My StepBrother was a Beatle

 

Photo by Linda

My Stepbrother was a Beatle

The McCartney Observer Winter 1982

(Taken from British "Feature" published 3-18-83)

Written by Ruth McCartney

My stepbrother Paul McCartney was overplaying an unfamiliar role but doing so in deadly earnest. his poker-voiced announcement was out of character, "Well, Sis, it's high time I got to know more about this young man you might be marrying."  The three of us were gathered in the spacious lounge at "Rembrandt, the fine old family house on Cheshire's swish Wirral peninsular, which Paul had presented to his father, Jim, 14 years earlier.  After my mother Angie became Jim's second wife in 1964, I spent the next 12 years of my unusual childhood at Rembrandt as part of the McCartney family. 

Now, it was near the end of 1977. Jim McCartney had died in the spring of the previous year. I was a fairly mature, independent but impressionable 17-year-old, and a suddenly paternal Paul was showing surprising concern for the future well-being of his teenage stepsister. I suppose he imagined he was doing his dad's duty, if only for one afternoon. Taking up the traditional stance of a protective father about to assess the true caliber of some potential son-in-law, Paul stood stiffly before the fireplace. A few feet away stood Mike, the man I thought Imight be marrying. In his arms, he was holding very awkwardly and by the wrong bits, the several-month-old baby of Paul and Linda, little James. Paul had given a confused Mike brief custody of the tiny child, maybe as some obscure sign of man-to-man goodwill. I shall never forget the comic contract between Paul's stern frown and the state of the gear he wore. His feet were bare without socks beneath big, baggy grey trousers. he was wearing battered old slippers and patterned braces. The stained sleeves of his blue lumberjack shirt were rolled up unevenly beyond each elbow. Mike waited silently for Paul to initiate a conversation. At last, he did with, "I've heard a lot about you, Mike, from Sis here. but what do you do and stuff?"  I never did marry Mike. Nor anyone else, so far. But I shall keep vivid mental pictures of that odd confrontation long after I forget the color of Mike's eyes!

I have a mass of childhood memories of my upbringing at Rembrandt in close proximity to a pop superstar. There were as few as five meetings between Jim McCartney and my prematurely widowed mother, Angie, before the couple decided to marry in November 1964.  Angie used to take me with her to Rembrandt. The lounge appeared to me to be the size of a cricket ground, and the telly looked as large as any cinema screen I'd seen. One evening, my mum carried me from my bed and I remember her whispering that this was Paul as I was passed on to a new knee. I thought to myself, "My cousin has wallpaper like you in her Wendy house!" I had seen rolls of Beatles' wallpaper before, but not the original article!

Beatlemania produced strange side effects. My mum was forbidden to send out any laundry. Jim feared fans would pinch souvenirs. the other Beatles - particularly John and George were frequent visitors. George spent a lot of time at Rembrandt teaching me a bit about Indian music when I was learning to play the piano. He drew diagrams for me, little boxes with signs in, to show the strange structure of the music. Jim seemed to be in much awe of his Beatle son. He would warn Mum, "Don't let Ruth wear that while Paul's at home." It was all down to "don't say this" and "don't risk that" when Paul was around. There was an arrival ritual to be observed so that Paul might avoid BEatles' fans still lurking near Rembrandt far into the night. He would telephone the house when he had left London, reporting his progress from a motorway service station. Two hours later, we would darken the whole place, open the garage doors, then wait quietly in an unlit kitchen until we could hear the sound of an approaching Aston Martin. Paul would kill the car lights completely at the top of the road. The navy blue vehicle would glide into the garden, and I would race out to secure the gate behind it. What a performance!

Paul's early nickname for me was Scabby because my knees were so frequently grazed after falls. "Come on then, Scabby!" he would cry.  "I'll take you for a dive." I looked forward to rides with Paul, although it meant climbing into the back of the 2-door Aston and squeezing up behind the driver's seat, sharing the cramped space with Paul's huge, old sheepdog, Martha. The car contained an amazing little record player, a revolutionary gadget in its day. This became a favorite toy of Paul's, although it destroyed some of his best records. You 'posted' your singles into the thing horizontally. Unfortunately, someone had put the player far too close to the car's heater, and this started melting his records after 10 plays!

When someone in the family wasn't too well, Paul cuold be awfully kind-hearted. My gran, Angie's mother, Edie, was fetched home by private ambulance for her 80th birthday. Paul had masses of flowers delivered. Once, when I had broken my leg, Paul bought me a lovely little Scottie, which we called Hamish. If a member of the McCartney clan was going into the hospital, Paul would say, "Get a private room. Tell them I'll settle the account." The cash for everything came out of a joint account held by Jim and Paul. Into this account came Paul's music publishing money from Northern Songs. Frequently, after a chat with Paul, Jim would pay bills for relatives. A nephew might be having the phone cut off, or a sister might need a new piece of furniture. Much later on, after Paul and Lidna had married, a financial affiars man came from London. He went through all the household expenses and told my mum that Paul and Linda wanted to know what it cost to run Rembrandt so that they could make a specific annual allowance. The joint account was closed at that stage. 

During my first three years at Rembrandt, Paul brought his actress girlfriend Jane Asher to stay for long weekends. To a small girl, watching through childhood's rose-tinted eyes, the blossoming romance between Paul and Jane looked like some long, hot summer which could never end. They used to take me with them everywhere. They appeared to share a tremendous kick out of adopting "Mummy and Daddy" roles towards me on these outings. During school holidays, and always at Christmas time, I was taken to visit them regularly at Paul's London home in St. John's Wood. There, in the large, untrimmed garden behind the house in Cavendish Avenue, Paul, and Jane helped me nandle my first proper bike. Jane shot a roll of cine film later at Rembrandt, showing the same ritual of Paul holding the back of my bike saddle and running me round the edge of the lawn. At one point, he let go, and I fell off. Paul used to take great glee in trotting out this film time after time in front of family and friends. I would have to watch myself repeatedly stamping my little foot in temper beside the fallen bike. 

Paul was mellow and gentle, much more relazed than usual, when Jane was at his side and the other Beatles were absent. Although I remember her as a fairly forceful young lady, Jane allowed Paul to make the running, which suited him. Looking back now, with the wisdom of an adult, I realise that there were constant signs of discontent. A kid of my age paid little heed at the time, but I used to overhear some fierce quarrels. Jane would finish up going off for a long, sad walk on her own. Paul would stalk out across the drive to his car, slamming the heavy door hard as he kicked down on the powerful accelerator. 

The couple's idea of pleasure during their Rembrandt weekends differed. Jane was contnet to be alone with Paul and she loved the Cheshire countryside. She was truly happy when riding a horse or collecting wildflowers. Sometimes, she and Paul would spend their whole day exploring rural lanes on the pair of mopeds Jim and Angie kept for them. Often, Paul became easily bored by such excursions. He revealed his preference for sessions with old mates. He liked to visit a New Brighton pub and join the gang late at night curried eggs back to somebody's house. It was Jane who introduced Paul to the elegance of Savile Row suits, classy shoes, and silk hankies. I think he depended on her as a guru to expand his gregarious ambitions beyond the pubs. On reflection, I reckon they were like a pair of leopards, each striving hard to change the other's spots. They failed to find a middle meeting place. But I felt awfully sorry when they split up in 1968, less than a year after their official engagement. 

In such circumstances, a child selects to forget unhappy scenes. My mind concentrated upon all the treats I had enjoyed and how Jane had taught me to knit. I went to my wardrobe and took out the clothes Paul and Jane had given me the previous Christmas. I laid the small camel coat, the kilt, the sweater, and the suede handbag across the foot of my bed. Long after the clothes became too small for me, I treasured them as my deepest emotional reminder of the happy times with Jane and Paul. And I still use that suede handbag today, 15 years later. 

