Setting up for another photo

Who's that girl?

Who would have guessed that the lady sitting next to Paul in the backseat of that car in Los Angeles 50 years ago today would have ended up being his wife and mother of four (counting Heather) of his children.? 

A day no one will ever forget

If you were a Beatle fan in Los Angeles on June 24, 1968 - it is a day that you will never forget.   I have posted many stories and photographs of what happened 50 years ago today on this blog, that I don't need to rehash it all.   However, I thought I would post a few and say thank you to the fans for sharing such amazing Paul photos over the years. 

What is John up to now?

Perfectly Paul

Los Angeles press conference

copyright of this photo held by Sara Schmidt.  Do not post without permission

Dodging

Bang Bang into the room

George checks out the local scenery

Beatles off Guard

This is a great story about Christ and Moses and the Beatles in L.A. in 1966.   I love John's humor throughout this story, and I find myself wondering what was up with Ringo that day.    Unfortunately, the last page of the story is missing, so I couldn't type it up.   If anyone has the last page---could you please email it to me?

Jim guards George 

Beatles off Guard

By Ann Moses

From NME 1967 Annual

Christ watched over John Lennon and the Beatles when they were in Hollywood during their American tour earlier this year.  Moses was there, too!  No, I’m not kidding—Jim Christ and Jack Moses were employed by the U.S. Guard Company of Los Angeles to look after the boys during their stay.  They have some fascinating memories.

Jim and Jack (my brother) were Beatle fans long before they took their part-time summer guard duties.  Both were summer employees at Disneyland and served as guards for the excitement involved. 

But neither could have imagined the commotions, the excitement, the terror that resulted from their assignment to guard the Beatles!

A plan had been worked out for the Beatles to speedily enter and exit from Dodger Stadium.   Jack told me, “About an hour before the concert Jim and our two supervisors and I drove up to the house where the Beatles were staying.  Within two miles of the house, the road was solid on both sides with kids standing on their cars, standing all around.

“We entered by way of a one-lane winding road up a hill—all of which was blocked off by the city police.   There were security men surrounding the house and we entered after the giant electronic gate had been opened.  There were trails through the shrubbery all around the house and part of the back fence had been broken down.

“When we first saw them they were eating dinner.  There were very few people there – Tony Barrow, David Crosby and the Beatles’ road managers.   After about a half an hour I left in the armored car without the Beatles.   We were followed by a limousine full of security men and people from the house.  As we drove out almost all the kids followed us.

They were screaming, honking their horns, making wild turns and almost getting in accidents at every corner!

“When we turned onto the freeway the limousine stopped so none of the cars could enter.  About seven cars found us, and when we reached our designated spot, which was about two miles from the stadium, I opened the door to the armored car and showed the kids that the Beatles weren’t inside.  They got really angry!

“A lot of girls started crying.  Then they left.  Within eight minutes the Beatles pulled up in a beat-up Chevy van and jumped into the armored truck.”

Jim, meanwhile was at the house, waiting for J,P, G and R to leave in the van.  He said, “While I was waiting, John Lennon came out and he had a little rubber ball and was bouncing it against the wall while he talked to David Crosby.  Then they got into the van with their road managers and I rode ahead of them in the limousine. “

The van met with the armored truck in the parking lot and Jack and Jim helped the four into the truck.  Jack continued the story:  “There were no chairs, so they just sat on the floor.  As we approached the stadium, they got really bugged because as we passed through the barriers, girls were getting through.

“George said, ‘That’s right, let ‘em through.  Don’t hold that one back, let ‘em get us and rip us apart!’  Finally we made it to the back of the stadium where it was secluded and they went in to their dressing room.   The first thing Paul, John and George did was pick up regular guitars.  Each went to different corners of the room and played them.

“Then they picked up the instruments they use on stage, plugged them into small amps and began to play through the songs they were going to do.”

Jim interrupted, “It sounded fantastic!  They were just working out, it was groovy!  The whole time Ringo just sat in one corner not saying a word.”

“After they were dressed,”  Jack continued, “we led them to the tunnel where they would enter.  On stage they were introducing the radio station disc jockeys and John would say, ‘Here’s the guy who made it all possible, Rodney J. Feathersmith’ or ‘And in the six to nine slot, Henry B. Swindlehoff!’

