The 1967 Pepper Sessions

It is strange how I get some of the fan photos I have obtained. Let's see if you can follow this one. A couple of weeks ago someone who is a friend of mine on facebook had a friend who posted photos of his Beatles collection. Even though I didn't know this guy, I clicked on his Beatles collection photos and looked at them. One of the item in his collection was an Beatleg LP called "The 1967 Pepper Sessions." From his small facebook photo, it looked like the cover had fan photos that I didn't have on it along with a few that I did have. So...I went to the bootlegzone to see if I could find more about the album. Well....they had the cover in a high quality large photo, so I took that photo and then cropped the Beatles fan photos that I didn't have out it. I also posted the two photos in their complete version that I already had, the one of John in the stripped pants is one of Lizzie's photos (I believe she took the photo...but it is one of my top 5 favorite John photos of all times).

Do any of you have this album?? It supposedly comes with a large booklet. Can someone check out that booklet for me and see if there are any more fan photos inside??

Meeting George Harrison

Here is a story by songwriter, Seth Swirsky, about when he had the wonderful opportunity to meet George Harrison in 1988. The photo was taken on Valentines Day of 1988 at the L.A. airport, and doesn't go directly with the story. But as I have said so many times before, I had blog posts without photos, so I added this one because it shows what George looked like a tthe time of Seth's George encounter.

In 1988, I had two Top Ten songs on the Billboard charts: Tell It to My Heart and Prove Your Love, both sung by Taylor Dayne. At the time, I was a staff songwriter with Warner/Chappell Music Publishing, but my contract was up and the top brass, looking to sign me up again, took me out to dinner at Mr. Chow's in L.A. While at dinner, I overheard someone at our table say that George Harrison was having dinner in the private room upstairs. "I'll sign any contract you put in front of me," I told the president of the company, "if you can introduce me to George Harrison." Incidentally, someone at our table knew Harrison. "Come with me," she said. My heart began pounding and my mind swirling with excitement as I entered a small room with a large round table around which sat Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan and George Harrison, all members of the newly formed Traveling Wilburys! George stood and shook my hand. I forget his first words to me as my inner being had just about fainted.

Finally, I said, "George, it's so nice to meet you, you know we've been riding the charts together. Recently, you with Got My Mind Set On You and me with Tell It to My Heart" (which, at the time, was #3 in Britain and #7 in the U.S.).

"Oh, I know your song," he said. "My son Dhani loves it!" I told him that I had been sitting around the pool at the Sunset Marquis that afternoon listening to my favorite of his songs, I Need You. His response was, "Oh, wasn't that one from The Help?". (It was from the record Help, not The Help, but I loved the way he titled it!)

Then, George graciously introduced me to the other members of his new band. Naturally, I agreed to a new deal with Warner/Chappell the next day.

A few weeks later, I flew back to L.A. to go to the Grammy Awards. After the show, I spotted George standing in a corner by himself at the Warner Records party held at the old Chasen's restaurant. When I reintroduced myself, he said: "Yeah, I remember you from a few weeks ago." Some small talk ensued and then I asked him if he would like to write a song together the next day. Not missing a beat, he said that he already had a writing session scheduled with "Bobby." It would have been so cool to write with George, but it wasn't too bad to be shot down for Bob Dylan!

Meeting John Lennon

My never ending quest for finding photos and stories of fans who met one of the Beatles has taken me to this site where I found a great little story about a fan who met John in 1974. It was written by Jonathan Wolpert. enjoy!

I was dreaming of the past..........

17 November 1974, I met John Lennon. It remains one of the greatest thrills of my life.

I was 16. The Beatles were my first musical love and Lennon was my favorite Beatle. Loved his solo work as well -- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (aka the Mother album) as much as I enjoyed the Beatles.

I loved the music of Lennon as well as his persona.

My dad used to bring home the late edition of the NY Post. Before turning to Sports, I used to look at Earl Wilson's column as he would sometimes have photos of hot looking women. One night, he wrote that John Lennon would be appearing at the opening of the play Sgt Pepper at the Beacon theatre on Nov 17, 1974 (not to be confused with the film of the same name).

My mother was kind enough to take the train from Long Island to the Beacon in NYC to secure me two tix for opening night. Once I had tix in hand, I put together a petition for Lennon. This was when the US was trying to deport him. I spent two weekends at a mall and an additional weekend at a shopping center and secured in excess of 2000 signatures.

