George's 21st birthday

 

February 25, 1964

I am feeling sorry for "Anne" and Benita -- after George left from these photo op, these fan club leaders had to clean up all the letters, keys and other gifts received.  

Paul and Ringo keep up with the Beatles news

 

May 30, 1964

We learned from the Get Back documentary that The Beatles really kept up to date with the Beatles news.  Here Paul and Ringo are looking at a Beatles book that was mailed out only to members of the Official Beatles Fan Club in the U.K.

50 years ago -- Area Secretary gathering

50 years ago the UK Beatles fan club area secretaries all gathered for a private screening of the Magical Mystery Tour film in London.

For those of you who aren't familiar with how the Beatles Fan club in the UK was organized, let me quickly explain.     First there was a national Fan club secretary, which of course was the lovely Freda Kelly.     She worked from the main office which by 1967 was located in Liverpool.    Freda did all of the major work for the fan club, however there was so much correspondence from fans around the UK that there was no way one person could handle it all.   Each region of the UK had what was known as the "area secretary."     So if Freda got letters from fans in say Blackpool, she would mail that batch of letters to the Blackpool area secretary.  That girl would then answer the letters and correspond with the local Beatle fans.   Freda sent the A.S. updates from the Beatles on what was going on and the A.S. would then spread the news to the fans in their immediate area.   They wrote newsletters several times a year and did a lot of work without getting paid. 

To show the area secreatries their appreciation from the Beatles,  they were all invited, along with one guest (who was usualy another fan club member) to go to London for a special screening of the Beatles new film.      Of course the girls all hoped that the Beatles would be there as well, but it wasn't expected. 

As you can see from the letter I posted above, the day started with a screening of the full version of MMT (I am still not sure if they got to see it in color, but you would think that they did) followed by 30 minutes of refreshments (tea and cake) and ended with (thanks to John Lennon's recomendation)  showing of the Beatles at Shea Stadium film.      The fan club secretaries also received their copy of the 1967 Christmas flexi and I think a Magical Mystery Tour EP.       So all of that is enough to make for a great day!

However -- what was set to be a great day turned out better than expected when George Harrison and John Lennon showed up during the refreshment time!!    Ringo was in Rome filming "Candy" at the time and Paul couldn't make it, but two Beatles are better than no Beatles and the fans were thrilled!  I am pretty sure that each area secretary was allowed an autograph and a photograph with John and George.    Beatles Book Monthly photographers were there to take photos, but a few fans had brought their own cameras to the event as well.     There was no crazy mania going on (at least not outward) and all of the fans were on their best behavior and from everything I read, it seemed like it was great for everyone that was there. 

I have said before and I still stand by it --   if I could go back to a Beatles moment in time.   This would be in my top 5.   To be able to be that close to John Lennon and actually speak to him would have been outstanding.

Photo with Freda Kelly's autograph from Sara Schmidt's collection 

Beatles fan club members wanted

Hello Beatle friends!

As you know, I wrote my first book, Happiness is Seeing the Beatles:  Beatlemania in St. Louis  last year and it was an amazing experience.    I had so much fun writing the book.

I decided to start in on a new book project that will take many years to complete.   It is a subject that is near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons--the Beatles fan clubs.  

My goal is to publish a two volume set of books covering the Beatles fan clubs in the UK and US.   It will be full color with beautiful photographs and stories while telling the story of the Beatles fan clubs.  

No one has ever really dug into the history of the Beatles fan clubs, and while I am sure it isn't a topic that is of interest to every fan, I think there is enough interest out there to warrant at least a limited edition book.

For this book to actually happen, I need help!    I am looking to talk to anyone that was involved in the Beatles fan club and has stories that he/she would like to share.    That would include:

• Fan club chapter presidents/presidents in the U.S.
• Fan club area secretaries for a state in the U.S.
• Fan club area secretaries in the U.K.
• Those that worked for the fan club as a job between 1962-1972
• Independent fan club presidents
• Anyone that met the Beatles due to involvement in the fan club. 
• Anyone that went to one of the Beatles fan club conventions in 1963 in England
• Anyone that attended the Magical Mystery Screening party in December 1967
• ????????

