After the show [FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER, Luton] the group drove back to London, returning to their rooms at the Hotel President. Artist Peter Blake, his wife Jann Haworth and Robert Freeman - who had all seen one of the Luton shows - arrived at the hotel and had coffee and sandwiches, before heading to the Crazy Elephant club with John and Ringo. ‘John had never really spent time in London and wanted to go to the clubs,’ Blake remembered. ‘George was tired and went to bed, so John, Ringo, a friend named Joe Chelson and I went on the town. We drove around in Joe’s old jeep. We went to a club called the Crazy Elephant and asked, ‘Can we come in?’ The man at the door said, ‘Are you members?’ We said no, but they were actually playing a Beatles song. So John said, ‘You’re playing our song. You must let us in.’ The doorman said, ‘I don’t know what that is. I don’t know who you are. You can’t come in.’ Then a voice came from inside the club and said, ‘It’s all right. They’re friends of mine. They can come in.’ We went in and it was Paul, who was already there at the smartest club in town.’ Later, they went to the Flamingo Club at 33-37 Wardour Street . By the time they arrived, the Ronnie Ross Quartet had finished playing, so they went upstairs to the All-Nighter Club to hear Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames play well into the night.
(The Beatles 1963: A Year in the Life by Dafydd Rees, 2023)
