Ringo at Chelsea

Christmas with the McCartney's

It made me laugh that Paul has a Wings tote.   And what is with the McCartney guys and those long scarves these days?   Are they something Stella is making?

Remembering the Beatles Ambassador

It is with a very sad heart that I tell all of you that Margaret Grose, the woman that lived at 10 Admiral Grove in Liverpool passed away this weekend.    If any of you ever traveled to Liverpool and had the amazing opportunity to meet Margaret, you will agree with me in saying that this is truly a loss to the Beatles community.

Ringo Starr lived at 10 Admiral Grove from the age of five until the Beatles made it big and his family moved out of the Dingle.    Margaret Grose was neighbor and knew his family.   While she didn't really know Ringo personally, she  did remember him as a teenager living at 10 Admiral Grove.

10 Admiral Grove in 1964 when Ringo's family still lived there.

Admiral Grove circa 1964

Harry and Elsie Graves inside of 10 Admiral Grove in 1964

Ringo's mum, Elsie inside of 10 Admiral Grove in 1964

Ringo visiting his folks at home

After the Graves' moved out of the Dingle, Margaret moved into the home.  She made some adjustments to the house over the years, but kept the front room basically the same as it was when Ringo lived there.

She became known around the world as a loving, caring woman who would open her house up to Beatle fans.   She must have had 1000's of visitors over the years.  Some of them she would become pen pals with and really became friends with them.   She would talk to the fans about Ringo, but would admit that she really didn't like the Beatles' music as much as she loved Elvis.     Ringo's children made a special trip to their Dad's former home and Margaret was happy to welcome them into the house and asked them to do what she asked of everyone:   to sign the guest book.

She never asked or expected money from the fans.    However, after Linda McCartney died of breast cancer, Margaret started to take donations of loose change from fans that visited her home to go toward the Linda McCartney Centre that was at the Liverpool Hospital.    She was able to raise quite a bit of money for this wonderful charity.   

I met Margaret when my mom and I traveled to Liverpool in July of 2013.   Margaret welcomed us into her home and we celebrated Ringo's birthday with her with cupcakes and coke.   She was so sweet to open her house to us to celebrate Ringo's special day.     It really was one of the highlights of my trip to Liverpool and it is something that I will always remember.

Jackie and Margaret enjoy cupcakes for Ringo's birthday inside 10 

Admiral Grove

My mom standing inside 10 Admiral Grove, near the fireplace where Ringo often sat

My deepest sympathies go out to Margret's family, friends and neighbors.   She was called the "Beatles Ambassador"   and that name fit her well.    She truly showed peace and love to everyone from around the world that came to her door---and if that isn't spreading the Beatles spirit, then what is?

Jackie Spencer, the tour guide of Liverpool who became good friends with Margaret has set up a memorial for the Linda McCartney Centre at the Liverpool Hospital (the charity that was near and dear to her) in Margret's name.   Beatle fans from around the world are asked to give to this memorial instead of sending flowers or cards to her family.    If you would like to donate, here is the link:


https://www.justgiving.com/MargaretGrose

Margaret saying goodbye to us as we left 10 Admiral Grove.   

Beatles tribute band

Here is a photo of Paul on stage with a Beatles tribute band in Japan last fall (November 13) when he hired them to play for Nancy's birthday party.   I would think that having Paul on stage with you if you were a Beatles tribute band would be the ultimate thing that could ever happen.  They should just break up now....

The Walrus was Paul

So this photo keeps making me laugh.  I swear I have a stuffed walrus that looks just like the one Paul is holding.  Paul has this look like, "Why did someone throw a stuffed walrus at me?  Is that a clue or something?"

Short fan

Ringo is quoted as saying at this moment, "the fans are getting smaller!"   Look at that smile on Richy's face!   How sweet!

The album may be "new" but autograph signing sure isn't

Paul thinking as he steps out of the car, "Oh no.  I have been spotted by a fan.  She is holding the new Cd.  She is going to want an autograph.  I am so not in the mood for this today."

Paul's "guy"--"I am sorry ma'am but Sir McCartney is very busy today.  There is no times for autographs."  Fan:  "But I just love you so much Paul.  I have been waiting 50 years to meet you.  And I love your album.  It is great.  I love you!"  Paul:  "Oh...sure...I will sign one for you.  What is your name?"

Fan:  "Thank you thank!  You don't know what this means to me.  I have been to 20 of your concerts and buy all your albums.  You have always been my favorite."
Paul:  "It is not a problem at all.   Here you go."  Paul thinking:  "You are lucky I am not Ringo." 

You can say anything but....

