https://patreon.com/meetthebeatlesforreal
Hello MTBFR viewers,
People have been asking me to post some of the more "scandalous" stories about fans meeting the Beatles for many years. I have always been a bit reluctant to do so because they often paint the Beatles fans negatively. Many of those fans are still very active in the Beatles fan community, and I didn't want to shine a bright light onto an event that they might be embarrassed about that happened 50 or more years ago.
Some stories about the Beatles, their wives, or other insiders aren't very positive. I didn't want to upset anyone by sharing these stories.
And yet -- it is a disservice to NOT share them. The good, the bad, and the ugly of The Beatles and their fans are part of history. The Beatles and their fans were far from perfect. People hated Yoko because she was Japanese. Linda was threatened by the "baddies." Paul might have punched Caroline in the nose when she came onto his property. To ignore these facts is whitewashing the Beatles' story and not being completely honest.
However, I didn't like the idea of sharing all of those stories (although I have shared quite a few of them) on this public forum where anyone can easily find them. Those of us who are dyed-in-the-wool Beatles fans can take the stories and place them correctly in context to where they fit in the history of John, Paul, George, or Ringo. If a story took place in 1970 and Paul is rude to a fan, we know that Paul was going through depression and depending heavily on alcohol and that his attitude is understandable. We also know that Linda will help him pull himself together, and he will form Wings and eventually return to his usual charming Paul self. The fan in 1970 doesn't know that and is writing from the 1970 point of view.
But people that randomly find this site and aren't deep seeded in Beatles history don't have that background and often misconstrue things.
So I came up with a solution to this issue (I hope). I have decided to start a Patreon where I will share the stories and photos that I think only us hard-core Beatle fans want to read or see and can understand properly. My thought process is that hardcore fans would be willing to pay a little bit for this content, whereas the casual browser will not be that invested.
And I will be 100% honest with you (because that is always how I have run this site), I am looking to make a huge change in my life, and I will be in need of some money So this is an idea I had to help me pay the bills and not just for the betterment of Beatledom.
If you join, it will cost $4.00 a month. I WILL NOT be updating every day, but at least 1-2 times a week. If you join before May 31, 2023, you will be entered into a contest to win a Beatles prize. I will tell you more about that later. I haven't had a contest in a long, long, long time.
If you do not want to join -- no big deal! I am NOT giving up the regular Meet The Beatles...For Real site and I will still be updating it 5 times a week, as I have been doing for 14 years. Nothing is going to change right here (although I might remove a few of the old articles and put them on Patreon -- namely, the one about the girls that took Mary to "babysit" her.)
I have never done anything like this before, so have a little grace as I work out how to do it. If you have any questions -- please ask.
Peace and Love
Sara (aka Starshyne)
Understood. Better to share and feel compassion for their human state, bittersweet though that may be, than to look away.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a bad idea! It also will be great to see what story is real and what isn't. George had many problems throughout his life... Actually everyone in the group plus the people in the inner circle aren't quite "saints". It will be an interesting read.
ReplyDeletehow things change; the original fan magazines (write thing, 5 bites , etc.) did not censor and no one was offended
DeleteThe original fan magazines were not broadcast to the world at large. They were sent to Beatle fans that paid for them. I honestly don't think the Beatles fans today are offended. I just don't believe the casual fan understands the entire story, and when they read something that they consider to be "controversial," they take it all out of context. I wanted a place to share things with real fans. I figure if you are willing to pay $4 a month, then you are a real fan (much like how people paid for subscriptions to The Write Thing). There are just 18 of us (including me) on the site, but I have been sharing rare photos and interesting stories. I think the few that have joined are enjoying it. If it isn't your thing -- no big deal. I haven't changed anything that I do here for free. I just recently resigned from my teaching job after 20 years, and now am working on something that I really want to do, but it is part-time. I needed to try to find a way to make some extra money to pay for my prescriptions (no health insurance with a part-time job). I thought this might be one way to help me supplement my income.
