On The Road With The Fab Four – The Mal Evans Story by Ken Womack

The story of Mal Evans’ diaries and his unpublished autobiography had grown into near mythical status in the decades that followed his tragic demise. Did they even exist at all? When it was confirmed that they had been safely returned to the Evans family and that they would be finally be published there was understandably great interest particularly when it was learnt that they would receive the assistance of Beatles writer Ken Womack a trusted hand to steer the project. With significant assistance from Mal’s son Gary the full story has now been published and one of the few people who could claim to be a true insider to the Beatles story has had their say.

Despite being an insider with the prospect to bring revelation after revelation to a story with which we are all familiar what this book actually delivers is a personal story of sadness and tragedy. While Mal enjoyed the proximity and trappings that came from being in the Beatles orbit his life was one of continuous conflict between his love for his family and that of the “boys” and also his unfulfilled desire for personal fame and appreciation. His life actually fell between these two loves and was destined to spiral to its unrewarded and untimely demise. There are, in fact, many stories which follow similar sad trajectories … Stuart Sutcliffe, Brian Epstein, Tom Evans and Pete Ham to name a few.

Despite the sadness there are glimmers of joy that were experienced along the way which gave sustenance to Mal’s loyalty and make the read an absorbing one. Sharing the news of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ reaching No.1 in the USA and his interactions with his other musical love Elvis Presley to name but two.

After the Beatles split Mal continued to be a crutch to whichever “fab” made a call, though Paul’s requirement of his services were fewer. Mal made several attempts to step from the shadows and forge a new path for himself either as a mentor to Badfinger, Record Producer or even as a song writer none of which brought him significant success but each left him unfulfilled and frustrated.

‘Lovably Mal’ would deliberately provoke a ‘self-inflicted’ and deadly response from LA law enforcement officers who were unaware of the full facts of his mental state … a greater understanding of which we would all hope would be more prevalent in current times. This tragic conclusion came not long after Mal had enjoyed such adulation from fans attending Beatlefest 1975 and which he gave so generously of his time. He savoured being in the spotlight and felt like “a Beatle for the weekend” sadly it is a shame that ultimately that “being Mal” was not enough.

I commend Ken Womack and Gary Evans for finally presenting the Mal viewpoint from inside the ring in a volume running in excess of 500 pages. While not bringing too much that will alter the telling of the bigger [Bealtes] picture, which may disappoint some, it does furnish us with a human perspective that needed to be told.

Review by Gwyn Jenkins.