As easy as falling off a horse....

 

The Day the Beatles came to visit

So I don't regularly read the "Weekly World News" because let's face it, stories about the Bat Boy and Hilary Clinton being an alien aren't exactly what  I want to read.   However, the entire "Weekly World News" is available free of charge through google books, and so I ran "Beatles" though the search and found this nice story about Reed Pigman Jr. from when the Beatles were in Alton, Missouri in 1964.   

THE DAY THE BEATLES CAME TO MY HOUSE
By Mark Sellers
World Weekly News
May 15, 1990

He was only 14 in 1964 when his dad brought John, Paul, Ringo and George home to diner!

Reed Pigman Jr. was the luckiest kid in the world and didn't even know it when the Beatles spent two fabulous days at his parents' ranch after their American concert tour in 1964!

Pigman was only 14 at the time and barely knew who the Beatles were.

Now 40, he fondly recalls watching the TV show Flipper with Ringo, eating breakfast with George and teaching Paul how to ride a horse.

But the years haven't changed his hatred for John, who treated the boy like dirt and in Pigman's own words "was an ass."

"John didn't want anything to do with a kid.  He didn't have time for me at all," said Pigman of Fort Worth, Texas.

"Paul, George and Ringo were nicer.  They enjoyed being on the ranch and treated me with respect, especially when they saw that I knew how to ride a horse.

"That gave me credibility with them and some common ground.  I wasn't a big fan of music and really didn't know who the Beatles were until I saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show a few months before they arrived."

The Fab Four decided to visit the Pigmans' Missouri ranch after receiving an invitation from Pigman's father whose firm, American Flyers, jetted them from city to city on their U.S. tour.

The Beatles arrived on September 19 and spent the next two days riding Pigman's go-cart, driving his parents' cars and pretending to be cowboys.

"Ringo had holsters and cap pistols and went around shooting everything that moved," said Pigman.

"They all thought it was fun to say 'howdy' and Lennon was always trying to talk in a Texas drawl.  The only song they sang on the ranch was Home On The Range.

"I wish I had been older and fit in more," said Pigman.  "Having the Beatles visit is something I wish I could live over again."

Hanging out with the Beatles

People came from all over the area to see the Beatles at the ranch....but not very many people got their photo taken with them.   The one exception is this one young boy.   He pops up in a lot of the photos!

Beautiful Boys at the ranch

I think that the photos Curt Gunther took of the Beatles at Reed Pigman's ranch are some of the most beautiful photos of the guys ever.   Thank you Mr. Gunther for taking such nice photos of our boys.

Go Go Go-Kart George

We know that George loved racecars and the Beatles seemed to enjoy go-karts quite a bit.   So it is pretty natural that George would have some fun while on the ranch zipping around in this go-kart. 

There was a a Beatles celebration in the ozarks this past week (that I sadly missed) and someone took this photo of the go-kart that George drove.    I am sorry that I found this photo online and photo credit was not given.    It is neat to see that the go-kart was yellow!  

On the ranch

I am heading down to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas today for the festival "Beatles at the Ridge."  It should be a lot of fun!     If any of you out there are there, please say hi!   I will write about the Beatles at Walnut Ridge when I return.

Today I am going to focus on when the Beatles stayed at Reed Pigman's ranch in Alton, Missouri.   The best information I can find about this trip is already located on this blog, so I am going to repost the link and encourage you to re-read it (or if you missed it the first time around, here is your change)

http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2010/05/beatles-slept-here.html

Here are some snapshots taken of the Beatles on the ranch.   Great stuff!!!

I included this black and white copy of the same photo because it is complete

"My brush with the Beatles"

I found this charming story written by Carrie Mae Snapp about seeing the Beatles up-close at the airport when they came to Missouri to rest during their 1964 North American Tour. I just love how passionate Carrie Mae was about the Beatles in '64 and how she still is just as big of a fan. With my own detective work, I was able to find the four photos her father took that day! And I agree, the George one is by far the best.

September 18, 1964, must have been like any other Friday night, but to tell you the truth, I can't really remember. If there was a home football game I went to it. Sexton Field was the place to be during football season. Go Cats Go!

