Report From London (1968)

Tonight's story comes from the September 1968 issue of  "Father Lennon's Many Children" fan club newsletter.  This newsletter was renamed "Beatles Rule!"  not long after this issue.   

Photo just for reference. 

Report from London
By Sher Miller

I'm writing this column in my hotel room in London.  It's been one of the most hectic and exciting weeks I've ever spent!  This is my tenth day here and so much has happened.   Last Sunday, my second day in London, I went to Paul's house with two friends.  We stood around for about two hours then suddenly a familiar face appeared at the gate.   Mr. McCartney M.B.E. was in a very groovy mood that day.  He came out and chatted with us for about 20 minutes.  I gave him some American Indian peace beads.  He was holding his adorable little Yorkshire puppy named Eddie.  there were about 20 girls around so it wasn't a very personal meeting, but it was the first time I had ever been so close to Paul and actually talked to him.  For the next few days, I saw him frequently, but it was usually when he was in his car.

Just yesterday I had the most beautiful day of my life.  I met George and it was in the right way too, not with 20 other people there.  It was four of us and George and that's pretty groovy.  We went to his house at about 3p this past Sunday, September 1st.   His home is unbelievable.  I have pictures of everything because it was a day that has to be remembered.  My friend Margaret rang his bell and Pattie answered.   I caught my breath for a second because a picture had suddenly come alive to me.  Margaret asked if we could see George.   Pattie said, "Just a minute."   I looked down to put my film cartridge in when George appeared at the door.  We all said, "Hi" (George quite shyly and us quite nervously).  From then on everything was beautiful.  George is the easiest person in the world to talk to.  After we were talking for a while George asked me if I was on holiday.   I said yes, and he asked me if  I was having a good time.  He's so darn nice.   He really took an interest in us.  At one point we all took a picture with him and as I posed with him and he chatted about the inconsistent weather.  Did you ever picture in your wildest dreams that a Beatles would talk casually about the weather, or as George did, start raving about an unusual umbrella?  My see-through umbrella caught his eye and hew as so excited about it that he called Pattie over to see it!  We were all so taken with George.

Earlier in the day, we met Julian Lennon.   We had gone to John's house thinking he might be there.  the gate was open and there were two cars in the garage.   Margaret ran the bell and a woman answered.   With her was a little boy.   As he stepped forward, we all stared.  Then Marg said, "Is that Julian?"  The woman said it was.  Fellow Beatles people, he is the most gorgeous little boy I've ever seen.  He's got a long fringe with big brown eyes.  He's tallish and slim and he wore a striped polo shirt with little red trunks.  We got a picture of him and my friend gave him a chocolate bar.  Just like all children, he had to be prompted to say "thank you."  As we left, we heard him yell, "Mommy!"  Obviously, John gave the home to Cyn instead of selling it.

Next stop was Ringo's.  If you have the impression that Ringo's house is "just down the hill" from John's, forget it!   It's a very long way down and around.  A woman with a baby opened the door.  It was Maureen's mother and Jason.   Jason Starkey is now one year old.   We hadn't seen him since he was born.  He's lovely, blonde and blue eyes, he looks much like Zak. 

Paul was in Morocco until Tuesday getting a tan we were told by his housekeeper, Rosie.

We got tickets to Top of the Pops show tomorrow night starring -- The Beatles!  Mal gave them to us as a gift from Apple. 

By the way, Neil got married on Friday!   Well, I'm already planning a trip for next year!  Cheerio! 

Traveling Europe in 1972

Just a warning:  if you are someone who likes to read stories where Paul is really nice and kind to his fans, then it is best that you skip this one.    Typically we read stories where Paul is generous and friendly to those who are hanging around the studio and his house, but there was a time in the 1960's and into the 1970's when Paul was upset with those who were hanging around.   Not that what happens in this story is bad by any means.  Paul was very kind to this group of girls but when they began filming him getting in and out of his car, I guess that just angered him.

As is explained in the story, they did not take any still photos of Paul, so I included a few photos of Paul and his family during the months of June and July 1972 just so you all can have a mental image of what Paul looked like during this time.

