Innovative Beatle fan

Us Beatle fans are a lot of things.   I happen to notice that us Beatle freaks tend to be a little creative,  innovative  and even a bit pushy when it comes to the guys.   How else have so many fans gotten to meet of them over the years?   

This young man was very wise in that he brought a telescope with him and balanced it on a fire hydrant outside of the Delmonico hotel and tried to look into the Beatles hotel window.   Did it work?  Who knows...but this fan sure had a pretty neat idea.

I can't hide....

Photo by Henry Grossman

This is a photo of Bob Dylan outside of the Delmonico Hotel on his way into the hotel to see the Beatles for the first time.   Is that That is Neil Aspinall in the photo?!

50 years ago Bob Dylan showed the Beatles how enjoyable it is to smoke pot.   It wasn't the first time the Fab 4 smoked the drug.   The first time was in 1960 when they were in Hamburg.   I think people get confused and think that the Beatles had NEVER smoked it until they met Bob Dylan because Brian Epstein said "We have never smoked it before."    But Brian, who wasn't with the Beatles in Hamburg, spoke for the entire group when he really was just speaking for himself.    The Beatles had smoked marijuana a few times and George says in the Anthology that they tried it and didn't feel any effects. 

But Bob Dylan did turn the Beatles onto the effects of the drug that night in the New York hotel room and it really changed the Beatles lives.    Once pot was introduced and became part of the Beatles lives,  their music began to change.   John, George and Paul all were arrested at some point in their lives for having marijuana.    It truly was a game changer for the Fab 4.

I am not a pot person.  I don't smoke it.   I don't enjoy being around people who are smoking it.   But everyone is free to make their own choices and what someone does on his or her own time is none of my business.

I do think it is funny some of the stuff that happened that night.

• Ringo wouldn't pass the joint around (because he didn't know the  proper rules)
• Brian kept saying that he was "so high I'm on the ceiling."
• Paul having Mal follow him around with a pencil and paper so that he could write down everything he said
• Ringo started to giggle and everyone was laughing at his giggling.

If you want to read a great re-telling of what happened by someone who was there.  Check out this page!

Long Island Girl Invited to Party in Beatles' Own Suite

I dont' think most girls who were invited to party with the Fab 4 in the hotel suite talked about it to the newspaper the next day.  But this is one exception!   

Long Island Girl Invited to  Party in Beatles' Own Suit
Writer Unknown
Long Island Press

Penny Brandstatter of Laurelton drops back to earth today -- from Beatleland Beatlemania and a Beatle party in the mopheads' own hotel suite.

the 16 year old lass, who spent the last two days in the rarified atmosphere of the Hotel Delmonico in Manhattan where the Beatles are nesting, reached the pinnacle of all success last night with an invitation to a Beatle party.

"It's wonderful, it's wonderful,"  Penny enthused.

Penny wheedled the invite through a Bay Shore disc jockey for whom she had been giving hourly reports on the doings at the Delmonico.

"I tell him things like the kids are climbing up the fire escape,"  Penny said.

Penny checked into the hotel when the Beatles moved i over the weekend.  She was accompanied by here sisters, Lynne, 21, and Debbie, 5.  Lynne can do without the Beatles but Debbie finds them "positively just wonderful."

The girls are staying in a 442 a day room paid for by Penny for the sales of Beatle paintings she did over the past several months.

She said she has gone through $300 to be near the Beatles and get all their newest records.

She comes home today after the Beatles check out in a swirl of hair to devastate Atlantic City.

The Beatles wrapped up their two-night stand in Forest Hills last night at something called a "concert" in the West Side Tennis club.

Needless to day, six times more than could fit into the stadium turned out.


You can read Penny's little sister, Debbie's account of meeting the Beatles in this post from 2009.

The power of the radio and the Beatles

Nothing quite like it had ever happened before.   When the Beatles came to the Delmonico Hotel on August 28, 1964,  the fans waiting outside the hotel had something that generations before them didn't have:   transistor radios.