My friend Howie and I arrived at the Beacon on opening night. I introduced myself to a young Ron Delsner (the promoter) and he told me I could wait in front of the rope for Lennon to arrive so I could present the petition. As celebs arrived, I asked them to sign it as well: Bianca Jagger, David Johanssen, Johnny Winter, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter and even Yoko Ono. Yoko was separated from John - at the time, I was surprised to see her. She thanked me for my efforts.

When Lennon arrived, the fans mobbed him. It was insane and I didn't get anywhere near him. After 20 minutes, Delsner took me to Lennon's seat (about 10th row aisle in orchestra). My friend Howie took two quick pics of John and was told to stop -- there were to be no photographs.

I had it in my mind not to mention the "B" word. This was four years after the Beatles broke up and there was still quite a bit of tension. I presented the petition to John - it was titled "help Keep John Lennon in America". He thanked me - seemed very genuine. I wished him good luck with his efforts to getting a green card. I congratulated him on the success of his then new "Walls and Bridges" album.

A rep from his company gave me a "Listen to the Badge" promo button. He was with May Pang. Finally I asked "when is Look Back coming out" - He said "What's Look Back" - I said "your oldies album" to which he responded "oh, it will be out in January. It's called Rock and Roll". Then he leaned over closer and thanked me again for the petition - how much it meant to him and how badly he wished to stay in the US. The only awkward moment came when my friend Howie had the following exchange with Lennon:

Howie: Beatle John, Beatle John
(i was cringing)
Lennon: yeah?
Howie: where's Pete Best? (Best was original drummer tossed out in favor of Ringo)
Lennon: (peering at Howie above his eyeglasses) eh, he's backstage -- why don't you go look for him!

I loved his response. It was as if he said "hey kid, go play in traffic."

Howie also walked up to Bianca Jagger and said "your husband's gay". This was 1974 and Mick had just started wearing eye make-up..

The play was not memorable. Took the LIRR home and couldn't sleep at all that night.

Subsequently, I met Paul, George twice and Ringo three times. But nothing was like meeting Lennon......


Last year, the documentary The United States of America vs. John Lennon came out. Near the end, upon receiving is green card - he looks at the camera and says "I'd like to thank everyone who supported me - and all the kids that went around with petitions and speaking up on my behalf" I know he was talking about thousands of us, but I also felt he was talking directly to me.......

The Lennon family in Boston

Here is a wonderful story written by Harold Montgomy and found here


On Friday, 17 Sept.1976, my friend in Boston, "Blue," caught wind (from her friend, Tempy) that John, Yoko, and Sean had been "sighted" in Boston at the Copley Plaza Hotel. The Lennons were up there visiting friends in Brookline, Massachusetts. She called me to ask if I wanted to come up and try to catch a glimpse of John on Saturday. Did I? Of course.

I called my other friends, Patti and Jennie, in Hartford, Connecticut, to tell them the news and to see if they to wanted to come along! I suggested we all go together to the Copley Plaza. Naturally, they did want to participate and drove up to my house in Springfield that afternoon.

My then 14-year-old "mega Beatle fan" nephew, Gene, Patti, Jennie, and I piled into my buddy Jimi's trusty white Ford and the five of us drove off. We arrived in Boston around 10 p.m. and immediately checked into the Copley Square Hotel for the night. Although the clerks weren't too happy that two guys, two girls all in their 20's and a 14-year-old boy were checking in ­ with not much luggage to speak of ­ they only exchanged glances and gave us a suite anyway. Thank God!

We quickly unpacked the little we brought and began making plans for the following day and trying not to be distracted by our environment. The once elegant Copley Square Hotel had clearly seen better days, and Patti even encountered a few roaches there. I think that was the first time she had ever seen a roach (the six legged kind, not the smoking kind). Another landmark experience on our "Magical Boston Tour!"


John, Yoko and baby Sean were staying at the Copley Plaza. Our hotel was just a few blocks away. So bright and early the next day, we all walked down to the Copley Plaza to wait. "Blue" eventually met up with us in front of the hotel.

At long last, someone spotted a Japanese man who worked as a occasional driver for John and Yoko. He had gone to fetch their car, an old green Town and Country Chrysler Plymouth Station wagon. (Later, the Lennons purchased a green Mercedes station wagon.) They primarily used the Plymouth for long trips like treks out to their house in Cold Spring Harbor. In the City, they always used Esquire Limo Service or cabs.

