Steve Aldo

From Mersey Beat – Steve Aldo | thefootballvoice:

Edward Alban Jean-Pierre Bedford, aka Steve Aldo, was born in 1945 and was one of Liverpool’s foremost black singers who began singing at the age of 13 in ‘The Backyard Kids’ at the Pavilion, Lodge Lane. At the age of 14 he sang at Holyoake Hall and on holiday in the Isle of Man he performed with the ‘Ivy Benson Band’ and also guested with ‘Howie Casey & The Seniors’ as a young teenager. Along with ‘The Chants’ and ‘Derry Wilkie’ he was one of the few black vocalists on the Liverpool beat scene in the 1960s. With a bluesy voice with plenty of personality, he performed as a child in many Liverpool theatres and started his beat group career by guesting with ‘Howie Casey And The Seniors’. […]

A friend of ‘The Beatles’, Steve Aldo was in huge demand for much of the 1960s. He was managed by Spencer Lloyd Mason, who also handled ‘The Mojos’ and Beryl Marsden, and it was Mason who produced his 1964 cover version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Can I Get A Witness’ after he was offered a solo deal by Decca Records. His rendition of “Can I Get a Witness” that used to bring the house down at the Sink club in Hardman Street.They also released his single ‘Baby What You Want Me to Do’. He was so good on this that it led many to compare him to Steve Marriott. […]

Steve Aldo was among the support acts for The Beatles’ 1965 UK Tour, sharing the bill with the Moody Blues, Beryl Marsden, The Koobas, the Marionettes, and the Paramounts.

When Brian [Epstein] and [Arthur Howes] were discussing the line-up Arthur put forward the others, and Brian said, ‘Where’s Steve?’ Arthur said, ‘Well Beryl and The Koobas are signed to my agency, but Steve isn’t’. And Brian said, ‘But the boys [Beatles] want him on the tour’ – so that’s how I got to be on it.

Steve Aldo – From “Beatlemania! The Real Story of the Beatles UK Tours 1963-1965” by Martin Creasy, 2011

It was a great tour – a happy tour. The only thing was it didn’t go on long enough. We were really tight and everyone was up for it and having a great time and then it was all over.

Steve Aldo – From “Beatlemania! The Real Story of the Beatles UK Tours 1963-1965” by Martin Creasy, 2011

We had a great time, we really did. The Moody Blues were just that. They were a moody lot, but The Paramounts were a great bunch and they were great musicians, too. The Beatles – well my memory is of me and George sneaking off to a quiet room upstairs when we could for a spliff. We would be terrified that NME journalist Chris Hutchins would find us because he was doing these exposés about pop stars smoking stuff.

Steve Aldo – From “Beatlemania! The Real Story of the Beatles UK Tours 1963-1965” by Martin Creasy, 2011

There was so much screaming that you really wondered if the audiences could hear anything. There would be hundreds of toys thrown on the stage when The Beatles were playing. Their dressing room always seemed to be crowded and there would be people in there with disabled children. I don’t know, but what can you say to a sick child? Artists wouldn’t tolerate it today. They want privacy in their dressing rooms before a show so they can prepare. But The Beatles just got used to it I suppose.

Steve Aldo – From “Beatlemania! The Real Story of the Beatles UK Tours 1963-1965” by Martin Creasy, 2011

Tours Steve Aldo supported