Royston Ellis

Who is Royston Ellis?

Royston Ellis, is a British novelist, travel writer and erstwhile beat poet.

Ellis was educated at state schools in Middlesex until he left age 16, determined to be a writer. Two years later, his first book, Jiving to Gyp, a sequence of poems, was published and he performed his poetry on stage and TV to backing by Cliff Richard's original group, The Shadows; by Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin; and by John, Paul, George & Stuart who become famous as the Beatles, a spelling Ellis urged them to use, putting the beat into Beetles.

In June 1960, he travelled to Liverpool, England to perform a poetry reading at Liverpool University. As he usually read his poetry with backing from jazz musicians, Ellis searched among the locals for suitable musicians to accompany him and met the young group known as The Beatles.

Ellis bonded with John Lennon in particular, both sharing an enthusiasm for the American Beat poets, and spent the week at 3 Gambier Terrace with Lennon, Sutcliffe, et al. Lennon saw Ellis as "the converging point of rock 'n' roll and literature".