Sunday, June 28, 2015

Angela the naughty little girl





I found this information on the "That Eventuality" blog (which I HIGHLY recommend!) about Angela Tarenzi, who was one of the supporting acts when the Beatles were in Italy.


Here are some recollections of that tour, from Angela and another Italian singer, Guidone…
“The Beatles were constantly watched over. I don’t know why, but I managed to get near them. I think because George Harrison liked me. He always looked at me and then he invited me into the dressing room with them. Perhaps he wanted to see if I was interested in him, Harrison appeared to be a rather shy person with gentle ways and perfect behaviour. Certainly, when a man stares at you even during the concert - well, you get the message. And George stared at me while the other Italian singers and I were among the public because those of us who sang in the first part of the concert, heard the rest from the stalls.

In Rome, when everything was over, Gianni MinĂ¡, Rossella Como and I were invited by the Beatles to their hotel. There were also two girls from Rome. They received us in their apartment at the Parco dei Principo and MinĂ¡ acted as interpreter for the few words that we exchanged. At a certain point, George asked me if we could speak alone and we went into a sitting room next door. He asked me if I wanted something to drink and I said I would like a coffee. Then he looked at me and, pointing to the ring on my finger, asked if I was married. I said ‘Yes’. He wanted to know if I had children and I said that I had. He made a movement as if rocking a baby. He looked at me and murmured, ‘Well, I am silly.’ He said it in English, yes, but I understood and the story finished there.

…[W]e all left and went to the Club 84. We didn’t stay long… Outside there were the paparazzi who took photos. Harrison began to run and, looking at me, he said, ‘Come on, come on.’ I, on the other hand, was walking calmly. Afterwards, everybody got into the car with me and Rossella Como and we toured round the sleeping city, although it was nearly morning, because the Beatles hadn’t seen anything of Rome….

I remember asking why they were so closely watched and why they always ran literally bent double. It was something that I found very strange because it must have been very uncomfortable. Then George told me that when the Beatles had been on tour… they had had a terrifying experience. Two… girls had grabbed them by the hair which was literally torn from their heads. They had been so frightened that since then, they always ran head down…

What I can remember of the scenes of hysteria in Rome is a young girl who must have been about 16. There were many who screamed and swayed and writhed but I noticed this one who had torn off her blouse and was left with her breasts bare for all to see! It struck me because at that time it was so absurd, she appeared to have gone mad. They carried her out; strange that nobody remembers it.“
- Angela Tarenzi, Beatles Dolce Vita

“At the Vigorelli they joked with a singer called ‘Angela bambino cattiva (Angela, the naughty little girl)’, who was the beautiful wife of Aldo Pagani. At the Vigorelli Angela came into the Beatles dressing room and George Harrison flirted with her. After asking me who she was, he got me to translate some nice compliments for her. He also said that he had heard her sing in the afternoon and that she was very good. However, I knew that it was not true, because the Beatles had stayed in their dressing rooms, from which they couldn’t hear anything.

So, Angela was very flattered bit there was no more time because Harrison was about to go on stage. Given George’s ardour, I thought there might have been a follow-up. But then after the show, after the Beatles had gone, Angela came with us to eat a pizza at Santa Lucia. In Rome George and I spoke about Angela again and he told me he was not looking for a relationship.” - Guidone, Beatles Dolce Vita

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