Stay cool by the pool

 

John and Yoko Bed-in in 1970

 

New York or Bust

From time to time people ask me to post a story where Paul is not his usual happy self toward fans.   It is well known that Paul and Linda were pretty rude toward a lot of people in 1970-1971.    I do not post a lot of these stories, not because I am trying to protect Paul, but because a lot of the fans that are in the stories are visitors of this site and I do not want to make them uncomfortable or remind them of unhappy things.  

Yes, Paul and Linda were both unkind toward fans and really could have handled some of their interactions with fans differently.   However -- knowing what we know now,  Paul and Linda's reactions are understandable.

This story isn't too terrible and the girl that Paul says rude things to isn't named, so I thought I would share this one for those of you who wanted to read this type of story.  

 New York or Bust…???

By Sarah

McCartney Ltd.

December 1972

 

It all began on October 24, 1970, the day Sher and I returned from our 6-week stay in London’s Sloane Square.  On October 8^th we see on the front page of a paper – a smiling crewcut shorn man with sunglasses, alias Paul “Martin” McCartney in all places by NEW YORK!  WE fell apart inside and decided that someone up there was against us --- what rotten timing was it for real???

So we stayed out in London until the planned day and went to New York to find no one had found him yet.  Of course, I just got back to Indiana when Sher found out where he was recording by making a lot of phone calls!

Believe me, you haven’t lived until you’ve gotten up at the crack of dawn, gone to the airport, jumped on a flight to NY, and suddenly found yourself at Columbia Recording Studios (via Sher’s apartment) in all of three hours – phew!  But Pamela and myself made it but only after scrapping her up off the sidewalk after seeing a very George looking soul leaning against a car.

 

Once we got there we were told we had just missed him – just what we didn’t need to hear, so we went across the street to attempt to eat but one finds it hard when you know he’s in that building over there.  At 2:30 Paul, Linda, Heather, and Mary being carried by Paul stepped out of the doors and posed for pics.  Most people bunched up around them and Heather got separated and looked petrified.  Paul wore his navy blue suit, Linda beige midi, and shawl, Linda stepped out to hail a cab as Paul turned around and said, “Please don’t’ follow us.”  Then they got in the cab and left I just stood in a happy daze after not having seen him since August 1969.  This one girl was screaming and went off to tell her mother.  Half an hour later from around the corner came Paul with Linda on his right, arms around each other.  Once they got closer, he pulled her nearer.  Two girls gave him gifts for May and Heather and he said “thank you” and then handed them to Linda.  As they got to the door, Paul let Linda go in first and as he went through, he took off his ever-present sunglasses.  Just then some girls yelled out “PAWL!” (and no I didn’t misspell it).  “Do you love me?”  Paul about killed himself laughing, though everyone outside seemed a bit embarrassed for her comment as this was 1970 and not 1964. 

 

At 6:40 Paul stepped out of the elevator and talked to the doorman, occasionally looking out but then stepped back out of sight.  The cab finally arrived and everyone surged the door.  He stepped out then almost backed off, by they walked straight through as the flashcubes went off like bombs.  Some more gifts were given to him and he took them quickly as Linda was trying to open the cab door which was locked for some idiotic reason.  They banged on the window and still, the driver didn’t catch on as they were getting crushed outside.  Paul finally reached his hand through and opened it himself and they jumped into the cab and took look.  Linda looked relieved but they got caught in traffic not far off the block.  We left then and went back to Sher’s after eating what seemed like a 50lb pizza.

 

We trooped off for Columbia at 8am and had a great ride on NY subways.  I bought Paul flowers – the time was 9:20am.  Bessie came rushing over from across the street staying she was glad to not be the only one waiting.  The fingernails really took a beating that hour as we waited and talked about which way to look and on a one-way street that’s not too difficult.  His cab pulled up at 9:58, I saw him first and said “He’s in the cab.”  Sher said, “What?”  I repeated it and she said “Oh, I’m not going to look (jokingly).  He got out first as Linda paid the taxi.  He was wearing the same suit with a red shirt and cowboy boots (and looking quite gorgeous but with those sunglasses again!)  Sher went up to him and said, “These are for you,” and then handed him the flowers.  He said “Um, oh thank you.  Hey, do me a favor and don’t hang around in the morning.” And walked over to where Pamela, Bessie, and I were standing.  “Hey, look please don’t come around in the morning.  It’s a bit much.”  He gestured with his left hand for that.  It sounds odd but it killed us.  Bessie and I said “ok,” though I remember nothing – it’s that face y’know?