We continued to see plenty of Paul after that, but, for one reason or another, the relationship grew less smooth. I cannot say whether Paul's nature changed when the Beatles began to disband. Obviously, there were new influences upon him - including those generated by the new lady in his life, the American photographer Linda Eastman, whom he had met in New York with John. The differences betwen Linda Eastman and Jane Asher were substantial and fundamental. Doctor's daughter, Jane was a typically reserved English lady with a simple ambition to pursue her acting interests within the serious theatre. Her circle did not include anyone other than Paul from the pop music business. Linda turned out to be a typically toughened New Yorker, her personality sharpened by the pressures of her chosen career. She had wide experience of show people, her close friends raging form Warren Beatty to Mike Jagger, Otis Redding to Van Morrison. 

Indirectly, the marriage of Paul and Linda on March 12, 1969, was to have much influence up on my life. 

At Rehearsal With Paul

 "At Rehearsal With Paul- May 7, 1976"

The McCartney Observer #23 Winter 1983

Written by Pat Sudds

As a teenager, I worked as a volunteer at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit for the Red Wings hockey games. After doing this for 5 years, my friends (4 of us all together) and I got to know all the other staff...i.e., concession people, maintenance people and doormen, etc...quite well. By this time, I was 19, and we were getting ab it braver with our free entrance privileges. The bright idea occurred to us to try and get into rock concerts dawned on us slowly. we found that the doormen just let us walk in, thinking we were going to work that night. Of course, we had to show up at our usual time of 5:30-6:00 to make it work. 

On May 7, 1976, I met my friend, Fran, in the parking lot as arranged. Our other friends, Barb and Sandy, wanted to wait until the Saturday show to go. From previous experiences, we knew that almost all the other bands didn't show up until just before showtime and stayed completely out of sight behind the stage (Alas, we had no backstage friends to risk their necks for us!)

Once inside the building, our usual habit was to go to the executive offices and talk to the girls that worked there (sometimes the stars came in and they had gossip to report). As we headed for the stairs, I told Fran that someone was tuning a piano. She says, "So?" I was quite excited becaues the equipment is usually all set up to go by the time we got there. She pushed onto the offices. The girl on the switchboard told us that they were late getting the equipment from New York and were still setting it up. Fran looked at me with an I-told-you-so look. I persisted in checking this out (could be cute roadies). She gave in (to shut me up), and we went into the arena at the end opposite the stage.

Immediately, we noticed people on the stage, and they did not look like roadies! As we walked closer (ran closer?), we realized it was Paul, Linda, and Wings. Paul was at the piano. By the time we got up to the stage, he had left the piano and walked over to a guitar, picked it up, and strapped it on (his bass, I think). He had on a blue Hawaiian-style print shirt and jeans. I must admit that I could not tell you what Linda and the others had on as I never took my eyes off Paul.

Then, if all this wasn't enough (I really expected to be chased out of there), he spoke to us! He asked us to sit down, and they would play us a tune as the equipment just came in from New York, and they wanted to check the sound out. I looked around with a "Who me?" expression, and he gestured to the seats, and I realized he meant us!!

As they started to play, I remembered I had brought my trusty Kodak Instamatic along, just in case. I got it out and held it up tentatively. I did not want to offend Paul by taking pictures without asking. I guess this was my lucky day. His answer was to WAVE at me. So, I snapped while he mugged for my camera. 

They finished playing, and we clapped, and he said, "See you at the show," or words to that effect, and headed off the stage. 

After reading other accounts in "The McCartney Observer," I can really identify with the other accounts of not knowing what to say. I could just kick myself now for not saying something. But I was in a fog. Actually, I do not remember all the details of the concert because I kept returning to events earlier in the evening. 

Anyway, after he left, we rushed back to tell the switchboard girl about it and giggled, pinched ourselves, and giggled again until concert time. 

The next day, after hearing of our good fortune, Barb and Sandy tried to get close to the stage before the concert (although no one was on it), and the lightman told them to get out; no one was allowed in. After discussing the light man with them, Fran and I ascertained that he was there on our night, too, but let us go by without a second glance. Perhaps we looked more business-like, or he thought we really were working there!

I have taken that as a sign of fate, that we were just supposed to be there on Friday and have a special, private concert with Paul. 

Unfortunately, my pictures turned out to be as wobbly as my knees! Also, as I knew of no fanzines or that other shared in my Beatlemania after it was over, I never wrote everything down, and I cannot for the life of me remember what he sang to us (although I do remember that they ran the "Band on the Run" video on the big screen while he sang to test it out).

But, I know who it is in the photos, and I can remember how he looked at me and sang to me, and no one can take those few special moments away from me. 

Meeting Macca

Wings performance in Philadelphia in 1976

 

Meeting Maca In ’76 & ‘77

By Marina Sharpe

 The McCartney Observer

Summer 1977

It happened like a dream, meeting Macca for the first time on Friday, May 14, 1976!  I, along with my friend Peggy, were going crazy with anticipation of seeing Wings in concert at the Spectrum.  We met two of our friends, Karen and Darlene, in Philly, and we all got in Karen’s car and drove to the Spectrum.

The concert was so fantastic, the first of four Wings concerts I saw.  I thought for sure I’d be cool during the show, but I went wild at my first glimpse of Paul.  I screamed so much my voice was hoarse later in the evening.  I knew after seeing Paul on stage I HAD to meet him!

When the concert ended, we four – Peggy, Karen, Darlene, and I stood with the crowd waiting for Paul’s limo to leave the Spectrum.  Karen got a great idea of following the limo since the parking lot was right next to the ramp where the limo would come out.  So we all got in and sat waiting for the big moment.  When it happened, we were ready!  Paul’s limo came out, followed by three others and two police cars.  Karen was beeping at the crowd to move and managed to squeeze around the crowd and follow the limos.  What a chase it was!  We were scared the police would stop us because we were going 90 miles an hour in a 60-mile zone! We got past the police, who stopped a few cars by the small airfield. Karen parked across from the limos.  They were lined up in front of the gate where a plane was waiting in the airfield.  There were a few people looking in the window of the first limo, and we had a feeling Paul was in it.  We were right!  My heart was beating so fast as I walked towards the limo and looking in the window I saw him —Macca!  Linda was sitting next to him, Jojo next to her, and Denny in the opposite seat.  Time stood still as I looked into Paul’s eyes; even in the dark, his eyes are so bright and expressive.  We were all staring at him and smiling and he was smiling at us.  We all say “Hi” and Peggy (the bold one) said “Hi Macca” and told him how great the concert was.  When Linda asked where we were from Peggy said, “New York.”  Paul nodded and said, “Yeah,” like he knows New York!  We all shook hands with Pau, Linda, and Denny.  Paul’s hand is so soft and warm, with a strong grip.  I could’ve held his hand forever!  His bodyguard came over and told us to move and he stood in front of the window to block our view.  So I went around to the other window, and the goon came over and tried to block my view again, but Paul saw I was trying to get a picture of him, and he leaned toward the window and smiled.  What a beautiful picture it is!  Macca had on his nice leather jacket, which he wore throughout the Wings Over America tour.  The limos drove into the gate, and we looked through the gates watching Paul and the group board the plane.  It was after midnight by then when the plane took off.

We were all so “high” on meeting Macca.  We were up till 4 a.m. talking about him.  Until Wings’ last concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York, I caught glimpses of Paul going between the hotel and the Garden.

