A Cut Above: Beatles’ Hairdresser Leslie Cavendish on McCartney, ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ and a Close Call with Charles Manson
Leslie Cavendish became a hairdresser for the same reason many teenage boys do most things: girls. As a member of swingin’ London hair icon Vidal Sassoon’s team, Cavendish counted a bevy of stars among his clients — including Keith Moon, the Bee Gees, Britt Eckland and so many more — but the jewel in his career’s crown was styling perhaps the four most famous heads of hair in history: the Beatles.
In late 1966, through Paul McCartney’s then-girlfriend, Jane Asher, Cavendish met and began cutting McCartney’s hair at the Cute Beatle’s home in St. John’s Wood — on a street ironically called Cavendish Ave. Eventually, he styled the other three Beatles’ as well and became part of their inner circle, attending recording sessions and joining the band on their Magical Mystery Tour. They even tempted him away from Sassoon’s to cut hair at their Apple Tailoring boutique.
Cavendish’s history as Fab Four coiffeur was, until recently, part of his past hidden away. (Post-Sixties, he transitioned out of the hair-cutting biz but still dabbles now and again.) “I wasn’t this type of person to walk around with a sign saying, ‘I was the Beatles’ hairdresser,’” he says.
The secret’s out now, thanks to his memoir, The Cutting Edge, which relates his time as a hairdresser and beyond. Cavendish takes readers through the hippest parts of London to Israel in the Summer of Love and, yes, inside the lives of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.
Sparked by the golden anniversaries of Beatles’ milestones like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and MMT, Cavendish says the book is “not just the journey of doing the Beatles’ hair, it’s the journey of going through the Sixties.” And until now, it’s a largely untold story. Although reporters came calling for Beatles, Cavendish says he’s been “keeping quiet for a long time. I could’ve ended up being a one-hit wonder — a one-cut wonder.”
Recently, we caught up with Leslie Cavendish from his home in London to dive into his incredible relationship with the Beatles, what it was like to board the Magical Mystery Tour bus, and his near-brush with one of the most notorious murderers of all time.
REBEAT: I’m sure the first question people usually ask when you tell them about your history cutting hair is how you got the Beatles gig. But, as you say in the book, you almost didn’t because of a soccer match. Do you ever have days where you think, “What if I had missed that chance?”
LESLIE CAVENDISH: I don’t have days where I worry about it, but there was one person who did: Roger Thompson. He was Vidal’s artistic director. He was a great hair cutter, but he was the slowest guy that you’ve ever met in your life.
Jane Asher was one of his clients and would usually come in on a Saturday morning for a comb-out. I used to wash her hair and hand dry it, which would take a long time. And then, when I became a stylist, many times I would be doing the blow drying. Roger used to get so behind, so on three occasions, he didn’t style Jane’s hair. I did.
Leslie Cavendish (far right) training under stylist Mark Hilliard at Vidal Sasson’s Grosvenor House Hotel salon.
On that third occasion, the receptionist came over to me and said, “Look, Roger can’t do her hair again. She’s not very happy. Will you do it?” I’m thinking, “Well, I haven’t any more clients, and I’m trying to get myself organized to go to football in the afternoon.” I got somebody to wash her hair, I blow dried it, trimmed it a little bit, and showed her the back; that was fine. And I thought, “That’s it. Lovely. Okay, no problem.”
And when she turned around and said to me, “What are you doing in the afternoon?” I thought I knew what she meant. There was only one reason. I said, “Why?” And she said, “Would you have time to cut my boyfriend’s hair?” I thought to myself, “Blast it. Can’t go to football this afternoon.” And then she said, “Would you like to come over and cut his hair, and what time suits you?”
And that’s when I pushed my luck and I said, sort of tongue-in-cheek, “Oh, is 6:00 okay?” Expecting her to say, “Well actually, no. I thought maybe you could do it in the next hour or two.” Which I would’ve said yes. She said, “No, 6:00 is fine.” So that was that. I go to football, and all I’m doing is watching this game and thinking, “I’m gonna go cut Paul McCartney’s hair.”
I eventually went ’round there, and we got on well, and I was asked to go again. The guy that really got upset was Roger Thompson because he was the Pete Best of hairdressers.
The Beatle you were closest to was Paul, but you worked with all four. Looking back now, if you had to pick one word to describe each Beatle, what would it be?
I would describe Paul McCartney as the conductor. I would put George as the thinker because when he used to come and have his hair done, he was dreaming, thinking. I always used to look at him wondering if he’s thinking up new songs. He was not a great chatter. He was more the music, always deep in thought. He wouldn’t sort of rush out and spurt out what he was going to say. He’d always give it a thought.
Leslie Cavendish cutting George Harrison’s hair.
I would call John, a bit like from U2, the edge. His moods could change quickly, and you didn’t always know what he could be like.
And as far as Ringo is concerned, what would we call Ringo? The comedian. I never saw him on the serious side of drumming. Just always smiling and throwing his head around with the drums. You watch Ringo, and he just was the jolly drummer.
