Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Day the Beatles came to visit

So I don't regularly read the "Weekly World News" because let's face it, stories about the Bat Boy and Hilary Clinton being an alien aren't exactly what  I want to read.   However, the entire "Weekly World News" is available free of charge through google books, and so I ran "Beatles" though the search and found this nice story about Reed Pigman Jr. from when the Beatles were in Alton, Missouri in 1964.   








THE DAY THE BEATLES CAME TO MY HOUSE
By Mark Sellers
World Weekly News
May 15, 1990

He was only 14 in 1964 when his dad brought John, Paul, Ringo and George home to diner!

Reed Pigman Jr. was the luckiest kid in the world and didn't even know it when the Beatles spent two fabulous days at his parents' ranch after their American concert tour in 1964!

Pigman was only 14 at the time and barely knew who the Beatles were.

Now 40, he fondly recalls watching the TV show Flipper with Ringo, eating breakfast with George and teaching Paul how to ride a horse.

But the years haven't changed his hatred for John, who treated the boy like dirt and in Pigman's own words "was an ass."

"John didn't want anything to do with a kid.  He didn't have time for me at all," said Pigman of Fort Worth, Texas.

"Paul, George and Ringo were nicer.  They enjoyed being on the ranch and treated me with respect, especially when they saw that I knew how to ride a horse.

"That gave me credibility with them and some common ground.  I wasn't a big fan of music and really didn't know who the Beatles were until I saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show a few months before they arrived."

The Fab Four decided to visit the Pigmans' Missouri ranch after receiving an invitation from Pigman's father whose firm, American Flyers, jetted them from city to city on their U.S. tour.

The Beatles arrived on September 19 and spent the next two days riding Pigman's go-cart, driving his parents' cars and pretending to be cowboys.

"Ringo had holsters and cap pistols and went around shooting everything that moved," said Pigman.

"They all thought it was fun to say 'howdy' and Lennon was always trying to talk in a Texas drawl.  The only song they sang on the ranch was Home On The Range.

"I wish I had been older and fit in more," said Pigman.  "Having the Beatles visit is something I wish I could live over again."

1 comment:

  1. very nice - love reading these older encounters with the lads

    ReplyDelete