Their first tour happened in February 1963, with Helen Shapiro, who was the star of the show. Arthur Howes, the promoter, was a success in the business. He had promoted all Cliff Richard tours. Brian had been trying to contact him for awhile, and he called Arthur up one day. He said they could perform at the show in Peterborough at the Embassy Theater, which turned out to be a disaster. But Arthur loved the look of the Beatles. He put them on in another theater in Peterborough, but once again it was a disaster. Arthur kept them under a contract. By early 1963, he had decided to give them a spot on the Helen Shapiro tour.
John liked touring because it was a relief to get out of Liverpool. He had started to hate performing in Hamburg because he felt they outlived it. Ringo thought it was great to be performing in real theaters. The Beatles caused no sensation at the beginning of the Helen Shapiro tour, but when their second record became top, they started getting a bigger reaction.
In Glasgow, they was some screaming, because the people there loved rock-and-roll and that's what the Beatles were - a rock-and-roll band. They got screams in Scotland also. Ringo was still worried about fitting in with the band. Once, the band got thrown out of a ball.
When "Please, Please Me" became number one, they became better known to pop fans. After the tour, Arthur Howes sent them on another one, in March of 1963.
It was at this time the Beatles started getting popular to the pop world. People started asking them to write songs for them, even Helen Shapiro asked. Cliff Richard's song "Summer Holiday" went above "Please, Please Me" on the charts. Then Gerry and the Pacemakers song "How Do You Do It", the song the Beatles had turned down, became number one.
The Beatles made their first LP of "Please, Please Me" in April of 1963. It also had "Twist and Shout" While all this was going on, Brian was taking on other British bands. John and Paul were writing simple lyrics to their songs, like "From Me To You". They were signed up for another tour in May, this time with Roy Orbison.
Arthur Howes didn't do this tour. Before they started the tour they went to Teneriffe in the Canary Islands, which was the holiday home of Klaus's father. Paul almost died on this holiday, swimming out too far. Whenever they could, the Beatles went home to Liverpool.
On the third tour with Roy Orbison in May 1963, they started causing riots, but not ones that made the national papers. This was the first tour that they were stars of the show. Roy Orbison was the second last act in the show. Neil Aspinall, the Beatles road manager, didn't like touring because it was all new to them.
The band used to yell mostly at Neil. His job was to take them where they had to go and help them set up the equipment. It was at this time, Malcolm Evans, the bouncer of the Cavern, joined the Beatles.
John went home to Liverpool for the birth of his son, Julian, named after his mother Julia. This was in April of 1963. He went to visit Cynthia at the hospital in disguise so no one would notice him. A few days after Juilian was born, he went on a holiday with Brian in Spain.
Cynthia decided to move in with Mimi, John's aunt. The band was still Liverpool based in June of 1963, when Paul turned twenty-one. Michael, Paul's brother had changed his name to Michael McGear for any acting work.
This was the time of the end of John's aggressive attitude to life and everyone. And it was also the end of the Liverpool stage, they were now getting the national attention they had wanted. In London In August, they produced their fourth single, "She Loves You".