The Beatles First American Tour

Over more than half a century as a writer for the London Daily Express and the Times of London, British-born Ivor Davis covered major stories in North America. He penned a weekly entertainment column for the New York Times Syndicate for over 15 years, interviewing some of the biggest names in show business, from Cary Grant to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton to Tom Cruise and Muhammad Ali.

In 1962 he was smuggled onto the campus of the riot-torn University of Mississippi when James Meredith became the first black student to be enrolled --accompanied by 127 --yes 127-- US attorneys--Days of rioting followed with two killed--including one foreign journalist. Three years later Davis  was in the front lines as Los Angeles’ Watts riots erupted.

In l964, Davis was the only British daily newspaper correspondent to cover The Beatles’ first American tour from start to finish, given unparalleled access to John, Paul, George and Ringo on the road, in their hotel, and during long nights of card and Monopoly games as they talked frankly about their bizarre new life. He also ghosted a regular newspaper column for George Harrison. His first-hand, insider’s memoir, the award-winning The Beatles and Me On Tour, 60^th Anniversary Book, was published  in February. It is a fascinating journey back in time where for the first time he chronicles, frankly and humorously, 34 days with the world’s most famous band on the road—at a critical moment in the history of rock. The anniversary edition was published on Feb 9^th this year.

Davis covered Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential bid and was in the kitchen in the Ambassador Hotel the night Senator Kennedy was assassinated.  He was one of the Boys on the Bus chronicling the life of actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan, first in his campaign for governor of California, then for president.

He was a co-author of the 1969 political book Divided They Stand, which chronicled the Presidential election; and witnessed some of the biggest trials in American history: Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Bobby Kennedy in 1969; black-power militant Angela Davis, acquitted of murder in l972; a year later, Daniel Ellsberg’s trial for leaking the Pentagon Papers, and, in 1976, he was in San Francisco to see heiress Patty Hearst convicted of robbery after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

  His new true crime book, “The Devil in My Friend: The Inside Story of a Malibu Murder.”  It is an account of the famous Eighties trial of Malibu engineer Frederick George Roehler,  who was convicted of the murder of his wife and young stepson after an almost year-long trial in the Santa Barbara Courthouse in May l982. The killings took place close by—at Santa Cruz Island. The new book will be published this year on May 7^th.

 

https://ivordavisbooks.com/

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