Raymond Jones

A Synth Post

Well, He Was There After All…

“The famous story is that a guy called Raymond Jones came into the shop and asked for a record by The Beatles. I know that I invented the name and put it into the order book. But now Liverpool people claim to know ‘the real’ Raymond Jones and a chap with that name can miraculously recall placing the order. Rubbish. It was a name I picked at random…”¹ – Alistair Taylor, 2001

Wow. That really puts the story that we all know in doubt, doesn’t it? Well, let’s just see who it was who was promoting the Raymond Jones idea. The following comes from an interview by Tony Barrow in August of 1969. The subject is specifically the Raymond Jones story:

“…we did pride ourselves that if a record had been made anywhere in the world, NEMS would get a hold of a copy to satisfy a single customer’s order. And when this guy insisted that The Beatles had made a record in Germany I did a lot of work tracing it to Polydor in Germany.”² – Alistair Taylor, 1982

At first glance, this may look as though Taylor is contradicting himself. But in the second, actually earlier quote, though the magazine specifically mentioned the name Raymond Jones, Taylor did not. It could very well be that Taylor was not talking about Jones and that the magazine provided its own context for the quote. So it probably makes sense to look a little deeper into this story…

How the Story Started

As we’ve talked about, there were countless fan magazines and books about The Beatles published in 1963 and 1964. Most of them, if they told the story of Brian Epstein’s discovery of The Beatles, said that around September or October of 1961, fans began asking for “My Bonnie” at NEMS, Brian’s store. One book actually refers to a fan who remains unknown. But with the release in 1964 of Brian’s autobiography, A Cellarful of Noise, the name Raymond Jones became a part of history. Brian wrote, “On October 28 Raymond Jones left the store after I had taken a note of his request. I wrote on a pad, ‘”My Bonnie.” The Beatles. Check on Monday.’”³

Brian didn’t mention Alistair Taylor at all. In fact, in the entire book, Taylor is mentioned only once, and not in relation to this event. This leads me to trying to establish how reliable a source Brian Epstein was. There is no doubt that Taylor did, in fact, work for Brian, so it is not beyond reason that he would have been present when the order for “My Bonnie” was made. Using A Cellarful of Noise as a basis of information is tricky, however. You see, Brian didn’t actually write it. It was the result of a few days of interviews between Derek Taylor (no relation to Alistair) and Brian. Derek Taylor then wrote the book. Details such as Alistair Taylor’s involvement in ordering “My Bonnie” may have just been left out in order to move the story along. It’s really impossible to say.

Meeting Raymond Jones

In the first quote above, it is clear that Alistair Taylor knew that a “Raymond Jones” had been identified and interviewed but still denies his actual existence. So let’s look at that for a moment. Bob Wooler, compère and friend of The Beatles, had two entries in his diary under the name Raymond Jones. The first, from 1963, has Jones’ address. The second, from 1975, names a workplace along with a note identifying Jones as the person who asked for “My Bonnie.” Wooler also told a story of something that happened in 1997 at the Penny Lane Beatles Festival: “Raymond Jones was listed as one of the guests, and who should stand up but Alistair Taylor and say, ‘I am Raymond Jones.’ It reminded me of Spartacus as I thought of standing up and saying the same thing myself…I thought, ‘My god, this is getting out of hand.’ Pinocchio time, I’m afraid, and I think Alistair says it to appear more important.”⁴

When it comes down to it, there is an abundance of evidence that Raymond Jones truly did exist. There are records of actual correspondence between him and Brian Epstein as well as Bob Wooler. There are photographs that are easily found on the internet. Oh, and he was actually interviewed a few times. My favorite one appears on Joe Goodden’s Beatles Bible website, and you can find it at https://www.beatlesbible.com/features/raymond-jones-interview/. In it, Jones talks about being a regular at lunchtime sessions at The Cavern when The Beatles played there. He would also show up at other venues around Liverpool where the boys played. He, of course, wanted a copy of “My Bonnie” when it was released.

A postscript of sorts: According to comments on the Beatles Bible site, Raymond Jones passed away in December 2021 at the age of 80. I think these words, from the interview, say it all: “People have told me that my name will go down in Beatles history. That may be true, but all I did was buy a record by a group that gave me so much pleasure and enjoyment.” – Raymond Jones

As always, thanks for being here and reading. I really do appreciate it. Please leave comments to let me know what you think and to add any relevant information to the discussion. Please follow or subscribe to

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Next up: The Beatles (Monthly) Book. Looking forward to that!

- Adamson

Photo: Nems Replica at The Beatles Story, Jennifer Boyer, Creative Commons 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Epstein%27s_North_End_Music_Stores_(NEMS)_replica,_The_Beatles_Story.jpg

Quotes:

1) A Secret History, by Alistair Taylor (John Blake, London, 2001), p. 16.

2) The Beatles (Monthly) Book [Appreciation Society Magazine] (May 1982), p. iv.

3) A Cellarful of Noise, by Brian Epstein (Souvenir Press, London, 2011 e-book), p. 37.

4) The Best of Fellas, by Spencer Leigh (Drivegreen, Liverpool, 2002), p. 154.