Thursday, March 19, 2020

Ringo's front door



This story is found in the September 1970 issue of the Beatles Rule fan club newsletter.


July 20, 1970

We went by bus to Hanstead to Compton Road to see Ringo. Arrived there around 10:15 am.   Went to a couple of other houses asking if Ringo lived there... well we finally did find the house, and went up to the door and knocked.  We heard Jason saying, "Mummy someone is at the door."  Maureen answered  (no makeup, house dress on and very pregnant) and we said could we see Ringo.  She said,  "He's busy."  Glenna then snapped a picture of her and she said, "That's not fair...honestly.  Tch!"  Glenna immediately said I'm sorry, but she still gave Glenna a very nasty look (a sort of look that goes right thru you).  I then asked Maureen if she would accept the photo album I made for her family when I saw them last year when they came to N.Y. on the Queen Elizabeth II.  She said, "Oh" and then closed the door in our faces.   After feeling like two cents, we decided to go into town and get Maureen some flowers and candy to make up for what we did.  We asked one of the gardeners up the road where the nearest town was.  He said it was about half-hour walk.  After about twenty minutes, we realized the road stretched out before us and the half-hour walk was more that one and a half hours.  We went to the candy shop and florist and got Maureen a bunch of pink carnations.  We hitched a ride back and gain got off at Compton Avene. 

Went back to Ringo's and waited.  It was freezing cold!  It was about noon then and we hoped Ringo would come out about an hour and a half later we heard a car door slam and within split seconds we finally saw Ringo.  He was driving.  He smiled a big one at that and waved at us.  I took some pictures and the others took movies.  He really looked great.  as soon as he was gone we went back to the door and handed Maureen the flowers and candy we bought for her.  She gave us such a beautiful smile and we really felt good!  She said, "Oh, you didn't have to..."  We said to her that we wanted to apologize for that morning.  I asked her how she like the photo album.  She said, "I didn't know you took so many that day..."  Jason was at the door with her at the time smiling at us also.



It was about 4:30 pm and we were still waiting for Ringo.  I asked the others if they wanted to peek in the backyard.  Sure enough, there was Zak and Jason helping the workman.  It was cute to see Jason picking up the brick and throwing it and Zak struggling with this big shovel.  For 15 minutes we watched and took movies.  Zak is so shy he turned to look at us and then turned back Jason, on the other hand, is very much like his "Uncle Paul."  He kept waving and smiling at us.  Those two kids are so adorable!  An hour later Ringo and this guy came back in the car and we all got excited trying to wave Ringo to stop.  He waved us away.  We were shocked.  I kept wondering what happened.  The other guy came out and Glenna asked him if Ringo was mad.  He said, "No...he's always like that.  He's a family man and he wants quiet."  A few minutes later we looked back and saw Ringo playing with the kids in the yard.  It was something you read about but never expect to see!


23 comments:

  1. Ughhhhh. Poor Maureen and Ringo. It's one thing to stalk a celebrity around public places. I can understand that. What I don't understand is imposing on celebrities' private homes and their families' private lives. Maureen already clearly showed she was annoyed at these fans' intrusion; they then doubled down on it by imposing on her AGAIN to apologize and give her an unasked-for gift (with the ulterior motive of seeing Ringo).

    I am a big fan of the Beatles in general and Paul McCartney in particular. However, I NEVER have had the desire to meet him. He writes and performs great music and that's enough for me.

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    1. wasn't very considerate to snap a pic in her face esp. her being very pregnant

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  2. These kinds of stories are always fascinating.

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  3. The double edged price of fame. Out of the four Beatles, Ringo had the least tolerance for this kind of behavior. There are few to no photos of him posing with fans outside of his house from the 60's. Now (in my opinion) Ringo's only interest in fans is strictly financial. I don't picture him hanging out with anybody who isn't a millionaire. Peace and love, my ass. 😠 (MarkZapp)

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    1. Hey Zapp, I've got news for you...all The Beatles' interest in fans was strictly financial!!! Still is for Macca and Ringo as well. After what happened to John and George, I am amazed that Paul and Ringo still engage with "fans" - a shorthand term for the word fanatic.

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    2. Yep; when Ringo's at 'work', he'll pose with anyone. When he's *not* at work, Richie's not interested in some nutjob dropping in. Fair enough. I'd be the same way after nearly sixty years of it.