Of course, you were in Magical Mystery Tour, and you were there for the legendary bus trip. Does that whole experience seem sort of surreal now and as you were writing about it?
Yes. It did. And lucky enough, I had lots of press cuttings to make sure I was on that. I was at Paul’s house and he said, “What are you doing next week? We’ve got this coach, and we’re going to film, and we’re going to have loads of people on the bus. Would you like to come and be part of the crew? If it’s time to do our hair, you do that as well, but just come along.”
There was really no direction. The only one directing everything was the director [Bernard Knowles] and Paul McCartney. It was very business-like, especially with Paul. The others were all just sitting in their seats. The only one who was sort of acting and mucking about the whole time was Ringo with “Auntie Jessie” [actress Jessie Robins].
See if you can spot Leslie in this deleted scene from Magical Mystery Tour. Hint: He’s “breaking up” the Beatles at the counter of the fish-and-chips shop.
So, was it surreal? Yeah. If you start looking at when they were at the airfield doing “I Am the Walrus,” people think, “Were they walking around with those masks on?” They weren’t. These were all ridiculous scenes they’d set up and then mixed it all together.
What I loved about the whole idea was you would never have got a chance to see them onstage then because they’d stopped touring. This would be the nearest to watching all four Beatles work together. And that was a privilege to see. When I thought about it years later, wow. Lucky. I won the lottery twice. Cut the Beatles’ hair and went on the Magical Mystery Tour.
When I think about Magical Mystery Tour, I see it as when Paul stepped up and began transitioning into the leader of the Beatles, particularly after Brian Epstein passed away. What was the vibe when you were around the band? Did you notice that shift?
I saw that straight away. When I got there [to film MMT] just after Brian died, I didn’t know what to say. What do you say to someone? Anyone that happened to wouldn’t want to do anything for a while until they got over it. But Paul had made arrangements rather than postponing it or saying, “Well, Brian died, we’ll put it on hold for six months.” No, they went straight into it.
Paul McCartney and Leslie Cavendish waiting for the Magical Mystery Tour bus to arrive.
I think it was a good pull of his. I noticed on the coach John and George were a bit subdued. I’m sure if they didn’t want to do it they would’ve said, “Look, Paul, I don’t think this is the right time.” But they all went ahead with it.
You mention a lot of luminaries in your book who would come into Sassoon’s, but one name I was really surprised to see pop up was Charles Manson. I was not expecting that. You truly had an experience of being in the right place at the wrong time.
I remember it clearly. This guy rang me up one day and said, “Hi, I think we’ve got something in common. I’m a hairdresser. I cut a lot of hair in LA. I cut the Beach Boys’ hair, and I’ve done Sinatra, and I’ve done this.” He threw all the big names at me. He said, “I understand you do the Beatles’ hair, and I’m getting something together. Maybe we could work together?”
It did actually sound like a good thing. But it was at the time where I was doing work at Apple, and it was, obviously, as you say, the wrong time. I was very involved with the Beatles, and I was having a nice time going to the studios. I didn’t want to interrupt anything. I said, “Look, can you give us a call in about three weeks’ time when I’ve got over what I’m doing, and we can talk about it?” He said, “Yeah, that’d be great. You come and stay with us over in LA, and it’d be lovely.” And I said, “Name?” He said, “My name’s Jay Sebring.”
And then these Charles Manson murders took over, which was terrible. The only thing I related to was, oh, my God, he’s bloody-well killed Sharon Tate who’s bloody eight months pregnant. Then I see, there, strung up next to her is her hairdresser, Jay Sebring.
I went, “Oh, my God. Forget Sharon Tate for a second. This is the same guy that rang me up.” He asked me to come over there, and this is roughly about the same time. I could’ve been hanging up there with him. I never told anyone because who’s gonna believe it? But I’ve never forgotten the name Jay Sebring.
You’re about to make your second appearance at the Fest for Beatles Fans this year. What’s the experience like for you to be around so many Beatles fans?
When I was younger, my family was very involved in boxing. So, I remember meeting Muhammad Ali when he came to England. It was like meeting Paul McCartney or anybody who rubbed shoulders with famous sportsmen.
I now know what it’s like when people love the Beatles. And if I can be a part of it and give them a little insight, it’s lovely. It’s not for any ego reasons; it’s just nice. People have still got that enthusiasm, and seeing the younger generation still get involved with the Beatles is amazing to me.
Leslie Cavendish today.
It’s a great dynasty. If you had met Mozart or Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, and you said, “Yeah, I knew those people,” would someone believe that you would be talking about them hundreds and hundreds of years later? Well, it’s the same with Lennon and McCartney. This conversation that we’re having now is the same conversation, showing how great they were.
It’s an amazing honor and experience to be around such talented people. That’s really what it is. It’s there in stone: amazing.
For more of Leslie’s story, and to order a copy of his memoir, The Cutting Edge, visit BeatlesHairdresser.com.
