The Beatles in Action on Stage at Shea Stadium
By Linda Joy
5 Bites of the Apple
July/August 1972
I have loved The Beatles ever since ’64, especially
Paul. I always wished to see them in
person, even though I came from a small town in Connecticut. In July ’66, I was looking through the
newspaper and saw “Beatles Appearing at Shea Stadium …. August 23rd!” I thought, “oh Christ, I Gotta go!” I called up my cousin, Cassie, and she wanted
to go too. So, I asked my mother. She said, “You can go, but you have to earn
your money to see them.” No one would
believe what I did. I always hated
housework – I cleaned everything! Then I
got this brainy idea to sell soda bottles down at the store. So, my cousin and I loaded up a wagon of bottles,
and downtown we went. Everybody thought
we were weird, but I didn’t give a shit because I wanted to see them! We earned
$12.00. I sent away for the
tickets. We were waiting for weeks, and
my father made the wisecrack, “Oh, they’re probably all sold out.” Well, it was at the end of July when we got
the tickets. I was jumping up and down
with rapture, saying, “I’m gonna see Paul!”
Enclosed with the tickets was a letter saying, “Here are your tickets. Hope you enjoy the show.” I was so happy. I was crying.
All my friends envied me. Then my
mother stated that she didn’t want me to go to New York alone, being that I was
only 14 then. (I guess she was afraid of
me being mugged or something). I
explained to her that I had to go, begging that I got the tickets already. She said, “I’ll drive you and Cassie to New York.” I nearly fainted!
Finally, August 23rd came around, and of course,
I couldn’t sleep at all. I work my mother
up at 6 am, telling her that we must get an early start. We all left around 10 am since my mother didn’t
know where Shea was (She had never driven into NYC before). On the way in, I was listening to WMCA, and
all they were playing were Beatle songs.
My cousin and I couldn’t believe we were gonna see the “Famous Four.” When we finally got to Shea, I let out a big
scream. I thought for a moment that my
mother was going to crawl underneath her seat.
My mother told us that she would wait in the car, and so she parked it
near the Stadium. Cassie and I walked
around. We talked to some girls, and
they told us that they were sleeping at Shea overnight! We went back to the car and then 3 buses
pulled up…shit! I’ve never seen so many
cops in all my life. My mother even took
my binoculars and stared at them. My
cousin decided to go in – it was getting around that time.
We entered, and an usher showed us to our seats. But there was an older woman and her daughter
sitting in our seats. I told her politely
that they were sitting in our seats, and she said we were crazy. So the usher told us to sit 2 rows behind
them, and I was swearing and pissed.
Then two New York girls said we were sitting in their seats. Cassie told them what happened. So I called the usher over again. He thought we were insane. So he led us to section 9 and told us no
matter what to stay there. Well, these
seats were better than our own! I couldn’t
believe the huge signs all over the place. Some said: We love Paul too, George
wave to us, Happy anniversary John and Cyn, Paul don’t’ marry Jane Asher, and
one sign said “Paul Is Sexy” but the “Y” fell off! Then finally the show started at 8 pm, and my
heart was pounding and pounding. Bobby Hebb
came on first, then the Remains and Murray the K. He told us the Beatles couldn’t wait to see
us fans, and they love us all. Everyone
screamed…including me!
Then the Ronettes came on.
Everyone said, “We want the Beatles – Get off!” Then Murray came on, and everyone sang “Happy
Anniversary John and Cyn,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “We Love You Beatles.” Then Murray said, “HERE ARE THE BEATLES!” Everyone stood up – screaming and jumping up
and down. George and Ringo came out
first, and I screamed “George! George!” Then John and Paul came out. Paul was skipping and waving, and I really
yelled his name! Christ, did my throat
feel that scream. I was wondering if it
were all a dream. A few seats down, this
girl had a book and she was banging it over her father’s head, screaming “Paul,
Paul!” Everyone around me was in
complete ecstasy. I looked at my cousin,
and she was just sitting there. Saying
nothing. She was looking at me in a
disgusted way when I was screaming, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered.
Then Paul said, “May I speak?” These two asshole guys in the back of me
yelled, “No!” And they were yelling, “McCartney sucks!” My temper couldn’t take that anymore, so I
yelled, “Shove I up your ass, you b-----!”
Then these two other girls told them to cram it -well, they kept
quiet. Then Paul said, “I want everyone
to sing along with me and clap their hands.”
All of a sudden, these two girls went through the barricades. Paul and George were staring at them, and
everyone was yelling, “Go! Go!” The cops
caught them. When I was staring at Paul
and his body through my binoculars, I noticed that he was winking at a lady
copy, and she just turned her head. My
throat was so hoarse. I thought I wouldn’t
be able to ever talk again. It was then
Paul noticed the sign that said “Paul Is Sex,” and he said into the mic, “Oh
girls. I’m a male.” It was finally over, and John yelled, “Goodbye,
fans! We’ll be back next year, so save
your money, and we love you all.” I was
in complete shock. We had to leave, and
so we found my mother in the car, shaking, and the door locked. I asked her what was wrong, and she said, “Christ.
I never saw so many crazy kids screaming over them. They were jumping up and down on my car, and
I got scared.” I laughed. I asked my cousin to come with me to stand
near the gate once more for a minute, and I couldn’t stop thinking of Paul and
what happened. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks.
To this day, people still envy me. Yes, I was very lucky to think that was their
last New York appearance. But lucky to
see the four most beautiful people who brought happiness to me and whom I love
very deeply.
great story
ReplyDeletethese are the posts that I like the most, the fans who saw the Beatles together in concert
ReplyDeleteOH YES
DeleteI absolutely loved teading this - hilarious and moving at once. Thank you!
ReplyDeletewhat a spitfire that one at 14
ReplyDelete