An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
Showing posts with label Robert Whitaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Whitaker. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Flying
I always find dating the photos from the time the Beatles were in Japan to be a bit confusing because they lost a day due to the International Date Line. They left Alaska early in the morning on June 28, 1966 and basically lost that day and spent June 29, 1966 flying to Tokyo.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Face to Face with John Lennon -- an e-book review
The e-book that I am reviewing this evening is called Face to Face with John Lennon by Mary Jane Dougherty. First of all, calling it a "book" isn't accurate. It is more like an article. It is only 13 pages long, and I read it in less than 15 minutes.
Just because it is very short doesn't mean that it isn't worth your time. This is the story of Mary, who, in 1966, was a huge Beatles fan living in Anchorage, Alaska. John Lennon was her favorite Beatle, and she never thought she would get the chance to see him in person—that is, until June 28, 1966.
On that date, the Beatles were supposed to fly to Japan for their concerts in Tokyo. They were scheduled to stop over in Anchorage to refuel, but something went wrong. Either it had to do with a storm named Kit in the Pacific, or something on their airplane needed to be fixed. Either way, the Beatles and their crew were not going to be able to leave Alaska until the next day. So they moved into the Anchorage Westward Hotel for the next nine hours.
That is where Mary's story picks up. Her sister hears about the Beatles being in town and informs her Beatle-crazed sister. Mary goes to the hotel and, along with 500 fans, stares up at the top floor in shock that the Beatles were up there!
When it is time for the Beatles to leave and get back on their airplane, Mary gets an idea and ends up next to the Beatles' bus, seeing John Lennon (and the others). I won't say the exact details of how this happens because you really need to read the story for yourself.
However, the one thing that stood out about her story that I never thought about was that in late June in Alaska, they experience the summer solstice, where it is daylight for almost 24 hours. So when the Beatles were leaving for the airport after midnight, it was still light outside, and tons of fans were still mulling around. Typically, the fans thinned out by that time of night, but it didn't FEEL like night, so they stuck around.
"Face to Face with John Lennon" is available as an e-book only, and it costs 99 cents on Amazon.
The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book. I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link. Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online. Thank you for your support. Sara
Just because it is very short doesn't mean that it isn't worth your time. This is the story of Mary, who, in 1966, was a huge Beatles fan living in Anchorage, Alaska. John Lennon was her favorite Beatle, and she never thought she would get the chance to see him in person—that is, until June 28, 1966.
On that date, the Beatles were supposed to fly to Japan for their concerts in Tokyo. They were scheduled to stop over in Anchorage to refuel, but something went wrong. Either it had to do with a storm named Kit in the Pacific, or something on their airplane needed to be fixed. Either way, the Beatles and their crew were not going to be able to leave Alaska until the next day. So they moved into the Anchorage Westward Hotel for the next nine hours.
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| Some pretty bored Beatles wait in the hotel room with Brian |
That is where Mary's story picks up. Her sister hears about the Beatles being in town and informs her Beatle-crazed sister. Mary goes to the hotel and, along with 500 fans, stares up at the top floor in shock that the Beatles were up there!
When it is time for the Beatles to leave and get back on their airplane, Mary gets an idea and ends up next to the Beatles' bus, seeing John Lennon (and the others). I won't say the exact details of how this happens because you really need to read the story for yourself.
However, the one thing that stood out about her story that I never thought about was that in late June in Alaska, they experience the summer solstice, where it is daylight for almost 24 hours. So when the Beatles were leaving for the airport after midnight, it was still light outside, and tons of fans were still mulling around. Typically, the fans thinned out by that time of night, but it didn't FEEL like night, so they stuck around.
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| the guys on that bus that Mary saw them on in Alaska. Photo by Robert Whitaker |
"Face to Face with John Lennon" is available as an e-book only, and it costs 99 cents on Amazon.
The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book. I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link. Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online. Thank you for your support. Sara
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Images of a woman up for auction again!
It is amazing that this painting is still around! The painting titled "Images of a woman" that was painted by all four Beatles while they were in the Hilton Hotel in Japan in 1966 is back up for auction! If you want to bid on it, then you can go here and place your bid. Or you might just want to be like me and look at the close-up photos of the painting.
As the story goes, the Beatles were asked what they wanted to do while they were basically trapped in their hotel room while in Tokyo. Most thought they would like to have some Geisha Girls brought up to the room, but nope....surprisingly enough they wanted some paints and brushes. And the four guys sat around a table and worked together on a painting. I don't know about you, but that totally fascinates me. While John and Paul have always been known for their artistic ways (and now Ringo with his computer graphic art that I really do enjoy), but for all four of them to work together on that painting is just sort of crazy. And they didn't just work on "Images of a woman." That was the largest painting they did, but from the photographs you can see that they also worked on some individual smaller paintings.
Once they were done with the painting, they autographed the center section (where the lamp was sitting in the middle) and gave it to Beatles to fan club chairman Tetsuaburo Shimoyama. I am unsure what he did with the painting, but it re-surfaced in the mid 1990's and was sold for 15 million Yen to someone in Japan. It was then seen again on ebay in 2002 and then again in 2005! Now it is back up for auction and is going to trade hands. I really hope that some museum gets it this time and puts in on display. I would love the chance to see this rare footnote in Beatles history in person.
Fortunately, photographer Robert Whitaker took lots of photos of the Beatles working on the painting. Beautiful stuff!
As the story goes, the Beatles were asked what they wanted to do while they were basically trapped in their hotel room while in Tokyo. Most thought they would like to have some Geisha Girls brought up to the room, but nope....surprisingly enough they wanted some paints and brushes. And the four guys sat around a table and worked together on a painting. I don't know about you, but that totally fascinates me. While John and Paul have always been known for their artistic ways (and now Ringo with his computer graphic art that I really do enjoy), but for all four of them to work together on that painting is just sort of crazy. And they didn't just work on "Images of a woman." That was the largest painting they did, but from the photographs you can see that they also worked on some individual smaller paintings.
Once they were done with the painting, they autographed the center section (where the lamp was sitting in the middle) and gave it to Beatles to fan club chairman Tetsuaburo Shimoyama. I am unsure what he did with the painting, but it re-surfaced in the mid 1990's and was sold for 15 million Yen to someone in Japan. It was then seen again on ebay in 2002 and then again in 2005! Now it is back up for auction and is going to trade hands. I really hope that some museum gets it this time and puts in on display. I would love the chance to see this rare footnote in Beatles history in person.
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| John shows off the finished work Source: Born-late Blog |
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| Close-up on the autographs in the middle of the painting. Source: Current auction |
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| photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Close up on the paints the Beatles used. Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| Photo: Robert Whitaker |
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| You can see the finished painting on the table without the autographs in the center |
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Japanese doll and Sgt. Pepper
So I was looking at this photo and thought, "where have I seen that before?" Then it hits me. On the cover of Sgt. Pepper. It is right there on the bottom left next to the Snow White figurine. But is it the exact same doll that was bought in Japan? I can't really say for sure. The one on the album cover looks fatter and maybe has a beard? But it is still neat to think that Robert Whitaker photographed a Sgt. Pepper album cover item before it was even thought of.
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