Anyway, the Japanese man first parked at a side entrance across from the John Hancock Tower, and of course, all of us rushed over there! Blue, who had studied Japanese said "hello" to him in Japanese, which pleasantly surprised him. She also asked him (in Japanese) what his name was, and he said it was 'Nishi'.

Nishi knew that he would have to trick the fans somehow by parking the Lennon's car some place else. Then, he would try to get the Lennons into it before we could find the car again. But I don't think Nishi had any idea how persistent (and very clever) John's fans could be. For quite some time, Nishi kept moving the car, then he'd disappear for awhile but we always found him again. After a while, I think he just gave up!

So eventually, Nishi pulled the car up to the side entrance facing the expressway entrance ramp where the Lennons could drive directly onto the expressway heading west to New York.

When the time came, John and Yoko walked into the hotel restaurant first and peered out the window to scope out the situation. I don't recall any police, doormen, or any other kind of security present. No one was assisting them in keeping the fans at bay.

First the Nanny, Misako, came out of the hotel. Then John, wearing a t-shirt which read, "This Is Not Here," a Bolero tie, and a denim jacket and jeans emerged. He was carrying Sean. Yoko followed right behind him.

What a moment! I was able to get one cool photo of John through the window of the car.

pin striped suit

Here is another gem Bruno send this past weekend. Doesn't Paul look nice? I really like this one.

Beatle fan: Carolyn Lee Mitchell

Carolyn Lee Mitchell is the fan who wrote the 1988 memoir of her time in London called All Our Loving. I thought it was an interesting book and a quick read. The man who was the ghost writer of the book, Michael Munn states on his webpage that "The book is an embarrassment, and the least said about it the better." Sure this book isn't some great piece of literature, but it wasn't a bad book.

Carolyn left her home in Salt Lake City, Utah for London a week before Paul married Linda. Bad timing on her part. It is a shame that she couldn't have been there a few years earlier. But instead she was there, standing outside Cavendish Avenue during a rocky time in the Beatles history.

The most important part of the book, which I have talked about before, is where Carolyn speaks about the trip she took in 1971 up to Paul Scotland home. While she is hanging near Paul's home, Paul gets fed up with her coming around and says some rude things to her about it. Carolyn then accuses Paul of punching her in the nose. To her shock, this account went world-wide and hit papers everywhere. I was surprised that I found several articles about the incident online. One of which I have posted.

When she wrote the book in 1988, you could tell that she had grown up a lot from that love struck teenager of 1971. She regretted following Paul up to his farm and sees how foolish of a decision it was on her part. At the time she just wanted to be close to Paul and befriend him. Now she understands that Paul went to that farm to get away from people just like her. She didn't respect his privacy. And while she dropped all charges against Paul, she never backed down from her original story that Paul hit her in the nose, something that Paul always denied. I guess no one but those there knows for sure and in 2010 it no longer really matters.

I was surprised that I could find very little information about Carolyn Lee Mitchell online. It seems like she disappeared after the book was published. But Carolyn if you are out there, I would love to hear more stories and see an actual photo of YOU with one of the Beatles!

And if you have never read her book, I do recommend it. While most of the book focuses on Carolyn and her devotion to Paul, she also includes stories of her friends who were also waiting around Apple and Paul's house. It is a quick and fun read.

Faul

I posted one of these strange Paul photos before. I since have found several more in the set. As a joke, I labeled the folder that I have them in "Faul."

Press conferences

Lucky was the person who got close to the Beatles during one of the press conferences.... These two photos were taken at the same conference (Portland 1965)

John Lennon

Here is a nice (although blurry) photo of John that Bruno sent me this weekend.

Meeting John in Palm Springs

The story and photo were taken from here It is a very nice story and this fan and his father took some of my favorite photos of John and Julian. However, it isn't true that they were the ones that first told the public about the Lost Weekend. May Pang had been known ever since March 1974 when the photo of John and her kissing made all of the headlines. By the time they were in Florida with Julian, it was December 1974. John had already sang on stage with Elton John and in about a month and a half, the "Lost Weekend" would come to an end, and John would return to the Dakota and Yoko. But anyhow....good story.

