John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert (Original Cast Recording)

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The more you make the more you want to make, until you become so greedy that ultimately you put a foot wrong. And even though Sgt. Pepper is no doubt a financial success, I think it’s damaged their images, their careers, and they didn’t need to do that. It’s just like the Beatles trying to do the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones can do it better.” The Philistine's poem that ran "I hate theatre, I hate ballet, I hate art galleries - but I like arts council' They say No'!". Shirley Valentine's recollection of her son's uproarious apperance in the school nativity play and an extract from one of Russell's two forthcoming novels were delivered with a breezy confidence that matched any of the Fringe's excess of stand-up comics. Then the folk thing happened, and I became aware of Dylan. And once I became aware of Dylan, I realised that I could write songs.” But when I came to fulfil this commission, I couldn’t think of anything. So then I remembered the Blood Brothers idea. It was for schools, it had to be 70 minutes, and I thought he said we was going to hire an actor who could double on piano. So I wrote it as a mini-musical, and presented it to Paul and he was like, ‘No, you must’ve dreamt that!. So I cut all the songs, apart from the Marilyn Monroe song, which they did acapella.

It was awful stuff. All these idiots act­ing out people–­it’s like I say in ‘ The Dev­il’s Radio,’ talking about what they don’t LONG before the plays that made both their names, music was Willy Russell’s and Tim Firth’s first love. In this show, they return to it with a seven-piece band, lyrics to linger over and a dazzling overlay of words and music that you’d be hard-pressed to match. Parents, if you're considering tutoring or supplemental education for your child, you may be interested in my observations on Kumon. Just say whatever comes into your head each time --” John advises. “—‘Attracts me like a cauliflower’ — until you get the right word.” Willy Russell is a playwright and musician whose work has enjoyed worldwide success and acclaim.He is best known for plays Educating Rita (1980), Shirley Valentine (1986), Our Day Out (1977) and the musical Blood Brothers (1983). Willy Russell’s works have been translated intonumerous languages and won multiple awards for both theatre and film.There’s not much more we [the Beatles] can be sued for, but we can sue a lot of other people,” George said. “Being split and diversified over the years has made it difficult to consolidate certain Beatles interests. For example, all those naughty Broadway shows and stupid movies that have been made about the Beatles, using Beatles names and ideas, are all illegal. Arthur was well placed to portray the role of Bert a fictitious character representing all the people who were involved with The Beatles in their early years, as Arthur had long been the best friend of George Harrison.

Being playwrights, they know all about making each word count. But what they are doing here - cutting up and reassembling their selected prose then interspersing it with their own songs - offers them the chance to make their words count in altogether different ways… Both Russell and Firth have the kind of range that would allow them to turn their 90-minute concert in whatever direction they wanted. There’s the sublime (Living on the Never Never (Easy Terms) from Blood Brothers) and the joyous (She Give Me, and its highlights from Shirley Valentine). the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy for Educating Rita (1980) and for Shirley Valentine (1988) John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert is a 1974 musical by Willy Russell based on the story of the Beatles. In a 1979 interview with Rolling Stone, George said the musical John, Paul, George, Ringo, and Bert, along with other Beatles rip-offs, resulted from The Beatles’ split. When the Fab Four broke up, they left their state of affairs open for anyone to take advantage of. They lost everything from their catalog to their likeness.

These singing playwrights are indecently talented, but Russell’s commanding soliloquies and Firth’s versatile lyrics combine effectively to make it a night that only the coldest-hearted could fail to enjoy.”

In January of 1974, Dossor commissioned the 26-year-old Russell, who had seen The Beatles play at the Cavern Club as a schoolboy, to write a play about them.

I was widening my writing into other forms, and I wanted to take what I'd learned and what I loved about folk music into those other forms.”

Willy Russell's first novel, The Wrong Boy, was published in 2000. Russell has provided the musical scores for the feature films, Shirley Valentine, Dancin' Thru The Dark and Mr Love, as well as for the TV series Connie and the television play Terraces. Willy Russell released his first album, Hoovering the Moon, in 2003. The Willy Russell archive During the 1990s and 2000s, Willy Russell produced his first album, Hoovering the Moon, and performed on multiple tours, including Words on the Run with Merseybeat poets Adrian Henri, Brian Patten, Roger McGough, as well as the musician Andy Roberts and The Singing Playwrights with writer Tim Firth. He also wrote the screenplay for the film Dancin’ Thru The Dark, an adaptation of his play Stags and Hens and a novel entitled The Wrong Boy, to wide critical acclaim. I was still a hairdresser at the time, and I used to go and cut the hair of a Mrs Walker. She always had the telly on, and Top Of The Pops was on, and I saw Hendrix for the first time, doing Hey Joe. And if you think of the end of Blood Brothers, there’s a madman with a gun… that level of violence and anger was something that was sparked by seeing Hendrix on TOTP.

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Dossor then asked Russell to adapt a play by Alan Plater called The Tigers Are Coming OK about Hull City FC to make it relevant to Liverpool. Russell turned it into a play called When the Reds about the history of Liverpool FC. He then went off to become a schoolteacher. George didn’t see Stigwood’s musical. “The reports on it were so bad that I didn’t want to see it. But maybe it’s good. I don’t know,” George said. Within two weeks, I’d gone out and bought what I thought was a guitar. It was a plank with wires on, basically!” It is a very funny show. Exhilarating at times. It is no publicity job for The Beatles. Their warts, indiscretions and mistakes are there for all to see — so are their exploiters. The dialogue hits pretty hard; there’s nothing phoney about it.”