The Knack

Reader Cara, send along this Ringo photograph from 2010.   Here is what she had to say about it:

My very good friend is the brother of Sharona (of "My Sharona" fame). He took this photo of Ringo with his niece and nephew (Sharona's kids) at the memorial for Doug Fieger of The Knack. The memorial was held at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on March 27, 2010. That's Joe Walsh on the left... don't know who's the guy behind Ringo's shoulder, though.

Signing for Charity

Paul, Larry and Terri

Every time I have seen this photo, it has just been of Paul and Larry Kane.  I did not know that my favorite MC of Beatlefest, Terri Hemmert was also in the photo!   Why on earth someone would cut out on of the biggest fans of Paul that I know of is beyond me.   This was taken at the President Event in Washington D.C. in 2010.

"I wish to meet Paul McCartney"

I think it is great that many young people who are in the "Make a Wish" program seem to chose to meet one of the Beatles (for real) as their wish. It is very sad that they have to be in that program for whatever illness they are battling, so I hope getting their wishes to meet Ringo or Paul in person helps ease their pain at least for a little while. Here is another story of a young man named Blade who wished to meet Paul and had his wish come true in 2010.

16-year old Blade is a typical teenager who enjoys listening to classic rock and his favorite bands are the Beatles and AeroSmith. He also plays numerous instruments including being the lead guitarist in a band called Von Swayzi, along with his father and brother, Dylan. However, what sets Blade apart from other musicians and boys his age is that he has been battling Lymphoma.

In one of the most unique wishes ever, Blade, his father, and brother Dylan were picked up by limousine like true rockstars and made the trek up to Los Angeles for a once in a lifetime experience. Once there, Blade was surprised with a behind the scenes tour of Universal Studios, one of the largest film and television studios in the world. While Blade had a great time, his true wish awaited him the next day when he got to meet the one and only Paul McCartney!

Blade’s story is not only one of great strength but a perfect example of, “Good things come to those who wait.” Due to Paul McCartney’s busy schedule, it is hard for him to grant many wishes, but Blade never lost hope. He decided to write a personal and very inspiring letter to Mr. McCartney, sharing how much his music means to him and how it has helped him find serenity in his battle against Lymphoma. Blade’s letter was so heartfelt and special, Paul McCartney didn’t want to miss an opportunity to meet this outstanding young man.

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Lucky Kids!

It isn't every day that I find myself jealous of kids who look to be in the age-bracket of the darlings I teach every day. But look at these four cuties along side of Ringo! As I say at work, what a bunch of lucky duckies!! These kiddos ever got to interview Ringo. Man oh man...what luck!

Paul is thinking "help!" not another autograph!

Tom's amazing meeting with McCartney

August 14, 2010 is a day that Tom and his son are not soon to forget. On that day, Paul McCartney played to a packed crowd of fans at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And on that day Tom and his son had the good fortune to be called up on stage after the sound check that day by Paul McCartney. Here is the wonderful photo of that event! This shows Paul signing Tom's shirt. I am sure that I everyone here at this blog can't help but be a little jealous of Tom while being happy for him at the same time. Way to go Tom!!! by the way...this photo was posted with permission!!

Grown-up James

Imagine No Hunger

This past Tuesday, November 2, Ringo was in Hollywood at the Hard Rock Cafe for the benefit called Imagine No Hunger. Here are some photos one fan took at the event.

Beatlefest Chicago 2010 highlights

People singing under the stairs after midnight


The director of the "Who is Harry Nilsson" documentary



Lots of Beatles buttons for sale!




Denny Seidwell of Wings





Me with Chris O'Dell






Sgt. Peepers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Made totally out of Peeps candy!



A neat John Lennon collage in the art contest

Hello everyone. I am home from Beatlefest and back to work today. I thought some of you might be interested in what all I did at the fest and see some photos I took. If you aren't interested that is ok. Just ignore this post and continue with the others :).

Since I had to go back to my teaching job today (Monday), I was only able to attend for Friday and Saturday this year. That was a bummer but since Chicago is a 6 hour drive from my house, I really didn't have much of a choice. Oh well so it goes.

Friday was filled by watching "A Hard Day's night," getting autographs, doing a lot of shopping, looking at Beatles artwork, watching a little of Name that Tune, listening to a speaker about a Beatles tour in New York City, and looking in the various rooms that had displays in them. The highlight of Friday was seeing the new John Lennon movie called "Nowhere Boy." While I saw a few historical mistakes in this movie, and I thought the Julia character was a little too over the top, I still was very impressed. It was much better than the tv movies that have been on in the past years about John. I liked the film much more than I thought and I plan on buying it when it becomes available on DVD.

Saturday was a very full day. First I listened to Paul Saltzman talk about his week in India with the Beatles. Next up was a talk about Apple records with Bruce Spizer followed by a wonderful interview with Chris O'Dell (super charming woman). After some lunch I heard the one and only Klaus Voorman talk about his time working with the Fab 4. The best part of the day for me was the watching the documentary about Harry Nilsson. It was just really great. And....in the film is a never before seen photo of Harry, John and Paul from April 1, 1974!!! I was really excited to see that!! After the showing of the film the director stayed around and answered questions and talked about making it. Then I heard Tom talk about taking a trip to Liverpool, which was cool since I had just been there. I hung around and sang under the stairs for quite awhile until it was midnight and then I went to the late night comedy thing with the guys from Wings.