 

Practically a whole year passed before seeing him again – on Saturday, April 30, 1977!  I got to the Stanhope Hotel early in the morning – around 10 a.m. and met some of my friends from “The Harrison Alliance” who were already there.  There were about 10 people hanging around, quite a relief compared to last year’s 50 or more people hanging around the hotel during the concerts.  The doorman was very nice to us, said Paul would be out in about 15 minutes.  We all got our cameras and things we had for him to autograph ready.  I started to get those nervous butterflies in my stomach feeling.  Karen came running down the block to the hotel; she was so excited when I told her Macca is really in the hotel.  Suddenly Mary and Stella appeared then ran back into the hotel.  Then Linda, Heather, Mary, Stella, and Paul came out.  20 people appeared from nowhere.  Then the next five minutes happened so fast; some obnoxious girls pushed everyone out of the way to kiss Paul and get his autograph.  Paul had an annoyed, surprised look on his face when the girl kissed him, but he smiled and said “hi” to the other fans.  It was impossible for me to get near him.  The crowd seemed to carry him off.  Linda was standing alone, so I went to her and asked her for her autograph.  She said “Sure” and signed.  I could see she was pregnant even though she held her coat in front of her.  She pushed through the crowd to the waiting limo and got in.  Paul had to tell some eager beaver fans to let him get the kids in the car before signing for them.  They kept pushing closer to him, so he got in the limo, and I got up close to the window and waved. He waved back, and the limo took off.  I took two pictures, but unfortunately, they came out dark.  Luckily, Karen’s photos came out beautifully!  He looked gorgeous that day, with a short-waisted length jacket showing off his beautiful buns!  And those eyes – for the second time, he’s looked at me with those eyes!  I hope there will be many more times that I can look into those eyes.

 

 

Paul at MPL

Photos by Tore Skaar and Anne Kristin Ekern

Paul at MPL

McCartney Observer

By Tore Skaar and Anne Kristin Ekern (Norway)

Summer 1980

 

After a lot of struggling, we managed to meet Paul and Wings for the first time on June 15, 1979 – the very last day of our visit to London.  It was merely an hour before our bus left for the airport!  Wings were being interviewed live on Capital Radio when “Back to the Egg” had just been released.  Ray Brown (at the Musique Boutique) had hinted that the group was to be interviewed live about 3 pm.  It was our last chance to see them, and we had to hurry.  Naturally, we were somewhat depressed this last day in London, after all the seeking that gave no result.  Well, Wings arrived, all of them in good spirits, and the dream of seeing Paul had come true.  He was very nice, joked and smiled, ever the diplomat!  We took some pictures and well, the end of the story is rather sad.  Somehow the film disappeared when it was sent for developing, and we’ve never seen anything of it since.

So, therefore we set out with bigger hopes when we made our trip the second time around this year.  Having arrived in London on Saturday, July 5^th, we went up to St. John’s Wood on Sunday.  Paul was not living there this time either, so we walked to Abbey Road/EMI aftwerwards.  We didn’t really expect Paul to be there, and we were right.  Someone there said, when we asked where Paul was, “I think he’s in Scotland.” Now, that made us a little depressed again.  After all, it was July, the album (McCartney II) was out quite a while ago, and it wouldn’t really be strange if Paul was on holiday.  But we were determined not to give up.  Having gained quite a lot of experience from the first trip, we learned one thing:  Trust no one!  They all tell you different things!  Whether it’s Tony Brainsby, Sue at MPL, or someone at the EMI Abbey Road – well, it’s a shame, but you can’t really trust any of them.  One of them says Paul is out of the country on holiday; the other says he’s rehearsing at a secret place (far away from London, of course) or that he’s in Scotland, etc etc. so once again – here’s the advice that you all ought to go by: TRUST NO ONE!  THEY ALL TELL YOU DIFFERENT THINGS!

Soon already the next day, this statement proved to be true.  On our way to Oxford Street – we came from “Musique Boutique” – we decided we might as well drop by the MPL in Soho Square.  It was just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and the door was locked.  However, a girl came out and was actually very friendly.  Answering the questions about where HE was, she said, “He’s upstairs.”  We couldn’t believe it, and we got so excited.  So, of course, we couldn’t leave the place now, and we started to wait for him to come down.  A Mexican boy called Enrique was also there.  And whom did we see when we had just crossed the street and looked toward the first floor, but Paul! It made us so happy, and we waved at him with a lot of gestures.  He smiled and waved back.  It looked as if he was happy to see us.  He was sitting in a chair, so we could only see his head.  He had a conversation going on with an unidentified person.  Apparently, it was a day of business meetings for Paul, and we were pretty lucky to be here this day, as he's very seldom at the MPL.  Later on, we also saw Linda and baby James on the 3^rd or 4^th floor.  We waved at them, too, and they waved back.  Linda helped every smiling James with his waving.  They all seemed happy that day. Well, Paul finally went out of the room and seemingly took the elevator to another floor, so we had to wait longer.  And, would you believe it, who came walking towards MPL just after we had arrived there – George Martin!  We didn’t get to speak with him when he arrived, but after an hour or so, he came out again, so we ran to him and said “hello” and “thank you for all the great records that you produced.”  He was very nice, wrote autographs and posed for us.

And we waited for Paul.  After two hours of waiting, he finally came down with James on his arm.  Linda also came.  As we started for the front door, Paul suddenly opened the door and waved us towards him!  “What the hell, is he going to invite us in?” we thought.  He didn’t do that, but he asked us if we were going to take photos, and we said yes, and he just said, “OK.  Well, just wait and few minutes, and we’ll come out.”  We could hardly believe it.  It was so nice of him!  It just goes to prove that he cares about his fans.

There were some people inside, and they chatted for a couple of minutes.  Then they came out, and Paul started posing at one, and then Linda too.  We clicked away with our cameras, and we managed to get some good photos of the event.  Paul then said that they had to leave, and they went into their Rolls.  We ran out into the street to take as many photos as possible.  Paul rolled down his window, and James sat on Linda’s knees.  Linda smiled – so did Paul – and we all said goodbye to each other.  Then they drove away. 

It was Monday, July 7, 1980, at 6 pm, and a day we’ll never forget. 

The Autumn of '68 -part 2 (repost)

It is Thursday and so as I move closer to the 10th anniversary of the little place on the internet, I am posting my third memory post.     I want to thank Cindy for sending me this color photo of Joanne and Paul.   It might be a bit faded, but it is 100 times better than the bad black and white photo I originally shared. 

This story was originally posted here on July 30, 2013 but originally came from the 1980 issue of the McCartney Observer fanzine. 

Autumn of ’68 (part 2)

Written by Linda Rabe and Jo Ann DeFilippe

We woke up quite late the next day, remembering the night before.  We knew for sure our trip would be the best ever for us.  We went round to see some of the sights and got back in time for dinner at the hotel and went up to our room to get ready to go to Paul’s house leaving about 11pm and took a cab to Cavendish.   It was really quiet except for Eddie who was under the gate crying…so we stuck our hands under the gate to pet him and he was nibbling our fingers!   We climbed the wall to see if Paul’s car was in the yard.  When we didn’t see it there we knew he was at Trident recording so we made ourselves comfortable for the wait for him to come home.   Shortly later we saw two cops coming up the block towards us.  So we casually picked ourselves up and started walking down the block.  Then we head “Hey, Girls!”  We were afraid to turn around, but when we did they were smiling.   We waited for them to catch up to us.  They came up and asked us where Paul was.  We said, “Paul who?”  They said, “What were you doing then?”  We said we were walking down the block and heard a dog crying so we stopped to pet it.  We told them we were going to Regents Park and they said don’t go there all the freaks go there this late at night.  So we said we would go to Primrose hill, and they said not to go there because all the homosexuals go there.  All of a sudden a car drives down the block and one of the cops said, “There goes Paul.”  We said it was not.   The one cop told us, “If we told you not to go back to the house you’d be back there in an hour anyway” and he laughed.  We then proceeded to walk to Wellington with them and told them that we were going to go to Scotland and visit our pen pals.  They said goodnight and started for the prescient and we told them we were going to get a taxi home (such liars).  When they were out of sight we went back to visit the crying dog.