John Lennon Shows up in Palm Beach
My Father came home from work one night and asked me if I would like to go on a photo assignment with him the next day to photograph John Lennon, of course he knew the answer before he asked the question, it was just his sense of humor. I don't think I slept very much that night, the anticipation was overwhelming. This was John's first time in Palm Beach, we got the assignment from The Palm Beach Daily News. I was supposed to shoot color slides, and my Dad would shoot the black and white for the paper. When we got there John was poolside with his son Julian, they were just back from Disney World in Orlando for the first time, with a woman that neither my Father nor I could identify. " Who is that, that's not Yoko, who is this woman with John that we can't identify?" ( It was May Pang, Yoko's secretary ) "I don't know Dad, I've never seen this woman before." We were so freaked out, we knew we had some special photographs. We broke the story to People Magazine and as it turns out, we were the ones to come up with the first photos of the event that John Lennon, and Beatle fans all over the world call "The Lost Weekend ". It was the fans great hope that Yoko was out of the picture and the Beetles would get back together again.
This was one of the most memorable photo shoots I ever had, I still carry a picture of me and John in my wallet, I got to speak with him briefly, he was so down to Earth it was amazing, not the celeb he could have acted like. This was one time I was totally star struck.On a return trip to Palm Beach with Yoko, I was able to meet John again, he was shopping on Worth Ave. with Yoko, there were people peering in to a shop window and I knew something was going on, I knew John was in town so I had an 8x10 of us together all ready to be autographed. I ran back to the studio, which was only a few blocks away, and grabbed the photo. I walked into the store , and up to John, holding out the photo. Surprisingly, he did not remember when it was taken, I explained it was taken in a bad time in his life, he had broken up with Yoko at the time . He gave a little acknowledging nod and said "oh ", and invited me to their new house in Palm Beach, to show him the rest of the photos taken that day. When I knocked on the door, he answered it himself, I gave him a set of proofs, and that's the last time I saw John Lennon.
Sadly all of my color slides were destroyed. By Ken Davidoff

Signing at Cavendish

Rising70 posted this awesome (and huge if you click on it) photo of Paul signing autographs at his home at Cavendish Avenue. I knew that I had seen this photo before, and sure enough I had in my files a copy of the actual autograph he signed along with a much smaller version of the photo.

Paul and fans

Just a few earlier photos of Paul and fans....

U.K. newspaper

Bruno sent me this interesting newspaper article this weekend. Although the article itself isn't intact, the photos of Paul are very nice. Some of them I have seen (and posted here) and others are new to me. From what I can read in the article is that these two fans of Paul's, Christine and Michelle are upset because they think that Paul has changed from what they once knew of him. If anyone has ever read the book, All Our Loving, by Carolyn Mitchell, you will know that this is something that Paul fans said after near the time the Beatles broke up. That Paul had changed and became less friendly. In Carolyn's book she tells the story of how she went to Paul's home in Scotland and when Paul saw her, he actually hit her. She dropped all charges against Paul and was sort of shunned by Beatle fans for a short period of time. To get the complete story, you really need to read her book. But the point was how Paul was not the guy they once knew. Looking back at that time, it was obvious that Paul was going through a lot of stress and change in his life. I am sure announcing the break up of the Beatles and going solo was a stressful time. Add the fact that he needed to sue his old band mates, and well....it couldn't have been a good time. Paul himself even said in the Wingspan documentary that during that time he was drinking and depressed. But the fans didn't realize all of that. They just knew that the guy they adored had changed for the worse.....

Here's your autograph....

I like this series of Paul McCartne photos because they tell the story of Paul autographing something for a fan and then handing it to the fan. I think it is neat!

Lyon France

This appears to me to be a fan photo taken at a the Beatles concert in Lyon, France on June 22, 1965. Sadly the 1965 World Tour is one that I often overlook....

Crazy Toronto Fans

While looking up some photos for on my favorite subject, the Beatles 1966 tour, I found these photos of some fans doing some wild things at the Toronto concert. The things fans will do to get close to the boys! My goodness...that photo of the kid hanging on the curtain like that is frightening! So readers.....did any of you do anything crazy like that at a Beatles concert?

Cow Palace fan photos

I often wonder how different fan taken concert photos would be if teenagers of the 1960's had the digital cameras that we have today. These fan photos always are poor quality, but I still like the feel of them because you know that whoever took them was trying to capture a once in a lifetime experience. And even with the poor cameras of 1965, you can still make out who is in the photographs and even imagine yourself in that audience on that day.....