“Finally he got disgusted because it was talking so long and he said, ‘Well, I’m going on!’ and he started to walk out onto the field.  Paul and George pulled him back.

“Then the DJ’s shouted ‘And here they are—the Beatles!’ and John began to sit down.   Ringo and George picked him up and we ran out on the field behind them.”

The stadium scene was typical – absolute pandemonium.  The Beatles dressed in green sharkskin bell-bottomed suits with velvet lapels.  The coats were six button, double breasted jackets over shirts of white with green printed flowers.  John and Paul wore boots, Ringo and George wore loafers.  The lines of security were stiff and no fans got near them.

During the show, they would wave to different sections and one would see a wave of human bodies rise and scream until temporarily exhausted.   But when John continued to wave to a section behind him, there was no reaction.

John couldn’t understand it until Jim explained that the entire section was for blind children.  “That’s all right,” said Paul, “Someone out there probably told ‘em ‘he’s waving at you now’”  “John thought that was groovy,” said Jim.

Planned procedure noted that the Beatles were to exit the centerfield gate.  Inevitably, there was a mix up and as the Beatles rushed to the limousines and proceeded out of the stadium, as the gates opened hundreds of girls surged toward the car!

Jack said, “We were told to run alongside the cars, which we did.  When they opened the gates, the cars couldn’t get out because a bus and two cars were blocking the way.  Then about 1,000 kids swarmed in and all around the car!”

“Girls were laying down in the front of the car!” Jim exclaimed.  “They were tearing the car apart and we had to grab them and pull them off.  The car couldn’t back up because a second limousine was right behind it!

“Finally the other limousine moved and they closed the gates.  The driver sped back to the third-base dugout.  We were running beside the car all this time!  When they pulled back into the stadium Paul and George waved white towels out the windows.  The crowd was going completely crazy!”

The Beatles rushed down to the dressing rooms and prepared for a wait.  Jack explained, “The Beatles just sat down and began opening Pepsi’s.  They handed each of us one before they had one.  Every time they’d offer us a cigarette, light out and then theirs.  They were really friendly!

“I walked over to John and said, ‘I thought we’d be able to get out of here.’ And he said, ‘Why is that?’

“I asked:  ‘did you notice my name?’  His eyes almost popped!

“I said ‘If you think that’s good, you ought to see Jim’s!’”

“John got up and looked at Jim’s name tag and he shouted, ‘It’s Christ and Moses!  I’ve been waiting to meet you both for a long time!’   Then he turned to Jim and said, ‘I didn’t mean it.  I really didn’t!  I didn’t mean a word of it!’

“John, Paul and George were sitting next to each other and we sat in front of them on a bench.  Ringo was sitting on the other side of the room, all alone.  For almost 45 minutes he didn’t say a word.”

Before long, the conversation centered on devious plots to help the Beatles escape.  Everyone kept repeating the idea that a helicopter would have been the smart thing, but George wanted to leave in the armored car and just slowly force its way through the crowd.  This however, was impossible since the crowd outside was bigger now and because someone had let all the air out of the truck’s four tires!

Paul turned to Jack and joked, “You should be able to get us out of Dodger Stadium since your great, great, great grandfather could part the Red Sea.”

John is wearing the "Moses" name-tag Jim gave to him in L.A. 

John looked at Jim, “and how about you?  Shouldn’t you be getting some dishes so you can start breaking the bread and bringing on the wine?”

Both boys said the Beatles were talkative and inquisitive.  Someone had told them that Los Angeles Police Chief Parker had died recently and they questioned their guards on how a new police chief was chosen and how the local government worked.  

Jack recalls, “John and Paul were asking us what it was like to work at Disneyland.  ‘How are the birds out there?’ John asked, ‘Chicks, ya know.’  I told him they were very good looking.

“I asked Paul if he’d been to Disneyland since there was a rumor that he’d visited there.  He said not, but wished he had.