Deleteloved all the fanzines from years ago always waiting for them to come in the mail and either meeting or being a penpal to the other fans
Deletereal fans? lol
DeleteHave you ever met someone who was a casual fan of the Beatles? Maybe "real fans" was a bit harsh. Everyone who appreciates the Beatles music is really a fan. There are some of us that study their lives and know a lot about them. Those are the fans that I am talking about. Maybe I should have said "mega geeky fans" instead of "real."
Deleteguess me mates & me who've been fans since 1964 are the genuine ones ya think
Delete6/18...actually experiencing the whole Beatle thing has really been something for us "oldies"
Deletehave memories of real linda experiences where she was very nasty
ReplyDeleteLinda's been gone 25 years now, and while many people didn't take a shine to her when she and Paul were first married, over the years we all grew up and matured, including Linda. Sometimes respect and admiration have to be earned, especially if the person you don't like eventually understands why they offended you.
DeleteSpeak for yourself. Paul and Linda were adults. Allowances can be made for Paul - he was the one who went through the stress of being a Beatle, not Linda. 'Maturity' was realizing it wasn't good PR to upset the very people that made him, especially at a time he could ill-afford to lose support. Tolerance is more important than whatever we think or feel about anyone.
Deleteyou had to have been there from 1969 -2005
Deletetypo - meant 1969 to 1975
DeleteLinda was nasty to the fans because they were nasty to her. Despite being a strong confident woman, during that time she might have been feeling insecure and vulnerable. And Paul wasn't much help, as he was depressed and drinking heavily. People were harsh on her, and she had no relatives and close friends living in London. Living on the farm, after Mary was born, was a good idea, as it was a relaxing time for both Paul and Linda. He didn't want to lose his wife and neither his fans. And once she learnt to respect them, they in turn respected her. It was mutual, although there are always those who have never accepted her as we can see even on this site. People could be immature!
Deletemany of us were never nasty to her but she was to us for years and that's a fact
DeleteGirls hanging at Cavendish were a complete nuisance. She didn't like that, and that's understantable. Once they stopped, things began to change. She had her flaws, but she wasn't a bad person. Sometimes, we just need to let go, forgive and forget.
Delete10.56am. You should just accept some people don't warm to Linda. Anybody would think it's the law to automatically like someone just because they married a Beatle. I dont see why Linda should be respected or admired any more than the other women in the Beatles' lives. Just because she was in his band does make her a special case. It's immature to resent other people just because they don't feel the same way you do.
Delete7:16am - thank you. Need to add that NONE of the Beatles' women ever treated the fans the way linda did. End of true story.
DeleteHearing and reading about how young adult women (not teenagers) lined up in a row and shouted abuse at Linda as she went past, leaving her own home, I think we can understand why she didn't grin ecstatically and say something like, "Hi, everyone, lovely to see you!"
DeleteIf you were a nice, polite, reasonable person and she snapped at you for no reason I can also see why the memories of her (before she got used to everything, wised up, and was nicer and kinder) would not be warm.
"many of us were never nasty to her but she was to us for years and that's a fact"
DeleteI'm sorry to hear that. Truly. I can see how "baddies" as well as nicely behaved, sincere people would be in the same crowd or gathering, acting out and causing trouble. So catching flack from Linda would be disappointing to say the least. And ruin an encounter with Paul.
Anonymous April 20, 2023 at 7:16 AM
Delete10.56am.
I didn't like Linda for quite awhile. But long before she passed away negative feelings were balanced with a more humane take on her as a person and view of what she went through, especially in the early years. Being a full time member of the band never seemed like a great idea, and has no bearing at all on whether or not I or anyone else liked her.
Resentment? You are free to feel as you must.
no point in continuing this; after many years of linda's insults in london and nyc I stopped waiting to see paul in 1976 in nyc when she gave us the middle finger after a brief chat with him
Delete7:16am. It's not 'inhumane' in not warming to a person. That's absurd. For all your justifications you can't force people to like Linda just because you do and insinuate that they are are mean and insensitive because they don't. That's intolerant. Regardless of her behaviour to fans, it was her attitude in general I never took to. I'm sure her and Paul's celebrity friends and fans loved her but there seemed to be two sides to Linda.
