# Roadie for the Beatles Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067 "2017-06-15T21:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/1 "2017-06-15T21:59:08Z")
Do we have any idea how much Mal Evans made all those years as a roadie for the Beatles? I’m sure he made good money after they stopped touring by writing a book, but how much did the actual job pay at the time? Or was ne more of a personal assistant? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/2 "2017-06-15T23:24:55Z")
The job has changed a lot since the 60’s. It used to be mostly lugging equipment and building the set. Then tearing it down and packing it up after the show. Traveling and partying with the band attracted a lot of people willing to work cheap. I remember in college we’d offer a couple guys a case of beer to help out with the heavy lifting and set up. It’s different today. Roadies are called concert technicians. > **[Roadies: Unlikely Survivors in the Music Business](https://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184)** > > The shakeout that is rattling the music business is turning up some unlikely survivors: roadies, the black-clad backstage grunts of live shows. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/3 "2017-06-15T23:49:58Z")
I thought maybe the book I just finished, [Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years](https://www.amazon.com/Tune-Beatles-All-These-Years/dp/1101903295/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497570245&sr=8-1&keywords=tune+in+beatles), would have the answer to your question, but so in-depth is this book, that even after 944 pages the Beatles are only just now getting out of Germany! Mal is mentioned a few times but only that he became a bouncer at The Cavern (no mention of his salary). If you can wait another seven years until Volume 2 comes out, I’ll let you know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/4 "2017-06-16T00:03:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The job has changed a lot since the 60’s. It used to be mostly lugging equipment and building the set. Then tearing it down and packing it up after the show. Traveling and partying with the band attracted a lot of people willing to work cheap. > > I remember in college we’d offer a couple guys a case of beer to help out with the heavy lifting and set up. > > It’s different today. Roadies are called concert technicians. > [https://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184](https://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184) ♪"Now the seats are all empty Let the concert technicians take the stage"♪ Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/5 "2017-06-16T00:11:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s different today. Roadies are called concert technicians. > [https://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184](https://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184) No one I know has ever used that term, exactly, to describe themselves outside of a resume. We are stagehands. We are roadies. We are FOH audio engineers and monitor engineers, we are lighting techs, dimmer techs, camera ops, spot ops, carpenters, video engineers, technical directors, production managers, drivers, wardrobe people, etc. And yeah, without us, there’s no movies, no TV shows, no concerts, no theatre, no magic shows, no nightclubs… as long as people need entertainment and recorded media, we’ll be here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/6 "2017-06-16T00:19:03Z")
I don’t know what he was paid but Mal was the Johnny-on-the-spot go-to guy for any of the band’s needs. He was their driver and bodyguard and would set up their equipment for gigs. He was their courier who would go out and pick up anything the boys might need. When the lads were too busy to sign their own autographs on the stockpile of memorabilia, Mal would forge their names. Mal also has two unique contributions to a couple of songs in the group’s discography. He is credited for manning the alarm clock in _A Day in the Life_ and he’s the one taking hammer to anvil in _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/7 "2017-06-16T02:55:05Z")
If Tony Bramwell’s book is to be believed, Mal Evans might well have been willing to work for free: “Big Mal was a demon for sex. His stamina would have been remarkable in a harem. In the flat, sooty back streets of Birmingham or Manchester, he was a stud straight from the Kama Sutra. Like sacrificial virgins, a lot of the girls willingly accepted that they would have to do it with Mal to get to John, Paul, George or Ringo, and Mal knew it.” ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/8 "2017-06-16T04:20:39Z")
