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| Checking out decorations for the evening's festivities. Photo by Patti Murawski |
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| Arriving in Atlanta International Airport. Photo by Jennie Swenton |
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| Brad, Georg, Ringo and Barbara. photo by Jennie Swenton |
This story by Jennie Swenton is about when Ringo and Barb went to Atlanta from September 25-27 to celebrate the opening of a restaurant in that city in which Ringo was a shareholder. It originally appeared in issue #58 of "With a Little Help from my Friends."
Around the middle of September, I got a call from Pat
Simmons, telling me that Ringo would definitely be attending the September 26
opening night party of the restaurant in Atlanta in which he is an investor,
the London Brasserie. She suggested that
I get in touch with WALH subscriber Brad Hundt, who had more information about
the party. It turns out that Brad is
also a subscriber to the Harrison Alliance, the fanzine that I work on. Brad told me all he knew about plans for the
party, which he was to attend as part of the press corps. The media in Atlanta had said that all sorts
of stars were going to attend the party –George Harrison, Elton John, Phil
Collins, to name a few. Add to this the
news from London from Petra Zeitz that Paul and Linda were planning to be
there, and it really set the imagination going.
Patti Murawski, my “partner in crime” on THA, and I decided it would be
great fun to vacation in Atlanta at the time of the party – a good chance to
meet some THA friends and see Ringo and maybe a few other special people.
Brad met us at our hotel in Atlanta on Friday, September
25. He and his friends had found out
that Ringo and gang were arriving at the airport at about 4:30 on a flight from
London. Patti and I are so sued to
struggling to find out anything, we were amazed that this was turning out so
differently. We met one of the Brad’s
friends, Rick Glover, who took us out to the airport. There was hardly anyone waiting for
Ringo. There were the four of us, a few
other fans, and some media people, but really nothing compared to what I
expected. (Remember rumors were still
flying that George and Paul would be there, and God knows who else…). I didn’t put much stake in the rumors, but
wasn’t really sure who might show up.
While waiting to meet the British Consul General; as the
Queen’s representative in Atlanta, he had come out to the airport to meet
Ringo. For a few minutes, it looked like
security might bring Ringo and Barbara out through another exit but in the end
they took them through the way the general public would go. The international arrivals area is separated from
the main terminal by glass; suddenly, we saw some security men go racing down
the corridor. A few seconds later, Ringo
and Barbara appeared. There were
security people around them, and couple of cops, but we could see Ringo and
Barbara fine. Ringo looked really great,
in a black jacket with pinstriped, jeans and black shoes. His beard and hair were very dark, shortish,
with his hair spiky in the front. TI was
all very quick, although the Consul General did get to greet him. I also heard someone ask for an autograph,
but Ringo refused, citing the long flight.
Ringo and company had to go up an escalator to get to the exit so I went
on ahead up the stairs, figuring to watch Ringo come up the escalator after I’d
reached the top. At the top of the escalator
a fan shook Ringo’s hand and said, “Welcome to Atlanta.” Somehow, as I started to leave the building,
I would up tucked behind Barbara, and walked almost shoulder to shoulder with
Ringo; security didn’t say a word or lay a hand on me.
Ringo and Barb got into an enormous limo straightaway. While the door was still open Patti and I
waved to them – Pattie gave thumbs up and Ringo did the same back. After they shut the door of the limo, we
turned to see what else was up and saw Bill Wyman was there! There was an actor with him, Michael Brandon,
from the TV show “Dempsey and Make peace.”
After posing for some photos, Bill and Michael went in another
limo. For the other people who came on the
flights with them, there was a red double-decker London bus to transport them
into town.
Brad told us that Ringo was doing a radio interview the next
morning. We had found out that he would
be interviewed at the Sundial restaurant, so Patti and I thought maybe we could
see him there on Saturday. As it turned
out, however, the restaurant was on the top floor of the hotel he was staying
in, and the elevator that went there was shut off to the public and the restaurant
was closed while Ringo was there. (We
didn’t know all this until we got to the hotel on Saturday morning). We were there awhile until we had figured out
what was going on, and by being there so long we discovered we missed hearing
the live radio interview! After that we
went to the Peachtree Center shopping mall which was attached to the hotel
where Patti and I were staying and which is where the London Brasserie is
located. “Ringo’s restaurant” is atone
corner of the mall, so that you can enter the restaurant form either the street
or the mall. Ringo’s hotel was about two
blacks form the mall. We went to have
some lunch in the mall and looked at the decorations that were being put up for
the party. The party was being held in
the mall and in the Brasserie – to get into the restaurant itself you needed a
special pass, and the other party-goers had a different type of pass which let
them into the mall area only). Workers
were putting up red and white balloons and streamers made of then metallic
ribbon. There was also a centerpiece
decoration with a British theme (Big Ben, knight in armor, union jack) and a
bandstand where a sound system was being set up.
