Good Ol' Freda Page #2

I loved that one.

Or The Sheik of Araby, because

he used to do a little dance

and I liked him

doing the little dance.

He used to sort of kick his feet

along the stage.

A few times I rang Paul up,

because one of my

friends fancied him

and I wanted him

to sing for her.

We used to just dial Garston

and then the number 6922.

He'd say "Hello," and you'd go,

"Oh hi Paul, it's Freda.

It's Linda Shepherd's birthday

on such-and-such a day,

can you play Love of

the Loved for her?"

"Yeah, okay. "

I got to know them personally

through just talking to them,

going in the band room,

because when they came off-stage,

they used to either

sit in the band room,

talking to different people

who ever came in,

and then you would

just sit by them,

and you would just ask them

where they were playing,

or how come you

weren't here yesterday.

Paul was always nice

and always friendly,

and any time you'd ask Paul to

sing something, he would do it.

John... a man of many moods.

It depended on what side of the bed

he got out in in the morning.

He could be really grumpy,

but he was always himself,

he never put an act on.

People say George

was the quiet Beatle,

and I suppose he

was in one way,

but he was

never quiet with me.

He was more quietly-spoken,

I think, than the others.

He was very thoughtful.

Ringo hadn't joined the group yet;

Pete Bass was on the drums.

Pete was very shy,

and he was also very handsome,

so he had a big following

around town, from the girls.

They loved Pete.

They all lived my way home,

on the south side of Liverpool,

and Paul and George had cars,

and then they'd say

"Do you want a lift home?"

My father wasn't keen

on them, he saw them

and what he saw

he didn't like.

If they'd had

suits on, or somebody

had a suit with

a collar and tie,

he probably

would've approved of them,

but he didn't

approve of The Beatles.

But I was always

late back from work,

I was always pushing

and puffing and panting

and sitting down

and starting to type.

I couldn't say I

was somewhere else

or I got held up in a restaurant

or trying to get some food

because I had

the Cavern smell on me,

so they knew

exactly where I'd been.

The girls in the typing pool

had photographs up on the wall

of Pat Boone and Elvis

and Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard,

and I didn't like any of them,

so I found a little picture

of The Beatles,

but it was only dead small,

and I remember

putting it up on the wall,

and the personnel

manager caught me

when I was putting it up on the wall,

Mr. Mold, and he said,

"Oh, what are you doing,

who are they?"

and I said "Oh,

they're The Beatles,"

and he went

"Who's The Beatles?"

and I said "They're

a Liverpool group,"

and he went

"Never heard of them,"

and I said "Oh,

you will one day. "

Bobbie Brown was the girl

who went to The Cavern

and started a fan

club for The Beatles.

Now, I couldn't understand why

The Beatles had a fan club,

because they were

just a local group,

but I eventually

ended up helping Bobbie,

and then Bobbie

got a boyfriend

and lost interest in running

the Beatles fan club,

so I took over from there.

I was buying stamps

and salve in the beginning,

and I remember being in the

band room one day lunch time

and saying to Paul,

"You owe me seven six for stamps,"

and he went "I

haven't any money. "

And then Bob Waller paid them,

and I sat in the band room

until Bob Waller paid them,

and I said

"You've now got money. "

So he give him

his due and paid me.

I just had this faith

... and there wasn't just me...

you just knew they were going

to be famous one day,

but I couldn't visualize

the fame that they got.

To me, being famous

was playing on The Empire,

having a record in the charts.

Cliff Richard was

big in those days,

and being as big

as Cliff Richard,

that was as far

as my vision went.

Everything was new, nobody knew

what was going to happen.

People who ever

say to you, "We knew

they were going

to be a success,"

they're lying

through their teeth.

Nobody knew it was going to be

the world phenomenon that it became.

I got to know Brian Epstein

through The Beatles.

I was going to see The Beatles

all the time,

and then Brian Epstein

started to come to see them

and that's how we

became friendly.

Everybody in

Liverpool knew who he was,

because he was manager of NEMS Ltd.,

the biggest record shop in

the north of England.

I do remember it was by

St. Barnabas's Hall in Penny Lane,

it was a Saturday night,

I walked in,

I just know Eppy

coming up to me,

and he then told me that he

was signing The Beatles

and he was starting his own firm

and he needed a secretary.

Then he said, did I want to

come and work for them,

and I said "Oh, go on then. "

I just remember saying, "Oh go on then. "

And I was so excited because

I was starting my dream job,

working for The Beatles.

I think what Brian Epstein

saw was somebody who was a fan

without being

an over-the-top fanatic.

I would call her

more of an admirer;

she appreciated The Beatles,

and that fitted perfectly, I mean,

Freda was there on the scene

and ready to take over.

We had a lot of

respect for Brian,

obviously, we thought he was

really posh, you know,

we were all Liverpool screw-offs really,

but Brian was very posh,

and for him to choose Freda

to be the secretary,

we thought "Hey, wow,

she must have something,"

you know,

he could have picked anybody.

That's when I

had to tell home,

'cos I didn't want to tell home,

'cos I just knew the reaction.

My mother died when I was eighteen months,

and she died of cancer.

I had a good

relationship with my father,

but also he was very protective towards me

because I was his only child.

I was 17, so I managed to

pluck up the courage

this particular

night at tea time,

and I just said casually

"I'm starting a new job on Monday. "

And I do remember

him saying "Has it got

anything to do

with The Beatles?"

and I just blanked it,

I must have turned it back

'cos I know I didn't lie,

but I didn't answer the question,

and all I remember was the teapot

going down with a big slam.

We used to call him

Daddy Eppy;

he was Brian Epstein's father,

and it was his business.

We were on the top

floor of his shop.

The first floor was

what we used to call

the "white goods":

it was televisions

and washing machines

and things like that,

and then on the second floor,

that was Brian Epstein's office,

and then there was a store room

behind his office,

so I worked in the store room.

They changed that

into an office for me.

In the beginning,

the lads were

in the office

nearly every single day,

you know,

they just popped in and out.

They would sit by

my desk for a chat

or while they were waiting to go

into Eppy's office,

so I got to know them more.

I was 17, so naturally

I did have crushes on them.

The way I describe it,

and this is the truth,

if Paul looked nice or sang

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