“They all seemed disappointed that they didn’t get out more.  They were extremely disgusted with the radio station that broadcast the address where they were staying.  Their neighbors were watching the house with telescopes.  “John went to one corner of the room and I asked him he was working on his third book.  He said he did every now and then, but mostly when he was alone.”

Let the man get to his car

Late '68

The start of one crazy weekend

Beatlemania Hits L.A.

A little while ago I had the privilege of talking on the phone with a first generation fan name Kay.  Kay has had quite an adventure as a Beatles fan because in 1965 she was one of the girls that rented a helicopter that flew over the Beatles' rented house which lead to her and her friends being invited to the Beatles' press conference.    

She is allowing me to share her story from 1964 about her experience with Beatlemania.   She is working on a project right now that will go into more details about how experiences. 


In August of 1964, Beatlemania was running wild throughout the globe and the effects of it were felt in Los Angeles, California.      The Beatles hadn't been to the west coast as a group  yet and the fans were chomping at the bit to see them.      Radio stations, such as KRLA were playing their music and the release of their first movie,  A Hard Day's Night just added to the excitement.   The Beatles  not only would perform twice at the Hollywood Bowl, but would be spending a few days in a mansion in Bel-Air.


Crafty Beatle fans in the area learned where the house was and tired in vain to get inside the gates.   When they were stopped by police, they returned back to the gates and waited with hopes of seeing the Beatles coming and going.

One group of fans that camped outside of the Bel-Air house was a group of girls in the  Beatles Boosters Fan club:  Paula, Kay, Mickie, Sue R., Darlene, Sue S., and Yvonne.    They had hopes that they would see the Beatles and they were in luck at noon when they saw the Beatles limo coming out of the gate.   Not happy with just seeing the limo, the group piled into a 1963 Continental and started to chase the Beatles' limo down the highway.    At one point they were going 83 miles an hour in pursuit of the Fab 4!    And the cops were on their tail with lights flashing, but that did not stop them.  

The finally got close to the Beatles car and pulled up next to it.   George Harrison rolled down his window and Mickie threw a scroll that was signed by the fan club into the car!    The girls did eventually get a ticket from the police, but I would say that it was well worth it for that experience!

I am sure there are more details I have left out, but I want to hold off for Kay's project so she can elaborate more.

Here is a photo of the girls in the car with the ticket that appeared in the newspaper. 

Much thanks goes out to Kay for sharing her story with me and sending me the photo form the L.A. Times archives.  

One night in L.A.

George interviews Paul

the house from the uh oh files

This is the house that John Lennon lived in along with Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr.  Uh oh files for sure!

Ringo and Barb on May 31, 1983 at LAX. 

Red jacket and the L.A. sun

The difficult exit from Dodgers Stadium

Beatles Clocked from Dodger Stadium Exit

UPI

A screaming mob of some 7000 Beatles fans put quite a chink in the usual iron-clad armor protection of the four mopheads after they finished their ten-tune concert at Dodger Stadium Sunday night.

The Beatles faithful perhaps in consternation at not seeing or hearing more of the Liverpool quartet during the brief 30 minute performance which lured 45,000 into the home of the Dodgers, stormed one of the entrances to the ballpark before the singing group could be whisked to safety.

Security personnel of army life proportions had tried unsuccessfully to sneak the Beatles out in two cars through a rear gate.

But the vehicles were met by 200 or 300 teenagers who promptly halted the Beatles caravan by throwing their bodies in the path of the autos.

The quick-thinking drivers of the two cars beat a hasty retreat back into the stadium as the fans ripped off hood ornaments and outside mirrors as souvenirs.

A second attempt to penetrate the surly crowd in the Beatles famed armored car was also a bust as the teenagers let the air out of all the tires on the heavy truck.

The stadium then became a fortress for the barricaded Britishers as police locked all the gates.

But some youth rolled up a large trash bin and used it as a battering ram while others kept the guards on the move hurling shoes, belts and trashcan lids.

Even after the witty Britishers made good their escape form the stadium in their repaired armored vehicle, the battle was not won.

As the armored car approached the Beatles hilltop hide away in Hollywood, another mob blocked the narrow street with a car.

When the truck came to a halt about 100 milling fans surrounded the vehicle, but were soon escorted away by police as the mopheads ran for the safety of their home.