Around midafternoon, we were going back to our hotel when I remembered
that I had wanted to go to a toy shop I had seen in the lobby of Ringo’s
hotel. We decided to go straight there
before returning to our hotel, as there might not be time later. We were in the shop just a minute when we
both heard someone playing songs on a toy xylophone and a British voice asked
the clerk, “Do you know that one? I
co-wrote that…” The guy was a real
ego-maniac, saying to this poor clerk, “Don’t you know who I am?” When she had
no idea who he was. She did eventually
ask his name and he was Gary Osbourne, who has written some lyrics for Elton
John. Meanwhile Patti and I kept looking
at the toys but also kept our ears open in case we might learn some clues to
Ringo’s where abouts. Gary bought
something and was leaving the shop, but when he got to the door he stopped to
talk to someone who was passing by out in the hotel lobby. Just out of curiosity I turned to see who he
was talking to. At the same time Patti
said, “Who’s he talking to? Through the shop window I saw Ringo!
I quietly told Pattie he was there and we went out into the
lobby. Gary showed Ringo the gift he had
bought. Gary was wearing a pair of white
sneakers with wild red and lack designs and Ringo asked him what size they
were. Gary told him the size and the two
compared show sizes, Ringo putting one foot alongside Gary’s. Gary told him he’d bought the shoes at a Foot
Locker store near the Brasserie in the mall, and said that shop had a sign in the
window which read, “Ringo Starr’s number one fan works here – let’s talk!” Ringo was a bit amused by that! Then Ringo, Barb and their friends went on
their way. We followed at a distance as
they walked out of the hotel and continued on down the street. A couple people recognized Ringo on the street
and stopped to shake his hand.
Since the restaurant was so close, they walked over
there. Not far from the restaurant,
Pattie walked along with Ringo and asked if he had time to sign. He didn’t say no but “Not while we’re
walking.” Shortly after that Ringo and
Barbara and friends crossed the street and went into the restaurant. Patti and I continued down to the corner and
went around the building to enter the mall from another entrance. We decided to go to the shoe store and tell
the clerk that Gary Osbourne and Ringo had been trading notes about the shoes –
we had seen the “Ringo’s biggest fan” sign in the window earlier in the
day. We went in and told the clerk what
had happened. He had apparently got a
call from the restaurant already; someone had phoned to say Ringo would be
coming over to the shop. Needless to say
the guy (Dana) was over the moon to hear that!
We didn’t talk too long because he had customers to wait on. We couldn’t leave the mall, knowing Ringo was
there in the Brasserie, so we looked at the progress that had been made on the decorations
while we’d been gone.
After a while, we saw Ringo coming out of the restaurant and
turn into the mall. Along the way he
signed on or two autographs. He and
Barbara and two people who’d come with them from the hotel came into the mall
and sure enough, Ringo went into the Foot Locker. Patti, a few other fans, and I stood a short
ways outside the door. Ringo and Dana,
the shoe clerk, hugged each other as if they were old friends! Barb and one of the guys left for a little
while, to look at the party decorations.
Ringo sat down and spent awhile trying on the white/red/black shoes.
We watched Ringo trying on the sneakers and looking at some
kids’ t-shirts in the shop while talking with Dana. When Barbara came back Patti and I asked her
to sign some photos. She signed them and
said, “I don’t’ know if Ritchie will have time to sign.” Pattie assured her that she understood. After Ringo had bought his shoes, he posed
for a picture with Dana before leaving.
He had on the shoes he had just bought.
When he came out of the store he and his friends went to look at the bandstand. The band was there doing a sound check and
when they saw Ringo was there, they played a few bars of “Back off Boogaloo.” When they finished they said they had a song
especially for him, and played “A Hard Day’s Night” all the way through. He was
really enjoying it, bopping to the music.
A small crowd had gathered, some were there because they recognized
Ringo, but a lot had just heard the band and drifted over to watch and listen,
with no idea that Ringo was there. When
the song was over everybody, including Ringo, applauded. After that, Ringo and friends left the mall,
we followed at a distance as they went out the exit near the Brasserie and got
into a limo.
