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Apple scruffs
The Apple scruffs were a group of devoted Beatles fans who congregated outside the Apple Corps building and at the gates of EMI Studios (later named Abbey Road Studios) in London during the late 1960s, in the hope of seeing or interacting with one of the band members. The name was coined by George Harrison. According to Apple press officer Derek Taylor, when The Sunday Times wrote a feature article on the company in the late 1960s, their map included a location for the scruffs, on the steps of the offices at 3 Savile Row.
The scruffs carried membership cards and sought to protect the Beatles from the frenzied fan worship of Beatlemania. They built a rapport with the band members and became associated with the Beatles' history in the years before and shortly after their break-up in 1970. Harrison's song "Apple Scruffs", from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, is a tribute to the Apple scruffs.
The Apple scruffs had a membership hierarchy, which helped ensure that newcomers refrained from screaming at the sight of one of the Beatles, and printed membership cards. Almost all of the scruffs were young women. Apple Corps press officer Derek Taylor recalled that unlike the groupies that bands such as the Beatles and the Byrds attracted in the United States, the scruffs' motives were innocent, as they sought merely to be supportive of their heroes. According to American journalist Al Aronowitz, who documented the scruffs' all-night vigils during the 1970 recording sessions for All Things Must Pass, George Harrison's first post-Beatles solo album: "In the morning they'd go off to their jobs and in the evening they'd be back outside the studio door again. Their grapevine was infallible."
Beatles biographer Bill Harry lists the members as Margo Stevens, Jill Pritchard, Nancy Allen, Carol Bedford and Wendy Sutcliffe, and other girls known as Sue-John, Chris, Di, Kath, Virginia, Dani and Lucy. In addition, there was Tommy and Jimmy, two gay boys from New York. Sue-John was so named because of her passion for John Lennon; Lucy, an Italian, was fixated on Harrison; Bedford's favourite was Paul McCartney. By 1969, when the Beatles were recording their Abbey Road album, tourists would also wait outside EMI Studios (later named Abbey Road Studios) with the scruffs.
Stevens, the scruffs' leader, was a babysitter and originally brought her charge with her. While still a scruff, Stevens started work as a caterer at Apple Corps; she later became a promotions officer for the company. Pritchard, a 17-year-old hairdresser in March 1969, left Birmingham for London midway through serving a customer after hearing radio reports about McCartney's upcoming wedding to Linda Eastman. Pritchard went on to work at EMI Studios for many years. The scruffs made Taylor an honorary Apple scruff in 1969 and issued him with a membership card.
After a while of being around them, seeing them every day, you ceased to really have a favourite; it was something to do with the energy of the time and their incredible energy that drew us together. It was a great feeling of belonging ... [Back] then the feeling was that it was all changing and somehow the Beatles were at the forefront of that change. They were lovely people, just like you imagined them to be. Very funny, very witty and yet so real and so important to that process of change.
In a 1996 article on the Apple scruffs for Mojo magazine, Cliff Jones wrote that their presence at Apple and outside recording studios such as EMI and the Beatles' homes ensured them a role as insiders and witnesses to the band's history. In this way, he continued, the scruffs "transcended" fandom and became part of "the Beatles' legend" themselves. Harrison told Disc and Music Echo in April 1969 that "their part in the play is equally as important as ours." Taylor was intrigued by the scruffs' ability to discover which studio the Beatles were working in on any given day, and at how the scruffs were often more informed about the band's activities than the Apple staff were. In this regard, he said they were like "Sherlock Scruffs".
According to Taylor, the Beatles were fascinated by the scruffs because of their innocence. He said that Lennon was "sometimes difficult"; McCartney was always polite but struggled with their treatment of Linda; Harrison overcame his shyness and aversion to fan worship, and "grew very fond" of the scruffs; and Ringo Starr "was Ringo and always had time for a joke or a quip".
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Apple scruffs
The Apple scruffs were a group of devoted Beatles fans who congregated outside the Apple Corps building and at the gates of EMI Studios (later named Abbey Road Studios) in London during the late 1960s, in the hope of seeing or interacting with one of the band members. The name was coined by George Harrison. According to Apple press officer Derek Taylor, when The Sunday Times wrote a feature article on the company in the late 1960s, their map included a location for the scruffs, on the steps of the offices at 3 Savile Row.
The scruffs carried membership cards and sought to protect the Beatles from the frenzied fan worship of Beatlemania. They built a rapport with the band members and became associated with the Beatles' history in the years before and shortly after their break-up in 1970. Harrison's song "Apple Scruffs", from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass, is a tribute to the Apple scruffs.
The Apple scruffs had a membership hierarchy, which helped ensure that newcomers refrained from screaming at the sight of one of the Beatles, and printed membership cards. Almost all of the scruffs were young women. Apple Corps press officer Derek Taylor recalled that unlike the groupies that bands such as the Beatles and the Byrds attracted in the United States, the scruffs' motives were innocent, as they sought merely to be supportive of their heroes. According to American journalist Al Aronowitz, who documented the scruffs' all-night vigils during the 1970 recording sessions for All Things Must Pass, George Harrison's first post-Beatles solo album: "In the morning they'd go off to their jobs and in the evening they'd be back outside the studio door again. Their grapevine was infallible."
Beatles biographer Bill Harry lists the members as Margo Stevens, Jill Pritchard, Nancy Allen, Carol Bedford and Wendy Sutcliffe, and other girls known as Sue-John, Chris, Di, Kath, Virginia, Dani and Lucy. In addition, there was Tommy and Jimmy, two gay boys from New York. Sue-John was so named because of her passion for John Lennon; Lucy, an Italian, was fixated on Harrison; Bedford's favourite was Paul McCartney. By 1969, when the Beatles were recording their Abbey Road album, tourists would also wait outside EMI Studios (later named Abbey Road Studios) with the scruffs.
Stevens, the scruffs' leader, was a babysitter and originally brought her charge with her. While still a scruff, Stevens started work as a caterer at Apple Corps; she later became a promotions officer for the company. Pritchard, a 17-year-old hairdresser in March 1969, left Birmingham for London midway through serving a customer after hearing radio reports about McCartney's upcoming wedding to Linda Eastman. Pritchard went on to work at EMI Studios for many years. The scruffs made Taylor an honorary Apple scruff in 1969 and issued him with a membership card.
After a while of being around them, seeing them every day, you ceased to really have a favourite; it was something to do with the energy of the time and their incredible energy that drew us together. It was a great feeling of belonging ... [Back] then the feeling was that it was all changing and somehow the Beatles were at the forefront of that change. They were lovely people, just like you imagined them to be. Very funny, very witty and yet so real and so important to that process of change.
In a 1996 article on the Apple scruffs for Mojo magazine, Cliff Jones wrote that their presence at Apple and outside recording studios such as EMI and the Beatles' homes ensured them a role as insiders and witnesses to the band's history. In this way, he continued, the scruffs "transcended" fandom and became part of "the Beatles' legend" themselves. Harrison told Disc and Music Echo in April 1969 that "their part in the play is equally as important as ours." Taylor was intrigued by the scruffs' ability to discover which studio the Beatles were working in on any given day, and at how the scruffs were often more informed about the band's activities than the Apple staff were. In this regard, he said they were like "Sherlock Scruffs".
According to Taylor, the Beatles were fascinated by the scruffs because of their innocence. He said that Lennon was "sometimes difficult"; McCartney was always polite but struggled with their treatment of Linda; Harrison overcame his shyness and aversion to fan worship, and "grew very fond" of the scruffs; and Ringo Starr "was Ringo and always had time for a joke or a quip".