If there wasn't a game, I was probably at Mary Willmuth's house for a meeting of the Beatles Four Forever More fan club. We were a hardcore group of young Beatles fans who got together on a somewhat regular basis to talk about how wonderful the Beatles were, what was their best song and how much they were missing by not knowing us, their greatest fans! The meetings involved snacks, dancing in the living room and debating the burning question all young girls were asking at that time: who was better looking; Paul or John? It's a question I still ponder to this day.

At home later that Friday night everything went as usual. I spent a little time discussing the meeting with Mom and Dad. They always wanted to know who was there and how they were doing and if anything interesting had happened. Then it was time for bed. The house was quiet and everyone asleep by 11. It was just an ordinary Friday night. I went to bed expecting to meet my Beatle friends at Warner Drug Store on Saturday morning. We would have a 10-cent coke in a real glass and discuss which Beatle Bubble Gum cards we had gotten that morning. I was just expecting a normal Saturday.

Was I wrong!

In 1964 our home had one black dial phone located in the hallway. It never rang at night, unless it was terrible news. That night, about 2 a.m. the phone rang. Instantly, Mom, Dad, Charles and I were hurled into consciousness! Dad walked into the hallway and answered the phone on the second ring.

"Son, do you realize what time it is? You had better have a really good reason for calling!"

A short silence followed. "Don't you lie to me, Gene Matthews. If you are lying, I'll see that your father takes away your car for a month!" Another pause followed. "OK, if I don't call her to the phone and you are telling me the truth, she will never forgive me," Dad said. "Carrie Mae, it's for you."

For me? A phone call for me in the middle of the night; I couldn't imagine! "Dad, what is it?"

He replied, "Answer it and find out?"

"Hello?"

"This is Gene. You are not going to believe who I just saw at the airport! The Beatles! I just saw them at the Walnut Ridge Airport. I wanted you to know that they were here, I saw them and you didn't! Bye!"

Dumbfounded, I stared blindly at the receiver in my hand. The Beatles had been here, in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, and I had missed them! I looked at Dad and broke into tears. "I missed them! The Beatles were here and I missed them!"

Somehow, about an hour later, following much pleading and many promises, Mom and Dad got me settled down enough to sleep a little.

Early the next morning, very early for a Saturday morning, Mom, Charles and I piled into the car and headed for the airport. It seems that mother had called Gene to find out the details of the unexpected visit of the Beatles. If she couldn't find the actual Beatles for me, she could at least take me out to the airport to see their airplane.

Fortunately for Mom and Charles, the mere sight of the airplane the Beatles had flown to Walnut Ridge on was enough to quell my constant crying! I was thrilled to be able to walk out on the tarmac and touch the wheel of the Lockheed Martin jet that had brought them to Walnut Ridge! Imagine, the very airplane that I was touching had once contained the Beatles. I was in Heaven.

In the meantime, Mother was doing her best Nancy Drew imitation. She had spoken with the people in the terminal and found out the pilot was staying at the Alamo Court. Our Alamo Court: the family business. She found Charles, drug me away from the plane and off we went to the Alamo. Nothing was going to keep her from getting her daughter a Beatles experience!

When we walked into the Davy Crockett, the first person we saw was the pilot. He was hard to miss, being the only person in the restaurant wearing a uniform. Mother grabbed the coffee pot and walked right over to his table. "Let me warm up your coffee." While she was playing waitress/detective, I was once again crying.

After several refills and dozens of questions he sat down his again full coffee cup. "I really can't tell you, Mrs. Snapp, but if I were you, I wouldn't go to church tomorrow," the pilot said with a smile.

That's all it took. Mom returned the coffee pot to its place and said, "Get into the car. It's time for us to go!" Off to the airport we went. On the way Mother told me, "Quit crying and enjoy this! This is going to be a weekend you will always remember!" I quit crying. After all, Mother was always right.

Charles, having had his fill of the great Beatles hunt, begged off and went to spend the day with his friend Charles Ellis. I know. It's confusing!