This story was written by Sher Miller and was published in the Fall 1978 issue of the McCartney Observer. 

1972 was the year of my third trip to England and it definitely had its up and downs.  With me in limeyland was (as usual) Sarah N., Kris M., and a new traveler named Marie.  Having first ventured over to Italy to visit Ann and her family, Marie met us in London and we were much thrilled to see her.  Only problem was the main object of our devotion, one James Paul McCartney, was nowhere in sight.  We went by the empty house day after day getting more and more depressed.  Only those who have been in London when Paul wasn’t can know the feeling.  I was feeling a little panicky as two years earlier I’d been in England six weeks and never saw Paul.  But Rosie, Paul’s faithful housekeeper and dear person assured us that he was expected back from holiday in Spain any day (any day turned into two weeks).  But the great day finally arrived.  We tried in vain to see him at his gate to give him some birthday gifts we had for him but we only ended up having a grand fight with a nine year old brat named Heather.  She was quite obnoxious, telling us we couldn’t park the car on her street and that we can’t go near Paul because we would just want his autograph, etc.  It seemed like her parents had her well trained on how to treat Paul’s fans.  We finally convinced Heather we weren’t there to rip Paul’s clothes or ask for his autograph.  We just wanted to give him his birthday presents.  Well we didn’t see him that day anyway, but Sarah and I did see Heather and Mary out in front of Paul’s gate, Mary without benefit of panties.  They were trying to chase the sightseers away and catch their many dogs at the same time.  Well all this was nice and stuff but we wanted to see Paul already.

Finally a few days later Kris and Marie had seen Paul leaving in his new sports car but he hadn’t seen them.  They called Sarah and I and we rushed over with the wine we had for his now belated birthday gift and our cards.  We all waited in the car Sarah had rented when from the opposite corner this bright red, Grand Prix looking car zoomed up the street.  I said to Kris, “Is that it?” and she replied “That’s it!”  We all very gracefully got out of the car.  We got to the gate and suddenly realized we were missing about three of our troop.  Sarah was somewhere behind us, Char had slammed the car door on her foot and was limping her way over to the gate so as not to miss anything, pain and all.  Kris had disappeared also.  By now Paul had stepped from the car and was opening the gate, he still hadn’t looked at us (it was the first time I’d seen him since that famous New York trip in 1970, and  I was afraid he was going to ignore us like he had back then).  Linda was on our side as we approached and she gave us a look like “don’t you dare even try talking to him.”  We decided to ignore her.   And then Marie called Paul’s name and he looked up at us.  She held up her birthday card and he started to come over to where we were.  Just then Linda drives in the car nearly hitting Paul in the midsection but he jumped back and said, “Whoops!” with a big smile.  We knew then that everything would be okay.  Then Marie said, “Can we give you some gifts for your birthday?”  Paul was beaming from ear to ear.  “For me birthday?  Yeah sure.”  His eyes just lit up.  We handed him our cards.  (Sarah and I had picked one that was kind of obscene in a funny way and on the front it said, “Happy Birthday Tiger.”  The special thing was a few months later Paul was wearing a leather jacket that said “Wild Tiger” on the back.  Nice to think maybe our card inspired him.).

After we gave Paul our cards it suddenly occurred to both Marie and me that the most important item, the wine, was missing.  Neither she nor I had it.  Oh god, after all this time of waiting to give it to him and we had our chance and that was about to be over.  Marie and I said almost in unison, “Wait, we have some wine for you too!”  Paul answered, “Wine?  You do?  Swell!”  Just then Kris grabbed the wine from the car and ran up the street with it.  When she got to the gate she handed it to him.  Paul must have been wondering how many more of us would pop up unexpectedly because Kris hadn’t been visible up until that moment.  Char was still about 20 feet away from us in awful pain when she heard Paul say, “Wonderful.  Thank you.”  All this time he was smiling this incredible smile.  I just couldn’t take my eyes off his face.  It wasn’t until we talked about it later that I realized what he’d been wearing.  It had been impossible to stop looking at those beautiful eyes.  We had been so depressed prior to seeing Pau but just the few minutes we were together made up for al the days we hadn’t seen him.  We said our goodbyes and he closed the gate leaving five very happy people.  We had decided before we even saw him that day not to take any pictures, not to bother him with cameras for once.  I really regret that now, of course, but at the time it was the right thing to do. 