A half hour later a car pulled up with people we had never seen before.  They got out and opened Pauls’ gate with a key and pulled in the yard and shut the gates and went in.  About fifteen minutes later we saw the guy in a window on the third floor next to the music room, when Ivan appeared in his car.  He got out and said hello.  Ivan asked us who was in the house.  Not knowing who the people were we told him some fat guy and his wife.  Ivan laughed.  He ran the bell and said, “Paul sent me round.”  No one came to open the gate for him so Ivan had to jump over it again and let himself in.  We felt bad for Ivan because he didn’t have a key and the other guy did.  Shortly later we saw a car coming up the block and thought it was a cop car so we started up the block again.  We turned around to look and saw Pauls’ brother Mike getting out of the taxi, with the rest of the Scaffold and three girls.  Mike asked who was inside and we said “Some guy and his wife and Ivan.”   Mike said, “Ivan!  What the bloody hell is he doing here?”  Mike took off his jacket and handed it to one of the girls and jumped over the gate, and let everyone in (except us).  A half hour later a cab pulled up and he asked us if we were the ones who wanted a taxi.  We said no it must be them inside.  We rang the bell and mike answered and I told him his cab was here.  Mike, the three girls, and the Scaffold and Eddie came out.  We spoke briefly to John of the Scaffold and they got in the taxi and pulled off and left us there with Mike and Eddie.  Mike yelled out to them, “Ta, ra good ta.”  It was almost four in the morning and I decided to ask Mike where Paul was.  He said “He’s said “He’s recording and won’t be home until very late, so why don’t you go home and get to bed.  I think that would be a very good idea, now I think.”  We asked Mike if we could take his picture and then we would go home.   He said ok, each of us took a picture alone with him and once the flash didn’t go off (as usual).  And Mike said not to worry, that sometimes they do flash and sometimes they don’t flash.  We tried again and the flash was bright and Mike said, “Oh shit, that one!”  As we were taking the pictures Mike was holding Eddie and we were petting Eddie.   After we finished Mike said are we going to go home and go to bed new.  We said yes.  Mike said “Well then, I’m satisfied.  Goodnight to you.”  We all said goodnight and went and got a taxi.

We got up late again the next day and just did some sight-seeing and couldn’t wait until that night to go to Paul’s house.  So at 11pm, we left for Paul’s house.  We sat around on the curb to his courtyard in front of his gates.  Every time a car came speeding up the block we would say, “Shit, it’s him….it’s not him.”  Then another car came speeding up the block and we thought it was him because as the car came closer it slowed down, but then it made a slight turn as if to go into the garage across the way.

It just stopped and it looked like a woman driving.  The lights were very bright and it was hard to tell. We were getting very pissed off wondering what the hell she was staring at us for.  This went on for a good five minutes all of a sudden the car came speeding up and made a sharp turn into where we were sitting, almost running us over.  The woman turned out to be Mr. McCartney all by himself.  We jumped up in a hurry afraid of being killed on the spot.  He still sat there staring at us and we thought that maybe we forgot to put on our trousers.  We stood there holding one carnation each which we swiped from our hotel dining room.  Paul then opened the door and the radio was blasting he was whistling.  He came to Jo Ann and took her carnation and said: “thank you.”  He then took Carol’s flower.  He then went to Linda whose flower was stuck in her buttonhole and had a very tough time getting it out with him standing there patiently and starring.  She finally got the carnation loose and gave it to him, and said, “With love from me to you.”  And Paul said, “ahh.”  He went to the back seat of his Aston and took an album and put the flowers in it.  He was dressed in a beige suit with elephant bells which were just coming in style.  He then walked over to the front of the car to open the gates and Jo Ann said to Linda, “This car is beautiful.”  Paul turned around and said, “Thank you.”  We were surprised he had heard because the motor of the car was very loud and Jo Ann said it very soft.  Still whistling, he got back in the car and we watched him pull into the garage, as he was coming back towards us, Miss Eastman appeared at the door and Eddie came running out.  She was wearing a blue lounging outfit.  Eddie started to run to us and Eastman shut the door.  Jo Ann said, “Watch Eddie doesn’t go in the street.”  And Paul then called Eddie and whistled and Eddie turned and ran to him.  Paul still walked over to us tripped over Eddie and we thought he was going to end up on this face.   We all said, “Be careful!”  He started to close one gate and leaned on it and we told him he almost ran us over, and with his silly little smile he said, “I wouldn’t do that.”  We told him that we met his brother the night before.   He pouted and said “Oh yeah.”  (We later found out from a certain source that he gets jealous if you mention another fellow even his brother!)  Paul was looking very tired so we just said goodnight to him and he smiled and said: “Hey well, I’ll see you anyway, goodnight!”

The next evening when we arrived at Paul’s house we made ourselves comfortable again.  Around one o’clock the Aston came speeding up the block as usual and turned into the driveway and he sat there smiling at us.  He had on a tan jacket and looked beautiful as always.  Miss Eastman was sitting on his left and staring out the front window of the car and looking quite annoyed as usual.  The motor of the car was loud and Paul asked us “Are you enjoying your holiday?”  It was very difficult to hear him and Jo Ann kept saying “What?” and Paul kept repeating it very patiently.  We finally caught what he was saying and told him yes.  As the two of them remained seated in the car we think they were waiting for each other to get out and open the gate.  Paul then put his left hand on the back of her neck and scratched her neck.  She turned her head away from him and stormed out of the car as Paul sat there patiently and smiled at us.  When she got to the gate the three of us looked at her and smiled.  She wouldn’t smile back.  She just threw her head back very dramatically.  We felt hurt because we didn’t do anything to her.  Paul pulled into the garage.  As we were standing waiting for Paul to come back she looked and just slammed the gates right in our faces!  We then got furious and were going to kick the gate and call her a bitch when we heard Paul’s footsteps passing her by and coming closer to the gates.  EH opened one and leaned on the other and looked at us as if to say he was sorry.  We told him that we met a neighbor of his who was with his dog and told us that you were a very nice boy.  Paul’s reply was, “Don’t believe him.”  Linda said, “Why you’re not a nice boy”   Paul just smiled and Eddie came running out of the house towards us.  Paul bent to pick him up and said, “Hiya Ed…Hey, well, I’ll see you anyway.  Goodnight.”  We said Goodnight to Paul.

It Happened.....

Starting the New Year off with a "meeting Paul McCartney" story.  This is from a 1981 issue of The McCartney Observer and was written by Christine. 

It happened after having loved him and his music for 11 years, and after uncountable times of having tried to meet him but never with any luck.

It was a Friday evening in early July 1981, and although one of the security guards at the studios had told me Paul wouldn't leave before 9pm, I was already there at least 2 hours before.  After an unsuccessful to be able to swallow anything at all -- I found myself leaning against the glass door of the Oxford Street entrance, not really knowing what to do or where to wait....


Knowing my luck in past years, I wasn't holding any hopes anyway, and since John's death, my optimism had suck very low.  So there I was, staring at the traffic, lost in thoughts, believing I still had about two hours to decide what to do or where to wait, when I suddenly felt a vibration in the glass door I was leaning against.  I looked to my left, still daydreaming, and noticed two people coming out of the building.  The person closer to me turned around and threw a quick glance at me...and that face made me wake up from my dreams right away!  It was Paul!   I just stared at him, unable to say anything more move, so he looked away again and left.   Only when he was about 15 feet away from me, I found my voice back and called his name.  He instantly stopped, as if on command, and turned around with a "Yeah?" and a questioning look.  He must have known right away that Iw as waiting there for him and must have expected me to call him back.  The other person stopped and turned around as well, and I realized it was Linda, but I only had eyes for Paul.

