After coming to Atlanta in October 1986 for a few days to
appear at a press conference to promote the London Brasserie, Ringo came back
to Atlanta on Friday, September 25 for the much-heralded (or should I say
hyped) opening festivities for the restaurant.
At this point I suppose some recounting of facts is in
order. At the press conference last year
I asked Ringo if he was coming back to Atlanta when the restaurant opened. He said he would and that it would be opening
“in March or April” (just like Paul’s newest album will be out in
February!). After several delays, it was
finally announced that the restaurant would be opening in September and several
celebrity guests had received invitations and accepted, including Elton John,
Joan Collins, Roger Moore, and George Harrison.
Well, this was certainly enough to shake me out of my
dog-days lethargy and on the phone trying to round up some press passes (I’m
the features editor at the Georgia State University Signal). Through August and September, the hype
grew. It was being billed as “the
biggest celebrity guest list” – Phil Collins, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Eric
Clapton… There was talk of an English
double-decker bus being used to ferry Ringo and the other celebrities off their
chartered jet on September 25 (the day before the party) to take them to a
pastoral English-style picnic in the countryside. We were getting excited.
About mid-September my friend and fellow Beatlemaniac,
George Watts, and I finally got our press passes. On the same day we got that squared away, I
called Pat up in Cleveland to keep her abreast of all that was brewing down
here, and she passed on a fascinating little morsel of news. She said that Petra Zeitz had just written
her saying she’d heard through the MPL grapevine that Paul and Linda would be
in Atlanta on September 26 for the restaurant opening! Hearing this piece of information from
someone removed from all the hoopla and rumors that were sweeping Atlanta was certainly
encouraging!
Our hopes were raised even more the weekend before the party
when George Watts, his brother Tim, and our other Beatlemaniac friend, Rick
Glover, went to the trial-run opening of the Brasserie and they got to talk to
Alan Lubin, the actual manager of the restaurant. He told them when the supposed British
Caledonian flight full of celebs would be landing and casually mentioned that “a
few of the Beatles and three of the Stones” would be getting off the
plane. He also said the Beach Boys would
be entertaining at the party and Ted Danson of “Cheers” would be behind the bar
serving drinks.
After a crazy week, September 25th finally came
(what we had joking been referring to as B Day number 1). I went over to the Marriott Marquis Hotel
around 1:30 in the afternoon to greet Jennie Swenton and Patti Murawski and let
them know what was going on. We left to
greet the 4:30 flight at Hartsfield Airport around 2:45.
When we arrived at the international arrivals terminal, it
was all very quiet, which we thought was fairly unusual given the fact that the
airplane’s arrival time had been announced on some Atlanta radio stations. I didn’t really feel nervous about the entire
thing until about 4:15 when officials with the British Consulate in Atlanta,
managers and restaurant publicists, police and other members of the media
descended on the terminal. Then the ol’
pulse went up a little bit. I really felt
like I had to cement my feet into the ground to keep from pacing. When a voice came over the intercom system to
announce that British Caledonian 231 had arrived, a silence seemed to blanket
the entire area. I was braced not only
to see Ringo but also George and/or Paul and any other celebrities.
Ringo and Barbara were the first off the jet, moving through
the terminal fairly quickly. I was a little confused for split second, aside from
the usual brainlessness that strikes all of us when a Beatle is in the room – I
was wondering if I should stay put and see who else go off the jet, or take off
after Ringo, which is what nearly everyone else was doing. I decided that I didn’t see any other Fabs ..
or any other celebs for that matter, so I took off after Ringo. We followed up the escalator out to the 30-foot
limousine parked immediately outside which he and Barb quickly got into. Bill Wyman followed soon after. But beyond them, there were no other rock
stars in sight. There was an English double-decker bus, but a bunch of anonymous
English folks piled in.
It was at this point that we began to smell some rotten
eggs. We were still hoping that at least
some guests they said were going to be there would actually show up.
Once inside the party on Saturday night, reports were still
persisting that loads of celebrities would soon be in our midst. In fact, one waitress told us that George and
Julian were in the city limits and would be arriving soon (she said the
restaurant managers told her this). Soon
after, we zipped outside to watch the arrival of the limos
Ringo and Barbara and Bill Wyman arrived to much cheering
from the press and onlookers who had gathered outside, but beyond that a long
succession of nobodies got out of the cars.
Ted Lang, who used to play Isaac the bartender on The Love Boat, Bertie
Higgins, a few members of the George Satellites and .38 Special. But no Paul.
No George. Not even Joan
Collins. Not one of the celebrities’ publicists
and the restaurant managers were saying would be there showed up.
Ringo, Bill, and other “names” escaped to the V.I.P. lounge
of the restaurant, leaving us with little to do but sit around, eat, and grumble
about the deception that had been involved with this entire event.
Our mood definitely picked up, though, when Ringo got up on
the stage with Jerry Lee Lewis and local band called Star Shower. They did two numbers together, an old blues
standard and “Mony Mony” While Ringo was
playing drums I managed to get up on the stage to take some photos of him in
action and got within three feet or so from him while he was laying. Believe me, being that close to one of the
Fabs while they were making music was something I won’t soon forget!
We did get to see Ringo, Barb and Bill Wyman at the
Westin-Peachtree Plaza Hotel again on Sunday.
Conveniently enough they came out around 2:40, directly before Jennie
and Patti had to get to the airport for their flight back to Hartford. All three of them appeared to be in a good mood;
more than willing to pose for photos and sign autographs for us.
It was a weekend of real joy and some disappointment. I felt a real sense of outrage that so much deception had been associated with the party,
but since it’s so relatively rare that one of the Beatles comes through town,
it was great to see Ringo here again!
I was the beverage manager for the Brasserie. That opening was a trip. Alan Lubin, while good natured, was definitely the showman. And they spent a crapload of money on that place. They wanted a certain finish on the walls so brought painters over from England and set them up in an apartment so that everything could look just so. The oil paintings on the walls, chairs, lighting fixtures, all flown over from the UK. Shortly after the opening, there was the huge October stock market crash and we were circling the drain. It was fun while it lasted.
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