He and Linda went in the studio and we collapsed.  Pamela got a picture of Sher handing him the flowers but just as she took it Linda walked through and hides Sher.  The cab driver had been watching and came over and said “who is that?”  We all said in unison, “You didn’t know???  Paul McCartney!”  His comment was “Are you shitting me?”  He couldn’t believe it.  We asked where he picked them up etc and swapped Paul’s dollar for another from him and split it in hours.  HE said they had been talking nonsense stuff and he didn’t pay much attention to them.  It sounds odd but that dollar had such a clean smell to it – later we found out to be British Sterling Powder.

 

Later when the numbers had increased considerably, while we were waiting a few businessmen stopped and one said: “These girls stand here day after day their sexual frustration must be phenomenal.”    Paul and Linda came out about 2:00 and a Hells Angel reject (ha!) ran up and flashed a cube right in his eyes which he wasn’t happy about.  They got in the can and someone yelled “Turn around Paulie Baby” he glared and said “Don’t you call me that, you_______ (Sara's note - not comfortable putting the unkind word he said here) then the cab left.  The girl was upset and kept saying that he’d said “schmuck” but we all knew that wasn’t it.   Peter, a guy waiting there, said he liked the way Paul walked – like he was walking on air.

 

The cab returned at 4 and they sat there a minute before getting out.  Then Heather went in alone Paul was carrying Mary and then Linda got out.  The girl ran up and said, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to offend you,” to which Paul said, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”   Then she said, “I don’t want you to hate me.”  Paul’s answer as he passed through the doors was under his breath but, “I don’t even know you.”   There is more that happened but space is limited so I’ll end here.  It was great seeing him though depressing too because you realize how distant you are from him even though space-wise you’re so close.

 

Experience with John & Yoko 1970

 Experiences

Harrison-Lennon Followers newsletter

January-February 1971

By Ginger Robinson

 

Saturday- May 2, 1970

With six hours of sleep behind us, I dragged myself from bed after being awakened by the words “John and Yoko in L.A.”   Those words came from three friends on their way to L.A. for the search.   We picked up one more and moved onward.

 

We got to L.A. at 10:30 and went to the Beverly Hill Hotel where it was said that John and Yoko were staying.   We drove by a few times and up the ‘visitors only’ driveway.  Nothing.  We decided to drive by one more time and then go eat.  “I saw John.”  Among the screeching of brakes and voices, I asked where.  Kathi said she’d seen him on the second-floor balcony.  We pulled across the street and waited.  And waited with eyes glued on the balcony.  Three of us left and went into the ________ (leek, look, lock??) to ask if John and Yoko were there.  The man said no.  Cindi and I left to get some flowers.  The others stayed and kept watch.  We got carnations and took them to the desk clerk, but he said John and Yoko had checked out a week ago (Oh sure!  They didn’t even have a Visa a week ago!)  So, Cindi said, “thanks for nothing!”  We stomped out and went back to the others.  We decided to go to Phil Spector’s house and leave the flowers with him.  We left a note to John and Yoko saying we were sorry we couldn’t give them personally.  We left them on the doorstep.

We drove up to Blue Jay Way and saw the fog then drove home.  We were all disappointed.  Do Beatle fans give up this easily?  Well – one more time!

 

Tuesday – May 5, 1970

I called work and told them I had to go to L.A. for an important appointment and wouldn't be able to come in.  I went to pick up Barb, and we headed to beautiful L.A.  

When we got there, we went to the Beverly Hills Hotel, but we didn’t see anything.  We went into the lobby, and Barb called a friend who lives in L.A. to see if she knew anything about John and Yoko.  She said they went to Stefenino’s Restaurant on Sunset Blvd. at about 6:00.  By the time she finished talking it was 4:30. We decided to make the rounds of all the houses The Beatles had ever stayed in.  Why I don’t know.  We tried Phil Spector’s house.  We drove up to it and by it.   It looked deserted.