I also will need lots and lots of photographs of memorabilia.     Fan club membership cards, posters, newsletters, you name it!     

Won't you please please help me??   If you weren't involved in the original  fan club---please try to think if you know of someone that was and ask them for me.   

And before you ask---no I have not gotten in contact with Freda Kelly, but I am trying to.   If you know how I can best get in contact with her, please let me know.

Send those emails to beatlesbusch66@gmail.com    I have a list of questions for fans to fill out if they are interested, or they can just share their story on the phone or whatever is best of them.  

Women who know tell all about the Beatles

This is a fun little article about the girls that ran the Beatles Fan Club in London in 1964.   I found it in some newspaper archives from the "Teen" section of an un-sourced Washington D.C. newspaper. 

Women who know tell about the Beatles

By Rodney Burbeck

July 25, 1964

They are the most envied girls in Britain possibly the world.  They work in a smallish office in the West End of London surround by letters and photographs. Their work is exhausting,  keeping them in the office for 10 or 12 hours a day. But there isn't a girl anywhere who wouldn't  give her right arm to do their job. They are the Beatles' secretary.  They work for a firm called NEMS enterprises, the organization headed by Brian Epstein that handles the business affairs of the Beatles.

Who better than these girls to give us a first-hand account of the Beatles at work, rest and play?  The boys often pop into the office to relax with a soft drink, to chat with the girls and keep themselves up to date on fan club news.   One of the girls told me of the day she first me the Beatles.   "It was about a year ago at a BBC recording. Of course, those were the days before things were quite so pottie and they are now, but it was my first taste of Beatlemania. I found the boys very polite and splendid and everything was going swimmingly --until I glimpsed through a glass door.  Crowds of girls were going mad trying to get at us .  I was petrified, but Paul, who was with me, just calmly waved his hand. We raced up the stairs to the canteen and I was scared stiff in case they came after us."

  Another girl commented on the Beatles intense politeness, “I remember when they got back from the Swedish tour.  They were dead tired but even then they bent over backwards to be nice and help out all they could."

When the boys descend on the office, the girls prepare for anything happening. "We never know what crazy things they'll get up to.    If we let them into the phone, they usually say something like 'Mark and Spencer's stock department' or 'Russian embassy'. If they sit down and want to chat, we shove 30 or 40 photograph in front of them and get them to do some signing while they talk. They usually pop in when they have been shopping in the West End.  Once John came rushing in with a fantastic blue cashmere sweater.  He was terribly excited as if it were the first thing he has ever bought. Everybody had to feel it and say how nice it was. We never know when they are going to come in but it is always lovely to see them.

Often fans visit the office is open to see the boys. One girl came to pay her fan club dues and on the way out passed John on the stairs. A minute later there was a knock on the door and back she came trembling all over and asking 'was that really John?'"

"We assured her it was and got John, who had gone into another office and sign of photo for her.  She left in a daze. "

How do you get a job as a Beatle secretary?” Well one of our best typists is a fan who just happened to call when we were so busy we were going potty . She says 'do you need a shorthand typist?'  And we said 'DO we!'   The Next day she rang up and asked if she could have the job.   We gave her an interview and took her on.   She really is a marvel."

  What sort of person do you have to be?  "You have to be able to work very quickly and be prepared to work all hours. It also helps to be a little crazy."

  I asked the girls to sum up each of the boys as they see them and this is what they told me

Paul:  he is the supreme diplomat,  in fact he could have been a diplomat.

 Ringo is tremendously generous and takes a genuine interest in people. He's also a bit of a clown --a lovable clown.

 John:    fabulous. We all adore him.  He is  terribly witty  and very very sharp and quick.  He's so intelligent it might frighten you.

 George is a bit of a puzzle. He's just nice.  He doesn't say very much but when he wants to say something he just says it. He is funny and helpful.

 “The appeal of all of them is that they could quite easily just be the boy next door. They all make you feel as if you matter. John might walk passed  you without recognizing you.   I think he seems to see people’s faces as a blur. But then Ringo comes bounding up and says' hello nice to see you' and then they all remember you and say hello.  Being so close to the boys, it is a little difficult to realize how big they have become. We don't think when talking to them 'good gracious, thousands of girls would give anything to be in my shoes. ‘We just think they are nice  boys to know.”