Two days later we decided to sit by Paul’s house in our car so he wouldn’t see us.  We parked the car farther down the street then it had been and just waited cameras ready.  At about 6:00p.m., the now famous sports car came down the street right past us.  I took some movies of the car pulling into the driveway and Paul was getting out to unlock the gate.  Marie and I both saw him look in our direction and we’re pretty sure he saw us in the car.  I got some great film of him spreading his legs as he opened the gate (doing an Elvis imitation) very similar move to the roof scenes of Let it Be.  Then Linda drove the car in and we took our leave.  Marie was going home the next day with very sad feelings about leaving, but happy that she’d gotten to see Paul.

Well, along with the Frankfurt concert those two days were the “ups” and now for the “downs.”  Unfortunately we got greedy and decided to go down to Paul’s and watch him arrive home from our car again.  Only this time we were a little farther up the street nearer the house and by the time 6:00 rolled around we were the only car on the street.  By the time that awful news sank in and we could move the car, Paul was driving up the street.  I took a great chance and started filming again, a very great chance as they were now just across the street from us, not down the block.  Well, all went fine for a while.  Paul got out and bopped over to the gate and was about to open it when Linda (who was in the front seat) called him back to the car.  He went back, leaned in to hear what she had to say to him and then turned around right to us with a furious look on his face and shouted “Get out.  Get out.  Piss off!” flinging out his left arm as he yelled.  I had by then dropped my camera of course and Sarah got the hell out of there.  I don’t know how she ever drove past him.  He kept staring at us until we turned the corner.  Oh God were we upset.  When we’d gotten back to our guest house we found one of our Paul posters had fallen off the wall – must’ve been the vibrations from Paul’s anger.  It left an awful memory.  Our theory was that Paul had definitely seen us when he’d gotten out of the car and he obviously wasn’t going to say anything to us until Linda called him back to the car and then he had to do something..  But anyway, we shouldn’t’ have been there in the first place.  A few days later we drove to Paul’s just for a few minutes to see some German friends who were hanging around and thank goodness we had left just in time because Paul had come tearing out of the house and chased the Germans up the street yelled at them to leave him alone.  It really seemed then that the only time he’d been nice to the fans was when we’d seen him that first time.  Made us feel good.  The couple of weeks we’d seen Paul he’d been rehearsing with Wings for the 1972 European tour. 

It was Yesterday we Met in a Dream

I have to say that I just LOVE this story.   While I enjoy all of the stories of people meeting one of the Beatles in person, the stories of people who met them while the Beatles were still a band in the 1960's are always so special for me to read.   This one is especially wonderful.    Talk about being at the right place at the right time.  

Just a few observations about this story.   The first is that Paul needed to have better security at his home in the 1960's.   It sounds like girls were breaking easily and stealing things on a frequent basis.  She didn't come through the bathroom window just one time.  You would have thought that after the first time his clothes and things were stolen, he would have found better ways to secure his home so that more things were stolen.   Another thing was just how nice George always is in these stories.   He was so kind to the fans who traveled so far to come to his home.   There have been so many stories about George and his willingness to chat with fans who have knocked on his door.   The last thing that really stands out is that this story mentions Paul's girlfriend, Maggie.  You don't hear much about her in general and I was always under the impression that she was a secret, but it seems that the fans knew about her.   She even spoke with them, so I guess she wasn't the secret girlfriend after all.

This story was written by Sher Miller and was first published is issue #6 (from September 1978) of the McCartney Observer.  All photos were copyright to Sher Miller.

