I wonder what is in that luggage

 

Beattle in Seattle

 

Super lucky kids

It appears that these two young fans had Paul and Ringo sign a Beatles fan banner.  It also appears that the smaller child had to use crutches when he met the guys.   I am sure meeting The Beatles made him feel 100% better! 
 

George poses with another disc jockey

 

Paul plays in 1966

 

The very last press conference

 Seattle, Washington - 1966

The Beatles in Cleveland

 

From the Desk of Marilyn Doerfler...

By Marilyn Doerfler

With a Little Help From My Friends

October 1978

This time around, I have been asked to write about The Beatle days in Cleveland, so here goes.  The typewriter is willing, but the gears in my mind have rusted some.  However, let's take a trip back to 1964 and the Beatles' first personal appearance in Cleveland at the Public Hall.  Maybe we'll find some memories there.  The front acts are finished, and The Beatles seem to be in the middle of their set when a wave of girls rushed the stage.  The police want The Beatles to leave the stage, and George is arguing with one of them, and if I remember right, it went something like this..." this isn't the first city that our shows had to be stopped because of rowdy audiences.  We've never had to leave the stage before.  We would just wait for things to calm down, or if they didn't, a representative, like a disc jockey or someone would talk to the crowd and calm them down."  This is so!  Did not hear the rest of George's commentary as he was ushered into the wings.  As I recall, John found it all rather amusing, and he leaned against his amp, taking the whole situation in, but later, all were angry and said they were being treated like children.  Brian Epstein put it another way..." this is insidious!"  Twenty minutes later, The Beatles returned to the stage and, in case no one noticed, did their whole show over again.  This time, believe me, no interruptions. 

The Public Hall was closed to all rock-oriented shows after all the destruction that happened when The Beatles played there. That is definitely why the Beatles didn't play Cleveland in 1965, but 1966 was a different story. 

The Beatles returned to Cleveland and this time to the Cleveland Stadium, a "field day" for all. After settling in our favorite hotel, it was interview time for the entourage, followed by various phone calls to radio stations, frantic to know what The Beatles did that day, how they felt, what they said, how they held their mouths when they said whatever, etc.  Then it was to the Press Conference, where two major newspapers and half a dozen radio stations, and various, various, various college, high school, and what have you papers were represented.  From there, The Beatles, their opening acts (The Cyrkle, Ronnetts, Bobby Hebb), and entourage were ushered to the stadium amid a standing ovation!  The Beatles then entered their dressing room behind the stage -- a large mobile home  made specifically for them and relaxed until showtime. 

I'm sure most of you will recall that, once again, the show was stopped!  During one of the songs (Day Tripper), thousands of Beatle people rushed the stage, and they just kept coming!  Finally, the boys were literally shoved in the trailer until order could be restored.  It was some time later when the field was cleared then, once again, The Beatles appeared amid the shouts and cries of adoring fans!  Fantastic!

Before I continue, I must add that since 1966 was an all-baseball park tour, we all lived on hot dogs (to this day, I hate them) and Coke.  Or, once in a while, hot dogs and beer, and if we were really lucky, some of the ballparks put a little sauerkraut on top of them.  And all the time, I bet the general public thought we dined on steak and the like..fooled you!

After The Beatles were through, we were ushered back to the hotel, where we were informed that we could all go to the press party that was already in progress.  John whispered to me, "Get me out of this one. I'm tired and way behind on some cartoon things," and before I could say yes, no, or maybe, he did a typical John Lennon idiom by raising his voice and saying "that's a darling girl."  So, I went but decided that I would stay just a short while, too.  But that wasn't to be.  After excusing John to Brian Epstein et al., I was politely backing out, smiling all the way, when I felt something hit my back.  Ringo had stuck his finger in my back and said, "I'll pull the old trigger if you don't stay here and escort me about."  Needless to say, I did, and so, the evening melted away. 

The next day was similar to all Beatle tour days, except that when we walked out of the door supposedly to the limos, we were confronted with a bus.  Every other city had limos to pick us up from the airport and take us back, but not Cleveland. Besides the Beatles and their opening acts and entourage, there appeared 1000 disc jockeys in an unairconditioned bus on a hot August day.

When we came to the runway where our rented American Airlines plane was to be, there was not a vehicle of this proportion in sight.  We waited quite a while and then were told that our plane would be a little late...no kidding!

When the plane did arrive, a young gal was escorted off.  "Eh," John said, "why did you take your sweet time then?" The American Airlines representative whispered as low as he could, "there were no stirrers for your drinks, and we had to get them from the terminal.  It took a while."  John replied, as we drove out of sight, "that's alright, chap.  If it had been anything else, we might not have forgiven you" as they walked up the aisle, overheard John ask, "now that we've got that settled, are you sure we have something to stir?"

"Goodbye, Cleveland..." Paul and George yelled, and as the people on the ground began to look like ants, the poker cards came out, the drinks were served (with stirrers) and it was off to another city which The Beatles own for the day. 

The Beatles in Action on stage at Shea Stadium

 

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 23^rd!”  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 23^rd 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.  

Ringo rocks Boston

 

Forcing a smile?

 

Hoping for a hotel sighting

 

Paul gives a friendly wave

 

The tour days have ended

 

Dodger's Stadium

 

Relaxing before the show

 Boston

August 18, 1966

The end of the 1966 American Tour

 

Junior Press Conference

 

I think that if the Beatles had toured in 1967, they would have had more "Junior" press conferences with their fan club members present.   I think they truly enjoyed this one in 1966. 

Every fan made a sign

 

The Beatles last performance in the USA

 

This guy sort of got his photo taken with the Beatles....too bad you can't really see them.   

The mystery of the tablecloth has been solved!

 In 2016, I wrote about the tablecloth The Beatles doodled on while backstage in San Francisco in 1966.  You can read that story here.  

Quick recap:  The caterers, Simpson's Catering, brought The Beatles and their crew their food while they were backstage before the San Francisco show and also supplied the tablecloth for the table.   The Beatles used the colorful Japanese pen gifted to them by fans to draw doodles on the tablecloth after the meal.   Joan Baez was also there, and she drew on the tablecloth.   Afterward, Simpson's Catering took their tablecloth back with them, now adorned by Beatle art and autographs.  It was put on display in the shop's front window, and many fans stopped by to see it and take photos of it.   Then six days after the concert, someone broke the large window and took the tablecloth.    

That is all we knew about this piece of Beatles artwork.   It has been missing since 1966.   Although I do have to say that someone in the comments section of the article from 2016 someone came forward and said that the guy who originally stole the tablecloth in 1966 gave it to his uncle, who had no idea it was stolen until the 1980s.    Whoever had the tablecloth gave it back to the son of the caterer in 2020, and now he is selling the tablecloth through Bonhams auctions.  

You can bid on the famous tablecloth here.    It only has one day left!

Thanks to this auction, we can see the artwork up close. 

This is the biggest section that is made by a Beatle.   John Lennon drew all of the yellow areas.  Paul signed his name in bubble letters and put an arrow.  

These drawings were drawn by Joan.   Who do you think she was doodling?

George and Ringo were seen drawing at the table.  But when I looked closer, I realized that they had doodled on paper and not actually on the tablecloth.   What a shame!   I am sure those scraps of paper are long gone.   The caterer asked George and Ringo to autograph the tablecloth. 

This photograph by Marilyn Doerflers really shows some of the art -- notice John's yellow drawing especially?

I am glad that this mystery has been solved and that the tablecloth has survived all these years.  I find it a bit disappointing that there isn't more artwork on it (such as the one they did in Japan the same year), but original John Lennon art is always awesome.