I won't back down

 March 22, 1989

Acting Naturally

March 1989 -

Ringo joined Buck Owens to record "Act Naturally."   Hard to believe that it has been 35 years since this classic duet.  

George ventures out in London!!

 

This is a story from the Summer 1989 (first issue) of the London Beatle Fan Cub fan magazine.  

George Ventures Out in London!!

On July 25th, 1989, for a mere  £50, one would have been able to attend the premiere of "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" and dine in the presence of the Great George Harrison. Alas, being paupers, we had to forego this pleasure and instead join that lower form of life known as the press photographers in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the Master himself. 

We arrived at the cinema about an hour before the premiere was due to start and immediately got in a ruck with the press corp. One of them in particular, "the Devil's Best Friend," kept pushing us aside attempting to obtain a better viewpoint for himself, obviously unaware of how resilient Harrison fans are. 

A number of cars began to arrive outside the cinema, raising our expectations that George might soon step out. However, we were to be disappointed time and time again as they only revealed lesser mortal not worth of mention. 

Finally, a blue Mercedes arrived. They Beatles juices started running, the knees went wobbling and we ran towards it. Indeed, there HE was!! George was handsome, suntanned, wearing shades but grimmed face, with Olivia at his side looking very lovely. We clicked away as they entered the foyer; George posed for the press but refused to sign our book. "Not now!" he said. 

The scene outside cinema had quieted down and the movie finally beginning, we decided to go to the pub to recover our senses aided by a glass of amber necter. 

At about 9:15pm, we decided it was time to head back to the cinema. All was quiet once agian but this soon changed as the first guests began to appear. George's car was right behind us, with his evidently inexperienced chauffeur smoking away. With his car there, we knew he could not get away ignoring us. Suddenly, while we were planning our strategic positions, Nelson Wilbury appeared. He had no shades this time around and was actually smiling, posing again for the photographers. 

As the scene outside the cinema got tougher, with the press pushing and shouting to George to talk to them and not us, he looked frantically for his driver and shouted to him to get to the car.  Once again we were face to face with him and begged him to sign "I Me Mine," a request which extracted this answer, "I can't love, not now, if I stop I will never get away."

ANd like surise doesn't last all morning, George floated away someplace else on his Cloud 9. 

PowWow Highway

February 23, 1989 
 

True Love

 

Russian Radio

 January 26, 1989 

Mister Conductor

 January 9, 1989 -  Ringo is seen out for the public for the first time since he and Barbara went to rehab in the Fall of 1988.    The newly sober Ringo was promoting his new children's show, Shining Time Station, where he played Mr. Conductor.  (I am sure many of you have seen it -- cute program!)

Miniture Friar Park

 

Dhani looks at the miniature version of the house where he lives while standing in that house. 

George at home

 

What is Goerge watching?  What things do you notice in George's home in 1989?

Carl/Harrison

Dwight Haldeman photographs 

 July 1989 at Friar Park 

Not Your Father's Oldsmobile

 

In 1989 Ringo and his daughter, Lee made a great commercial for Oldsmobile.  These photos from the shoot show that Maureen and Jason were also there on the set. 

Paul and Linda (NOW)

 

48 Hours

 

Do you remember the Paul McCartney special on the CBS television show 48 Hours?   I sure do!  It aired in 1990,  and I thought it was amazing.   I never thought I would ever get to see him in concert, so watching this special program was just fascinating to me.  I  thought the fan they highlighted was particularly interesting, and I wanted to be friends with her.    I located her story and how she got to meet Paul in person after the program aired.   

A long, winding road for McCartney Fan

On the Go with 48 Hours and Paul McCartney

By Joy Waugh – O’Donnell

Good Day Sunshine   #56

Summer 1990

 

After receiving a call from my friend Jay Geoppner, I really thought it would be a lot of fun to get a call from 48 Hours about a special they were planning to shoot about Paul’s upcoming tour.  Last August, my only concern then was to get tickets for all three concerts!  I received a call from an Associate Producer who asked me a lot of questions about Paul and The Beatles.  The next step was a few more interviews with her, a visit to our home, and a couple of additional interviews by the Producer, Rann Morrison.  After all this, I knew they were speaking to a lot of area fans, but I Was very flattered that they took the time to see me.

Then the fun began.  48 Hours called me on November 30 to ask me about my schedule for the weekend.  Well, I had a pretty full weekend coming up:  a trip to the hairdresser, some shopping before the concert, friends coming from three states to attend the concert, and 3 full days of Paul watching.  Sounds like a pretty full schedule, right?  Well, 48 Hours thought so too…

“That sounds just great, Joy.  We’ll start shooting on Saturday.  We’ll meet you at 2:15 on Saturday,” said Rann.  I spent the next two days very excited.  Imagine me on national television!  I thought it was all too good to be true!

Saturday, December 2, 2:15 pm:  Bob dropped me off at the mall, I got out of the car, and the cameras were rolling!  Can you imagine what it was like, walking through a major shopping mall 3 weeks before Christmas with a camera crew following you?  When people came up to me and asked who I was, I usually told them it was for a Paul McCartney special for television.  The first day was spent shopping, getting my hair cut, and in the evening, “casing” the hotel.  I saw Paul there in 1984 when he was in town for his Broad Street promotional Tour.  (Boy, it sure was easy back then.  I saw him all day!)