It was Yesterday we met in a dream

By Sher Miller

August 23^rd is a date that stands out in my mind for several reasons.  It was John and Cynthia’s anniversary date, it was the date of the last time the Beatles did a concert in New York and most important of all to me, it was the date of departure for my parents and I go to England.   August 23, 1968 was my first trip to England and definitely the best.  Going to England was my High School graduation present from my father, and believe me it did a lot towards helping me work hard to pass my finals.  We left New York the 23^rd and arrived the morning of the 24^th.  London was a gigantic thrill for me; it had been my dream home since 1964 (along with Liverpool).  It was incredible to finally be there, to really have the dream come true.  We settled in our hotel near Hyde Park and attempted to get some sleep after the plane ride.  I wasn’t haven’t much luck in my room.  I was so excited.  I called my pen pal Margaret and after chatting for a while we arranged we meet at the St. John’s Wood Underground station the next day so I could see Paul’s house as soon as possible.  Next day I said goodbye to my parents (I didn’t see much of them during those two weeks but fortunately they were understanding) and I found my way onto the correct train to St. John’s Wood.  Margaret and her friend Coral were already there and we said our hellos and exchanged presents.  We walked towards Paul’s street and to me it was living in a fantasy.  I just couldn’t believe I was really there.  When I saw the famous Cavendish Avenue street sign and turned down the street I knew immediately this was very real.  

Paul holding Sher's peace beads in his hand.

You can just barely see Eddie's ears

Before Margaret had a chance to say anything I spotted the huge gates that were in front of Paul’s house.  We walked quietly past the deserted gates and peeked over the wall of the house next door.  Everything seemed so quiet I began to think Paul wasn’t home.   We went across the street and sat for about two hours when some girls showed up and stood by the gates.  We watched them for a while just standing around and then suddenly they began to cluster nearer to the gates.  Then we saw a head sticking out of the partly open gates and I about died.  We hurried over there and there was Paul, holding Eddie (a Yorkshire terrier he had given to Jane before they split).  Paul looked so beautiful.  Maybe because it was the first time I’d ever been so close to this man who was my life, but I was just tongue-tied.  I had my camera in one hand and a gift of some Indian peace beads in my other hand and I just stood there like a mummy not taking my eyes off his face.  He wore a light blue turtleneck short sleeved shirt and dark pants.  His eyes were so big and hazel and his hair dark brown with bangs.  What a daze I was in.  Paul spotted Margaret and said hello to her (she used to hang the house quite a lot) and I remember thinking later, “God I wish Paul would remember me like that.  I believe he finally did remember me (not by name) in later years, but then I would’ve given anything to have been some of those English girls.  Finally I got myself to pick up the camera and take a few pics.   The camera was an instamatic that would advance the film automatically, and very noisily, and each time it zipped to the next picture Paul would look over at me with a “what was that?” expression.  Ah recognition at last, even though it was because of a camera.  After about ten minutes, I figured I’d better give him the gift, although by his reaction I needn’t have bothered.  I help up my hand with the beads in it and said, “Paul?”  He turned to me.  “These are for you, they’re Indian peace beads.”  I was absolutely choking on the words I was so shook.  He took them from me and said (get this), “Thank you, very nice…not really, but you’re a guest.”  Well thanks for nothing sir.  I think I said something like, “you can give them back” but he pulled back his hand and wrapped them around it.  He was smiling when he said it but I  didn’t think it was so amusing.  However, at the time I was in too much of a daze to let it bother me.  Margaret didn’t think it was very nice though.  He continued talking to the girls and posing for pictures for a little while longer then closed the gates.  Margaret and I walked to the other corner slowly, deciding if we should go to the new Apple office on Savile Row (it hadn’t even opened yet at that time).  As we were debating about what to do we hear this car horn going crazy behind us.  We turned around and there was Paul driving up in his mini, waving wildly as he drove past.  I was beaming from ear to ear, maybe that was his way of apologizing for the remark about the beads. In any event, I didn’t care what he had said and it ended my first meeting with Paul on just the right note.  We did to go Apple after all that day but no one was there.