They both simply looked at me, waiting for me to say something.  I knew I was expected to say something since I had called Paul, but you know how it is....you have millions of things to tell him, but once he is there,  your mind goes blank and all you manage to do is just look at him.  the only thing I could finally think of in order to "get hold" of him for a minute or two was ask for an autograph, although I hated that question.   Paul nodded and said a slow "s--u--r--e"  and started walking back to me.  Linda told him she'd wait for him in the car, and to this day I don't know why she did that...but I certainly didn't complain about her decision nor call her back.

My first impression of Paul, when he stopped inches in front of me, was that he looked even more beautiful than on photos (and that says a lot!) and that he was thinner and shorter than I had expected him to be.  His hair was cut like in the Beatle days except for his fringe that was a bit shorter, and he was wearing a blue and white striped suit (jacket and trousers) and a very bright, yellow t-shirt.  Nobody could possibly have failed to notice him dressed like that!

He just stood there, looking straight at me, waiting and I simply looked at him, too...until, that is, he suddenly said, "er...do you have a piece of paper or a card or something to write onto?"  I instantly remembered why he was standing there and what he was waiting for, so I told him I had something and kneeled down in order to look for any such thing in my plastic bag on the ground behind me.  While I was digging in my  bag, I observed his feet right next to me from the corner of my eye and I remember thinking, "God, these are Paul's feet, and he's right here now, looking down at me..."

To my relief, I did find a card in my bag.  It was a Wings postcard.  I gave it to him along with one of my hair-raising stupid remarks out of sheer nervousness, "It's you in the picture."  (Oh really?)  Well, I had just wanted to ensure him that he didn't have to sign any strange card because I had heard before that he used to want to know what he was signing.  But it probably sounded more like me trying to explain to him that the guy in the picture was him.

Anyway, he didn't even look at the picture but looked straight at me and gave me a broad smile, and thinking of what I had said, I had to grin as well.  That's when I realized how incredibly calm I was!  I thought he'd sign now, but judged by his look at me, I felt something was wrong.  I understood what the matter was when he asked, "er...and a pen?"  I realized I must have given him the impression of being the worst organized fan ever.  I mumbled, "uhhh..I think so.." and once again kneeled down to dig in my bag.  At the same time Paul was going through all his pockets to look for a pen as well, and to my relief, he suddenly said, 'Oh, it's okay.  I've got one" and pulled out a blue pen from his jacket pocket.  Some luck because I knew I had no pen in my bag!


So he started signing very slowly and I observed his hands as he did so. Suddenly I noticed he stopped writing in the middle of his name, and I looked up.  I observed how his eyes slowly moved upwards from underneath his fringe until they met mine.  I don't know if he was trying to hypnotize me, but he just kept staring into my eyes for a long time, maybe trying to see what my reaction would be and I couldn't help but do just the same.  His eyes were twinkling and he was smiling THE smile.


When he finally looked down again in order to finish writing his name on the card, he started humming a melody and even sang a few words of some unknown song (A new McCartney song maybe?) to me.  Finally, he handed me the card back and I accidentally even wanted to take his pen, but he smiled and put that back into his pocket.  He then apologized for being in a rush and said goodnight and walked away.  But he once again turned around when he was about 15 feet away and waved back at me and shouted, "see you!"

when I walked home to my hotel, later on, it occurred to me just how lucky I had been.  After years of disappointments, bad luck, and failure, I had met Paul all alone in a deserted Oxford Street with nobody else around!

Needless to say that on my way back home I nearly got run over by two cars since I felt like in a trance and didn't notice anything around me anymore, stopped at green lights and crossed the street at red lights.

thinking back on it I realized he could as well have taken no notice of me at all and run to the car.  One "new" fan around, so what?  But he was so nice, so warm and patient and I only felt sorry I couldn't give him back just half as much as he really deserves.

Caught in the Act - Review of Paul 1975 London concert

Caught in the Act

By Moira Warren

The McCartney Observer

Spring 1978 issue

It was the 18^th of September, 1975 when I saw Paul after an interval of ten long years.  I hadn’t seen Paul since December 1965 at the Glasgow concerts of the last Beatles British tour.  I was going out of my mind on the day of the 2^nd Wings concert at the Hammersmith Odeon London.  

The show was a Thursday, and I’d only got the ticket on the Tuesday before.  The long story attached to that would make an article on its own, so briefly, tickets were sold out when I applied, so I managed to buy one ticket with only hours to go to Thursday’s concert.   The boy who sold me it couldn’t go himself for some reason but looking back he probably agreed to sell it to get rid of me.  My neurotic phone call, begging and pleading for the ticket, must have sounded like the ravings of a lunatic.  Anyway, I got it, and at the time I didn’t care that it was all the way up in the balcony.  I had a ticket, and I’d see Paul after all these years, that’s all that mattered.

My husband, Glenn, was driving me up to London and we left about 6pm.  The show was to start at 8pm, and despite the fact, Glenn wasn’t familiar with that part of London we thought two hours would be ample time to get me there.  Not so.   We got lost, and after we’d gone over one particular flyover about three times, we decided to stop and ask directions.  I was a bundle of nerves by this time as it was about ten minutes to eight.

It turned out we weren’t far from our destination, but by the time Glenn had parked the can, and we’d ran there I’m sure it must have been a few minutes after eight.   Anyway, the foyer was practically deserted, so after hastily telling Glenn where I’d meet him later and he said something about being sorry we were late.  I dashed right in.  I showed my ticket and raced up those stairs about three at a time.  I don’t know whether Paul was late or what but the show hadn’t started yet.  No sooner had I breathlessly fought my way to my seat and flopped down than the curtain slowly rose to the intro of “Venus and Mars.”  The tension of the last few hectic hours got me then and overwhelmed at the sight of Paul after all those years tears came to my eyes.  I don’t know why but just then I had a horrible feeling of “Where’s my purse?”  I’ve carried Paul’s autograph about since 1963 so for that reason I consciously hold on to it more than if it contained mere money.   I realized I didn’t have it, and after looking around, with the help of the person next to me, we still couldn’t find it.  So I accepted that it was lost.  But I wasn’t going to let even that spoil the show.

Even from where I sat Paul looked good.  He had on the black pants with a red shirt and black jacket with white lapels and belt.  It looked to me like a Kung Fu outfit plus T-shirt but anyway it suited him.  I’d been wondering how much Paul had changed, but when he launched into “Rock Show” with that same shake of the hips, I forgot all that.  This was the Paul I remembered.  Only the style of clothes had changed and of course, gone was the famous Hofner bass.  Apart from these differences, Paul was still very much Paul!

The anticipation during that show was not knowing what he was going to sing next.  It all took my breath away, and I loved the live rendition much more than the album version.  With old thoughts of Beatle concerts inevitably still in my head, I wasn’t quite sure how this audience would react to Paul actually speaking.  I was surprised when everybody listened to Paul saying, “How you doing?  Welcome to the Hammersmith-Odeon.”  Then he cued Denny for “Spirits of Ancient Egypt” before realizing that he’d forgotten “Let me Roll It.”  Denny said something like “You’ve forgotten the running order” which Paul thought was very funny then he sang the correct song.  For some reason that was the only time that evening that I noticed Joe but Paul, swaying about in front of Joe’s drums could perhaps explain that.  Paul got the introduction right this time, and Denny took the lead for “Spirits of Ancient Egypt.”