1967 George (take 2)

Our friend, Bruno has outdone himself yet again! I am sure you all remember that I posted this gorgeous photo of George in a beautiful jacket yesterday. Well Bruno sent me a copy today that is in vibrant color and without an watermark!! He says that it is believed to have been taken in Sept or Oct 1967. (So to put that in perspective, it was around the time that the Beatles made the Magical Mystery Tour movie...or shortly there after).

Early Beatle maniac!

A big thank you goes out to blog reader, Andrea R., who sent me this magazine article from Yeah! Magazine (1995) which has a story about an early Liverpool Beatles fan who was crazy about our George! Thanks Andrea for sharing this story you found in the magazine. I am sure everyone will enjoy it as much as I have!




SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
Like the song says, there's nothing a Fab Four fan wouldn't do to
grab a Beatles keepsake, and some of the trophies were really
personal from toast to toilet paper as LOUISE OSWALD discovered

"...Susan was particular about her memorabilia. Only the most obscure
and personal trivia would do Paul McCartney's cigarette butts,
threads from George's jeans or fluff from under his bed Now a 48-
year-old mother of two, Susan explains: "You have to put yourself in
the mind of a 15-year-old girl. We were very protective of The
Beatles But when Please Please Me was released, they were catapulted
to stardom. So I concentrated on collecting parts of their everyday
life that would only mean something to me, things so minor that they
would never miss them. I couldn't believe it when Christie's said my
scrapbooks could make me a lot of money. How could anyone else
possibly appreciate that I'd been on my hands and knees combing the
carpet under in George's bedroom while his mum washed up downstairs?"
For Susan, Beatlemania set in when she took a job in the office of a
Liverpool department store in 1962. A colleague asked her to Cavern
Club one lunchtime to watch a new local band.
Susan recalls: "We walked into the club almost gagging on the smell
of disinfectant from the toilets. My friend said the guitarist was a
friend from art college and would I like to meet him. So I was
introduced. `This is John Lennon,' she said. He shook my hand and it
was like a bolt of lightning down to my toes. He was truly awesome
even though he was just a local musician at the time. I heard them
play A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues. It's still my favourite. I wafted
out of there and thought `That's it. I'm gonna follow those boys'. I
was smitten."
Susan became a regular at the lunchtime gigs and joined forces with a
group of other girls to call themselves the Cement Mixers. "The name
didn't mean anything but the boys would know it was us if we made a
song request during their set. George used to sing Three Cool Cats so
I bought a china cat and sent it up to the stage as The Cement Mixer.
George sang the tune for me and I thought `He's so nice.' An ex-
neighbour of his told me he was very caring towards his mum but I
thought she must be a really lonely old lady." So, armed with flowers
and some chocolates, Susan dropped by for a visit.
"George's parents, Louise and Harry, turned out to be a very lively
couple who taught ballroom dancing," said Susan.
"Mrs Harrison opened the door and said `Ooh, you're a Beatles fan.
Come in,' and she called upstairs to George's dad, `Harold! There's a
fan of our George's here.' There was no slamming the door in your
face.
"Once, Louise let me sit in the front of George's Ford Anglia. I
asked if I could wash the car. `Are you soft?' she shrieked. `Well, I
suppose so, if you really want to. You can come back on Sunday and do
it.'
"During that week I had a letter from George who was touring in
Germany. I tore it open to find he'd written tongue-in-cheek
instructions on how to wash his car you know, use plenty of soapy
water and then dump the dirty water over Paul's shiny Ford Classic."
For the next two years, Susan divided her time between work, the
Cavern and the Harrison household.
She says: "I'd ask if I could go to the loo and Louise would
say, `Oh, I know you. You'll be stealing the toilet paper next.' And
of course I was! I've still got a few leaves of lilac roll in a book
somewhere. George's mum would even let me rummage around in his room
when he was away. I can't imagine what he would have said if he'd
found out. I figured his jeans might have been taken in as it was the
fashion. So I snipped threads from the inside leg. Strangely enough,
I never saw George in his own home. I had a crush on him, of course,
but I was 15 and he was 19 and back then you'd never dream a boy of
that age would look twice at someone like me. George's mum worked
flat out trying to answer all his fan mail and I helped her type the
letters. On his 21st birthday their living room was crammed with Post
Office bags.
"But we were real friends, as well. I got tickets to see The Beatles
in Manchester and asked if she wanted to come.
"We went on the train and she had this huge pile of sandwiches. I
said we'd never eat them all. `Oh, they're for the boys,' she
announced. `They never get out once they're on playing.' It was then
that I thought, `Oh my god, don't tell me we're going backstage.' And
there they were, in the dressing room eating jelly babies. Perfect
for my book, I thought."
Susan also admits to ransacking one of the band's tour vans.
"It was unlocked and the next thing we knew, we were helping
ourselves.
"We took some pink shirts they wore but had to return them the next
night because they still had solid gold cufflinks in the sleeves. But
George let me keep one of his T-shirts. I chopped it up and handed it
out to some other fans and saved a corner for my scrapbook."
The dozen scrapbooks were safely stored until Susan, her husband
Gordon, and their two children moved to Perthshire in 1992.
"We moved into a cottage that needed a lot of spending on it so I
thought I'd see if I could get anything for George's letter. I sent
Christie's a photocopy. They told me I'd get at least 800 pounds and
begged me for anything else they could sell.
"When I mentioned the scrapbooks, I knew I was on a winner. I went to
the auction and I had such a lump in my throat when a Spanish man
paid 1,300 pounds for nine of them.
"I've still got a letter from George's dad and, of course, the toilet
paper. To be honest, it doesn't matter that the books are gone. I
remember every scrap as though it were yesterday"
Another Fab Four fanatic was sales executive Sue Pringle.
Paul McCartney was the particular Beatle of her dreams but being too
polite cost her the ultimate souvenir the first guitar Paul ever
played!
Now 41, and a mother of two, Sue explains: "Every night on my way
home from junior school my best friend Christine and I would call at
Paul's home at 21 Forthlin Road in Garston, a Liverpool suburb.
"Paul's dad would usher us into the parlour and give us lemonade and
biscuits. Then we'd sit there in awe while he proudly told us stuff
like, `Our Paul's in Germany our Paul's in the studio our Paul's in
London.'
"He used to let me hold Paul's acoustic guitar that always rested
against the wall and once, when I was strumming it, he said, `Go on,
you're such a big fan, why not take the guitar. Paul's got a new one
and doesn't play it any more.'
"But I'd been brought up to be polite and decline such gifts so I
found myself saying, 'No, thank you very much' even though I knew it
was the very guitar Paul used when he wrote all the early Beatles
songs.
"Now, of course, I realize I must have been mad - that guitar would
have been worth a fortune."