I spent the whole afternoon at the airport. Mom had packed us a picnic basket. At times there were quite a few people there and at others I had most of the airport to myself to explore and imagine what it would be like when the Beatles returned. I picked up a few cigarette butts. You could never tell, Paul might have been smoking one of them! The afternoon was uneventful until around three o'clock when I ran into three of my friends, who, for good reason, shall remain nameless.

We were walking around the airplane just looking it over. None of us had ever been on a jet. We wondered aloud about what it was like on the inside. When we walked over to the side of the jet facing away from the terminal we noticed the emergency door. Was it shut all the way? It didn't look quite right to us. We wouldn't want any of the Beatles falling out! Immediately, we knew it was up to us to save their lives by fixing that emergency door!

Taking a quick look around the tarmac, lest anyone misunderstand our motive for fixing the door, we climbed onto the wing of the airplane. Believe me; it was not as easy as it sounds. I was five feet tall, the wing was much taller. Accompanied by much groaning, pushing, stretching and sweating, the four of us ended up on the wing of the jet. Leaning against the door, breathing heavily, we began to inspect the emergency door.

With much pulling and prying we managed to get the door open enough for the skinniest of us to get into the plane! I was still on the wing. The three of us on the outside put our hands and noses up to the little windows and had a sneak peak at paradise! This is where they sat! This was the Beatles' private jet, and we were looking in it! Did life get any better? Not to a 14-year-old, Beatles-crazy girl, it didn't!

"Get me a pillow, please!" Who said it, I don't really know, but I knew at that time it was an excellent idea! I might not have seen the Beatles when they landed early that morning, but I had a chance to have a pillow that Paul McCartney might have laid his head on! Go for it! We took five pillows off the airplane and carefully shut the emergency exit.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent at the airport walking around and talking with the other fans just looking around. We all swapped rumors that we had heard about the Beatles foray into Walnut Ridge. At times we even sang a Beatles song or two. Mom let me stay till almost eleven that night. I suggested that I spend the night, but she quickly vetoed that notion.

When I got home that evening, Dad confronted me about what he termed, "Your new life of crime!" Truthfully, I don't know how he found out about the pillow from the airplane. In a small town word just gets out. I learned one of many life lessons; always tell your parents before someone else does!

My punishment was simple; I had to give the pillow back. I was crushed! My Dad, being soft-hearted, took pity on me and let me keep the pillowcase. Now that was a great Dad for you!

The next morning at seven we were up and around, getting ready to leave for the airport. Mom and Dad kept admonishing me to take my time. I was a nervous wreck! I had missed the Beatles once, but I wasn't going to do it again; I didn't care if I had to walk to the airport, I was going to be there when they came back!

Leaving the house about 10 minutes till eight, we went by the Ellis' home to pick up Charles. He and Charles were putting up a basketball goal. Dad honked the horn and Mom said, "Do you want to go to the airport to see the Beatles?"

"No. I want to put this goal up," Charles responded.

"Get in the car. If you don't go you will regret it the rest of your life," Mom replied. Soon the four of us were on our way to the airport. There were a few people there when we got there, but not too many.

Waiting for the Beatles to come back to Walnut Ridge was one of the most taxing things I've ever done. I learned a lot about patience. Time passed very slowly that morning. The jet that would take The Beatles to New York City was parked there on the tarmac. Dad kept a close eye on me to make sure I stayed away from the wings! My life of crime had ended!

About 10 o'clock we heard a noise in the sky! Someone heard the sound of a motor! There it was! The Beatles were returning!

The little yellow plane circled the runway and landed, heading in toward the terminal. Suddenly, the crowd of fans gathered by the jet took off, running full tilt toward the little yellow plane. Can you imagine what went through the mind of that crop duster when he saw a hundred kids on the runway screaming, waving their arms and running toward him?

We were herded back to the side of the jet to wait once again. Mayor Stewart was worried one of us would get injured if we tried that again so he climbed up on the stairs and told the crowd that if we were well behaved and let The Beatles pass through the crowd with no problems, they would sign autographs for us! I learned a lesson about promises and politicians that day, too.

We calmed down and waited for The Beatles. Dad was trying to pass the time by making a commentary about the crowd. He mentioned a red Suburban parked at the terminal that he didn't recognize. It looked like it was full of grown men. In 1964 you knew what everyone in town drove.