The running order for the 1975 British tour was different in places from the U.S. and Wembley album so at this point, with Paul at the piano, Jimmy introduced a “rocker,”  “Little Woman Love.”  Halfway through this transitioned beautifully into “C Moon” then back again.  The song didn’t start to Paul’s satisfaction though so after breaking up the song after a few seconds with “Woa, woa, woa. I’m not having it!”  All went smoothly at the second attempt.  I still don’t know to this day who was in the wrong, but from Paul’s attitude, it obviously wasn’t him.

The backdrop for this part of the show was a copy of a lovely painting of a candle with a moon on the top where the flame should be.    Just before “Maybe I’m Amazed” a boy kept shouting “Lady Madonna!” over and over, and Paul growled sweetly and said, “Don’t confuse me, lad.”  I could have hugged him.  He was so cute!   “Lady Madonna” did follow “Maybe I’m Amazed” and that really got the audience with him.  I’m sure Paul sensed the difference too because he commented “Now we’ve got you up we’ll put you down a bit” before he went into “The Long and Winding Road.”  It was so perfect I shed a few more tears.  Linda introduced “Live and Let Die” but not before she’d announced it as “Dr. No” to Paul’s insistence “No it isn’t!”

I suppose one of the good things about seeing the show from the balcony was that the lighting and effects looked really good from that distance.

The acoustic section was the same as the U.S. part of the tour, and I have to admit I hadn’t heard “Richard Corey” before that night.  “I’ve Just Seen a Face” surprised me.  Paul said, “This one is skiffly” to introduce it, and he was stomping so hard on the stage throughout I thought for sure his foot would go through the floor!  I’d never have guessed he’d include that song in the show but in my opinion, he’s a genius for doing so.  “Blackbird” and “Yesterday” were undoubtedly one of the highlights of the night, and I can’t really say anything original about those, it’s all been said before.   Paul dedicated “You Gave me the Answer” to Jack Buchanon and when he said, “Anyone remember Jack?” got the response, “What about John Lennon?” (Paul’s answer was ‘what about him?’)  By a strange coincidence, I’ve since got to know the girl who shouted that comment, although I didn’t at the time.  “Magneto and Titanium Man” followed, then Denny’s “Go Now.”  At this point, as Linda joined Paul at the mic, I realized she was actually there.  She was wearing a black multi-colored dress for anyone who wants to know those sort of details.  Paul went back to the piano again for “Call Me Back Again.”  I’d been waiting for him to sing this so I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I swear he’s so much better live and I feel really sorry for anyone who hadn’t been lucky enough to see Paul in concert yet.  “My Love” followed with barely a few seconds between them.  Then “Listen to What the Man Said.”   Paul introduced the brass section next before singing “Letting Go.”  Even from my distant seat, the way Paul moved to that one was magic.  This was another song I thought came over much better live than on record.  “Junior’s Farm” and “Medicine Jar” brought us to the last song, “Band on the Run” and the welcome surprise of the film of the lp cover.  It didn’t seem possible that two hours had already passed and I felt so sad then.

Not having seen the show before I didn’t know for sure if Paul always did an encore so I couldn’t have been happier when they reappeared for “Hi Hi Hi.”   After that I was sure that the concert had ended but after they again came back for “Soily.”  I couldn’t believe my luck!  No one moved to leave even after that last encore and the whole hall echoed in “We shall not be moved.”  The group did come out again to throw flowers into the audience and Paul briefly “conducted” the singing before explaining they had no more songs.  Everyone reluctantly started to leave then.  Personally, I was willing to wait all night just in case Paul changed his mind, but I remember my poor husband on this chilly September evening outside.  As I was leaving my seat to walk downstairs someone rushed up to me holding my purse, asking if it was mine and I couldn’t believe it!  What luck as it’s not often that people are as honest as that.  Apparently, I’d dropped it on my way to the seat after all.  That really made the evening perfect.  I didn’t have many pounds in my purse, but I’d have hated to have lost that autograph.

Back to the Southhampton

This is the continued story from the McCartney Observer from January 1980 about the group of American fans that followed Wings around the U.K. in the winter of 1979.   This is all about the Southhampton show. 

Southhampton

The show in Southampton was fabulous!   They were just a bit of a slower type than in Manchester but once they started, it was full speed ahead!  Perhaps they were guarded at first due to the ushers who literally threw them back into their seats!  I don’t think their shinning flashlights in everyone’s face endeared them to anyone’s heart either.  But alas, they would have needed more ushers than fans to keep everyone in their seats for too long!   They were a friendly bunch.  They seemed to be roused to fighting for “Every Night.”  “Thank you very much, how ya doing?”  Paul shouted.   Thunders of response.  “Alright, alright, great!  Good to be back in town anyway.  The next song we’d like to do is off the album ‘McCartney’”  His pronunciation of his surname effects people like one of his suggestive looks.  “It’s called ‘Every night.”  With the applause, you’d have thought money was falling from the ceiling.  ‘Every night’ is a romantic song anyway, but with Paul signing it live, he adds elegance to it as he croons the words.

Denny was in an extremely feisty mood tonight which was a lot of laughs.  He begins to introduce the next tune and stops; “This one is from….excuse me while I pick my nose and then I’ll get going.”  Everyone burst out laughing.  “This is from Back to the Egg, it’s called ‘Again and Again’”  He provoked a generous bout of applause for that.  I suspect a few were still clapping over the nose joke!  “Thanks very much, you’re a nice quiet bunch tonight just sitting there.”  Paul observed.   They clapped and shouted trying to prove him wrong.  “Anyway, this is off London Town and it’s called Oive and Enuff.”  He stands back from the mic and hands held high in the air he claps vigorously as the audience joins in, whistling and shouting.   The applause at the finish continued longer than usual, Paul thanking them over all the noise.

After “Now words”  Linda introduced her number with a little ad libbing form Paul.  “This next ones a bit of a rock and roll number.”  Paul steps in here “That’s my missus there in case you didn’t know.”  Applause.  “That’s right, yeah.”  Linda continued.  Out of nowhere Paul calls out “Fish n Chips for me please”  and Linda, ever the vegetarian “Just chips for me.  Now Cook of the House.”  She was warmly accepted.  Paul wiggled and really performed during this, watching Linda time and again and making faces at her, sticking his cute behind out and wiggling it like a duck out of water.  To this concluding applause Linda answered, “That’s to all you cooks out here.”

You know what is next…”Old Siam Sir!”  Paul, ever the raconteur, “Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen of  Siam!”   Everyone giggles.  How cute he is!  “I went somewhere, was it …”   Denny helped him out pronouncing Southampton in a new way.  “Was it?”  Paul asked.  “I met some people and some butler goes by.  I said ‘Where are you from?’ and he says (fast) Siam.  I still haven’t working it out.  Anyway, enough of that.”  He makes his guitar scream and got a quick round of applause.  “Thank you!  Anyway this ones called Ol Thiam Thir.”  However can I let you know just how tantalizing Siam is.  If you ever see Siam offered in film, you know from one of those modest companies who charge eighty dollars and any two members of your family for eight inches of overexposed film?   Get it.   It’s still worth it.  You’ll miss your family but this bit is great.  You can make a copy of the film and then ask for a refund!  Voila!   You have Siam on film and your family back.

“Maybe I’m Amazed,”  “Fool on the Hill” and “Let it Be” were once again hypnotic, the audience finding it hard to believe just what they were hearing!  It was indeed grand.   Things were kept bouncing and everyone were having a great “Knee’s up” as they say up there in the north.  The encore brought the band out to toss Frisbees to the audience.   Denny’s song Laine hopped from the audience to help out too!   He threw a few out and then ran to Denny to hang on his leg!  It was cute.

Denny started it again as he introduced “Hot as sun.”  “Paul’s gonna play the guitar for you now, and he does a lot on record.  Nothing tricky from him this time.  He does a lot on record.”  He smiled at Paul, “We thought we’d give him a chance to have a go.  Anyway, this ones called “Hot as Sun’.  For the Caribbean sunshine! “  No unbiased opinions in this club allowed – Pau was fantastic!  It’s one of the most popular songs in the shows.  At the finish Paul shrugs, “Well, I don’t think Eric Clapton has too much to worry about.”