One major Beatles station in the City was WABC --also known as "W A Beatles C" with Cousin Brucie and Scott Muni and others.   And the jocks of WABC had a suit inside of the Delmonico Hotel with unlimited access (thanks to giving the security wine and gifts) of the hotel.   They were broadcasting live about what was happening inside the hotel and 10,000 of their listeners were right below them in the street.    Every Beatles fan standing outside of the hotel was listening to the station on their radio or a radio of someone near them.   They were listening to what the Beatles had for breakfast and what time they got up and any inside information.    They also were singing along in mass unions to Beatles and others hit songs on the radio.

The radio guys loved it!   They would use their high-tech wireless microphones and stick them out the window  and ask the fans to do all sorts of things:  sings WABC jingles, sing happy birthday to President Johnson, sing We love you Beatles, tell them to scream "Ringo!" so he might throw a tie out to them (yeah right....someone would have gotten killed over that tie!).    They were able to hear interviews with the guys.   It had to have been exciting to these fans.

Not surprising, there were any real issues (besides a few girls fainting) outside of the hotel.  10,000 fans and they were all waiting with baited breath to hear what was going on inside of the hotel through their transistor radio.

It was a break-through for WABC and radio in general and it was an unforgettable time for the Beatle fans outside of the Delmonico 50 years ago today.

The adventures of the St. Christopher Medal

When the Beatles arrived at the Delmonico Hotel during the early hours of the morning, 3,000 fans were waiting for them.  As the Beatles got out of the car, the group of fans broke through the police barricade and ran towards the boys.   One of those fans was Angie McGowan who managed to rip Ringo's shirt and take the St. Christopher medal that was on a gold chain off his neck.   One newspaper report said that "retired triumphantly into the crowd."

What a souvenir!  A necklace that Ringo Starr had around his neck!  But what Angie and everyone else weren't aware of at the time was that particular necklace had sentimental value to Ringo.  He got it as a gift from an aunt in Liverpool for his 21st birthday.   Ringo had a big party on July 7, 1961.  80 people squeezed into his home in the Dingle for a celebration.   And one of his aunts gave him the medal of the saint that looks after you during travel.   Since Ringo was really starting to make it big with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and was doing some traveling, he was happy to receive the necklace and put it on that night.   It remained around his neck every day until it got removed at the Delmonico hotel in 1964.   Ringo was upset and wanted his necklace back.

After Cousin Bruce noticed that he didn't look very well, Ringo told the DJ for WABC radio that someone had grabbed his St. Christopher medal.    Knowing a good scoop when he sees one, Cousin Brucie used the radio to not only help Ringo, but also help the station.   He got on the air and asked if the person that "found" Ringo's St. Christopher medal (he used the word found and not stole or took or grabbed on purpose) would come forward, he would see to it that the fan would get a personal meeting with Mr. Starr.    Ringo told the listeners that "It means more to me than almost anything."   After that, 155 people called in, claiming to have the medal in their possession.    One of the callers was Mrs. McGowan who told Brucie that her daughter, Angela had found Ringo's necklace and wanted to know if her 16 year old daughter was in trouble.   Brucie assured her that Angie was not in trouble, and arranged for the mother and daughter to stay at the hotel and meet up with Ringo the next day.    With the medal and the finder  secretly tucked away, please for the return of the necklace continued throughout the night and into the daylight hours just for ratings boosts.

Finally the time came.  Film crews as well as radio crews were on hand to see the safe return of the necklace.  Angie apologized for ripping Ringo's shirt and Ringo said, "I can buy another shirt, I can't replace this." (meaning the medal).   Ringo was very sweet to Angie and her friends.   He allowed them to kiss him on the  cheek and signed autographs.   In watching the footage, I am surprised by how composed Angie appears to be.   She speaks in a quiet voice but with confidence and not like an out of control fan.

Angie has visited this blog on several occasions over the years and emailed me a long time ago.   She says that there is more to her story than what Cousin Brucie says and that her adventures continued after the kiss from Ringo.  One thing that happened was that she became a sudden celebrity among Beatle fans!   People were writing to her and wanting to know about what it was like to kiss Ringo!  She was sending out photos and corresponding with all sorts of fans.    I hope Angie writes a book or an article about what  exactly happened.