Good day Sunshine

Henry the Horse

Paul McCartney soprano!

Paul McCartney Soprano!
By Sharon Collins

Schoolboy James Albentosa stood in amazement as superstar Paul McCartney sang for him when they met on a riverside film set.

Ex-Beatle Paul's sudden burst of song came after James, 8, told him he was to sing the famous  boy soprano's aria, "Oh for the Wings of a Dove," at his school concert.

"He wished me good luck in the concert and then started singng the song himself," said James, of Old Road, Wateringbury, Kent.

"He had a super voice.  I wish I could sing like that.  We exchaned addresses and he asked me to let him know how the concert goes."

James was on his way home from school with his mother, Mrs. Susan Albentosa, and sister Melissa when they saw the film crew shooting at Teston Locks on the River Medway. 

Paul posed for photographs, signed autographs, and talked about the new film he has written called "Give my Regards to Broadstreet."

The scene filmed beside the river last Monday, involves a dream of Victorican times and Paul was dressed in Dickensian-style clothing.

The film revolves around the dreams of a character played by Paul and it also stars another ex-Beatle, Ringo Starr, and the two-men's wives.

At the Antique Market

Photos taken during the "Mad Day Out" photo shoot.

Tell me what you see

Contest for Good Ol' Freda DVD

Hello Beatle fans around the world!   It is time for another contest from MTBFR.   This time I have a great item that I am raffling off and it is an item that I just love.   When I was at Beatlefest this past February in New York City, I bought this special item especially to give away as a prize for all of you.   I have one copy of the DVD of the documentary  "Good Ol Freda" which is a touching story of the Beatles fan club secretary, Freda Kelly.   And to top it off, the DVD is autographed by Freda Kelly herself!   So yes, this time I am giving away an autgraphed copy of the DVD, Good Ol Freda. 

How do you enter this raffle you may ask?  Well...since this film is the story of the Beatles fan club, I am looking for anything that pertains to the Beatles fan club.    Tell me if you have ever been in a Beatles fan club?   What did you do?  What items did you receive?   And if you have scans of anything fan club related to share with me, you will get 2 raffle tickets for the DVD.  Alright!    What if I have never been in a Beatles fan club, you might ask.   Well....MTBFR is a like a Beatles fan club, isn't it?  So tell me a Beatles forum, chat or site that you contribute in some way to.  

I have only been a member of one Beatles fan club.   From 1994-early 2000's, I was a member of the St. Louis Beatles fan club.   I attended a fan club picnic and I won the Beatles trivia contest.  I also attended a few tribute band concerts around St. Louis with the club.   I received a newsletter about four times a year.   It was neat being in a Beatles fan club!

Here are the official rules for this raffle:

1.  Email your answer about Beatles fan clubs to me, Sara, at Starshyne9@yahoo.com .   I will email you back with a raffle ticket number.   Keep that number!   I will not be keeping track of who has what raffle number.

2.  All entries must be received by May 14, 2014 by 5:00pm (central time).  I will announce the winning number that evening on Meet the Beatles for real blog (not on facebook or tumblr).   If you have the winning number you have 3 days to email me with your mailing address.  If I do not hear from the winner in 3 days, a new number will be chosen.   I will be using an online random number generator to choice the winning number.

3.  This raffle is open to anyone and everyone.   It does not matter what country you are from or if you are a regular visitor to this blog.

4.  Only one entry per person please.  



Best of luck to everyone!

One afternoon on Oxford Street

Here is a nice story to show how truly kind Paul McCartney can be to his fans.  Paul really went out of his way to pose for photos and sign autographs for these girls and they really appreciated it.   This story of meeting Paul in late August 1983 appeared in the October 1983 issue of "With a little help from my friends."    I am excited to read their story all these years later.   It was written by Terry Klemmer and Pam Pritchard. 

It happened on August 26, 1983 at 1:15 and again at 1:30pm.  Pam and I had been in front of MPL when we ran into Barb and Bonnie, two girls form Chicago that we had met previously at Cavendish Avenue.  They told us they had seen Paul earlier as he was going in to AIR Studios  So, bright girls that we are, we deducted, “What goes in, must come out,” so we planted ourselves at a sidewalk table at the café next door to AIR, prepared for an all-day wait.   After only an hour or so, as we were sitting, talking to a woman from Kenya, we caught just a quick glimpse of him as he very quickly came out the door and walked down Oxford Street.  With that, Pam said, “Is that him?”  Catching sight of that familiar bounce from behind, I realized it WAS him and took off down the street.  Pam caught up to me and we caught up to him on one of those little islands halfway across Oxford Street.   Paul was with someone, but don’t even ask what the guy looked like as I haven’t the slightest idea.  Pam said, “Paul, may we have a picture?”  He turned around and said, “Not now—could you hang out a bit longer?  We’ll be right back,” and with that, he touched my arm.  I nearly fell over!  He started to cross the rest of Oxford, turned and said, “About ten minutes.”  What a decent guy!  He certainly didn’t have to give us a time span.  We returned casually, to our table, and the woman from Kenya, and sat down as if nothing had happened (she probably was wondering about us), but we babbled on like fools.  Pam started having trouble with her camera and was getting into a small panic trying to prepare it for his return.  We wondered if he would return as he certainly didn’t have to, and he sure could have gone home or entered another doorway.