‘Spin it on’ went well as did “Twenty flight rock” bringing us up to an introduction from Laurence.   “Thank you.  Hi.  I’m Laurence.  It’s nice to see you.”  A friendly welcoming applause for Laurence.  He looked around “Denny…now he’s gonna demonstrate one of his latest flying leap.”  Denny walked offstage then.  “He’s NOT going to demonstrate one of his flying leaps!  But he is!” and suddenly Denny charges across stage, over the piano and right side up!  Claps and whistles for Denny!    “It would have been better if we’d had guitar.”  He shrugged.  Laurence “alright---he is goingn to sing”  There is a pause as Denny fidgets.  Paul “Alright he’s really gonna sing now.”  And Denny, “Will you shut up!”  and finally we hear “Go Now.”  An original intro if ever!  

They were all in joking form and it was a good time for all.  Once during the show, maybe it was after “Yesterday”, a man jumped up onstage with a program for Paul to sign but was roughly tossed back into the audience by guards.  Paul reached out for the program and what else he’d wanted signed and said he would sign them afterwards.  He signed them after Mull and handed them back to him.  That’s some special man, I say!   After Wonderful Christmastime, Linda and Denny started dancing.  That was a sight to see!  Funny little bits spiced the show here and there and it was great!   Band on Run brought us to the rallying close.   Flowers were tossed onstage and Paul was followed by chants and applause!

After the concert we sardined ourselves into George’s car.  All of us!  That’s Barb, Mary Ann, Doylene with Marie on her lap, Sheila with myself on her lap, Mar up front and George driving, as it were.  In a two door sports midge that’s no mean feat.  Half of the time all of us were babbling at the same time about the concert, a tape of the show blaring on the recorder and making our driver a nervous wreck.  The other half we were screaming as George kept turning corners and driving up the wrong side of the road toward on-coming traffic and swerving just in time “I’m a lot of fun, huh?”  George—it was a hair raising experience.  You can imagine bystanders reactions as we pull to a stop, a door flies open and one unfolds herself and squeezes out of the car, then another and another and another…

We sat in the lounge of the hotel as Sheila treated us all to a round of drinks, which was very nice indeed.  As we talked George stepped out of the lounge and returned a moment later and sat down.  He sipped his drink.  “Now when he gets here, just walk out by the entrance, ok?  Everybody stay calm.”  We will.  We know.  “Because they’re here.”  Who???  “the band  and Paul.”  What????  We jumped up leaving everything but our cameras, touched down and bolted for the lobby, calling over our shoulders   “George!!!”  He just sits there and says Paul’s here.  C’mon George!

A false alarm.   The band had arrived, but not Paul.  The lobby was filled with camera owners and autograph seekers of all ages, such as the sweet group of children we’d talked with a little earlier on our arrival.  Steve waltzed in first and was just as anxious to pose for pictures as everyone was to take them.  He said hi to Barb and she asked him if he knew when and if Paul would be coming.  “No.  I’m sorry.  I’ve got about as much idea as you. About that much.”  He held up two fingers spaced to demonstrate small and we watched closely.  It wasn’t much.  Barb deadpanned, “Zippo, huh?”  and Steve cracked up.  He still seems to be in awe of his new found fame and it’s very charming.  Marie asked if we could take a picture and he said alright.  He cautiously set his guitar in case down, and following his gaze he looked to each of us to see just who was there.  Marie took my camera from me and suggested I get in the photo too.  I asked Laurence and he said sure and stood next to me with an arm around my shoulders.  He also posed with Barb after that.  He’s an amiable person, very obliging.  Not to mention quite handsome.

Something was mentioned about it being Doylene’s birthday and Steve turned around “How do you say that?”   Marie repeated it for him.  “Doughlene?”   Doylene clarified it for him by spelling it and he smiled and went back to the friend he’d been conversing with.

Roll the red carpet!  Denny came in next, his children trailing after, jumping ahead of him and then lagging behind again.  Denny’s got a gentle look, until you look him in the eyes and you know he’s not thinking very genteel things!  Laine stuck with Denny and Heidi wandered a bit.  She’s a little waif, and looked precious as she had on a pretty red frock.  She looks like Jojo.  I took a photograph of Denny and I was about to take just one more and a roadie said, “Here Denny, pose for her.”  Denny stood straight and smiled and I got a nice photo.  I said thank you and smiled as the roadie said something to Denny I didn’t quite catch and they both smiled at me and Denny winked.   (Right after that George called me over to the side and told me what he said.  It was “Hey, do I get a commission on this?”)

I suggested to the children to pose with Steve and Laurence and I’d take their picture and send them prints when I got back home.  They were all excited and rushed over by Laurence to pose.  Both Steve and Laurence posed but I missed Steve looking as my flash was giving me trouble recharging  Marie and Doylene also snapped at the same time.

Paul still had not shown up and we were beginning to worry.  Alan was passing out Wings badges and he gave Marie one.  After she thanked him she said, ‘Listen it’s that girl’s birthday over there with the blonde hair so why don’t ou give her one too.”  She pointed out Doylene and he gave one to her, and turned to me.  I must have looked pitiful because he gave one to me.  I think the others got one as well.

We returned to the lounge to continue waiting, hopefully for Paul.  Our purses and coats were half on the floor from our mad dash out of there.  The band came into the lounge a moment later.  Steve and his wife sat at one table with Thadeus behind them.  Laurence stood at the bar with friends.  His reflection was in the mirrored walls and as I took a picture he caught me and waved.  Denny wandered in and up to the bar with the roadie he’d been talking to earlier.  Alan and a few others stood in the middle of the room talking, probably about us and pointing in our direction.  (That’s ok, you should hear what we say about him!)  We talked for a while, realizing defeat.  Earl Oakie came over to our table and talked for a few minutes Beings there wasn’t much reason to stick around a few of us decided we’d like to leave.  Laurence left the room for a moment and returned holding his jacket.  George said we would leave after he finished his drink so I left to freshen up in the ladies’ room.  On the way back I ran into Laurence on his way back to that special room again!  I said hello and started to walk back to the lounge when he called me back and commented “Oh I like that” pointing to a pin on my shirt.  I was wearing two and assumed he meant the one from Alan.  “Oh yeah, Alan gave that to me.”  He said, “No, that one there.”  (a read heart with wings).  “I got one something like it in New York.  It’s a little different though.”   I just smiled and said yes it was nice, it’s different.  I suppose I didn’t really think at the time I was only concerned with being disappointed Paul hadn’t shown, but I guess he would have liked to have talked.  I smiled and said goodbye and returned to the lounge.  Denny was the only one left in the lounge with his friend.  I didn’t notice him right off and believe me, I said some pretty dumb things.  I saw he was there as we got up to leave.  We sardined once more into George’s car, screaming down the motorway as George drove down the wrong side of the road.  We had a nice evening and it was great being with friends.

McCartney Wings his Way home (part 2)

Here is the 2nd installment of the story of a group of fans that traveled around the UK in 1979 seeing Paul McCartney.    This story comes straight out of the Fall/Winter 1979-1980 issue of the McCartney Observer

Liverpool.   November 24, 1979

This was officially the first concert for members of the Fun Club.  We managed to see Paul arrive at 4 P.M., and although it was pretty much a mob scene, it was still a small crowd compared to the rest of the stage door scenes we were to witness during the next few weeks.   He drove past in a silver Mercedes and everyone thought that he was going to go into the side door, but instead, he walked the full length of the theatre with the crowd, obliging everyone with autographs and smiling for the cameras.  I was in shock and couldn’t speak (seeing him in person is different than seeing him “in person” in a concert).  I could only stare, but Susie aid “”hi!” and he responded with “hi ya!”  Doylene called his name, and he looked at her, nodded and said, “Hi”. He looked so good, that man never ages.  (He’s like a good wine and improves with age!)