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  4. with the years of traveling w/ the band & all that went with it, I don't blame Ringo for wanting a quiet life w/ his family; he did sign & talk to fans outside Apple if you recall

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    1. I now understand why George was so negative about the Beatles' fame and why he bought a huge enclosed estate after the band broke up. Fans showed up at Kinfauns at all hours of the day, brazenly ringing bells and knocking on the door and demanding a personal appearance by George or Pattie, no matter how the Harrisons might have been dressed or how they might have felt about the matter.

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    2. 3/22 got it right - George was particularly upset after his sweet Mum passed

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  5. I have to agree with most of the other comments about intruding on a Beatle's private life. You never know what kind of lunatic will show up on your front door (unfortunately, we all know exactly what that means now). I would suggest to Sara that giving these people space on her site just perpetuates their self-justification at being annoying to the people they claim to be fans of, even if it did happen fifty years ago. Personally I always cringe when I read these stories. Publish the photos, but don't give them another platform to boast about being boors.

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    1. I am sorry that you do not enjoy the stories. But that is what this entire site is about. The photos and stories of fans that met the Beatles. This was published in a fan magazine that I would guess 99% of you do not have. I reproduce them for historical information and because I love these stories.

      In general I am surprised how much things have changed in past 11 years. I have always posted stories just like this one when I find them. People use to love them and want more. In the past 2 years I have had a change and people are angry with the fans for doing what they did.

      1970 was a different time than 2020 (as we all know). After 1980 things really changed. None of these fans were dangerous. Some of them crossed the line for sure. They were teenagers and did not see the harm in it. If Ringo was really upset with them, he could have called the cops. Instead he just waved them away.

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    2. I don't think most people today have a problem with stores about standing outside Cavendish or Abbey Road and encountering a Beatles going to or fro. The group knew that this was part of the deal. Same with meeting people at soundchecks or backstage, etc.

      But yeah, kids banging on their front doors demanding attention is another thing entirely. Not everything that happened in the past is worthy of being preserved for historical reasons.

      I don't think Ringo "calling the cops" would be effective the fiftieth time it happened, or would be good P.R. for the band ('Tiger Beat: Ringo had me arrested!'). So they didn't have much choice. "Meet the Beatles for Real" is one thing, but "Annoy the Beatles" is another thing entirely.

      Now that I think about it, I'd probably enjoy reading a story where George or Ringo told some bothersome fan to 'f*** off' and leave them alone. 'Historical information', right?

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    3. Agree w/ mcarp; think of it this way - how many people would like others banging on their doors demanding attention whether it was the 60's, 70's or whatever. Just because they were The Beatles did that mean they & their families did not deserve privacy - apparently so.

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    4. Yes. It IS historical information. And I have those stories as well. Mostly Paul is the one that tells them to Eff Off, although I think all four of them did at some point. Paul often called the cops on the girls outside of Cavendish.

      Do I agree with the girls going to the homes of the Beatles? Not really. I wouldn't have had the guts to do it myself because I respect their privacy (or at least try to). But it happened and some great photographs have been taken because of these visits.

      I am actually looking for some of the times Paul told the girls during the Ram sessions to eff off to include in my upcoming book.

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    5. John yelled out the window to f-k off when he lived in the village

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    6. just saying - remember John didn't want fans hanging around Bank St. but there was a group who kept going there anyway and Paul was very clear about no one going up to Scotland but that didn't work either

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  6. Bravo Sara, very well said, I for one enjoy the stories and hope you keep printing them for the reasons you stated, if someone doesn't like the content in certain stories, then don't read them, this is your site and many more enjoy all aspects of it, thank you so much, as Always, Peace and Love

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  7. Sara, I am glad you post the stories. It's natural for us in the 2020s to recoil at some of the behavior because, unlike the 1960s and 1970s, we know that deranged people caused harm to John and George. We also now know that The Beatles were extremely lucky to escape the lunatics who shot at their airplane, the sociopaths who tried to set them up by sending underage girls to their hotels, and the fanatics who stormed the stages they performed on.

    If anything, I feel enormous pity for Paul and Ringo because the fame never has gone away. As elderly men, they still cannot go anywhere in public without security and advance planning.

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  8. Sara can post what she wants however it's no doubt some fans despite their age weren't out to physically hurt the lads but the disrespect to their privacy as mentioned already was wrong and insensitive to say the least

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  9. amazing to me that one could love/enjoy accounts like this but it is MTBFR

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  10. HELLO - LOVE THE INPUT. MY OWN IS THAT THESE ARE ALL PARTS OF THE HISTORY OF BEATLEMANIA WHICH DIDN'T BURN OUT IN 1966. YOU CAN CRINGE, LAUGH OR SMILE BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS. STAY WELL FOLKS...64FAN

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