This is sort of one of those things that is hard to believe, but it is true.  Last week on New Year's Eve, Paul and Nancy were in St. Barts as they typically are this time of year.   They went to the West Coast Club and Paul got on the mic and sang for the open mic night.   What song did Paul sing?   One of his solo songs, "Goodnight Tonight!"  How insane is that?   I hope he starts doing this one in concert.

Anyhow....the lucky folks that were there had their phones rolling with photos and videos.  There is some video snippets out there as well.    What a cool way to meet Paul McCartney! 

You can buy Ringo's autograph

Three years ago Ringo signed 75 Timberland boots in support of Water Aid and they were sold on ebay.   I was fortunate enough to have won pair number 66 of the boots and they are my most prized possession.  

Ringo is back at it again this year.   Once again he has teamed up with Timberland and Water Aid  and this time he has signed 25 jackets.  They are currently on ebay and the bidding is currently going on.   So if you have always wanted to own a Ringo autograph, here is your chance.   As we all know, Ringo will only autograph things for charity and sometimes his autographs go for a lot more money than what these jackets most likely are going to go for.    Best to luck!
http://stores.ebay.com/Auction-Cause/WaterAid.html

Luis has his dream come true!

One of the long time readers of this blog is Luis from Mexico.   Luis has emailed me from time to time over years and has shared some photos that the took of Ringo when he was last in Mexico.   So a little while back when Luis emailed me and said that Ringo was returning to his country and he and his wife were going to try to meet the man, I wished him luck.    However, I did not think it would really happen.   Well let me saw officially that I have never been happier to have been proven wrong!   Congratulations to Luis and his lovely wife for meeting Richy himself backstage on November 14, 2013!!   

Thank you for sharing your story with Meet the Beatles...for Real!   I am very honored to share your photo and story with the world!

 I was in the right place at the right time after so many hours going from here to there, out of hotels and backstage and it paid off.

 

It was, as the picture "says"November 14th 2013 at his dressing room(very big dressing room) before the concert. at national auditorium in Mexico City. We were with him  for almost 12 minutes.  Just we 3 and  nobody else. Just a guy (who I think is his secretary or assistant?) came in to take 2 pictures.One of the pics turned out blurry.

Ringo open the door of his dressing room and told us to come in.  He had to repeated it twice. Once we had entered, he closed the door.  We (Ringo and me) shook hands and he hugged my wife and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

The first thing I told him was" Ringo it took me 40 years to get to you, it's very hard to get to you" He said "I know I know" then the standard chat, how much we like his and his fellows music and how great it was to be with him.

 

Then while I looked for a pen(you know what for) my wife told him she is from Nicaragua.  He told us he has never been there, but he'd like to.I explained him that there's no concert industry in Nicaragua and he told us he was in Peru last week and he had a great time.

 

By this time I had the pen in my hand with good night vienna lp waiting in my other hand. I told him, "Ringo I know you don't sign anymore but can you sign my record?" he answered " No sorry I don't sign anymore, just for charity" I told him"I don't going to sell it on ebay, I'm a real fan, I have a theory about people selling your signs in ebay, they're radio people and press guys who  are not real fans and is easy for them to get to you and don't appreciate it" he told me " I know that's why I don't sign in press conference anymore"

 

At this moment his secretary or assistant came in and I asked him to take our picture  and Ringo said "yeah your picture".  The secretary or assistant took 1 picture and Ringo says "another one", The secretary or assistant gave me the camera back and I said "let me check the picture" Ringo said "yeah if it's not ok you can have it taken again" we looked at them and Ringo said "very good takes" at first sight they looked good but when I got home and put them in my pc, 1 turned out blurry.  The guy left and then we thanked Ringo and say goodbye we(Ringo and me) shook  hands again and my wife told him" you're a very good person" he hugged my wife and kiss her on her cheek again and we left.

 

We saw the guy who took the picture outside and thanked him too.

We went to our seats  later I asked my wife " why  did we leave the dressing room? nobody asked  us to leave" Well maybe we felt it was the right time to leave. We knew there was  another couple waiting to see him because we saw them waiting back of us before we entered the dressing room.

 

The kids in the car meet Ringo

photo by Rob Shanahan

Ringo didn't have to meet up with the "Kids in the car" photo that he snapped 50 years ago, but I am glad that he made the right choice and met with them during his Los Angeles appearance this past weekend.   I hope that they got an autographed print of the photo as well, because that would just be the icing on the cake.

Here is the official news information: 

Over the weekend in Las Vegas, Ringo Starr finally reunited with “The Kids in the Car” - the group of Beatles fans he snapped a photo of 49 years ago, and who now appear in his new book, ‘Photograph.’ The fans reminisced with Ringo, had a photo taken with him (by Rob Shanahan, who will be a guest at the NYC FEST in February), attended his concert, and also went to see a performance of ‘Beatles Love.’ As Ringo described it, the whole scene was “far out.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/11/25/ringo-starr-beatles-reunites-with-mystery-fans-in-the-car/3670039/

Kiddo

There has been a lot of Ringo bashing going on in the world of facebook and social media lately.  Yes, Ringo can be a grouch and comes across at times like that old man that yells "keep off my lawn!"  However, Ringo is also a very kind and loving man.   I think this photo, taken not too long ago, really shows that.  