DeleteYou are all free to feel how you like. But we're talking about the early seventies here, and Linda has been dead for 25 years now. None of the other three Beatles had fans hanging at their home, like Paul and Linda. Besides she became nicer in later years, I've read stories about her, how kind she really was, sometimes even nicer than Paul!. A lot of Paul's fans were jealous of her, and they have never accepted her as his wife. Despite what you all say, this woman had a beautiful soul, and Paul loved her dearly,
DeleteYeah, that would definitely end things on a very sour note.
DeleteWe all have more than one side, and over the years Linda's warmth and kindness became more evident, including her exchanges with fans. If people had several bad encounters with her that would be very disappointing and of course wouldn't endear her to anyone then or now. As for humanity, we can only look at our own take on how we feel about another person, alive or deceased, and act accordingly. Feelings can change dramatically between the time they form at a very young age, and how we take stock decades later.
DeleteA good Beatle mate who was a John fan said that Linda was jealous of the fans and Paul's attention towards them. I think she was right.
Delete"You are all free to feel how you like". Absolutely, so why don't you practice what you preach. Your fan worship of Linda is unhealthy and weird. She was an ordinary person with good and bad points like everyone else. A few jealous fans don't speak for thousands and all of the Beatles had to deal with those. Did dislike of Yoko also make John's fans jealous for marrying him too? Sheesh.
DeleteAnonymousApril 22, 2023 at 8:01 PM
Delete7:16am Inhumane?
Was speaking about my own emotional arc, changed dramatically from wanting to give Linda the finger myself, during the early years, to a far more mellow frame of mind. That certainly took time, and didn't happen quickly. I understand that Linda didn't "take" with a lot of people and never will.
Peace.
So I guess it is safe to say that people aren't interested in joining.
Deletedon't expect this posted but I need to say that 4/23 at 5:24 pm was absolutely correct as Linda was horrid and had a filthy mouth toward the fans then whether some people believe it or not
DeleteTalking about someone who has said/did something wrong, decades ago, is very unhealthy. Especially, if that particular person is no longer with us.
Deleteimo sharing all Beatle related stuff here is not unhealthy just fans talking
Deletesounds good like a complete MTBFR
ReplyDeleteHI. DON'T REALLY SEE WHY ALL THESE FAN STORIES AND STUFF THAT HAPPENED HAS TO BE A SEPARATE BLOG. IT IS WHAT IT IS AND PEOPLE CAN HANDLE IT...NYC64
ReplyDeleteMaybe you missed the part where I said that I am going to have a major life change occur and need a way to make money to pay my bills. I tried to come up with an idea where 1. I can make some money and 2. I can share the stories that people typically complain about privately so that fans that appreciate the Beatles and their history can see them.
Deletehow about just adding the patreon into the regular site and charge the $4
DeleteI am not exactly sure how to do that.
Deletebest to you Sara with your personal life changes
ReplyDeletehave always found that picture gross
ReplyDeletehi sara: about extra $ as well as this site; part time on weekends at a va or nursing home?
ReplyDelete4:31pm. Paul courted his fans and engaged with them until the end of 1968 even though that year was an unhappy one for him. Once Linda came along that dynamic changed and before the Beatles breakup stress really set in so don't blame that. Bad behaviour from fans whatever their age wasn't acceptable and neither was hers. True, she got better over time but Linda knew what she was in for from the beginning in hooking up with a Beatle. All people in the public eye are subject to either adulation or criticism depending on how they are perceived whether we've met them or not (98% of us haven't let's face it) but most don't whine the way that entitled John/Yoko and Paul/Linda did because they happened to be Beatles. And that's coming from a big Beatles fan from the beginning.
ReplyDeletewell said 4/22 at 8:57 PM
Deleteagree
Deleteyes
DeletePaul's behavior started to change in late 1968. OK. And what happened in late 1968 ? Linda got pregnant. Maybe P&L decided to then circle the wagons because a child was now involved. If they did, than good for them. No one knows the levels of abuse P, L,J & Y went thru all those years, and it mustve gotten so tiresome for them after awhile. LOL, you oughtta look in the mirror before you point fingers about so called entitled, whining rock stars.
