Mother and daughter

 Heather and Linda McCartney at a birthday party for Denny Laine.  I have shared this photo in black and white in the past and there was a lot of discussion about if that is really Heather.  So I am going to share the back of this photo with you as well.   Denny's birthday is October 29.  When I turn the back of the photo upside down, it looks like it is stamped to have been printed "Nov 76."  While the date written is 1976-1977 -- it had to have been taken at Denny's birthday party in 1976 which makes Heather 13 going on 14 in December. 

Pepper Session

 

Shock as Denny Quits Wings (1981)

 

I often forget that Denny Laine officially quit Wings in 1981.  I find it a bit humorous that the reason Denny gives sounds like something Paul himself said to The Beatles.  I don't think John's murder is the reason why Wings stopped touring, although it didn't make Paul and Linda want to jump back on the road  If you look at what Linda was saying after the Wings Over America tour, she wanted to slow down and do concerts -- then Japan happened, and that was the end of touring for Wings. Plus, why wasn't Tug of War recorded as a Wings album if Wings were still together?  Sure, Denny was on a few tracks on that, but it was never a Wings album.   Anyhow -- Denny is seen in this photo sitting on top of his car because the same week he quit Wings, he was charged with drunk driving and was banned from being behind the wheel for 3 years.  He was quoted as saying he was having a "bad week."  

Shock as Denny Quits Wings

No Writer Listed

Daily Star

April 29, 1981 

     Rock Star, Denny Laine, has quit Paul McCartney's top band, Wings. The breakup has happened because McCartney refused to go on tour, particularly since the murder of fellow ex-Beatle John Lennon.

     But it does not mark the end of Wings. Spokesman Tony Brainsby said, "Wings are Paul and Linda McCartney."

     Since Lennon's death, McCartney has increased protection around his family, but singer- guitarist Laine enjoys concerts in public life and plans to go on solo tours. His manager, Brian Adams, said there is no row. "Denny likes to tour, and Paul has decided not to make any tour plans."

     Laine said, "It became obvious that Wings would not be touring again, which is the whole purpose of being in the business, as far as I am concerned. After 10 years, it was a difficult decision to make, but after doing some solo work last year, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to leave Wings."

    He added, "I had been rehearsing solidly with Phil Curtis on bass guitar and John Hollywood on drums." The trio will record an album in June for release in the autumn. Then they will go on tour.

     McCartney, who is working on a new album and a Rupert Bear cartoon, said last night, "I wish Denny all the luck in the world."

He likes that shirt

 So this can't be the purple shirt that Ringo wears on the cover of his new album, but it is the exact same style.  

Didi Conn Remembers Working with Ringo (2025)

 Didi Conn Remembers Working with Ringo Starr on Shining Times Station

By Victoria Edel 

People Magazine

October 28, 2025

Didi Conn, Ringo Starr, and George Carlin were an indelible part of millions of kids’ childhoods, even if it’s not exactly what they’re best known for. 

Conn, Starr, and Carlin all appeared on Shining Time Station, the American spin-off of Britain’s Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which was based on The Railway Series by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. Shining Time Station combined Thomas the Tank Engine stories with real-life actors. It ran on PBS from 1989 to 1993, with multiple hour-long specials airing until 1995. 

Starr, 85, had served as narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, and in Shining Time Station, he appeared on-camera as Mr. Conductor for season one. He left the series after that season to focus on music and was replaced by legendary comedian George Carlin as Mr. Conductor, officially a cousin of Starr’s characters. Both Mr. Conductors were just 20 centimeters tall. 

Conn, meanwhile, played Stacy Jones, the station manager, for all three seasons of the series, and the 74-year-old actress recently opened up to PEOPLE about working on the show and its legacy.  

“It's really funny,” she said. Her son was born in 1992 and was 'a baby' when she was doing the show. “He's 33 now. So all the time I'll see a guy who's that age of my son, and he goes, ‘Were you Stacy?’ ” she said. “And they become this little boy again, and how much they loved Thomas.” The veteran actress joked that she’s “waiting” for one of those grown-up fans to “run a studio” now and cast her in a role. 

As for Starr and Carlin, because of their characters' small size, the actors mostly worked in front of a blue screen. But that didn’t mean they didn’t spend time with their costars.