About a half hour later we again heard the sound of a small airplane in the sky. A little twin-engine plane landed and taxied toward the jet. Just as that was happening, the red Suburban pulled up right beside Mom, Dad, Charles and me. I mean right beside us. I remember touching the car and thinking the driver might have run over us.

Suddenly, it happened! There was John Lennon, all dressed in black and holding a box or something. Looking straight ahead, he went to the jet and up the steps. Then there was Ringo Starr in a light blue suit going up the steps, too!

There was movement to the left of us. The door to the Suburban opened and Paul McCartney jumped out! I remember reaching out for him, just to touch him for a split second. I was too late. Paul was too quick. Even Dad, the official family photographer, was too late. I have a wonderful close up of the back of Paul McCartney!

However, Dad and I were ready when George Harrison got out of the Suburban. For the past 47 years I've clung to all the pictures of the Beatles visit to Walnut Ridge, but especially to a wonderful close up of George Harrison. I was even able to touch him. It was just a glancing touch, but I TOUCHED GEORGE HARRISON'S ARM!

Other people have told me about the noise and screaming that was going on when The Beatles were here. I don't remember it that way. I remember an eerie silence that surrounded them and included us for those few minutes! We were all part of the aura that surrounded The Beatles for those few minutes. It gave us a special bond with them.

After The Beatles had boarded the airplane, Neil Aspinall came out to have a conversation with Mayor Stewart. Who knows what was said? The Beatles didn't come back out and sign autographs. George and Ringo were never seen by their adoring fans at the airport again.

Paul looked out the window and waved to us many times. If you talk with the girls who were out there, each of us will tell you he made eye contact just with them. They are all wrong; he made eye contact with me! John Lennon opened his sunscreen and waved to us once. I did see Jackie DeShannon, who was on the tour with them, standing at the top of the stairs looking out the door at us once or twice.

We waited at the airport as the jet taxied out for takeoff and waved goodbye to The Beatles. After we had watched the jet turn into a tiny speck in the sky, Dad herded us off to the car.

I felt like the luckiest 14-year-old girl in the world! The Beatles had been to my hometown, and I had gotten to see them in person. I had even touched George Harrison! How many other girls could say that?

I didn't know how lucky I was till the ride back into Walnut Ridge. We passed several cars headed out to the airport to see The Beatles, but they were too late.

The look of disappointment in their faces made me realize just how fortunate I had been.

The actual "sighting" of The Beatles took less than five minutes but, 47 years later, I'm still talking about it and still proud that Lawrence County, Walnut Ridge, and I are, even in the smallest way, associated with the legend of The Beatles!

The Beatles Slept Here

This is an article I found in the September 1994 issue of What Goes On (the newsletter for the ST. Louis Beatles fan club). It was originally published in the May 1986 Springfield, Missouri magazine called Film at 11. While it doesn't go into a lot of detail about the Beatles fans who met them during their stay in the Ozarks, it does give some information I didn't know. The photos are all from Curt Gunther's book on the Beatles 1964 tour. (excpet for the color one of John...I just included it for the "John is a hottie" factor.)


It is a little known fact that the well-known Beatles spent a weekend relaxing in our part of the Ozarks. On September 22 and 23, 1964, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr attempted to rest in seclusion at the Pigman ranch near Alton and Riverton, Missouri.

Reed Pigman, ranch owner and Texas airline magnate, had a contract to fly The Beatles on this, their second U.S. tour. He invited them to relax at his ranch before heading on to New York and their last performance before returning to England. The tour had already covered twenty-five cities with thirty-four concerts in thirty days.

On Friday evening, the Beatles performed before 15,000 fans in Dallas, Texas and then they flew to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. There Pigman picked them up in his twin engine seven passenger Cessna and flew them to Oregon County, Missouri. They arrived at 3 a.m. Saturday morning at the ranch and played poker until dawn. Other members of their touring group joined them, including their manager Brian Epstein and Bill Black of the Bill Black Combo. The group totaled fourteen.

