Striped Shirt

 

Beatle Fans Recall a Day In the Life (1990)

Jo Reese with two friends and Paul McCartney outside the Odeon in 1963 

 Beatle Fans Recall a Day in the Life

By Yvonne Wray

Gloucestershire Echo

December 29, 1990

    Two old school pals have been reliving all their yesterdays, including the time they spent sipping coffee and having a cigarette with The Beatles.

     Jo Reese and Marilyn Clarke marched into the Cheltenham Hotel where the Fab Four were staying, and ended up chatting to John Lennon and George Harrison. "We just went into the hotel and asked to see the Beatles. We were ushered into the lounge, and we were brought coffee."

     "Then in walked John Lennon and George Harrison," said Marilyn. "They were just normal people. We had a chat about the concert the night before. We were flabbergasted that we got in at all."

     Jo and Marilyn, who were just 17, had already buttonholed a national newspaper reporter to get them backstage after the Beatles concert at the Odeon Cinema in winchcombe Street in 1963.

     They managed to find out that their idols were staying at the Savoy Hotel in Bayshill Road and watlzed into the foyer the next day.

    Jo, who lives in Sanford Mills Close to Cheltenham, and Marilyn of Lincoln Close, Tewkesbury, have been recalling the big day on local radio.  The interviews are to be broadcast again on New Year's Day.

     Jo said, "John was just like you would imagine him to be, quite cynical and sarcastic. We smoked one of his cigarettes, even though we didn't smoke. We were shaking like leaves ."

    While the pair were talking to John and George, they also got to say hello to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who were on their way out of the hotel to climb into their limousine.

     Marilyn said, "I kept the cigarette butt for ages, and I still got the autographs, although unfortunately, I didn't get John's."

     Jo said, "We used to have a great time in Cheltenham. Then the Odeon was a stage cinema ,and all the big bands came."

Press to Play Session

 

Blustery New York Day

 

The name of the dance is the Peppermint Twist

 

John and Yoko Winter ready

Photos taken by George Tebbins and other fans 

 

December 28, 1975

Macca and Mr. Silence Beatle Off (1990)

 

Photos by Vic Crawshaw

Macca and Mr. Silence Beatle Off

No Writer Listed

Daily Mirror

December 28. 1990 

 Two former Beatles jetted off to America yesterday, and it was easy to spot the difference. Talkative. Paul McCartney could hardly stop nattering about his plans, but George Harrison, the group's quiet one,  didn't say a word. 

    Paul, 48, rushed to Concorde with his wife Linda and three children, saying, "We're going to New York to do  a few bits and pieces this and that, you know, the sort of thing."  He chatted about his oratorio to be performed in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral in June. "It's going great!"  He mentioned his next album. "We'll be recording it in Britain", and he wondered about another tour. "We may go on the road again!"

     Within hours, George, 47, was leaving the same airport, Heathrow, for Los Angeles, but he kept a strict silence as he headed for his flight with wife Olivia and son Dhani, 11, clearly a hush-hush trip. 

Award for I Want To waHold Your Hand

 

From Paul's clothing, we know that this photo of the Beatles receiving a reward was taken while the Beatles were doing the Beatles Christmas Show at the end of 1963/ beginning of 1964.  

The Lounging Drummer

 

The infamous accident

 December 26, 1965

Let's have this conversation WITHOUT getting into the silly Paul-is-Dead conspiracy, okay?   Paul's official story about the moped accident was that on Boxing Day of 1965, he and his friend, Tara Browne, were riding mopeds around Liverpool.  Paul had been there visiting his family for the holidays, and Tara was visiting him.   Paul talks about how he was looking at the full moon when he suddenly realized he was going to smash his face into the pavement and couldn't stop.   Bam!  Paul gets all banged up and a semi-drunk doctor gets called and stiches him up without any pain killers.  Paul's brother Mike takes some photos.   While some people will tell you that there wasn't a full moon on December 26, 1965 -- that isn't even the part of the story that bothers me.   What bothers me is the next part that Paul always tells.   

He goes on to say how he had a bump on his lip, and so he grew a mustache. The other Beatles saw him with it and liked it, and that is why all of the Beatles had mustaches during the Sgt. Pepper era.  WHAT??   

Whenever Paul tells this story, he completely skips the year 1966.  In January 1966, Paul did not have a mustache.  We see him at George and Pattie's wedding, and I never noticed a bump on his lip when he is trying to kiss Pattie in the wedding photos.  

So then I assume that Paul just got the year wrong.  But check out this article Neil Aspinall wrote for a magazine called Fabulous208, which was published July 26, 1966. This leads me to believe it is the true story of what happened in 1965.   Which then makes me wonder if Paul didn't have another moped accident or some sort of accident again in December 1966.

    Of all the Beatles, Paul has always been the biggest believer in theatrical type disguises. As I was saying last week, he and a friend decided to go for a spin on a couple of mopeds around his father's place in the Wirral last July.

 

    Paul put on an old raincoat, beret (to hide his Beatle mop), false mustache, and glasses. "How on earth will you be able to see through those?" asked his father. (The glasses had thick lenses.)

     

    "I needn't wear these all the time", decided Paul slipping them in his pocket. "I'll shove them on if I have to stop for petrol or anything."

     

    Inevitably, the moped ran low on petrol, and Paul had to pull in at a service station. Problem was he couldn't find the right pump for the special moped two stroke fuel mixture, because the lenses blurred his view. At last, he found the right pump.

     

A girl attendant came over at once. Paul put on one of his special accents, "Fill 'er up, please", he said in a mock American accent. "Sure, Paul," the girl replied at once. "What the.......? How did you recognize me?"   "I'd know that voice anywhere, luv."

 

    If he'd used his own voice and not worn such fantastic clothes, I guess Paul would have got away with it. You'd be amazed how different a Beatle looks with his hair brushed back. That's as far as Paul should have gone, just the beret to keep his long hair pulled back off his face.

 

    Paul still has those two mopeds, by the way, he uses them every time he visits his father. A couple of weeks after the tour, he went up to Liverpool, just before Christmas, this time, there was a lot of ice on the roads around the Whirrl district, and Paul skidded violently. He came tumbling off and cut his lip. The gash healed up quickly, but Paul had to have stitches put in his mouth, and it was quite painful for a week or so.