IVOR DAVIS Interview (The Beatles, Elvis, Jane Mansfield and more!)

Jim and Mike interview author and Beatles historian Ivor Davis! We talk about his time with the Beatles and some of the amazing things he witnessed on the Beatles first tour of America. ABOUT IVOR: London-born Ivor Davis first came to America in the early sixties and was appointed West Coast correspondent for the 4-million-a-day circulation London Daily Express in l963. His first big assignment came the following year: to hang out, travel with and get to know the four members of a new pop group from Liverpool who were tearing up the world with their music: the Beatles. He was the only British daily newspaper correspondent to cover the Fab Four’s 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. Ivor’s first-hand, insider’s memoir is a fascinating travel 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. Over more than four decades as a writer for the Express and the Times of London, Ivor covered major events 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 was enrolled and three years later was in the front lines as Los Angeles’ Watts riots erupted. He covered Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential bid and was in the Ambassador Hotel the night 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. In l969 he co-wrote Five to Die, the first book ever published about the Sharon Tate murders. (The book was updated in 2011.)  As a foreign correspondent, he traveled throughout the western hemisphere covering riots, floods, earthquakes and politics. As Editor at Large for Los Angeles Magazine. he and his late wife Sally Ogle Davis wrote over 100 major magazine and cover stories. He has reported on four World Soccer Cups for CBS radio. He currently lives in Southern California and is working on two new books: one about movies the other a true crime story.   You can find Ivor's books on his website at : http://www.ivordavisbeatles.com/blog/ and also on Amazon