A fan that meets the Beatles for Real in Hamburg in '66

I am out of town for the day and so I am having a guest blogger fill in for me.    I hope you all give Thorsten Knublauch a warm MTBFR welcome!    Thorsten is a long time friend of this site and has written several books about the Beatles, including one that I really enjoy about the Beatles German tour in 1966.     Thanks, Thorsten for sharing with us while I am out of town!   Peace and Love -- Sara S. 

The Beatles arrival for their Hamburg concerts during their German “Bravo-Beatles-Blitztournee” at a small suburb station in Ahrensburg on June 26^th 1966, a few miles outside Hamburg, is probably my favourite Beatles “event” ever.

The Beatles traveled by special train from their concerts in Munich to Essen (actually to the station in Mülheim near Essen) and overnight to Hamburg.  Having played two shows in Munich on June 24th, they were starting on June 25th at around 8.15 a.m. to arrive in Mülheim around 4.30 pm to play to shows in Essen.  After leaving at midnight they arrived in Ahrensburg around 5.30 a.m.

 The train stations were “secret” to avoid any trouble, but even the arrival in Mülheim brought at least 1.000 fans to the gates. Someone leaked the police plan to the press. The arrival in Ahrensburg was more secret and probably only a rumor among the fans but a few hundred fans were also there around the station and very few fans and several press were on the platform. Also on the platform were some former friends from their Hamburg days club days as Bettina Derlien and Hans-Walter “Icke” Braun. The security was nearly nonexistent. Only a few police officers and the Beatles entourage of Neil Aspinall, Tony Barrow, Alf Bicknall, and Robert Whitaker where on hand to protect the safe departure. 

As seen on the footage and photos, the Beatles had to run from the train to the entrance hall, talked for some minutes to the fans and friends and then had to run out of the hall down the small stairs through the waiting fans inside their car and off they went to their castle hotel in a little village nearby called Tremsbüttel.

I always liked the scene and the photos and still wonder how on earth this happened like this. What could have happened....? When I heard that my favorite photos came on the market I bought the negatives with copyright and an unpublished one to my collection of negatives from the tour.

I`d like to present my most favorite photo of that morning and probably my most favorite picture of the tour. It shows George and Ringo carrying their small suitcases and wearing their cool 1966 sunglasses being “photobombed” by a fan they knew a bit from their Hamburg days in the early Sixties. He is called Jochen von Bredow, was at the time a journalist, and could be seen in between George and Ringo wearing a sweater with a picture of the support group of the tour a German band called “The Rattles” from Hamburg. How cool is that…? I love the impression on the Beatles faces.

In between the two shows in Hamburg, Jochen von Bredow and many other friends from the old days managed to visit the Beatles backstage and can be seen on several photos where I show a few here.

If you are interested in the full story please check my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfbkCP9HCvM.

I am planning to sell a set of my 4 new photos as shown here. Drop me a line to be informed soon. You`ll find my email address on my website www.bravo-beatles-blitztournee.de

Enjoy.

I found a driver and that's a start

Art Spectrum

Photo taken on August 11, 1971

Photo found on the "The Lennon Years" Facebook page. 

The end of this power couple was near

The fan that snapped these photos of Paul and Jane and got the autograph in Beatles Book Monthly had no idea that it wouldn't be too much longer until this lovely couple will call it quits forever. 

Photo from May 31, 1968

Canoodling backstage

Avedon

Three Beatles reunite in 1973

Ellsburg, John, Yoko, Barbra, Ringo 

The first time three former Beatles were seen together in public after the Beatles split was on April 7, 1973, at a Fundraiser in Beverly Hills, California.


The Fundraiser was for Daniel Ellsberg.  Ellsberg had worked for the RAND cooperation and due to his work, he would attend anti-Vietnam War rallies in the late 1960's.    After attending these, he began to believe that the war was wrong and needed to be stopped.    Because of his job, he had access to what was known as "the Pentagon Papers"  These papers basically stated that from early on in the war, the American government knew that there was no way the war could be won.  Ellsberg made copies of these papers and sent them to the New York Times, who promptly published them.   It was a big deal because they made both Presidents Johnson and Nixon look like incompetent leaders and liars.     Eventually, Ellsberg confessed to being the guy that leaked the papers and his trial was set for 1973.       The trial was moved to California and by April, the legal team had run out of funds.

That is when the idea of holding a fundraiser came into play.   At the time, celebrities weren't doing stuff like this for political reasons as they do today.     But Barbra Streisand really stepped up and helped with this fundraiser, which happened to be held on Ellsburg's 42nd birthday.

200 people attended at $250 a couple.    Among the famous folks there included John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr (no word on if he brought a date) and George Harrison.     However, you will not find a photograph or video footage that shows George in attendance.    Instead, George was hiding in the kitchen, successfully trying to avoid being photographed with Ringo and John as to make the appearance of a "Beatles reunion."     Personally, I think this was a bit silly, but who knows what George was thinking at the time?     But three of the Beatles were there and they were all on good terms with one another, even if George didn't want to be photographed.

A big part of the fundraiser dealt with Barbra taking requests from people on the telephone and in person for a fee.   So one phone call requested the song "People" for $1,000 and Barbra sang the song along with a piano player.      There isn't any record of John, Yoko, George or Ringo requesting a song; however one of the songs performed was "With a Little Help From My Friends."       Could one of the former Beatles have requested their own number?      What were the chances that they were singing along?

