Caught a drummer

This young fan breaks through the security in New Orleans in 1964 and gets to Ringo Starr! 

Big blue eyes

Ringo Starr during the New Orleans press conference in 1964.

NOLA

Look what just arrived in my mail today from ebay!   I only have a few photos from the 1964 New Orleans press conference, and look at this beautiful one!   Happy happy!

Back in the Big Easy....

More photos from the Wings recording sessions in New Orleans.

New Orleans Wings

Butterfly Collar

Lovely photo of Paul from the New Orleans recording sessions of 1975.   Even in his 1970's garb, he is looking good!

Another trip to New Orleans

Signing for fans in New Orleans

Mardi Gras '75

Whenever I see photo of Paul and Linda dressed as clowns during the 1975 Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, I have two thoughts.   1.)  Paul sure looks like a creepy clown.    2.) There was Paul and Linda throwing beads down to the people below and I bet no one recognized that it was Paul McCartney.  

Now I bet it was fun for Paul and Linda to be up there, enjoying the festivities, throwing the  beads out to the folks below.   They had the chance to be a bit "normal" (ever when wearing creepy clown costumes) for a time and do what many other non-famous people were doing in the city that day.   But then I think that there were Wings fans who may have caught beads from a creepy clown couple and to this day had no idea that they had an encounter with Paul!   That is just crazy.   Sure you would think, "oh if I saw Paul, I would recognize him in a second."   But if you weren't expecting to see him and he was in a costume at a place where tons of people were in costumes, maybe you wouldn't have known it was him.

Autographs in New Orleans

Ding Ding Ding went the trolly

On Super Bowl Sunday, this woman named Evelyn saw a man come onto the Trolly in New Orleans and start singing Beatles songs (I wonder what songs he sang?) and then she realized that the man next to her was none other than Paul McCartney!!     This gives me hope!   I still can meet him!     Evelyn didn't except to meet Paul McCartney when she got on that trolly this past Sunday, but she did.  And thank goodness that these days everyone has a camera on them!   It that happened in 1982, no one would have believed her!

Superbowl Friday

Here are the first photos of Paul from 2013 that I have seen.   These were taken on Friday, February 1, 2013 at a pre-Superbowl party hosted by Rolling Stone magazine in New Orleans.    The report says that many fans came up to Paul and Nancy during the party and that Paul was very kind to them, and seemed happy to pose for photos.   It also said that Paul spent more time chatting with fans then he did mingling with the other famous people at the party. 

Paul on the Balcony

This fan story was written by Allen Seals (who was the editor of the fanzine, Our Starr Monthly,) about the time he met Paul and Linda on the balcony of their hotel while they were in New Orleans.  This story appeared in the August/September 1975 issue of The Write Thing. One question though:  has anyone seen the footage that he shot of them that day?

A couple of photos where you can see that Paul is wearing the shirt that Allen gave him.

"Macca himself in New Orleans in front of the new stadium.  Photo by Linda.  Shirt by Allen.

 

There are several occasions I can remember while Paul McCartney was staying here in New Orleans when I made an attempt to see him; but it’s the most successful and rewarding that I intend to relate to you here.  It had been a week already that Paul, his family, his band, and his associates had located themselves in the heart of New Orleans.  They tucked themselves away in their perch at the Le Richelieu Motor Hotel in the French Quarter district of the city, and came out mostly to drive to the Sea-Saint recording studios every weekday between 1 and 3.  (They had made several social ventures from their suite, but by Paul’s own admission, he worked much more then he played while he was here.)

The Crescent City was preparing itself for its annual party in the streets – Mardi Gras, and tourists ran rampant over the narrow streets of the Quarter.  It was getting near noon when I arrived there and headed towards Lew Richelieu.  As is typical of New Orleans unusual climate, the sun was beating down rather warmly and people had left their sweaters and coats hung in the closet for this day in early February.  By the time I reached the hotel the street walkers had thinned out a great deal.  And before I had time to wonder which of the suits of the hotel that can be seen from the street Paul might be lodged in, I heard the sound of children at play coming from the second story balcony directly above the entrance to the hotel.  Yes, the children were Paul’s and I gazed in amazement at Stella, Heather, and Mary who all seemed to resemble their photographs comparatively.  After a while, they went inside the suits and I went about my plans to contact their father.

I had bought a king cake at the bakery before I reached the Quarter so as to have something to bring them when (and if) I met them.  I realized the hotel staff wouldn’t allow me to go near his room, so I asked the receptionist if she could have the cake delivered up to him for me.  She obliged, so I sat down and nervously scribbled down a short note explaining the king cake.  I expressed how I’d love to see them and maybe get a photograph if they weren’t terribly busy at the moment.  I specified that I’d be waiting downstairs, and gave them my good wishes for their stay in the city and recordings they’d be making while here.  After leaving the package with the desk clerk, I headed out to the street once again and planted myself on a small clump of steps across the street from Paul’s suite.

After a few impatient, anxious minutes had passed, I noticed a figure standing inside the doorway of the balcony putting something on his wrist and facing my direction.  I was slightly embarrassed at the thought of being watched (what was he thinking?), yet I was excited as I realized that the figure was probably Paul McCartney!  After a few moments of this pleasant agony, I turned my head in pretense that I never really noticed he was standing there since he wasn’t making an attempt to introduce himself.  But as I glanced back to the doorway, there I saw Paul McCartney exit onto the balcony.  He was also pretending he hadn’t’ noticed me across the street, and went about strolling around the balcony as if he was out for some morning sun.  When I soon regained his attention, I quickly and simply waved a friendly hello to him to break the ice.  He immediately returned this with a brisk and distinct thumbs up gesture and I decided this was it!   I quickly walked over across the street and under the balcony to talk to him.  

The first characteristic of his appearance that grabbed my attention was his jet black hair.  Its licorice richness presented such an interesting and attractive contrast to his fair complexion.  He was dressed in a loose fitting robe that reached his keens, but his body appeared lithe and thin.  He was much better looking than most of his pictures.  

All of the planned conversation I had stored in my head evaporated, and I stood there with nothing more to say than, “Can I take your picture?”  A tour but in the meantime inconveniently parked itself right where I was standing, and its raging engine made it impossible for him to hear hardly anything I was saying.  We talked about the shirt I was wearing (The black and white Wings t-shirt from the Fun Club in England), and the shirt I made for him and left with the receptionist at Sea-Saint one of the first few days after he arrived.  When I asked him about it, he said something like, “Oh, you did that yourself?”  The shirt wasn’t anything exceptional; I suspect he was just being appreciative.  I did find out later that he wore it to have his photo taken in front of the nearly completed Louisiana Superdome (where he’s assured us he’ll play when he tours later in the fall) *see photo*.  The shirt was originally one of those tourist novelties.  It bore a picture-collage of different New Orleans landmarks and attractions with the name “New Orleans” inscribed boldly underneath the design.  In the same style writing (and with a few birds thrown in on the sides), I printed “Wings Over” on top, so it read, “Wings Over New Orleans” when I was finished with it.

At one point in the conversation, he motioned that it was alright for me to take pictures.  I withdrew my movie camera from the shopping bag I had carried all my junk in, and he proceeded to be Paul McCartney, professional ham, for my film.  It was just unbelievable and I enjoyed every minute of it.  He waved into the camera, coaxing Mary (who had wandered out on the balcony without me noticing) to do the same.  He then danced around with her a little, but he seemed to be growing impatient with the situation.  Before I had time to remedy the situation, he politely waved goodbye into the camera and disappeared back inside his suite.

The whole incident was entirely too short lived, and I stood on the sidewalk in awe and disillusionment, but with a sense of accomplishment.  I regretted that my meeting with him hadn’t gone down a little more intimately (instead of just another fan type thing), but I was grateful for what I’d gotten.

With a few minutes of precious film locked safely inside the camera, I was ready to race back home and tell my friends of the experience.  I wanted to finish off the roll of film so I could have it developed immediately, however, so I turned back to the hotel to film the outside and the area surrounding it.  Just as I glanced towards the balcony, my eye caught an attractive blonde lady standing by the railing.  It was Linda!  I called to her, and raced back across the street to greet her.  For all the negative things that have been written about Linda, she was very warm and friendly when I met her that day.  She was playful, in fact, complying with my request for her to dance for the film, and putting on a carnival mask one of the children had used to decorate the balcony for the holiday.  She explained that I had caught them in their robes, but I assured her they looked great in spite of it.  Her hair hung in long, soft curls and enwrapped her face and shoulders, and she too was looking in good shape.  She made several attempts at bidding me goodbye and heading back inside, but something would invariably interest her and she’d stay out for a few minutes longer.  She did manage to wave a final goodbye, and soon was back inside the suite.

It’s been over 3 months since that incident.  The Le Richelieu has changed its title to “Paul’s hotel” in my vocabulary, and it stands as a secret moment to a dream partially realized in my memory.  I stop in front of it every now and then, and stare up at the balcony where he was standing.  The balcony doesn’t look the same without him, but it provides an empty stage setting to reminisce on whenever I pass it.

Paul in New Orleans 1975 (part 2)

Here is the 2nd part of Gina Fontana's story of hanging around the studio where Wings was recording the Venus and Mars album in New Orleans in Jan and Feb 1975.  I can't help but think how neater this story could have ended up if John went down to N.O. and recorded a song with Paul as originally planned. 

For the next three weeks every spare minute I had was spent waiting outside that studio.  I cut so many classes I flunked my math and science courses.  I had to go to summer school because of it (it was worth it).  There was a group of about 12 (including me) of us who were there all the time.  Allen Crowder really got aggravated with us.  He kicked us out of the hotel so many times I think he lost count.  The roadies, Stave and Mike, really hated us too.  Sometimes they were really rough when it wasn’t necessary.

Every once in a while there was something out of the ordinary to amuse the group of regulars.  Like one day this cab drives up and this girl gets out.  All she had on was a dirty white t-shirt.  All of a sudden the girl takes off this t-shirt and she’s standing there naked.  Allen Crowder came outside and got her.  Someone heard that she used to go out with Jimmy and she followed him down to New Orleans.  That was just one of the crazy things that happened while Paul was there.

Every day we’d stare down the same street (we renamed it McCartney drive) just waiting to see that white Delta 98.  You’d be sitting on the ground talking about the Beatles and you’d hear somebody say, “Here comes Denny.”  That meant within the next five minutes, Paul would come zooming down the street.  We always had about a five minute warning before Denny and the others were coming because the two roadies would come outside and wait for them to arrive.  The roadies were so mean.  Paul even told them sometimes to leave us alone.  He was always really nice to the fans.  Paul would go out of this way to be nice.  Linda would usually go straight in.  Almost every day Paul was asked the same question, “Can we kiss you?”  He’d always answer with something like, “You don’t want me wife to get mad at me,” or “Do you want Linda to be jealous?”  But one day Linda was sick so she didn’t come into the studio.  It was their second-to-last-day at the studio.  I had never asked Paul if I could kiss him but I decided this was the best time to ask.  After he got out of the car I said, “Can I please kiss you Paul?”  and to my surprise and delight he answered, “Sure.”  After I kissed him, he was swamped by kisses.  You could tell he loved every minute.  He was bubbling all over.

The last day that Wings came to Sea-Saint was Friday, Feb. 21, 1975.  There were about a hundred fans there that day.  The TV stations did an interview with Paul the day before and they gave all the information out, so there were a lot of people that day.  It was so crowded, you could hardly get near him, but after most of the crowd left; Allen O’Duffy (the engineer Paul had brought with him) came outside.  He told us they weren’t leaving town until Monday night.  He wasn’t sure what time so he told us to give him a ring Monday and he’d let us know.  He was so nice.  Sunday, the TV news said that Paul had left earlier that day so that eliminated a lot of people showing up at the airport.

We talked to O’Duffy Monday and he gave us the flight number and the time the plane was leaving or L.A. We went to the airport not knowing what to expect.  One of the girls that was with me called her father from the airport and he told her to go talk to some man because he might be able to help us get into the room where you could wait for your plane to leave.  Well, this man got us into the room.  We sat there with all the passengers.  We didn’t know what to do.  We decided we’d try and act like we were just normal people but that didn’t’ go off too well.  We were so excited – my mind was gone.  I had two flowers, one for Paul and the other for Allen O’Duffy.  I wanted to thank Allen for being so nice.  After five minutes passed and we were still sitting there scared stiff.  I thought Linda or Allen might kill us when they saw us waiting to attack Paul.  Anyway, they all came in the room and sat down right across from us.  Allen O’Duffy didn’t even sit down – he came straight to u and brought Paul and Lidna over to us!

I was just about to hand Paul the flower I had for him when Linda grabbed it out of my hands (and I mean grabbed!) and said, “Is this for the lady?”  I didn’t know what to do.  I was so shocked I couldn’t believe she actually did it.  She knew the flower was for Paul.  I mean it only had a big card on it that said PAUL.  Paul looked like he was embarrassed when she did that.  My mouth just flew open.  Paul tried to help the situation out by asking me my name and where I went to school.  He was so sweet.  He took the flower from Linda and he told me it was really nice to give them a going away present.  He kept asking us how we got past all the people without a ticket.  I think he thought we were flying on the same plane as they were at first.  We told him we had connections all over the place!  We also said we had a lot of good photos from the studio, and Linda said she’d really like to have a  few.  So Paul told Brian Brolly to give us their address in London and the address of the hotel they would be staying at in L.A.  Then some man from the airline asked if they’d like to go across the hall to a private room while the other passengers boarded the plane.  We waited outside in the hall.  A few minutes later Mike (one of the roadies) came out with the three girls.  He was taking them to the bathroom.  On the way down the hall to the bathrooms there were some candy machines.  Stella started saying she wanted some candy, and then Heather and Mary said they wanted some too.  Mike told them there was no time and they had to hurry up.  Stella started screaming, “I want some candy!”  Mike told her no again but Stella wouldn’t’ take no for an answer.  She hauled off and kicked Mike smack in the shin.  I never laughed so loud in all my life – Mike was so mean to all the fans; he deserved a good swift kick!  He ended up getting the girls candy.

A few minutes later they all came out and started to board the plane.  Paul kept winking at us and making all these cute faces.  I loved it and I loved him.  We kissed Denny, Jimmy and Joe goodbye.  Linda wouldn’t let us touch Paul.  A man from the airline asked us if we’d like to go on the plane and say goodbye again because the plane wasn’t leaving for a few minutes, so we all went on the plane.  I was too scared to go near Paul and Linda so I went and told Denny and Jimmy goodbye.  I talked to them for a little white and kissed them goodbye again.  Allen Crowder looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown when he saw us walk on the plane.  I asked Allen if I could kiss him goodbye and he said yes (I knew Allen had a heart under all those dirty looks he gave us).  We each kissed him about 4 times.  He kept saying, “Now stop that, you’re holding up our plane.  You have to leave.”  We just laughed at him.

We finally thanked them once more and got off the plane.  As we were leaving the plane Paul winked at us.  I knew that was probably the last time I’d ever get to see that wink.  We left the plane and as it took off all I could do was cry.  The dream was over.  I knew he wouldn’t be back for a very long time.

The months of January and February will always bring back happy memories  I’ll never forget the look on his face the first time I saw him   He was so beautiful.  I know that memory will never fade away.

Paul in New Orleans 1975 (part 1)

Here is a story of when a fan Gina Fontana huge around the studio where Paul and the rest of Wings were recording in New Orleans in January and February 1975.   This story appeared in the July 1977 issue of "With a little help from my friends."

Paul and his troops arrived in New Orleans on January 16, 1975, at New Orleans International Airport.  During their stay here, they rented the whole second floor of a small hotel in the French Quarter called the Le Richelieu.  They also rented a white Delta 98 convertible and a three speed bike for Heather.

The reason I knew Paul was coming to town was because of a small article in the afternoon paper.  It said Paul was coming to record an album at the Sea-Saint Studio which is owned by Allan Tousaint and Marshall Seahorn.   They were to stay in New Orleans for a little more than a month.  When I read the afternoon paper that day I almost had a heart attack.  The article even gave the address of the studio.  The first thing I did was to find out where the studio was.  It turned out that the place wasn’t even a mile from my house!  I was so happy words can’t ‘explain.  I mean, I‘d been in love with the man for so long and now he was coming to my town.  For a whole month and he wasn’t even gonna be a whole mile away!  Wilds horses couldn’t keep me away from there.

In the article, it said Paul would get here the following Monday, but that Friday there was another small article that said the group would be delayed and there was not further notice of their arrival.  I waited until Wednesday to return to the studio.  When I got there, there was a small group of people outside.  I decided to get out and find out what was going on.  The news was that Paul had arrived in town the night before and he might come over to t studio to check things out.  Needless to say, I was very excited.   All of the guys who worked at the studio were laughing at me.  I’m sure they thought I was ready to be taken to the funny farm.  Anyway, about an hour later we saw this big white limousine coming down the street.  I kept saying to myself, “this is it.  I’m really gonna get to see him.”  When the car stopped everyone moved closer to it, but there was no Paul inside.  I wanted to scream – it was just the driver delivering a check.  He told us Paul was too tired to come.  That was one of the biggest let-downs of my life.

The next day I went only to find out that they still hadn’t come in.  I waited a few days and went back again.  There was no one standing outside, so I just went and knocked on the door.  I had my scrapbook and some flowers for Paul and Linda.  A woman answered the door and said that Paul had already arrived and he was very busy.  I gave her the flowers and scrapbook and she assured me Paul would receive my flowers and she’d ask him to sign my scrapbook if he had time.

Later that night, one of my friends and I drove by to see if there was anything going on.  There were a few people standing around outside.  I recognized a couple of the people who were there the first night.  We stopped and asked what was going on.  They told us that Linda kept coming out but Pal was too busy.  I had written Paul a note earlier that day and I decided to try and get it to him.  I knocked on the door and the woman from earlier that day answered.  I asked her if she’d get the note to Paul for me.  Someone in the background kept asking, “What is it.”  The lady opened the door wider and there was Linda.  She was sitting on top of a desk swinging her legs.  All I could think to say was, “You’re Linda.”  She just sat there and said, “Yep.”  Then she asked again, “what is it” and I told her it was just a joke for Paul.  Then the woman told me I’d have to go back outside, but I could maybe see Paul the next day between 2 and 4 because that was when he usually arrived.  The next day I went back, determined I was gonna see him even if I had to wait there all day long.  I got to the studio about 12:30.  There wasn’t anyone waiting outside except for my friend and me.  I went inside the office to get my scrapbook from Mary (that was the woman who answered the door). My scrapbook wasn’t signed but she said Paul did get my flowers.  He had them on top of the piano the whole night and when they left Linda took them with her.

About 1:30 people started coming, mostly people from the very first night.  We all just sat around and waited.  There were a lot of new friendships developed that day.  It was like a mini-Beatles convention.  Everyone sat around comparing what they knew and what their favorite song was and what their favorite album, etc. – it was really fun.  By 2:30 there was still no sign of Paul.  Around 3:00 a car with Denny, Jimmy and Allan Crowder drove up.  They stayed outside and signed autographs and posed for photos.  Denny told me Paul should be along any minute.  Everyone stood with their cameras ready.  We waited and waited and waited but there was still no show of Paul.  Excitement was everywhere.  It seemed like I’d been waiting in front of that studio for a year.  At 4:05 Paul’s car came driving about 90 mph down the street!  By this time all the schools had let out and there were about 50 people waiting to see him.  He drove up and everyone ran to his car.  It was like 1964 all over again.  I was right against the door of his car.  Everyone was wild – they were pushing and shoving and Paul kept trying to get out but the crowd wouldn’t let him.  He kept pushing on the door.  (The window was hitting me smack in the face every time he tried to get out).  I could see him perfectly.  He looked scared to death.  HE finally got out of the car with one big push.  Then the crowd pushed even more when they saw that he was out of the car.  I got pushed right on top of him.  His first reaction as to scream (Right in my ear.  He sure does have a big mouth).  He screamed, “Get out of here, what is this!”  I almost started crying.  I felt like he was only yelling at me.  I was in tears telling him that I was really sorry but it wasn’t my faulty.  He must have realized what he’d done because he looked at me with the most understanding face in the world.  He said, “I wasn’t just yelling at you.  It’s really all right.”  The crowd started to move back and Paul started making his way through.  I held on to him almost the whole time.  I asked him if he got my flowers and he said, “Yeah, thanks doll, they were beautiful.”  I then asked him if he got my note and he said, “That was you?” and I told him yes.  By this time we were in front of the door and the next minute he was gone.  I can’t explain how I felt when I saw him that first time.  I had actually seen him, touched him, and talked to him.  It was really a dream come true.  Everything had happened so fast.  He was there one minute and gone the next.  I’d seen Paul a thousand time s in my mind but he’d never looked this good.  He was wearing a blue pinned striped suit with a purple “band on the run” t-shirt (The man really matches clothes well.)  His hair was super greasy but he still looked great.   I found out later on why Paul was so mad when he drove up.  The reason he was so late was because he dropped Linda off at a drugstore to buy some film.  She was gonna take a taxi when she was finished.  The drugstore is only about 3 blocks away from the studio but Paul got lost and he drove around for 45 minutes before he stopped to get directions.

Later that night I returned at about 10:30.  There weren’t many waiting outside.  I had to see him again.  Once is not enough.  Around 11:30 or 12:00 Paul and Linda came out to say hello.  There were only about 12 of us waiting to see him.  It was a lot different than earlier that day.  Paul was so at ease with everyone.  He didn’t rush things at all.  He signed autographs and posed for pictures.  He was so nice.  He kept making all these cute faces.  I wanted to grab him.  He had the McCartney charm on full blast.  Linda loved it too because there were these two guys who kept talking to her and taking pictures of her.  She was really nice.  (This didn’t last long.  Other days she was really mean.  Sometimes I think she went out of her way to be nasty to all the girls waiting to see Paul).  They stayed outside for about 20 minutes and then went back in to work some more.  It started raining at about 1:00.  By 3:30 it was still raining.  There were only six of us left.  We were all getting wet and it was freezing.  I knew if I left they’d come out five minutes later and sure enough, that’s what happened. 

New Orleans fans 1964

Fans wait to get inside to see the Beatles in concert in 1964.

New Orelans in 1964

Ringo, John and Derek along with someone I don't know, look at the newspaper in New Orleans during the Beatles 1964 North American tour. I haven't seen a lot of photos from New Orleans during that tour, so I thought I would share this one.

Autographs in the 1970's

Nashville Cats

Stolen....err I mean taken from the Beatles photo blog. Thank you Miss Tammy!

The City of New Orleans

Here are a couple of Paul and family in New Orleans photos that I found via the wonderful Heather McCartney blog

The main thing I notice here is that McCartney is wearing his "star shirt" which we first saw him wear in 1967. 8 years later and it is still around....wonder where that shirt is today!