(From YEAH! magazine, November 19, 1995)

1967 George

I really love George's jacket in this fan photo! I would love to see this picture without watermarks, but as always...I take what I can find.

Jorie Gracen

If you think the name Jorie Gracen looks familiar it is because you most likely have seen it before. Jorie is a big time Paul McCartney fan. She has a book called "I Saw Him standing there..." which is full of photographs of Paul that she has taken over the years. She runs a great website for Paul fans.

I have heard Ms. Gracen speak at Chicago Beatlefest and I have to say that she is one die hard McCartney fan! Here is a story that she shared in the Winter 2001 issue of DayTrippin' magazine that I found to be really funny. It takes place in 1984 during the Broadstreet promotions.

One of my friends won through the Paul McCartney Fun Club, an opportunity to meet Paul up in his hotel room. She was one of five lucky people. We waited outside the elevators for her to come down and tell us every detail that happened up in the hotel room. So when she came down, we sat down a couch in the lobby and she sat down on the floor facing us, and told us her story. There were three of us on the couch--huddled together listening intently to every world she said. We were totally engrossed in the conversation, drooling over our favorite subject, and very envious of her being up in HIS hotel room. After awhile, I noticed that within our little huddle of girls talking about Paul, there was another head that was now among us that wasn't in the original group. I looked up and to my horror, I saw Paul--Paul's head--in our little huddle listening to my friend's conversation with us. I thought "Oh my God! How long has he been standing here, listening to what we've been saying about him?" We were totally mortified to know that Paul was listening to our private conversation about him. Paul stood up and pointed to my friend, who was on the floor falling over at this point, since she couldn't believe he was standing there and then pointed to each one of us as he said with his Liverpool accent, "Don't believe a werd she says!"

Wrong guy!~

Taken from Beatlefan magazine Sept/Oct 1996 issue:
George Harrison showed up at Ravi Shankar's 78th birthday concert July 2 (1996) at London's Barbican, Simon Rogers reports. Harrison arrived on foot just after 7 p.m. casually dressed and still sporting a beard and ponytail. At first he denied to fans who he was, saying, "You got the wrong guy!" However, he did sign two autographs. He sat in the front row and left only briefly for the interval. HE greeted members of the Shankar family with the traditional Indian greeting and appeared to enjoy the night, apart from fans hassling him for autographs after the show (he departed via a side entrance). Shanker spent the summer in London working on his upcoming album that Harrison is producing. Angel Records says the album is due out next spring.

