PATTIE BOYD,MAY PANG AND DONOVAN ON BILL FOR LIVERPOOL’s INTERNATIONAL BEATLEWEEK 2015

A star line up has been announced for Liverpool’s International Beatleweek 2015.

Sixties singer-songwriter Donovan and John Lennon’s former girlfriend May Pang are set to return to the city to take part in the Fab Four festival.

And there will also be Beatle Week debuts for George’s first wife Pattie Boyd, musician – and one half of 60s group Peter and Gordon – Peter Asher, and American rock ‘n’ roll photographer Bob Gruen.

Meanwhile American guitarist Earl Slick will also visit the International Beatleweek event for the first time, playing in a concert on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Jon Keats from the Cavern, which organises the major August event, said today: “There are some great guests this year.

“Every year we say ‘this is the best year ever, how are we going to top it?’ You can’t aim to top the previous year, you just have to try and maintain Beatleweek standards.

“In the last 12 months we’ve been to a couple of festivals in the US and have made contacts. We met Bob Gruen and Peter Asher when we went to New York last February for the Beatles anniversary there.

“And the Donovan show is going to be great.”

Pattie Boyd:debut at International Beatleweek 2015 

The singer will headline a show at the Royal Court on Friday, August 28 entitled The Sham-Rock Concert, which will raise funds for a project which teaches students transcendental meditation in Scotland. He is expected to perform songs from his pioneering ‘flower power’ album Sunshine Superman, as well as numbers from Beatles records including Sgt Pepper and the White Album. 

Pattie Boyd who is making her debut at International Beatleweek 2015

Former model Pattie Boyd, who inspired love songs like Something, May Pang, and Bob Gruen – the man behind most of the iconic photographs taken of John Lennon between 1970 and 1980 – will be special guest speakers at the Beatleweek convention at the Adelphi Hotel on August 30.

And on Monday, August 31, the Royal Court will host a With a Little Help from My Friends concert opened by the original Quarrymen and with appearances from Earl Slick among others.

Finally, on Tuesday, September 1, Peter Asher – brother of Jane Asher – will appear at the Cavern where he will play and tell anecdotes from his time in the music business, both as a performer and as head of A&R at Apple, where he discovered James Taylor among others.

The festival also features a return for actor and singer Mark McGann, who performed a John Lennon show last year, and two musical performances at the Bombed Out Church.

International Beatleweek runs from August 26 to September 1.