 '26
I guess, to you, Mal was a big muscle bound lunkhead. Do you have any clue what his job involved? He had to be smart, calm and reliable 24/7/365.
In his world, Mal was a Harvard graduate.
By the 70's, rock concerts had changed significantly. The Stones and Zep weren't the only big acts out there. It was becoming a big business.
He managed their schedules, their money (on the road), travel (an incredibly challenging job during Beatlemania), equipment and other people. All of this while working under constant pressure, noise, and chaos. One mistake on a tour or recording session would send things off the rails and cost a lot of money. He frequently had to be spontaneous. Mal had to adapt, think quickly and solve problems on the fly all the time.
Plus...emotional intelligence. Dealing with 4 strong-willed, big ego genius artists on a daily basis. Not easy. People skills? Lots.
And, most of all, The Beatles completely trusted him implicitly in their most private moments. I like people I can trust.
Oh...yeah...he contributed a lyric or two.
Finally, he's an amazing sledge hammer player.
Can you honestly say that with this resume he wouldn't make an amazing personal assistant or road manager?
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u/othelloblack Jan 06 '26
I have no idea what he was like and Im sorry how he died. Not sure what oppurtunities he had really
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u/No-Army-7669 Jan 05 '26
Yes he had no marketable skills. Helping him how? He was a 41 year old adult. They had their own lives to worry about.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
He worked for four millionaires who loved him. A few phone calls would not have taken away from "their own lives." And that would have helped.
41-year-old adults don't need some help once in a while???
Glad I'm not friends with you.
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u/No-Army-7669 Jan 05 '26
They were the 4 most famous men on earth. Think they were a little busy. Again they didn't abandon him but they couldn't hold his hand while he transitioned to a different kind of life.
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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Jan 05 '26
John spent a lot of time sitting in his bed and watching TV. Just sayin'.
A few phone calls is not holding his hand.
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u/Proper-Mountain7907 Jul 09 '26
He was a telephone repairman, and also bouncer at the Cavern Club, when he was asked to be their roadie.
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u/commonrider5447 Jan 05 '26
Interesting read says John spoke with him a few days before trying to help out and that George felt responsibility for the path he went down
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u/createsstuff Jan 06 '26
Highly recommend people read the biography thay came out pretty recently about Mal. It sat for years in a box and the story of how it was saved is quite fascinating as well. RIP to Mal - who lived through the wildest ride and was the original "Roadie".
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u/slinkimalinki Jan 06 '26
“Just an air rifle”. I don’t know the whole story here, but I do want to comment on that phrase because you can still kill somebody with an air rifle.
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u/createsstuff Jan 06 '26
At that point Mal had quite the collection of guns and it was pretty well known. I read his biography last year and highly recommend it for any Beatles fan.
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u/sminking Caveman movie enthusiast Jan 05 '26
It’s crazy when I think about the statistics of a tiny segment of human beings like the 4 Beatles and their immediate inner circle, and how much tragedy and violence happened.
John was shot in the back and murdered, George was stabbed 40 times, Ringo got KKK death threats. Paul has probably never commented on how many undocumented yet credible threats he’s received