Both Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall were their roadies. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/9 "2017-06-16T05:20:45Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > I don’t know what he was paid but Mal was the Johnny-on-the-spot go-to guy for any of the band’s needs. > > He was their driver and bodyguard and would set up their equipment for gigs. He was their courier who would go out and pick up anything the boys might need. When the lads were too busy to sign their own autographs on the stockpile of memorabilia, Mal would forge their names. > > Mal also has two unique contributions to a couple of songs in the group’s discography. He is credited for manning the alarm clock in _A Day in the Life_ and he’s the one taking hammer to anvil in _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_. I don’t think it’s true of the anvil. Everything I’ve read says Ringo was banging the anvil in MSH. On the topic of how much Mal made: According to his [Wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal_Evans) (under the part “India and Apple”), he was making 38 pounds a week in 1968 when he was promoted to personal assistant (the same he was making as road manager). So was that a good salary back then? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/10 "2017-06-16T05:34:11Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > he was making 38 pounds a week in 1968 when he was promoted to personal assistant (the same he was making as road manager). So was that a good salary back then? According to UK inflation calculator, 2000 pounds annual (roughly 38 pounds a week) in 1968 is 33,400 pounds today. Or $43K. Pretty low wage. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/11 "2017-06-16T11:02:28Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I don’t think it’s true of the anvil. Everything I’ve read says Ringo was banging the anvil in MSH. In the rehearsal for the song from the _Let it Be_ footage, it’s definitely Mal. [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odfwwIKj1BQ) Fast forward to about the 1:20 mark to see Mal in action. But it does look like Ringo is credited on the final version. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/12 "2017-06-16T14:23:01Z")
Thanks everyone. £38 a week doesn’t sound like a lot, but if he was mainly hauling equipment that might have been the going rate in those days. When he essentially became a PA he didn’t get a raise, which seems odd considering how much money the organization was bringing in, but maybe he never asked for one. He was a close friend and confidant of the Beatles and probably should have been making more money. He was incredibly loyal. After Mal died George took care of his family to a degree, but he certainly wasn’t in a good place when he was shot by police. As a kid I always wanted to have Mal’s job/life, but it sounds like it wasn’t as great a life as I had imagined. Sad really. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/13 "2017-06-16T16:04:50Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > In the rehearsal for the song from the _Let it Be_ footage, it’s definitely Mal. > > [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odfwwIKj1BQ) > > Fast forward to about the 1:20 mark to see Mal in action. > > But it does look like Ringo is credited on the final version. They were different versions. Mal is credited with Hammond organ on “You Won’t See Me” And “Sgt Pepper” came out of a conversation between Paul and Mal, on a plane, in Africa, involving the words Salt and Pepper. He had asked what the “S” and “P” stood for. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/14 "2017-06-16T16:11:52Z")
I’m disappointed at what Mals salary was. Why would you want to spend your days working with and depending on someone who wasn’t sharing in the good fortune? George Martin was not an employee of EMI anymore by Rubber Soul or thereabouts. He was independent, and got paid. I guess Mal must have had all his expenses taken care of and home etc. but still. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/15 "2017-06-16T16:20:26Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m disappointed at what Mals salary was. Why would you want to spend your days working with and depending on someone who wasn’t sharing in the good fortune? > > George Martin was not an employee of EMI anymore by Rubber Soul or thereabouts. He was independent, and got paid. > > I guess Mal must have had all his expenses taken care of and home etc. but still. I find it hard to believe the the Beatles themselves would have set his salary, so someone else, perhaps Brian, would have hired and paid him, at least in the early days. It seems that Mal never complained about it, so nobody thought to give him a raise, which is a bit sad considering how much others must have been raking in along the way. Of course being part of the Beatles’ entourage certainly had its perks… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roadie-for-the-beatles-question/789067/16 "2017-06-16T17:20:02Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I find it hard to believe the the Beatles themselves would have set his salary, so someone else, perhaps Brian, would have hired and paid him, at least in the early days. > > It seems that Mal never complained about it, so nobody thought to give him a raise, which is a bit sad considering how much others must have been raking in along the way. Of course being part of the Beatles’ entourage certainly had its perks… That’s always the excuse for big artists. “What me know how much my serfs are being paid? How could I know that?” But they had the pull to do anything for anyone they wanted. The agreement with martin was one example. I’d want my bodyguard, who probably saved my life a bunch of times, and who got me out of Manila alive, to be paid real well.