Overall I had a great time. I didn't do everything I wanted to do because there were many conflicting times on things and I couldn't stay for Sunday this year. However I still enjoyed the time I was there. And....I bought "Waiting for the Beatles" by Carol Bedford! After all of these years I finally got it. I also bought some photos and teen magazines with photos to scan for this blog. They will be coming soon enough.

Anyone else have anything to share about the fest???

Could you keep this secret?

I am so jealous of Nikki Denett. It must have been difficult to have to keep such a big secret! I found this story here.

From the day I heard about this show six months ago, I thought there was a HUGE possibility that Paul would be there. Not only is it Ringo's 70TH birthday (he's the first Beatle to turn 70) but Paul is ON Ringo's new album,and as far as I knew, he wasn't going back on tour until a few days later (not to mention the fact that this is RADIO CITY we're talking about).For me, the reasons for him to be there far outweighed the reasons for him not to, but everyone I talked to told me the same thing: "No"......But it did!!!

About 15 minutes after the All Starr band arrived, my friend Rudy and I (the only two people there) were waiting outside the stage door of Radio City when we get told by a security guard to move to a lamppost near the curb of the street, about 3 feet from the stage door. We happily obliged, and got our camera's and sharpees ready for we knew that something was about to happen. Sure enough, a massive black SUV then proceeded to pull up in front of the stage door. The door flew open and immediately a security guard appeared. At this point, I was 150% sure that Ringo would be the next one coming out. Never in a MILLION years did I think it would be who it turned out to be....PAUL MCCARTNEY.

I can't even describe what this moment was like. For the past year of my life I have wished and wished for an opportunity to meet this man. But, to be perfectly honest, I psyched myself out into thinking he wasn't going to show up, so when I saw him come out I was so shocked that I really didn't have much of a reaction. He walked out carrying what look like a guitar case (most likely the Hofner), and I went into shock, then somehow managed to yell out "Hi Paul!!!". He looked over at me, waved,and then proceeded to go inside.

It was then that I realized what just happened - I grabbed Rudy and kept saying "That was Paul McCartney! That was Paul McCartney!" As happy as I was at seeing him (and having him wave at me) I was a little sad that I didn't even get to talk to him. I was SO close. I thought for sure that there was no way I'd ever have an opportunity like that again. Just when I thought it was over....

I heard somebody calling Rudy and me over. We looked towards a black SUV parked directly outside the stage door. It was the All Starr Band's driver. He called us over to the driver's window, leaned over and whispered "he's coming out soon; he's only going to be in there for 45 minutes." We thanked the driver and immediately became excited again.

We really didn't know what to expect at this point. We didn't even know if Paul would stop for us. We spent the next 45 minutes coming up with various maneuvers that would be helpful in our quest to make him stop for us. Even still, at this point, I was surprised that we were the ONLY two people waiting outside. No paparazzi, no crazy fans, nothing. I started to believe that our chances were undeniably in our favor. But only if it remained the two of us....and it did.

Sure enough, 45 minutes later, we took our original places right outside the stage door and waited. About five minutes later, the door opened and out walked Paul, hands free, blazer slung over his shoulder. He walked out the door, stopped, turns right in front of me and says "Hi, how are you?" as he signed Rudy's vinyl of "Memory Almost Full". Then it was my turn.it went something like this...

Me: "Paul I've waited my whole life to meet you"
Paul: "I've waited MY whole life to meet YOU!"

I then asked him for a picture and he happily obliged. He shook our hands (yes, I touched Paul McCartney, people!) We thanked him and he went on walking towards his SUV. I thought he was gone but then, all of a sudden, I hear this:

"Hey,you!"

I looked towards the SUV and saw Paul, head sticking out of the window and all, pointing at ME!

Me: "Me?"

Paul: "Yeah, you! You too (points at Rudy) ... Come over here!"

So we did ... I mean, when Paul McCartney calls you over... you COME over...

So over we came. Then Paul leaned in and said "No one is supposed to know I'm here. This is a surprise for everyone. So, you never got that autograph. You never got that picture. Let's keep this a secret."

So of course we promised to keep it a secret.

Then he waved through the window at us and the people who were now stopped on the street watching. And that was that.

Then it hit me: I just met Paul McCartney, and I have to keep the biggest secret I've EVER kept in my whole life.

So we pulled ourselves together and waited for Ringo. He ended up coming out nearly an hour after Paul had left. He came out and greeted us and we wished him a Happy Birthday to which he replied with his infamous "Peace and Love!" (No autographs obviously, this IS Ringo after all)

It all happened so fast!! I'm still in shock!!!

Ringo's signs autograph in 2010!!!

Everyone was so upset when Ringo announced that he wasn't going to be signing any more autographs. I told everyone that Ringo wasn't going to be signing autographs for people who mail in requests. He was still going to sign autographs now and then (with peace and love). And guess what Ringo was doing here in this fan photo taken before the 2010 Grammy Awards Sunday night? Yep...signing autographs for charity. All hope isn't lost friends...