The Mystery has been solved....maybe?

Well, I guess we can stop looking for the fans in that photo that Ringo has been trying to figure out the identities to.   Someone from Boston has came forward to say that they were former classmates of his at a high school in New Jersey.

The fans names are Gary Van Dursen (driving), who has sadly passed away,  Robert Toth (in the passenger seat), Charles Schwartz (leaning out the car window),  Matty Blender (girl on the left) who sadly has also passed away and Arlen Norbe Ressler (the girl on the right).    Interestingly enough the young man in the far back, the one that Ringo is the most interested in, was not named.

The story was that these young people skipped school on February 7, 1964 to see the Beatles at the airport.  They missed seeing the Beatles and started to drive back home, when they saw four limousines.   They thought they might be for a funeral, but come to find out they were for the Beatles.  (I have never known the Beatles to each have his own limo....SS).     They rolled down the window to get a closer look inside and Ringo rolled down the window to get a closer look at them and then he snapped the photo.

I find it interesting that while Ringo thought the photo was taken in Miami,  this information is from New York, as I suspected.

This sounds basically like a solved mystery, however when someone did some detective work, they discovered that none of the names given could be found in a 1964 yearbook of that school.    So it is still somewhat of an unsolved mystery, but getting closer to finding out the truth.  

Back to the "New"

I for one was a bit surprised that Paul was back at a formal autograph signing event last week in London.   The last time fans qued up for a wristband and a chance to get Paul to sign an autograph was in November 2007 at the Virgin Store in London.    

It seemed that these type of autograph signing was a "2000's" thing and Paul thing for the 2010's was calling fans up on stage for tattoo autographs.   Since Paul did do this in New York when he was promoting "New" there, I was not expecting the fans in London would get this opportunity.   But Sir Paul is full of surprises these days, and so about 160 fans got to meet Paul ever so briefly and get his signature on the "New" Cd.    One of the lucky people was my friend, Lucy (who has had quite the adventurous week.  She was also chosen to ask Paul a question during his BBC concert the few days prior).

Fans lined the streets 30 hours before Paul was set to show up.    Sixty fans automatically got Paul's autograph because they were contest winners.   The other folks were the first 100 fans in the line, regardless of how long they waited or if they had a wristband or not.    This caused a lot of fans to go home tired, cold and angry.   Sleeping overnight  on the sidewalk and going without decent food or toilet facilities and coming home empty handed would be beyond disappointing.    My sympathies goes out to fan #101 and above who were just as dedicated as #99 or 100.  

But for the 160 who did get Paul's autograph and those precious moments to speak to him face to face, it was an unforgettable experience.

What's New?

There isn't anything as exciting as the day of a Beatles member album release.   Everyone on facebook has been all exiting all day about the Paul McCartney album, "New."    I was anxious to hear the whole thing.   So I rushed out to my local record and game shop in my town right after work to find that they were not carrying the new album by Paul.    It is easy to get worked up in your own little Beatle world that you easily forget that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily care about things such as new Paul McCartney songs.

So I went across the street to the local Target store and bought the Deluxe version with the DVD.   I have only listened to the album all the way through one full time.   But so far I like it.   Do I LOVE it?  No.   Do I think it is better than Driving Rain or Chaos and Creation?   Oh yeah!    I like it even better than Memory Almost Full.   It seems like the songs on "New" are either ones that I am crazy about or I just don't like.    I need to give it many more listens before I have a final decision.   But there are several songs that have already stood out as good ones.  

Needless to say, I wasn't able to get that really awesome light up cube that everyone is getting and talking about.   If someone somehow was able to get an extra one and wouldn't mind selling it to me at cost plus shipping, I would be forever in your debt.   I would LOVE to have a "New" cube to go with my Beatles Anthology cubes.   But I think I am out of luck on that one.

Today's Secret Gig

Paul made an unannounced appearance today at a Fine Arts High School in New York.   Everyone is making it sound that the student's were called into an assembly and then surprise....Paul McCartney concert.  But the tip I heard was that there were rumors going around the school yesterday that Paul was going to be at the school today.    So while the students were surprised (who wouldn't be surprised if Paul McCartney showed up at your High School?), it wasn't a total and complete shock.  