We finally made our way back to Stefenino’s.  I parked the car four blocks away on some empty street with a two-hour parking limit.   We went to the restaurant, and Barb asked Randy (the doorman) if John and Yoko were coming tonight.  He said they’d come between 6 and 7.  It was almost 6:30 then.  We went up to the corner and sat on some steps.  About 10 minutes later, Randy said John and Yoko had just pulled in.  “Where, Where?”  He pointed to the building next to the restaurant.  We ran down there and saw John and Yoko go up in the elevator.  We waved, but the door had already shut.   We got so excited!  We thanked Randy and went and got the car.  We drove to a gas station and phoned Cindi.  She said she wasn’t coming up but for us to stick it out.  Which is just what we intended to do.  I found a place to park closer to the building.  Well, we were afraid to go into the building and wait.  First, because there were no chairs, and second because we didn’t want to feel like idiots.  We brought some food (well Coke and peanuts, real nourishing stuff) and sat across the street.   We finally decided to go inside and wait.  I guess we didn’t care what people thought.  Randy wandered through a few times with little remarks like “having fun?” “Still waiting?”  Stuff like that.  We looked at the registrar that had the names of the people that worked in the building.  There were all sorts from psychics to music publishers to accountants to movie agencies.  We wondered what they could be doing.  At 9:00, the security guard came in.  We both thought ‘this is it.’  But he didn’t ask us to leave.  He knew we were waiting for John and Yoko.  He said they come down from the 5^th floor at 10:00.  Neither of us had a watch which was kinda good otherwise we would have both had heart failure at 19, and we’re only 19!

 

We watched the elevator thingy.  You know – one of those things that tell you where the elevator is.  It seemed like years.  Barb decided she was going to get their autographs.  Braveness!  It finally happened.  An elevator was coming down from the 5^th floor.  I was on the other side of the room.  I can’t express in words the feeling I had.  The doors opened…and there they were.  Barb got their autographs just as they came out.  They both smiled.  I just looked.  We watched them walk down the steps to the garage.  I ran out and saw them pull out.  Barb came out, and we just looked at each other.  We went and got the car and drove up the driveway of the Beverly Hills Hotel.  We didn’t see a light green car anyway.  We left, satisfied.  And drove on homeward bound.

 

John looked so different than any picture.  He looked so small but maybe he just seemed that way to me.  He was thin, real thin.  His hair looks good short.  It seemed to have grown out a lot.  He had a beard.  He was wearing jeans and a jacket to match.  He reminded me of a little boy.  Yoko is so much shorter than he.  She must be about five foot.  She looks so much better in person as does John.  She was wearing dark pants and a white turtleneck sweater.

Barb and I still can’t believe we had that kind of luck.  We’ve never been lucky when it came to The Beatles.  We couldn’t believe it was real.  What a beautiful sight every time I close my eyes and remember.

 

 

Smiling John

 

The Starr arrives

 

Let it Be Sessions - 1970

 

January 3, 1970

Plastic Ono in the studio

 

I Me Mine - the last Beatles recording session

 

The song "I Me Mine" is rehearsed in the "Let it Be" film and it was decided that it should be on the album as well.   Ringo, George, and Paul got together in January 1970 to give a proper recording.   John was in Denmark at the time.   He had said that he had quit the Beatles in September 1969,  but I have to wonder if he was in London at the time if he would have joined them.   

I am having a hard time with this whole "John was the one that quit the band and not me" narrative that Paul is pushing right now.    Yes -- John quit.  He said he wanted a divorce.   And yet he didn't DO anything about it.  John changed his mind as often as he changed his look.   We don't know that in a few years that John wouldn't have been ready to record again with the Beatles.  Paul is the one that took the action to legally end the Beatles.   There is a difference between saying "I want a divorce" and filing the legal paperwork.  We all know that the breakup of the Beatles is a complicated discussion with a lot of variables and not one individual person is to blame.   However, it would be nice for Paul to admit to his part in the breakup and not shove the entire thing onto John.   (Just my opinion -- don't come at me).   

George and other devotees

 

Woodstock at Cannes

 

Not in the mood for fans

 

Maybe I'm Amazed

 

Sweet Magnolia

 

Farm life

 

Relaxing in Florida

 

In November 1970, George and Pattie took a trip to Florida for a little rest and relaxation after the All Things Must Pass recording sessions.    Everytime they ran into someone that recognized them, George would ask them to keep the trip a secret until after he left    

These are the only photos that I am aware of from this trip.  

The return of Julian's Panda Bear

 

Love is needing to be loved

 

Tiny Tim is the Magic Christian

 

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree