Mind Games Mystery Solved

 

I've heard it said that John Lennon's 1973 album, Mind Games cover looks like John is walking away from Yoko and is symbolic of their separation that started right around the time of the album's release.  I can get where that idea comes from obviously, but I have always been curious about the photo of John walking away.    Where did that photo originate?

Thanks to the official John Lennon website and one of my favorite John fans, that mystery has now been solved.    John is not actually "walking away" in the photograph.   He is standing at an airport (at least that is what it looks like to me) in front of an ad for the U.S. Army.     I am no sure when in 1973 this photo was taken, but it had to have been sometimes after June 3 and before August 4 because of the short style of hair (it was really starting to grow out by early August).   

Yankees Game search

A fan named Don Pupke post the following photograph and story on Facebook.   Do you know the lady in the photograph with Paul?    I am sure we can find her!   

Written by Don Pupke

In July 2003 I went to a Yankees game with one of my buddies and we had the good fortune of sitting directly in back of Paul McCartney and his (then) wife Heather Mills. I think they were sitting with U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.

The seats were close and throughout the game, we had small talk but I tried to treat him just like I’d treat anyone else who sat near me at any game.

I was impressed that he was a real fan and stayed for the entire game. At the end of the game we had to wait for the crowd to clear a bit before leaving and I found myself standing and talking to him about baseball. At that point, I figured it would be okay if I asked to take a picture with him. He said “sure”.

One thing you need to understand is that in 2003 there were no camera phones so you had to have a camera and film to take a shot. I happened to have a camera.

Just as we were about to take the picture, a very nice woman came running toward Paul calling his name. He looked at me and said, “let me take a picture with her and then we’ll get our shot.” The only problem is that she didn’t have a camera. I told her that I’d take the picture. As soon as I took the picture I heard the whirring sound of the film rewinding. My heart sank. No more film. No more pictures. I settled for a handshake, a pat on the back and a memory of meeting Sir Paul McCartney. Oh, and I also have a picture of Paul with a woman I don’t know.

This is the picture.

Afterward, I asked her if she had an email address so I could send her the picture. She didn’t. She gave me her home address - somewhere in Kansas- as I recall but, unfortunately, I lost the slip of paper.

So now I have this picture of Paul McCartney with a woman from Kansas ( might’ve been Nebraska, Iowa or Oklahoma) and no way of getting this to her.

I’d love for anyone and everyone to help me find her so I can get this photo to her.

Can anyone help? I’d appreciate it if you could share this until we find her. Thanks.

John and Yoko with Tommy

This blog has been amazing in reconnecting Beatle friends over the years.   Let's see if we can do it again!    This photo of John and Yoko (and it looks like John has a cake in his hand -- he and Yoko used to walk to a bakery and John would get chocolate cake from time to time) and a fan was taken in August of 1980.     The fan's name is Tommy Enright from Liverpool, England.      Tommy spent some time with a penpal in Connecticut in August of 1980 and they were able to meet John and Yoko a few times during his visit.    His old penpal is looking for Tommy.     Surely Tommy is out there somewhere -- maybe you know him and can help reconnect him with the woman that helped him get this photograph taken.      Here is her message:

I know the guy on this photo with John. He was a pen-pal of mine from Liverpool in the late 70’s/ early 80’s. His name is Tommy Enright. He was here in the States when this was taken. He came to stay at my house shortly after and we went back to NYC and saw John together with some other friends. I have been trying to relocate him since around 1981. We lost touch after John’s death. He was from Garston in Liverpool. Does anyone know him ? I would love to reconnect with him. I have a copy of this photo as well as photos of the day we met John together. It was in August 1980 at the Hit Factory. Would appreciate everyone’s help in relocating him. Someone out there must know him.

To add a little more mystery to this --   this photograph was seen in an obscure newspaper in Australia   How did they get a copy?    Did Tommy move to Australia?   Does he have family or friends in Australia?   


Leave a comment below if you know Tommy.   And if you don't----well then be like me and just enjoy the photograph.   

Fans from Liverpool 1961

This is a really neat photo!   The search is on to identify the fans in this photo of the Beatles taken Liverpool in 1961.   I loved reading about the early Beatle fans in Mark Lewisohn's book "Tune In" and  I wonder if any of these girls are mentioned in the book.   Anyhow...if you know who these amazing fans are, please let us know!

Search for Beatles fans in Liverpool snap taken over 50 years ago 

By Nicola Bartlett

 
The search is on for six early fans of the Beatles captured in a photograph more than 50 years ago.

The six girls were pictured with the fab four at St John’s Hall in Tuebrook, Liverpool in 1961, the first date when the group returned from playing The Star Club in Hamburg.

The negative of this image was given to Stephen Bailey who has managed The Beatles Shop in Mathew Street for 28 years.

The shop is busy collecting memorabilia for the 23rd Annual Liverpool Beatles Auction which will be held at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in August.

The annual event always turns out interesting pieces from the early days in Liverpool and Merseysiders are busy rummaging through their attics in anticipation.

This photo was one such find which was discovered when a man dropped off some negatives to The Beatles Shop in Mathew Street which he said had been taken half a century ago by his father who was a photographer.

Stephen got the pictures processed and found they were in perfect condition. One in particular stood out.

Stephen said: “It is a lovely photograph and so evocative of the relationship The Beatles has with their early fans. Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr the following year.”

Stephen now wants to invite the women to be VIP Guests of Honour at this year’s auction which is being held at the Paul McCartney Auditorium at LIPA.