We had made plans earlier in the day to meet Brad, Rick and
their friends George and Sandy at Georgia State University. They were going to the party but we had wanted
to meet before they went in. At about
6:00 we headed over to the Brasserie.
They were going to get there a bit early and there wasn’t anyone outside
the Brasserie yet; when we got back a short while later there was quite a crowd
outside. Patti and I “excuse me’d” our
way up to the front of the crowd. There
was a long wait for guests to start arriving.
It turned into a real mob scene after the press arrived. Police barriers went up as the crowd grew, but
the security and police allowed a lot of the media people to stand in front of
the barriers. Brad, Rick, George and
Sandy had come outside to wait too, as had many of the guests.
Jerry Lee Lewis arrived, as well as Andrew Young, the mayor
of Atlanta. Other celebrity guests
included the Georgia Satellites, .38 Special, Isaac Hayes, Mike Nesmith, Nigel
Olsen, Jermaine Jackson, Expose and Peabo Bryson. When Ringo and Barbara arrived it was chaos;
the press crowded all around as they went across the sidewalk and up the
stairs. I really felt sorry for them
having to go through all that. After
Ringo and Barbara, Bill Wyman strolled from the car quite safely, as all the
press people had rushed up the stairs to follow Ringo and Barb. Ringo had on the black and white jacket he
wore onstage at the Prince’s Trust concerts; I didn’t really even see Barbara
when they came in. Bill looked good, in
a satiny blue suit.
It soon became apparent that neither George nor Paul was
coming. There were some famous people there
but nothing like the megastars that had been said to be coming. We weren’t disappointed as we had suspected
all along that It was just a bunch of hype that George and Paul would be there.
The only news of the party which I have is that most of the
guests didn’t even see Ringo for most of the night. He and Barbara did come down to the stage
when Jerry Lee Lewis got up to sing a few songs with the band, and Ringo played
drums on a couple numbers, as was shown on “Entertainment Tonight.” Ringo and Barbara left eh party through a
side door sometime after midnight.
We waited for Brad and the others to leave the party. When things starting winding down, we got
some London Brasserie chocolate which was being given out as party gifts (small
pieces of chocolate with the restaurant logo on them).
Sunday morning I called Brad and Rick. They were planning to go to Ringo’s hotel, so
we arranged to meet there. When we got
there, we found George and another fan named Tim were there too. It didn’t look like anything much was
happening there but at least it would be a chance to visit with our friends
before we left Atlanta. Patti and I had
to get an airport shuttle from our hotel at either 2:30 or 3:00 in order to get
to the airport in time for our flight home…as it got near 2:30 we decided to
take the 3:00 shuttle .. it was getting later and we’d have to leave to make
the 3:00 bus when suddenly, at about 2:40, Barbara came out of the hotel and
Ringo was there! They were with some
other people we didn’t know and Bill Wyman was there too. Rick, Patti, George, Brad and Tim went over
to Ringo; Ringo shook his hand and asked for an autograph. When I saw they were asking for autographs
and he agreed to sign, I got over there and asked him to sign too. He took his time and signed for all of
us. The guys were telling him they had
eaten at the Brasserie and the food was good, and wished him good luck with it. Patti said, “Make more records!” and he said,
“Ok!” I commented on his new shoes (he
was wearing them) but he didn’t hear me. I also heard Patti talking to Barbara
about the melee outside the restaurant the night before; there had been reports
that she had gotten hurt in the crowd coming into the party, but she assured
Patti she had just been frightened by the chaos more than anything else.
After Ringo signed, we all said thank you and then stepped
back and let him talk to his friends.
They appeared to be waiting for a car, but none arrived. I saw Patti had gone over to get Bill’s
autograph so I went over and asked him to sign as well.
Ringo posed for a photo with a couple of the guys, and then
Brad and George posed with him, so we all took a few photos. Ringo was being really sweet. Ringo and Barbara and friends waited a minute
or two longer, then went back into the hotel.
They were sitting in the lobby, but we decided we ought not the hassle
them, besides, it was 10 to 3 and Patti and I absolutely had to leave or we’d
miss the bus to the airport. It was not
easy to think about that when we had just seen Ringo Starr!
I can’t begin to express how exciting it was to see Ringo,
especially on Sunday. It was such a
highlight not only to see Ringo, but to also get his autograph! Even if I haven’t been able to get an
autograph, it would have been a great weekend and worth going. It’s not every weekend you get to meet a
Beatle at the airport, see him trying on shoes in a shoe store and get his
autograph!