I am sure the 400 students that were there enjoy Paul McCartney's music.   They are Fine Art's students, most of them are studying music, so I would guess that the majority of them are familiar with Paul and enjoy his work.   However, I am curious as to how many are really McCartney fans.  How many of the teenagers in the crowd would have paid the big money for tickets to a McCartney concert and how many had planned on buying "New" next week?  


Paul played an abbreviated version of his "Out there" tour set (with a few of his songs from "New" thrown in) and he took questions from the students a few times.   According to U.S.A. Today, the questions were, "benign and dealt with broad issues."      The only think I have left to say is that my teaching job would suddenly become a million times better if Paul McCartney came and did an assembly.    Instead I get to hear the first year band squeak out "Hot Crossed Buns" for another year.   Yeah....no McCartney there!   Oh well.

That's what it's all about

This photo was taken less than 24 hours ago (I have to admit modern technology still amazes me.  Remember waiting months to see a new Paul photo?) during the Jimmy Kimmel concert in Los Angles last night.   What I like about this photo is that it really shows that excites me about see Paul in concert.  That one on one connection and getting a point or a smile from him and even though there are seriously hundreds of thousands of other people there, you feel like it is just you and him.  

Rock Show with Nancy

George Harrison in Benton celebration

Many people have heard about the George Harrison historical marker dedication in Benton, Illinois that took place yesterday.  I was able to attend the event and thought that the Beatle fans around the world would like to know what took place.

In case you don't recall, 50 years ago this month the Beatles actually had some time off from their very busy year of 1963.   John and Cynthia went off to Paris for a very belated honeymoon, Paul and Jane along with Ringo and Maureen went off for a holiday in Greece, and George along with his brother Peter, came to the United States to visit their sister, Louise.    Louise had moved a few month before to the small town in southern Illinois that is about 2 hours south of St. Louis, Missouri, Benton, Illinois.

Louise had been working on getting her little brother's band known in the United States.  She was in constant contact with Brian Epstein in England letting him know how things were coming along.  She went around to radio station and pushed The Beatles singles to be played on the air.  She truly worked on getting The Beatles name and music known in the United States.   George spent three weeks in Benton with his sister.   While he was there he made a friend, Gabe McCathy who had a band called the 4 Vests.   George played with the 4 Vests on several occasions.   George also went to the drive in movies, bought a guitar in a music shop, bought American records, ate at the a diner that had car hops on roller skates, and spent a lot of time playing his guitar and hanging around with local people.  

This is a small thing, but yet historically in the story of the Beatles, it is an important first step to the Beatles becoming popular in America.   And so the state of Illinois decided to place a marker in Benton, Illinois to commemorate the time George spent in their town in 1963.

It was a beautiful day to have this outside event.    About 100 people showed up for the ceremony.  Several people spoke including Bob Bartel, who saved Louise Harrison's former home from being demolished and Jim Kirkpatrick who wrote the book, Before he was Fab.    Marcia Schafer told how she was the first person to play a Beatles song on the radio in the United States and George's very own sister, Louise Harrison spoke about her brother's visit and how she ended up living in Benton.   There were some local musicians who played some George Harrison music and also some representatives from Springfield who read the declarations and certificates aloud.    Then they took the cover off the historical marker and revealed it.

photo of the event

with Louise Harrison

Afterwards the 4 Vests sang and a few other musicians performed while Louise Harrison signed autographs and posed for photos.    Overall it was a very nice day and a good time honoring George.

The house where George stayed while he was in Benton is no longer a Bed and Breakfast.  However it is not just sitting vacant.   As far as I could tell from the trash cans sitting outside and the mail  boxes mounted in the front, it is now an apartment complex.    I found it strange, however that the people who were there who were so proud of how they saved the house from being torn down didn't seem to care much that it is no longer the Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast.    As a matter of fact, there was no mention that it was once THE house.   I wouldn't have thought much of it, except for the fact that this group of people kept saying how in 1995 they wanted to save the house because of its historical importance in the history of the Beatles.   If they felt like it was such a big deal, why haven't they done anything to have some type of marker near the house?

Louise Harrison's former home where George stayed for 3 weeks in 1963

Before I left Benton to go back home, my mom and I spotted a sign on an antique shop window that said to come inside and see where George bought records.   Since you all know what Beatle geeks we are, and that we are quite the suckers for stuff like this, we HAD to check it out. So here we are at the very counter that George bought the record of "I got my  mind set on you."  Funny enough my mom found a "Meet the Beatles" record in this shop. 

If you ever find yourself traveling through southern Illinois, it is worth your time to check out Benton and see the new marker and just see the little town where George got his first taste of America.   It isn't worth making a special trip just to see, but if you are already in the area it is well worth a short visit. 

Happy Birthday James!

Just wanted to wish James a very happy 36th birthday.   I hope his 36th year is as wonderful as mine has been.