At the end of the night, $50,000 was raised.  A month later, a judge dismissed all of the charges against Ellsburg.    But what a birthday party he had!   Three Beatles in the same room for the first time and a Beatles song was performed. 


Many thanks go out to Matt at Barbra Streisand Archives for allowing me to use pieces of his original story and photographs of this event.    Check out his original story for more information.  

http://barbra-archives.com/live/70s/ellsberg_aclu_streisand.html

Getting the full picture

It seems like I have only seen this photo with George cropped really close.   Interesting to see the entire photograph. 

Signs of the times

Arriving on set

What goes on May 2018

The Beatles are jumping with amazement that Sara actually fixed some of the spelling errors on the tags!

Hello everyone,


I just wanted to touch base and let you all know what I have been up to lately.   

You might notice a few changes on the blog over the past few days.    I played around a little bit with the background color, which isn't a big difference.    I added a new "About me" page and now includes a donation through Paypal link.    Over the years people have asked me if they could donate to the blog.   As I have explained before, I need some extra funds to keep the site going and ad-free.   You can also purchase things through the Amazon links scattered throughout the site.   (Usually, after I review a book).      No pressure to donate at all, but I did want to make that available for those of you that were asking.

The BEST change is one that I am still working on.    I took a look at all of the tags for the photos and stories over the past 9 years and I have been trying to correct all of the spelling errors.   No more tags for "Pattie Body."    I also am trying to make things more consistent so that you can find things easier.    So photos of the four guys are going to be tagged "The Beatles" and not "Beatles"   also photos taken on the street where Paul lives are tagged "Cavendish Avenue" while photos that show his house are tagged "Cavendish."     


I am going on two little trips over the next 2 weeks.    Next week I will be in Cleveland, Ohio thanks to a grant that I won to do research at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame library there.    And guess who I will meet in Cleveland??    The two girls that created and wrote With a Little Help From my Friends!   I am so excited!   

When I return I will be holding the first contest I have had in quite some time.    Because it is the 50th Anniversary of the Yellow Submarine,  it will have a Yellow Submarine theme to it, so be on the lookout for that. 

Thank you all for your continued love and support!

Peace and Love,

Sara (aka Starshyne)

Dip your toe in the water

The family is ready for a day in the sun

Camping Beatles style

I found this photo online in the Creative Commons files and thought it looks like a really fun little camper.   Obviously a modern photo, but still a lot of fun!

Ringo's beachy day

Going for a swim

Time to hit the beach!

I wish all of you (U.S. readers) a happy Memorial Day!    I hope you all enjoy a day of good food and time with family.   I also hope that as the weather gets warmer many of you get to be like Ringo here and have the chance to hit the beach or the pool.

This Memorial Day I want to especially remember the father of one of my students this year.   His Dad fought in Afganistan and is no longer with us.    This student got me a Beatles book for Christmas this year.     I want to remember James Smith and thank him for being part of a bringing a great little guy into this world on top on top of being a hero.     He is missed by his family and since I try to remember someone specifically each Memorial Day, I wanted to mention Mr. Smith this year. 

Busted

Pepsi break

I love this sweater vest!

A beautiful German day

Robert Whitaker photo 

Love for the Beatles

Takin' it to the street

The Magic Christian

Beach boy

Ringo and Paul

Ringo and Paul Simon backstage at the Hollywood Bowl on May 23, 2018

The Beatles in Canada: A book review

The Beatles in Toronto in 1964 (photo from Tracks)

When we think of the Beatles story,   we think about the impact the  Beatles made in the UK and the USA.    We rarely think about the impact the guys made in Canada, which is a shame because Canada was the first North American country to embrace the Fab 4.

Canadian author, Piers Hemmingsen is working on changing how we think about Canada and the Beatles.   Today I am reviewing his first book, The Beatles in Canada:  The Origins of Beatlemania (also known as the "Red book").   The second volume (the "Blue Book") will be published in the near future. 

This book takes us through the history of rock n roll in Canada and how our neighbors from the north broadcast the new music of the 1950's.    It also ties in the author's personal experience growing up in England and moving to Canada as a child. 

Things really get interesting with Love me Do being played on Canadian radio in 1962.   And while the song didn't make the charts, it did expose the Fab 4 to an entire new group of teenagers.

In 1963, songs like From me to You and She Loves you were hitting the charts and the Beatles were making waves in Canada long before the masses heard them in the U.S.    This book really goes into the charts and explaining how things really got going.

The album that the UK fans knew as "With the Beatles," and U.S. fans knew as "Meet the Beatles," was called "Beatlemania!"  With the Beatles" in Canada.   And by the time this album was released Beatlemania had swept through the entire country. 

I loved all of the little tidbits of information in this book.   I especially enjoyed reading about the Beatle family members that moved to Canada and why they moved there.   I especially enjoyed reading about the the fan clubs they had in Canada in 1963-65.   The largest fan club outside of the UK was the Toronto club, ran by Trudy Medcalf.   The story about how she got the fan club started and how she and her vice-president met the Beatles while they were at the Plaza is such a great story!


The Beatles coming to Toronto on tour is also touched upon as well as the premieres of A Hard Day's Night throughout the country.

The Beatles in Canada is a book that all hardcore fans need to have in his/her library.   It tells new stories and the research is amazing.    This book has been a valuable asset for me personally as I continue to research about the Beatles fan club in North  America.

Ain't She Sweet

Ringo's Sentimental Journey

Bravo photo shoot