Invastion of the Beatles Hideaway!

I have for you all yet another fan story from the January 1967 Teen Datebook magazine (which is the best $5 I have spent in a long time). This tells about a teenager named Carol Decoteau, from Los Angeles, California who invaded the Beatles California get-a-way home in L.A. during the 1966 American Tour.

I invaded the secret, Beatles' hideaway in the Hollywood Hills! It all began when I walked to the bus stop to go to Dodger Stadium. There I met Jane Hunt, an attractive 17-year-old, and together we became involved in one of the most exciting raids in our lives.

Before the bus arrived at the stadium, I had learned that Jane knew where the Beatles were staying in Hollywood. So, we decided that after the concert we would journey to the mansion, where the Beatles were hanging out. Jane and I weren't able to sit together at the concert, but we agreed to meet afterwards near a palm tree.

The Beatles concert was the first I had ever attended, and I will never forget it. I had never screamed so much in my whole life. All around me girls were screaming, and when I noticed that some were crying, I started laughing, but promptly stopped when someone hit me on my head with a heavy purse. I enjoyed the concert very much and was sad when it ended at 10 o'clock.

Jane and I met as planned. It took us nearly two hours to get to Hollywood because the traffic was so heavy. Our escapade began when we arrived at Curson Street. There were so many teenagers and police, we had to detour through other streets. All the streets leading up to the house on the hill where the Fab Four were staying were blocked. Few people were allowed to pass through. Fortunately Jane knew someone who lived nearby, so we told everyone we weren't looking for the Beatles, just going home.

We went to her friend's home and climbed the hedge. I tried to climb another hedge, but a man popped his head out of a window and yelled to me to get my ---- off of the hedge. Boy! Did I move!

I jumped off the hedge and ran down the sidewalk as fast as my legs could carry me, to a corner cluttered with Beatlemaniacs and policemen. The policemen wouldn't permit anyone to walk or drive up the street leading to the Beatles' mansion. I pondered for a few minutes then decided that I had no choice but to go back and climb the hedge if I wanted to see the Beatles. Nothing and no one was going to stop me, so I went back. I found Jane and together we jumped hedges, ran across peoples' yards, hid behind twigs, bushes and trees when cars went by. Soon we met some other Beatle fans and we all slithered through the bushes across lawns, and climbed hills.

WE finally found ourselves below THE house! How were we going to get to see the Beatles? All this time, we were hiding behind bushes as police cars drove by. Finally, we started to climb the high hill. We made it clear to the top, but were promptly found by a policeman who shooed us down the hill. Jane and I climbed the hill again with other fans, but the policemen met us with hoses and we were drenched through to our skin. We slid down the hill on our seats, but we vowed we wouldn't give up. By that time we were wet, dirty and muddy. We looked like a hurricane had hit us.

Then, Jane and I decided to make one last try and started to sneak up the road to the gate! To our surprise, there weren't any policemen guarding the gate! I hid in the bushes while Jane scouted the area. When Jane realized that there weren't any police on the other side of the gate, she motioned to me and I ran over to her. We climbed over the gate and hid in the bushes.

I heard three voices talking! Someone was speaking with an English accent. "It's Paul! I just know know it's Paul." I said to myself. So I poled my head out. "Paul!" I yelled. I guess he didn't hear me and walked into the house.

Jane realized, then, who he was, and started running after him. She almost made it, but she was caught by Malcolm Evans and another policeman. I was still hiding in the bushes, but jumped out and started running. A policeman ran after me. I collided with Malcolm Evans and bounced off him.

As Jane and I were led away I happened to glance up and saw Paul standing there looking at us. I could tell by the expression on his face that he felt sorry for us. "Paul!" I yelled. There we stood all dirty and grimy. Then I felt a little ashamed and didn't want Paul to see dirty ol' me. The police shoved us out the gate, but we immediately sneaked back in and saw John at the window. A policeman saw us again and we started running. We ran all the way around the house as fast as we could. We glanced at all the windows as we raced by and saw George once, then Ringo. By this time three policemen were running behind us in a hot pursuit. "Beatles we love you!" we yelled loud enough to wake the dead. WE eluded the police and ran down the road away form the house. We didn't stop until we were two blocks away.

It was early in the morning, 6:00, so Jane and I started home. We were grimy all over. People stared at us, but we didn't care. We were deliriously happy. We had actually seen the Beatles! There were few who did what we did. I can still picture Paul standing there in the house looking down at us, his handsome face filled with concern for us, his fans. I'm sure he wanted to meet us -- but the police were just too protective.

I know that some people will say that we're a couple of silly girls who just made a nuisance of ourselves. But I don't' believe the Beatles feel that way, even though we did invade their privacy for a few moments. They know how important they are to us. They understand why we did it. You other Beatle fans out there --- you understand, too. Don't you?