Stephen said: “Beatles fans from those early Liverpool days are rummaging through their bottom drawers looking for memorabilia of the Fab Four. We started to receive lots for this year’s sale in November of last year.

“To date we have over 200 lots to be auctioned but there is always room for those special items from those early Beatles days in Liverpool.”

Previous auctions have seen rare items sell for thousands of pounds.

Last year retired civil servant Mrs Joyce McWiliams, 67, from Spital, received £3,100 for a black knitted tie given to her by John Lennon at the Cavern Club and £14,750 for five postcard sized photographs signed by the Beatles.

If you are one of the women pictured or you can help identify them please get in touch either at news@liverpool.com or call in to the Beatles Shop on Mathew Street or call Stephen on 0151 236 8066. 

Honey Hush Hush

After all of these years, George's "Mystery Date" from these photos remains unknown.   If this George was a pop star of today, the girl's name would have been plastered all over the tabloids, but things were a bit more private for stars in 1964.  Not a lot more private, but a little bit.  Here is what George said about his date, which is actually pretty hilarious.

"Her name is Hush-Hush and she's a friend of the family.  As you will probably guess from her name, she's Chinese."

The Beatles make Abbey Road

A nice man from Italy named Massimo contacted me the other day wanting to share the photos he took in July 1969 of the Beatles as they were entering EMI to make the Abbey Road album.   Of course I am more than happy to share his wonderful photos on this blog.   This is the type of stuff we all love here at MTBFR!   I asked Massimo if he had a story to tell about when he took the photos and this is what he had to say:


The story is very simple: I was in London in the second half of July, 1969 and suddenly I decided to visit the Abbey Road Studios, which I knew from the magazines. But I would never imagine that, during my first visit, I could see Paul McCartney quietly stepping to the studios! Amazing and shocking! In the following days I came again there and I saw all the Beatles, one by one. As you can see, I took some shots (with an old poor camera!) and I asked a boy to take the pic n. 3, in which I am too. That’s all. I tracked down one of the guys in the pictures, I hope I can find also the boy with camera, who’s from the USA, if I remember correctly.




Massimo is also hoping that all of you out there in Pepperland can help him out.   He is looking to contact anyone who was there this particular day in 1969 and was in the photographs.   He especially is looking for the red-headed boy who is holding a movie camera.  He believes this young man was from the United States.   

So how about it?  Let's help out a fellow Beatle fan!   This blog has found fans before, so let's do it again!   Were you at EMI in July of 1969 when the Beatles were recording Abbey Road?   Do you know who the red-headed guy is?   Are you that mystery person?   Do you recognize anyone else in these photographs?    If so you can contact Massimo directly at mfoschi@inwind.it  or you can email me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com

I am really excited to solve this mystery!

That is Massimo with Paul

 A big thank you goes out to Massimo for sharing such wonderful photos with this blog.  All photos were taken by him (well he asked someone to take that one of him with Paul on his camera) and Massimo owns the copyright to these photos.  

Mystery Date

George with a mystery girl.   Some think that she might have been a contest winner from a teen magazine.  However, no one really seems to know for sure.  

Strange coloring George photos

I found these on tumblr and I had to share them, because they are so strange to me.  These are some of the 1968 Pat Kinzer George Kinfauns photos.    However, they are strangely colorized to make it appear that George has bright white teeth and wears a purple shirt.   These photos are already in color to begin with, so I do not know why anyone would want them to be colorized.   George is actually wearing a peach colored shirt.    Did someone do this recently on photoshop?   Was this done in the 1960's?   Why???

The mystery is solved

Last night I posted what I thought was an Apple Scruffs' stationary sheet with 3 Savile Row on the front. Well many of you posted in the comments about how it wasn't totally authentic because the photo of the building was too old etc etc. One of the many friends of this blog, Guus, emailed me and told me that photo of 3 Savile Row was HIS photo! He has no idea how it ever got connected to the Apple Scruffs because he took the photo in 1976. As a matter of fact, that is his car that is parked right out front. At the time of the photo, Apple still owned the building, but later that year it was sold. So at least now we know who took the photograph!

Paul returns to the Cavern 1968

It is a little known fact that when the Cavern Club in Liverpool re-opened in 1968, Paul McCartney made a secret appearance. It is not known if Paul played any music while he was there but the photographs show him posing behind the drums with a local band called "The Curiosity Shop." From what I read, the owner of the Cavern,
Alf Georghegan, asked Paul if he could take some photographs of him at the club. Paul said that he could as long as he kept them out of the press, so Alf went out and bought a camera to take some photos. The date that has always been given for this trip to Liverpool was Oct 25, 1968. However, this date does not add up with the Beatles timeline because Paul and Linda were supposed to be in New York City during that time. The Cavern re-opened in July of 1968 and reports said that Paul was there with Jane.

When I was at the current Cavern Club in Liverpool a few weeks ago, my mom and I sat on the left side near the loo and the dressing room. On the wall right next to the table where we sat were two photographs that caught my eye. They were of Paul and this mystery time in the Cavern! One was similar to the one I had in my files and another was Paul posing with what appears to be a fan. What really caught my eye was that there was a caption under each photo that said "Paul McCartney returns to the Cavern 1968. Photo by Linda." Huh? Linda?? I am afraid that these photos, while they are really cool.....had me even MORE confused about what this took place.

Do any of you know more about this??? If so please let me know. And if not, enjoy the photos. In a break from the set of the singer on stage, I took the two photos of the pictures hanging on the wall of the Cavern.