Paul and the toothpaste....

Source: Beatles Now April/May/June 1982
My first encounter with the Beatles
By disc-jockey Norman Scott

In the early months of 1963, I was working as a disc jockey at Leyton Baths in East London, and indoor swimming pool that had been converted into a dance hall. Every Friday night well-known groups of the time would play there live.
By now the Beatles had already established themselves with “Love me Do” and “Please Please me” and also completed successful tours appearing with Helen Shapiro, Chris Montez and Tommy Roe. Plans were also underway for the group to tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. However despite this, Brian Epstein has insisted that the Beatles would still appear at the remaining outstanding dance hall dates that had been previously made.
So it was that in April 1963 the Beatles appeared at Leyton Baths (also on the bill was Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers). In front of a packed crowd of dancing, screaming fans, the Beatles wore maroon mohair suites with velvet collars and played most of the tracks featured on the “Please Please me” album and gave a preview of their forthcoming single, “From me to you.” After the show I went backstage, complete with camera to congratulate the boys.
I introduced myself and offered to buy them all beers, they accepted and over a few drinks we had a good chat, talking mostly about music and their favorite artists, the Beatles going out of their way to jovial, obliging and friendly. I asked if I could take a photo of them “of course” they replied. “Just a minute” said Paul “I must clean my teeth first.” After a while Paul was ready and John positioned the group for their photo.
“Right” John said to me, “When I say three, we’ll all smile and you take the picture.” John commenced to count “one, two, THREE” John literally yelled THREE making the other Beatles and myself nearly jump out of skins. I wasn’t able to take the picture, but Paul was the worst “casualty,” he had still been holding the open tube of toothpaste and when John had shouted, Paul had squeezed the tube and a long length of toothpaste had shot down Paul’s trouser leg. After much laughter I finally got my photo with Paul keeping his hand over the embarrassing stain on his trousers.
I was to meet the Beatles several times after this, often with amusing consequences which I hope to be able to tell you about in a future edition of “Beatles Now.”

Scruff Story

I found this story at this site.

I have some wonderful memories of the Boys from my teenage years. Like many of the girls of my age at the time of Beatlemania I use to go along to Heathrow and
either welcome the boys home or back from touring abroad. In fact there was a
little click of us, about 10 in all, who use to really quite honestly probably
drive them mad. Where ever they were we were too. We use to hang outside their
houses, Abbey Road, BBC, in fact anywhere we knew they would be. On several
occasions over the years I met all four Beatles. I remember once when Paul lived
at Wimpole Street in the home of Jane Asher's parents, we were as usual standing
about on the corner of the street just hoping for him to arrive. We filled the
keyhole to the house with matches so that when he did arrive he was unable to
put his key into the lock and make a quick dash inside. He took it very well
never ever really got annoyed with us, although looking back now he had every
reason to be.!

He was such a lovely bloke always had time for the fans and
as I said earlier we must really have drove them mad. I remember one night
sleeping in the greenhouse at John's Weybridge home and getting caught by Mal
Evans. We were all made to leave but not until it was light and the first train
was running. On another occasion John came down to the main gate, where we were
all hanging around as usual, he said he thought we should all go home as it was
cold and miserable and didn't we have better things to do than stand outside his
house? Of course our answer was no but really looking back he was probably
politely telling us to get lost! On the same occasion I remember getting hold of
his hand and noticing a cut on his thumb when I asked how he did it he told me
he had been in the garden that afternoon and caught his hand on a prickly bush.
I have lots of other memories and made friends with some really nice girls
during my Beatlemania years. Sadly we all grew up and lost contact, but I often
reflect on those years and remember the great times we all had but some how I
feel our joy was The Beatles pain. We never left them alone. George Harrison
refers to us as Abbey Scruffs in his autobiography "I Me Mine" and although, I
am sure, we drove the boys mad If I could go back I would not change a thing.
Laraine

Sweet Lady Jane

Jane Asher is one classy woman. I would like to think that her and Paul were able to remain friends, but somehow I don't think that was the case.

Mullet Paul

No one rocks the mullet hair style quite like Sir Paul McCartney.