But just as she got the camera functioning again, from behind us, we heard this familiar voice saying, “all right girls, let’s make it a quick one.”  I still am not over the fact that he returned from a different direction.  We didn’t see him since we were watching down the street and he approached us!  He was so nice, standing there so patiently while I fumbled with the focus.  He started to laugh and said something like, “Here we are posing on Oxford Street!”  I can’t begin to describe how it felt looking through the lens and seeing THAT face looking back at me.

Pam then asked for an autograph and he said ok, but to hurry as he didn’t want a crowd to gather.  We each had postcards handy that the girl at MPL had given us earlier.  As he signed, Pam asked about the Rupert project.  Pam: “Is your Rupert project still forthcoming?”  Paul:  “Yes” Pam:  “when?”  Paul (laughing) “That is a good question!”  We should’ve said “do you have a good answer?”  But he then added, “When it’s done.”

I didn’t know the title of the new album yet, so I asked him and he told us “Pipes of Peace.”  That when some of his friends arrived, and he went back inside.  Pam and I had retained our composure remarkably well for the circumstances, but after he left, we found ourselves wandering around London mumbling like a couple of mad fools.  

We also ran into some girls from Italy who said that had briefly seen George.  They were not able to speak to him or take photos because they only saw him drive out of his gate, but they said he was all smiles and waved to them.  They think he went to pick up a dinner guest because it was that time of day, and he returned shortly with another man.  Again, he waved and smiled.

From Pam:

The man is certainly handsome, thin, and has quite a bit of gray.  His hair is gorgeous and cut in a nice fluffy, layer “do.”  He couldn’t have been nicer; he was all I expected and more.   I still am touched at how he came up from behind and called us.  He didn’t have to do that and he did return in 10 minutes like he said he would.   What decent, honest, kind man!  Another thought was that he must be very observant of people in order to be able to recognize us as we’d only spoke briefly on the street (in the center traffic island).  There are so many people he meets and we saw him so briefly in that initial time that he must be very keen on his surroundings to be able to pick us out after such a brief first encounter.  We weren’t standing out in front of the studio, either; we were seated at our table at the café.  This is comforting to know – the fact that he is alert and on the watch for and cares about us fans.

Drive up

Strolling in Liverpool

How many of you remember this Disney special from 1992?   I bet Ringo and Jason turned quite a few heads as they walked around Ringo's hometown that day.  Notice in the top photo the lady in the background with the umbrella? 

Mister Brian Epstein

Last week it finally happened.    Something I did not think I would see happen in my lifetime.  Brian Epstein was finally inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!   Now you'd would have thought that Brian would have been inducted in the hall of fame way back in 1988, when the Beatles were inducted.  There is a non-performer category, and it has been filled with various producers, radio disc jockeys and others who were important to the field of rock and roll music without being musicians.  Heck Phil Spector was inducted in 1989!   And many assumed that Brian was in, because why wouldn't he have been?   Not only did he "discover" the Beatles and manage them to superstardom, he also managed a variety of British acts that made up the backbone of the 1960's British music invasion that basically paved the way for a change in popular music.   

I recall signing a petition for Brian to get inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame back in the late 1990's.   Even though fans from around the world rallied together for it to happen, there was never any sign that Brian was even considered as a candidate.   As a matter of fact, Brian not in the rock hall was sort of the "Susan Lucci" joke of the Beatles community.   Then what seemed like out of the blue, I heard last year that he was going to be in the class of 2014 inductees!   Alright!  What took you so long Rock and Roll Hall of Fame??  

Beatle fans didn't need over 50 years to know that Brian Epstein was someone special.  Did you know that in 1965, through the Beatles Fan club you could join the Brian Epstein chapter?   Each individual Beatle had his own chapter of the fan club and so did Brian.   Now I am not sure how many fans signed up for Brian's chapter of the club, but there must have been a lot of interest for it to be offered in the first place.   When you joined the Brian Epstein chapter of the Beatles fan club, you received an 8 x 10 glossy photograph of Brian and a fact sheet.  

So in memory and honor of the wonderful manager and friend of the Beatles, and in celebration of his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, I post these photos. Enjoy!

Rome 1965

Interview during 1966 tour

Relaxing with the boys in Germany in 1966

Cruising in Miami with George Martin in 1964

Yes, even Brian had a great humor

Uncle Brian with his niece in 1967