Saturday activities for the famous four included playing more poker, horse-back riding, fishing and driving a go-car and car around the barn. LIFE magazine carried several photographs of these activities (See LIFE magazine “Our American Scrapbook,” October 23, 1964).

The ranch offered a beautiful view of the Ozarks to the guests. Ringo said, “It reminds me of England.” The 12,000 acre cattle ranch is near the Irish Wilderness and lays along the Eleven Point River. A long lane was lined with roses, and the grounds and swimming pool area were beautifully kept. It was quite a fancy layout, especially for that part of the Ozarks. At that time, the home was used frequently as a summer and weekend retreat for the Texas-based Pigman family. Hired help, four families in all, lived on the ranch year round.

By mid-morning Saturday, the media had spread the word of the Beatles’ unlikely vacation spot, and fans began to arrive.
The first car load was a local group, mostly twelve and thirteen year old girl from Alton. They parked out of sight of the house and walked up the lane to the swimming pool. A man (they supposed him to the Beatles manager) came out and said The Beatles were going skinny dipping in the pool and unless the girls wanted to see the group naked, they’d better leave. They left immediately.

There was a clearance check at the gate, and only people who lived on the premises, the press, or friends and family of the ranch crew were allowed in.

Ranch manager Ray Dethrow was one who manned the gate all day and night without sleep. A mother, daughter, and friend who had driven down from Springfield were frustrated, if not angry, as not being allowed to get in to see The Beatles. Dethrow admitted a local car through the gates and the daughter caught hold and came in also. Once inside the gates she pretended to faint, and the mother became even more upset. Dethrow quickly assured her, “Don’t worry, Mama. I just vaccinated an old cow out in the field. I still have the hypodermic needle in the pickup over there . A shot of that and she’ll be fine in no time!” The daughter picked herself up and went back to the other side.

There were reports of persons climbing the six foot high chain link fence and running across the pasture to see The Beatles. A few stayed around in the yard in the evening until Pigman came out and politely said The Beatles weren’t going to make an appearance so they might as well go home.

Saturday night, four people form Alton took a motor boat down the Eleven Point River to get a close look. They were Don and Judy Woods, Bob Gum and Richard Haigwood. Don Wood knew the river well and maneuvered the boat with only the moon as light. As they walked the almost two miles from the river to the house, they were awed by the sight of the Pigman’s peacocks along the way. They peered into a window at the side of the house and saw The Beatles playing cards and drinking with their friends.
As first the ranch crew was not told who would be visiting that weekend but only that “they were very important visitors.” They were also told to clean the house from top to bottom. When the press began inquiring about rumors of The Beatles coming, the crew would have thought it a hoax had they not known Pigman was flying The Beatles on their tour. Mary Lee Dethrow answered one of these inquiries Saturday morning, and her response was heard on Kansas City television, “We haven’t seen any activity yet. If they’re here, they slipped in like beetles.”

The crew had also been instructed to make sure when saddling up horses for the guests to ride, that they choose only horses that were no longer used to work the ranch because “they’re Easterners.” When the photos came out in LIFE magazine, Pigman and the crew laughed. Ringo had ridden Ole Doll, who was well over the hill then and long since dead. He is shown atop a somewhat swayback mare with its head drooping toward the ground. Not exactly the fine equine specimen they might have wanted to represent the ranch in a national magazine.

The magazine captions for these photos read, “Paul and John ford a stream. ‘I wouldn’t call riding a sport. It’s just to get someplace,’ says John. ‘We were bruised,’ Paul says, ‘I mean physically damaged.” This was the first horse-back ride for most of them. Ronnie Combs, yard boy at the time, remembered Paul asked him to hold his camera for him while he mounted his horse.

Ringo wore a gun belt and cap gun while he was at the ranch. The gun belt with his name on the back was a gift from Elvis Presley, and he bought the guns at Woolworths. Ronnie Combs remembers him shooting his cap pistols off the porch one morning, “Ringo was like a kid,” he says.

Paul and Ringo were reported to have the most outgoing personalities. John and George seemed to be loners and spent a lot of time around the barn while outside. George played cards a lot. Paul hlped search through closets at Ray and Mary Lee Dethrow’s house for fishing gear so he and Ringo could go fishing at the pond. Mary Lee assisted him while members of her family, who she had invited to her home on the ranch so they would have an opportunity to see The Beatles, watched and were tremendously impressed by Paul (When he entered the house he had patted five-year-old Sheila on the head, saying, “Hi kids. How ya’ll! My name’s Paul and I’m from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.”) Long time ranch mechanic Wayne Neal concluded they had nice personalities, but they were a lot of trouble.

A 1960 Ford Fairlane four door sedan was borrowed for the Beatles’ use while there. J.B. Gum Motor Company of Alton lent it without knowing who the Pigman’s guests were. The car was driven around the barn but was not taken off the premises of the ranch. While one of them, possibly George, was driving the car, he knocked the door off manager Dethrow’s pickup truck (the car had formerly belonged to Albert Haigwood who used it to deliver the mail at Alton.)

The Beatles did not bring musical instruments to the ranch and did not perform their music while there.

A baby shower had been planned at the ranch crew home of Junior and Susie Lance on Saturday night. It had to be moved to the nearby Riverton Baptist Church because the first carload of guests to arrive topped at the main house in attempt to see The Beatles.

Billmore, Job, Gatewood, Myrtle and Couch – those are some of the communities close to the ranch. People in these places reacted in various ways to The Beatles’ presence. Disdain was shown by some old timers, disinterest was shown by many, curiosity by some, and joy for a few fans. One young man, Junior Brewer, did not know of the presence at the ranch. He went there that Saturday to inquire about a job hauling hay. He saw The Beatles driving the car around the barn but wasn’t much interested or impressed.

A minister disapproved when one mother he knew took her daughter and her friends to see The Beatles on Sunday morning instead of attending church.

Sunday about noon, The Beatles left for Walnut Ridge to board a jet for New York. Though many greeted them at Walnut Ridge airport, the departure scene here was quiet. Apparently few fans knew where the landing strip was as only a handful of people were waiting to see them off. Terry and Linda Hall and two others drove out into the woods to the landing strip and waited an hour.

The four were sitting on the hood of their car waiting “out in the boonies” when Pigman and the Beatles arrived. Linda’ strongest impression was that they didn’t have a tan. “They had a strange, sickly pal look, a London chalky look.” No one in her group asked for an autograph or an arm. There was only a “hi” and nodding of heads exchanged between them in greeting. Perhaps it was George who continued to stare out the window as the plane moved away. Linda wonders what he was thinking, and what they thought of those Ozarkians sitting here.

Ranch hand Junior Lance took the sizable amount of baggage to Walnut Ridge airport by flatbed truck. On the way he made a stop at his sister’s home to allow the young nieces a chance to look at The Beatles’ luggage. Niece Ann Koontz says he just wanted to taunt them. They begged him to let them open just one suitcase to get something out as a souvenir, but he refused to do so.

Many have written the ranch asking for a souvenir of The Beatles stay there. Lucille Neal, cook and house keeper at the time, has special souvenir of her own. Just before The Beatles left on Saturday morning, Paul came to the kitchen asking if anyone had seen his gas Ronson cigarette lighter which carried the inscription “Paul”. He had just purchased it at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, Texas. They weren’t able to find it at the time; however, a month later it was found near where Paul and Ringo had gone fishing.

Of those interviewed, almost no one took pictures or even knew of anyone who did. We were caught unawares and ill-equipped. Had The Beatles or like group visited in the Ozarks today, we would be ready with our tools and toys which modern technological “progress” affords. Twenty-three years ago, Nikon and Minolta and telephoto zoom lenses were unknown to us, and perhaps it was the era of innocence and isolation which was about to draw to a close that led so few to devise elaborate schemes and plans to catch a glimpse of the superstars.

Even thought they were met with perhaps were indifference than enthusiasm during their visit in the Ozarks, The Beatles were major 20th century innovators in music, and their popularity has endured. Other things live on too, including the nostalgia of the time. And as you round the curve going north on Highway Y, there is the native stone home of the Pigman Ranch – and impressive reminder that “THE BEATLES SLEPT HERE.”