Deletebest comment of all 8:57...coming from another fan from the beginning
Delete"Linda's been gone for 25 years". John, George, Cyn, Mo, Mal, Brian, Mimi & others in the close Beatle circle are gone too but we still are interested in everything real about them. This is the purpose of this site.
ReplyDeleteWhatever, I don't care if you (plural) don't like Linda, it doesn't make any difference to me, and I'm not trying to make you like her. It's just baffling to me that after all these years, you still feel resentment towards this woman and you're still carrying a grudge against her. Just because she married a Beatle, it doesn't mean that she had to be a super woman. She was still human with all her imperfections. I gather, she needed a few years to real settle down. We were seeing things from the outside, I wonder what any of us would have done, if we were in her shoes. I don' t think it was easy to be married to Paul, we look at him as a Beatle, but she was living with a complex man with all his problems and insecurities. And I 'm not justifying anything either, I just see things in a different way than you.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up.
Delete1.07pm. "Just because she married a Beatle" - that's kinda pathetic and plays into Paul's sense of self-importance (nobody's 'allowed' to marry me because I'm a Beatle and it upsets my millions of fans, lol). Maybe he was being defensive but it's not a good look. Paul was ready to get married, his choice and none our business, so to imply a grudge or resentment towards Linda simply because she married him is idiotic. Or jealous which is equally dumb. Do you still seriously believe girls thought they could marry him? Being married didn't affect the other three guys and their fans. There were and are other reasons. I wasn't one of the fans outside his gates or hotels because I lived too far away. My opinions of Linda were formed of her as a person in her own right from what I read of her and how she came across as a person from beginning to end. I just wasn't all that impressed by her. Sorry if you are hurt or disappointed but you have no right to make implications about others. I'm sure there are people who don't impress you either. So baffle on or be angry about it for the rest of your life if you want to. So sick of this.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess people don't want to join.... that was the whole point of this post. Not to argue about Linda. THIS is the reason why I have moved some of the more controversial things over to a paid site -- so that people don't argue.
DeleteI have stopped accepting all comments on this one. Do you realize that is the third time THIS YEAR that I have had to do this? In 14 years, I have had to close down comments three times --- all within the past 4 months. Stop talking about Linda and Jane here. Join 2.0 and talk all you want there. That is why I started it. So that this didn't have to be public. Don't respond to this. I am not posting it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know you won't post this Sara but I'm saying it anyway. Pity that people are now wary of contributing their honest experiences or memories for real of any of the Beatles or partners to your site (or your other site) for fear of insults from a few who find them unacceptable and attempt to invalidate them. Nobody wants that. That's how arguments start. Pretty unfair also for the people who wrote those early newsletters unable to defend themselves against these people. A great shame because much insight into the Beatles came from their fans and now that is being lost. If that's what you want then so be it. Not all of us are Americans and $4 may not seem much to you but exchange rates do make a difference. I'd disable comments on the more controversial posts right from the start but it's your site not mine.
ReplyDeleteI posted your comment because I wanted to respond. People are not wary of contributing because people have never contributed a lot, to begin with. I might get 1-2 stories sent to me a year. I am sorry if you think $4 is too much. I tried to choose a reasonable price. The exchange in The UK and Europe is a little over 3 pounds/Euros, and it is close to $6 in Canada and Australia. Those are the main demographics I see. I didn't think any of that was too expensive. Obviously, very few people are interested in 2.0. This site is very different than social media. I have no way of turning off comments or blocking people. And again, I will be honest with you -- I do not read all of the comments. If it is long (such as my comment here), I glance at it and let it go through. Typically I don't know what people are talking about. Really it would be nice to have someone else help me run this site and be in charge of comments, but no one is interested. I am doing the best that I can. Things should get better in a month when I will have more time to dedicate to this site again. I have let things go since 2019 and that is all on me.
Deleteget it that about the income but kinda disappointed that the original site wasn't truly a complete for real one; good luck with #2
ReplyDelete