Linda was there, but when everyone surrounded Paul she said, “I’m getting out of here!” and went straight inside.  Our friend, Phil L. (who we met the night before) managed to get an autograph and was quite happy with himself.  Later on, we met the rest of our friends, who had just arrived from the States that morning:  Barb, Mary Ann, George and Mar.  Now our next “Mission Impossible” was getting tickets inside.  Doylene and Susie had gotten Barb and Mary Ann their tickets from Sue at MPL, but our ticket money and letters had mysteriously disappeared from the Royal Court Theatre.  This was to be our first unfortunate encounter with a weird little man who happened to be box office manager for a few days (the theatre was closed down and Paul was trying to save it so he performed there instead of the Empire, which is a bigger hall).  This man claimed that he never got our letter and/or money and it would be impossible to get us in. Meanwhile, there was a photographer there and he decided that the American girls would make a “nice story” so the box office manager decided to get in on the act.  Doylene, Susie and I were photographed for the Daily Mirror and we had to go upstairs to the office where they had Doylene and Susie make these ridiculous poses with the manager.  He still insisted that he wouldn’t’ be able to help us as Doylene and Susie held the tickets and he pretended that he was giving them to them! 

After this ridiculously embarrassing publicity stunt, we were literally being down the door outside when we saw Tony Brainsby (Paul’s long time publicity agent) and he told me that Lawrence Jubar was going to give us tickets and to go downstairs and pose for a photograph with him!  So, we all went downstairs and me Lawrence, who is very nice and so sweet.  The photograph never did get in the papers, but the photographer later told us that he was trying to sell the story to a magazine.  A small article was printed about Doylene and Susie though.   So, with many thanks to Lawrence, we had good tickets into the show.

Tonight before the show began, there was an opening act, comedian Earl Okin, who told corny jokes and sang corny songs (Bessie, Bessie Bessie, you’re as far as a….).   Earl must have great courage because he was booed constantly during the act.  He made everyone happy when he said that there was a band waiting to lay for us and they were “waiting in the wings…”

Paul got really into the show this night, he was more at ease and it was fantastic.  Everyone left smiling and happy.  Denny dedicated a song to our friend, Martin, who managed to see the entire band in a club the night before, and had bought Denny a drink.  Denny said, “he brought me a drink,” and Paul quipped, “you’d do anything for a drink!”

Liverpool.  November 25, 1979

This was a terrible day for Doylene, Susie and I.  The box office manager gave everyone standing tickets except for the three of us.  He pocketed their money, charging them full price to stand in the balcony!  He warned them not to move from where he told them to stand and kept coming back every few minutes to check up on them.  Guilty that some usher may want to check the tickets he never gave them!   He looked at the three of us outside and had absolutely no compassion whatsoever.  I can’t even begin to explain the horrible feeling in the pits of our stomachs when someone opened a door and we heard Paul singing “Let it Be” while we were outside.

Liverpool.  November 26, 1979

We saw Paul arrive at the stage door, but the scene there was nearly riotous and Paul was rushed inside.  Tonight, our “pal” at the box office manager, decided he liked the taste of American money and charge each of us $12.00 to get in and let us stay in the balcony.  While we were waiting to be seated (or standed?) we were instructed to wait in a private bar.  Denny came in and was signing autographs for everyone.  He signed a magazine we had purchased with Wings on the cover for each of us.  Doylene had him sign the page he was on; Susie had him sign the cover.  He decided to sign Susie’s right on Paul’s face! All I could think of was “I paid 45p ($1.00) for that magazine and I can’t afford to go buy it again” so when it came to my turn and I saw his pen heading towards Paul’s face, I scolded him and said, “Not on his face!”  “Oh!  Is it okay if I sign on his hand?”  “Yeh.”  We all stood in the balcony together and had a fantastic time!  As I said before, we were still close, even though we were in the balcony, and our telephoto lenses helped a lot too.  We were all making comments, singing along and having fun clicking away with our cameras.   Pau was really having a good time too and it was the best audience (Paul said so too).  This was one of my favorite shows and a good memory.  The next day was a “day off” but we had heard a rumor that Paul was going to give a special concert on the Royal Iris (a ferry), so we decided it was worth checking into although we doubted that it was true.  Still we could take a few photographs of the Mersey.

Liverpool.  November 27, 1979

We went down to the Peirhead around 2:30 and a man selling newspapers said, “Do you know that Paul McCartney is going on the Royal Iris at 3:00?”  He explained that it was a press conference.  Barb and Mary Ann were already there (after having been told about the press conference by Alan Williams’ associate, who they had had lunch with earlier).  The Royal Iris is the same ferry that the Beatles posed on in 1963.   The ferry was covered with Wings posters and all the bodyguards were there dressed in tuxedos, so we knew that the press conference was a reality.   The docks were packed with photographers and locals who wanted to see Paul, as well as people simply waiting to take a ferry across the river.  It was so exciting, and made me feel so nostalgic to see Paul on the docks, all the press, people buzzing with excited chatter and anticipation—just like the old days.  The bus pulled up onto a nearby dock, and they all walked to the Royal Iris while all the photographers snapped away and got in our way.  The bodyguards were really annoying and kept pushing us, but somehow Doylene and I managed to get away from all that, and we were able to watch without too much of a hassle.   What got to us was that after getting in our way, the photographers were allowed n to the ferry for a regular photo session.  Still, I was happy to be so lucky to even be there to begin with!  Nothing could make me feel down at that moment.  A few minutes later, while the ferry was still in dock, I heard a girl yelling, “Paul!  Look down here!” And suddenly realized that the whole band was on the top deck for a photo session.

I noticed a gang-plank near the ferry that we could climb up and get closer to where Paul was.  So Doylene and I did that.  Paul was posing for all the photographers alone, and then the rest of Wings joined him.  Paul would make the photographers wait while he waved and smiled at all the fans.  Linda was going by and we said “hello!” and she asked me if I were enjoying myself.  Then she posed for photos for us by picking her nose (needless to say, we didn’t bother clicking the shutters).  This session seemed to be going on for a long time, so Doylene and I quickly got out our telephoto lenses (fumbling like mad) to get some closer photos.  Paul kept looking over at us, waving, giving us the thumbs up sign.  It was fantastic!  We were so happy!  The ferry began to leave the docks for its journey across the Mersey (Paul was singing “Ferry Across the Mersey” – it was all so nostalgic!)  

They returned about a half hour later and as Paul was leaving the ferry he began singing “Mull of Kintyre” as if he were drunk!  (They had been drinking tea on the ferry).  The crowd was even bigger than when he first got on the ferry but we followed him to the bus which we weren’t supposed to do, but that never stopped us before.  Doylene and I were laughing and tripping over each other’s feet in the midst of all the excitement and Steve Holly was watching us making fools out of ourselves.  At least we gave him a good laugh! 

We went over to the side of the bus Paul was on, and waved back and forth at each other.  Little did we know at the time that there was a photographer getting a real charge out of watching us watch Paul and he was click away like mad!  What gets me about this whole press conference scene is that of all the photographs taken, we only got to see a few.  Who knows where the rest are?  For this, we were trampled on so the press could get their photos.  Photos that were never even printed.  But, it was a wonderful experience, especially when we didn’t expect it to happen.  A definite highlight of the tour!  That night we watched two Wings specials on TV and the news showed a little bit of the press conference.  Hope that America will be able to show these specials.  They were great.