“Ringo was such an old hippie. He wanted us there,” Conn said. “He'd be hanging out in his trailer with the door open, listening to the oldies station.” The former Beatle and his wife Barbara Bach, she said, were “really nice.” She added that Carlin, too, and his wife Brenda, were also “really nice.” Carlin died in 2008 at age 71 from heart failure. Starr was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 1989 for his work on Shining Time Station.

Taking off

 April 1971 

Video camera repair

I found this interesting.  In May 1990, George was in Los Angeles with the Traveling Wilburys Volume 3.  We know that George liked to use home movie cameras and in the 1990s was often seen with a video camera in his hand.  So at some point, he had to get his camera fixed and he went to this repair store with his buddy, Jim Keltner.

He was in the shop when one of the shop workers had an idea.  He was surrounded by video cameras, and George Harrison was in the shop.  So he grabbed a video camera and started to record George.  Eventually, George and Jim caught on, and George made some comments about "making bootlegs."  

And while this is an intrusion to George's privacy and I am sure he got sick of this stuff happening, I find it so interesting because it is just a little snapshot of George living his life.   If you want to see the video it is currently on Youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op06jLjWnQ4
 

Ringo's still got it

 April 21, 2026

Look at the pure joy on that man's face.  Ringo still has what it takes to make an audience  happy.  

Recipe for a Beatle-Burger (1976)

 

It is crazy to me that we still talk about the Star Club Tapes (aka the Hamburg Tapes) and want to hear them re-released and cleaned up.  This has been an ongoing discussion for literally 50 years!  And what is this craziness about Volkswagen?  You don't cut up Beatles master tapes.  My goodness!  I am glad that we did get to hear them, but they really could use some work.  And to think -- they cleaned them up from the original tapes. 

Recipe for a Beatle-Burger

No writer listed

Evening News (London)

April 23, 1976

    As the Beatles continue to dominate the charts, the long-running battle over their mysterious Hamburg album has flared up again. The album was taped 15 years ago when the Beatles were playing for a few pounds a night at the notorious Star Club in Hamburg. 

    On it, they sing songs like "Falling in Love Again", "Red Sails in the Sunset", and "Twist and Shout." There are also classic Lennonisms like (to an entirely German audience) "This number is a cha cha cha, and is dedicated to Adolf Hitler --"Till There Was You."

     The tape is held by Paul Murphy, Managing Director of Buc Records, who has spent £4000  improving its quality and changing it from mono to simulated stereo. 

    Though he claims George Harrison and Ringo Starr have given permission for him to release the album, Lennon and McCartney have both refused, because "They say its quality isn't good enough."

     "The record is a piece of history which millions of people would like to hear, and we would be prepared to pay the ex-Beatles substantial royalties for their permission to release it", says Murphy.

     Meanwhile, he claims that Volkswagen have expressed interest in buying the master tape to cut into little pieces and seal in key rings as a sales stunt for their Beetle cars. Zer vicked svines!

Reunion Wouldn't Surprise Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney (1976)

 Reunion Would Surprise Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney 

Associated Press

April 28, 1976

    Paul McCartney and the Wings group he formed after the Beatles broke up begin their delayed tour of the United States on May 3.  McCartney won't be surprised if the audiences include John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, and maybe the four Beatles will even come around to performing together again.

     A spokesman for McCartney said Tuesday, "If the former Beatles do meet up with one another again, it would be no surprise. They tend to turn up at one another's concerts." The spokesman said, "Paul would be delighted to see them. They are all friends despite their old disputes."

     McCartney was unavailable for comment, but the spokesman indicated that if the Beatles do meet again during the Wings tour, it's a safe prediction that they will discuss the possibility of a reunion on stage. "Paul McCartney's answer to the question, 'Will there be a Beatles reunion on stage?' is a definite, maybe", the spokesman said.

     In New York, however, McCartney's American lawyer and father-in-law, Lee Eastman, cautions Beatle fans against counting too heavily on seeing the four play together again. "At this point, there is absolutely no plan of any kind to get together," he said. "That may vary tomorrow, but at this moment, there is no decision by any of the four to get together."

     McCartney and the other former Beatles have been offered millions of dollars, primarily for television, radio, and recording rights to play together on stage again, even for a single evening. The Beatles broke up in 1972. [sic]  

    McCartney has emphasized that although he is interested, music, not money, is what counts with him. He has also said he is very happy with Wings, whose members include his American wife, Linda Eastman. The Wings tour opens on May 3 in Fort Worth, Texas.