Sunday was the really big day.  Friends from all over came by to go to the opening night concert.  48 Hours were there, and they brought Victoria Corderi, their correspondent, to ask questions and take in all the madness.  I guess the funniest part of the afternoon was driving to the Rosemont Horizon with a cameraman holding on to the hood of my car.  There were a lot of puzzled motorists on the road that day!  As most of you know, the concert was absolutely fantastic!  Yes, even the cameras were rolling throughout the show, and as far as that goes, every night.

The next two days were spent on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago by day, the concerts at night.  48 Hours did a great job of capturing the important events of the day.  They caught the disappointments, the excitement, and the pure happiness of knowing that I was going to see Paul again, even if it wasn’t a face-to-face encounter.  One thing I think is very important about the 48 Hours filming.  Everything was spontaneous.  There was nothing planned or staged.  It probably was quite obvious, as I was standing on the corner by Paul’s hotel, crying because I knew my last chance for a wave or autograph was over.  It was a very personal moment for me, but looking back, I am glad I shared it with all the fans.  Before I knew I was chosen for 48 Hours, I told the producer, “I’m flattered to be considered, but take a bit of advice from someone who has ‘paid their dues.’  Make sure and pick someone who cares because WE can see right through that.  So, it came to the end of shooting on Tuesday night.  I tearfully said goodbye to Rann and the great camera crew.  The next day was a work day and back to reality.

 

January 25, 1990 - My husband Bob and I were told by 48 Hours that we may only be on for 1-2 minutes.  We watched the show that night alone, and kept seeing us over and over again!  What a surprise!  It’s really funny, as we actually stopped eating in restaurants for about 2 months.

Thursday, February 1^st - Since I work for an advertising agency, Thursdays are always the busiest day of the week for me.  I got a call from a gentleman who said he was Paul’s publicist Paul wants to meet who?  Me!  He had seen 48 Hours and thought that I had gone to a lot of trouble.  What?  I’d been doing this for years, not just in Chicago but in London too.

On Friday, February 10, Bob and I flew to Worchester, Mass, to meet Paul.  Everything was at his expense, the airfare (first class, of course), the beautiful room at the Marriott hotel, and a limousine to the concert.   We were met at the airport by Paul’s publicist, Geoff, and a tour photographer, Phil.  There were so many people at the airport.  I told Bob, “Paul must be here!”  Then, when we walked through security, all these flashbulbs started going off.  The people were there to see us.

Our limo took us to our hotel, and after a quick hello to some Paul fans, we went up to our room.  We had a whole half hour to prepare for an interview at 4 pm with CBS Chicago.  Yeah, I was getting used to it.  At 5:00, we were driven to the Centrum just in time for the sound check.  It was really strange walking into an empty arena.  Then, there was Hamish, Robbie, Wix, and Chris Whitten all saying hello.  Stagehands and roadies we saw on 48 Hours were waving and saying hello.  As I was talking to the people for CBS, Bob says, “There he is!”  Paul jumped on stage, Linda took her place at the keyboards, and they were waving at us!

You know, the ride to the Centrum was really a wild one.  For years it was me on the other side of that limo.  I can’t even tell you what it was like to see the sea of faces and hands reaching out to the car.  Just to be polite, and of course, to keep the fans informed, I put the window down to assure them that Paul was definitely not inside our limo, just me and my husband Bob.

When I proceeded to lower the window, there was a great rush of Paul fans, and I yelled, “He’s not in here!  Honest!”  Seeing I was the “48 Hours fan,” they reached in the car and kept screaming, “Where’s Paul??”  I just replied, “I don’t know!  Honest!”

Well, back to the real good stuff – the soundcheck!  Can you imagine how it feels to sit in a large arena, just you, the maintenance and stage crews, and Paul’s band warming up?  Paul was great up there, even with no audience (well, except me).  He joked and smiled all the time while the band performed “Matchbox” and “C Moon.”  After each number, we clapped and showed our utmost appreciation.  The big moment then arrived!  He put his guitar down, came down the few steps from the stage, and there we were, face to face.  After saying, “I heard you were the star of the show!”  I just stared at him.  He said, “How ya doing?  I’ve heard a lot about you.”  I figured I may as well tell him the same thing since it was true.  After a kiss and a hug, I introduced Bob to him, and told him I felt that we were long departed family, and asked him, “Where have you been all these years?”  We gave him some gifts backstage and then we saw Linda.  She was very nice to me and gave Bob a kiss. Paul then told the television cameras that were following us that we were going to have some private moments, which we did.  It was really great meeting the family and being photographed with Paul.  After some conversation and an autograph session with him and Linda, Paul had a couple of interviews to do.  He gave me and Bob some treasured gifts, and we then went around to meet the rest of the band.  His publicist, Geoff was the greatest, he always made us feel at home and comfy.  Paul then gave us our tickets to the show.  Since we had VIP passes, we actually watched part of the concert behind the stage, which was a thrill beyond belief. 

What a thrill, what an honor.  Believe me, I’ve had a lot of f people tell me that they have been living their dreams through seeing this all happen to me.  I consider myself to be one of the luckiest fans in the world.  But each and every one of you were with me that day. 

Ringo as Mister Conductor

 

Novell Award winner

 

April 4, 1989 

All Starr band #1

 

The Traveling Heartbreakers

 

Paul is here

 

Check Mate

  I really like these 1989 publicity shots of Ringo.   Has anyone ever seen them in color?

Cloud 9

 

I love that George is wearing a Traveling Wilbury's t-shirt