In May 1960 Johnny Gentle a pop star from the same agency as Billy Fury and Marty Wilde was sent up to North East Scotland by his manager Larry Parnes to do a one week tour of dance halls. To back him, Parnes had hired five youngsters from Liverpool who had very little experience but buckets of enthusiasm. The hireling musicians were called the Beatles and this book is about that tour.
The Beatles became the most famous, most adored, most copied and most quoted rock band in the history of popular music. But in May 1960 they were almost fired on the first night of their first tour.
Only three people alive today can tell the story of the Scottish tour - now one of them has in a truly entertaining way.

“The Scotland tour was an important period for solidifying the band and getting our relationships strong with each other. It gave us the reality of what it could be like and I suppose it prepared us for what was to come. We loved it and it was an invaluable experience for us.”
Paul McCartney 1996

Johnny Gentle
Johnny views his days as a Parnes pop star with great affection and has no regret about his relevant lack of chart success. How many people would have loved to have had the same experiences he had as a very young man? After all he is the only person to have toured with the Beatles as his backing band. Johnny has for a long time wished to record his adventures with the pre Fab Four and has now co-operated closely with co-author Ian Forsyth to give as good account as possible of those eight days in May 1960. The authors however do stress that the following book is based a lot on Johnny’s memory and may not be 100% accurate but whose memory is after 34 years?
Johnny lives today in Kent, England and regularly visits his family in Liverpool. Johnny is married with two children, son Gavin and Daughter Donna.