My Love Does It Good Part 1 (1975)

 

Photo by George Tebbins

My Love Does It Good

By Cindy Rosenthal

The Write Thing

Jan/Feb 1976

    When I found myself in Southampton, I had the excitement of 11 years of waiting inside me. I had seen Paul a couple times and been to England once before, but I had never been to a concert, be it Beatles or Wings. Seeing Paul in concert had been my only dream since the Beatles broke up, and so it came to be. 

    MaryAnn Dolphin went along for the thrill of it all. I had also met George Tebbins by phone two days before I heard about the tour, and since I liked the lad, I offered to write for tickets for him too. We were all determined to see Macca in concert, even if it meant giving up our jobs. 

    We were to meet George in Southampton. When we went to the theater to get our tickets, the ticket lady told me George had already been there looking for us, and that he was by the stage door. I had a sneaky suspicion he was inside when we didn't find him. I was right, but we didn't have the nerve to go in and look for him. We went and searched hotels and guest homes for him. We did find out which hotel Paul was going to stay at by accident. Off to a good start.

     After a change of clothes, we went back to the hotel Paul would arrive at. George was already waiting there, and I was glad we finally found him. We decided to get flowers for the Maccas at a flower shop a few blocks away. I was afraid we'd miss their arrival while we were gone. 

    On the way back, we ran across a busy street in front of a bus. George yelled, "That's Paul in that bus!" I looked up and saw Mary Mac in the bus, which was being followed by two Rolls-Royces. We ran to the hotel and got there as the band appeared. Paul looked so damn good. He was in a gray suit with a matching vest and a black shirt. Linda was in a maroon dress. I was in shock. I told MaryAnn to give them the flowers while I started taking photos. I was shaking so badly. I'm surprised any of them came out. 

    When MaryAnn gave Paul the flowers, he handed them to Linda, but he kept our card and read the names. Suddenly he asked, "Who's Cindy?" I almost fell over, but instead I raised my hand. He looked at me and said, "We get letters from you from America." What could I say? I think I shook my head yes and smiled. I couldn't believe he remembered my name!  Then I started trying to take photos. If wasn't shaking before; I was shaking now. 

    Mary and Stella were running around and playing with the revolving door. Darling kids. MaryAnn went to get his autograph, and I said, "Let me take a picture of you two together." He looked up after I took the photo. Blimey! Linda smiled at me and seemed nice enough. A bellhop was trying to ask me questions while all this was going on. Couldn't he see I was going crazy?

     Finally, they went inside after Paul looked at some of George's photos. As Paul was going in, Mary ran back outside. He said, "Come this way, Mary." She answered, "I don't want to come your way." He pointed a finger at her and said, "Trouble!" in the cutest way. Mary ran back inside. 

    Needless to say, I was shaking very badly, and we went back to our guest house to see Crossroads. The now famous theme came on at the end and sounded great.

Photo by George Tebbins - taken at the Southampton concert 

     Off to the theater for the first concert. We missed the band arriving, but we got to listen to their sound check. All that was between us was the door. This was the first time I'd heard Paul live, and I was loving it. Got inside, and they told us we couldn't take photos during the concert. I was so upset. I had to check my camera. The management told us it was Paul's orders, but that was a lie. George snuck his in, though. 

    When the curtain rose, I felt a lot of emotions. There was Paul on stage with guitar in hand, just like in so many pictures and films I'd seen. It took a while for me to grasp that I was seeing him for real. Finally, a bit later, when he started singing, Maybe I'm Amazed," the tears came to my eyes. He sounded so damn good. I wanted to cry, and all my emotions were hitting me hard. This first old song was "Long and Winding Road." Well, that song really made the tears flow. I was in heaven. I was watching Paul now, and I could see him in Let It Be as well. I could remember all the good years I've had with him. It was a beautiful feeling. 

    I was quite mad at this British audience for acting so bored. I wanted to get up and bop when he did the rockers. The whole band was so tight and sounded so good. The sound system was perfect, and the show never got boring. I loved seeing them sitting in chairs with acoustic guitars and singing songs like "Blue Bird" and "I've Just Seen a Face."

     When Paul started "Junior's Farm", I couldn't take it anymore. I was standing up with MaryAnn, dancing and clapping to the music. We were the only two standing, but Paul couldn't see us. I don't know how anyone can sit calmly through songs like this one. They didn't even clap their hands. Anyway, when the end came, and fast numbers started, the fans finally ran down front. This was the most fun because you could bop to the music, or just stare at his perfect face or his body, or watch the sweat fly off his face. He seemed to love having the fans come down, digging his music. He always looked happiest then.

     At the end, the band came and threw flowers to the crowd. Then they were gone. You would be left in a daze, hot and exhausted.