Valentine's Day at Beatles Fan club headquarters

Around with the Beatles!

By 1964, the first of the official Beatles Booster Fan clubs started to pop up on the United States.   One such club's president was a girl from Los Angeles named Ping Tom.    (Who will be featured very soon on this blog because I found a great newspaper article about her).    From what I can tell, Ping is among the first Beatle fans to start a fan magazine (newsletter) in the U.S. that was mailed out to fans.    She worked with DJ's in Los Angeles and her Beatles Booster newsletter was well received.   In the August 1964 issue there is a story written by Carol Webber about meeting the Beatles in February in New York.   Carol's story lacks information, but I am sure it was exciting nonetheless to those receiving the newsletter in 1964.

Around with the Beatles!

By Carol Webber

Your terrific fan club president, Ping Tom, has asked me to write a little on my meeting with the Beatles back in February. Yes, I was one of the fortunate people to get to meet them personally while they were in America on their first concert tour.

First, my name is Carol Webber, I'm going on 23 years old and I do publicity work for a record company. One of the fellows I used to work for, he now works in New York, took me to meet the Beatles, and it was a great thrill. It turned out that I not only saw them once, but twice in New York City at the Plaza Hotel, again after a  concert at Carnegie Hall, ran into them in Washington, DC., and was on the train back to New York the same time they were, and  I saw the ever so briefly the night they returned from New York to London.

 I know a lot has been said in magazines about the Beatles, you have to meet them in person to really know the real Beatles!!!  I was around Paul McCartney a little more than the rest and, at first, he seemed a little quiet, but actually, he has a great sense of humor and the most beautiful soft talking voice! He has the darkest hair of the Beatles and the most beautiful eyes. He is so warm and kind and friendly. To hear him talk, you would know he is very educated, but he is a great one for practical jokes!

George Harrison is very quiet at times (at least the first time I met him) but he can really talk up a storm when you hit upon a subject he is really interested in (besides girls), and George has a great genuine warmth about him. I met his sister, Louise Caldwell, on one occasion, and she, too, it is very warm, and I just love to hear them all talk!

Ringo --well, it is hard to describe Ringo, except as a wild little fellow! He is the shortest of the group, but has lovely blue eyes (they are so blue). He is just as crazy as can be.

John Lennon is terrific!! Sometimes I wonder about John, especially after reading his book, In His Own Right, but when you are around him, he isn't as "nuts" as he may seem. He is very quick witted and there's something about John that is fascinating. He has a cute mouth and without his glasses, he can't see anything but just insists he doesn't like them.  I briefly saw his wife, Cynthia, and she is very attractive and has beautiful hair.   She does shy away from the public and didn't accompany John too much during their tour of America. She usually traveled alone, or with Louise, and met John at the various places, but stayed away from the press conferences.

Carol attended this press conference and took some photos 

Oh, I could go on and on for ages about the fun I had, the clever and wild things they say and do, but I would make Ping put out a 150 page bulletin just of my thoughts alone.

 I do want to straighten out of the book in this respect. I've heard many stories about the Beatles being loud, not too well mannered, and drink, but those stories or false, in my opinion, as the four Beatles boys I met were very well mannered. All seem very intelligent, and for sure, they were not at all like some of the reporters try to make them out to be.    They are down to earth, warm, friendly, mannerly, polite, and sincere fellows. When they were on stage, you can see they weren't up there working for the money, but were up there doing what they love doing. You get the feeling that they really are just more or less pleasing themselves, and if the audience enjoys it, it makes it just a bigger gig for them!

So just do me a big favor; when you read something in the fan magazines about the Beatles, just remember what I said, and keep in mind these boys are terrific, and I am proud to know them. They are the type of entertainers we should have more up.

Thanks to all of you for allowing me to take up a little of your time by telling you all of my meetings with the Beatles and my impression of them. Just hope all of you are able to meet them or see them in person on their August/September tour of America this year.