 Unfortunately I didn’t keep a diary over there so a lot of the day following are sort of a blur except I know we saw Paul quite a few times driving in and out of his driveway.  After days after my first time seeing Paul anther pen pal and I were walking up to his house and we noticed that something very strange was going on.  A few girls were standing at the gate looking up at the bedroom window on the second floor.  Well my friends and I looked up too and didn’t like what we saw.  There were a few girls inside the house running around grabbing anything they could handle.  Once in a while they’d stick their heads out the window and wave a sock or something thinking they were very funny – we weren’t laughing.  Finally they ran out of the house (obviously Paul wasn’t home) and over the wall next door letting out Martha and Eddie as they did.  They ran up the street and some people followed them and then came back to us reporting that one of the things they had stolen was Paul’s copy of Hunter Davies biography which he hadn’t even read yet and wasn’t released to the public.  We were totally disgusted.  They also got some papers and clothing of his.  Well we decided to wait for Paul and tell him what happened, hoping he wouldn’t think we were involved.  We didn’t have long to wait.  He pulled up in the car and got out smiling at us.  One of the English girls finally got up the nerve to tell him some girls had broken in and taken the biography.  Paul looked furious and he asked us if we knew who they were but we honestly hadn’t seen them at the house before.  We left as soon as Paul went in, after telling us to let him know if we see the girls again.  Next day the girl who had stolen the biography hadn’t shown up and Paul sent Rosie out to see if she had come down.  Finally she did come in the late afternoon with the book and rang the bell after we all really gave it to her.  Rose answered and girl told her she’d give back the book if Paul would come out to get it himself so she could apologize.  When rose came back on the intercom she said Paul would be out later.  We stood around for a while then through a crack in the gate I saw Paul come down the stairs and get into his car, just then a cop came strolling down the street and we had to move away from the gate or be yelled at.  We walked away just as Paul pulled out in the car expecting to see a bunch of girls waiting for him – what screwed up timing that was.  Finally he spotted us standing down the street looking back at him.  He drove the car up to where I was and said, “Who are the ones?”  I pointed ahead of me to where they were standing and he zoomed up to them.  The girl handed him the book through the car window, he said, “Ta, very much” and sped off without giving her a chance to say anything.  I think it really bothered her that he hadn’t’ given her a chance to apologize but she was lucky he didn’t have her arrested. 

Next day we found out from Rosie that Paul and Maggie had gone to Sardinia to get  a tan so I had a chance to do some sightseeing with my folks for a change.  Paul left on a Friday and came back on Tuesday.  We were all down there when he arrived home looking very tan and handsome in a pink suit.  Maggie was very nice and told us the Beatles would be recording later at EMI.  Earlier in the week I had also had the chance (with Paul away) to see John’s home in Weybridge and unexpectedly Julian.  He and Cyn were living there while John and Yoko were in London.  We also saw Ringo’s house and his housekeeper greeted us at the door holding Jason (who was only a year old then).  We seemed to be having good luck in seeing the kids that day.  Lastly, and best of all we went to Esher and met George.  He stood with us and talked at his front door for almost 20 minutes that day even though he had a house full of relatives.  He was so absolutely fantastic to us; especially me for some reason, that even though this is a Paul newsletter I must admit George helped to make that trip something very special.  He was just so nice and sort of shy and really down to earth.  I couldn’t get over it.   He posed with each of us, wore this crazy tie I’d given him around his neck the whole time.  Told me when my finger was covering the lens of the camera one time when attempting to take a pic of him and Margaret then cracking up over it, he even went crazy over this plastic umbrella I‘d bought in London and called Pattie out of the house to see it (don’t ask me).  He had his little nephew, Paul with him out there the whole time and his father watched from the driveway.  He was just so natural and friendly to us this day it was a time I’ll never forget.  Seeing Paul was something special to me because I loved him so much he didn’t even have to do anything, but George actually went out of his way to make us feel comfortable.  It’s something I’ll never forget about him. 

 Anyway, the night Paul came back from Sardinia, we went around to Emi where there was quite a crowd, as there always was when the Beatles were recording.   They were doing the White Album at the time and were expected to record the album for the better part of the month.  I must say my timing was perfect.  One of the Beatles assistants, Kevin, was passing out pieces of paper to the fans there and I managed to get one.  It was an invitation to take part in a Beatles promotion film for “Hey Jude.”  I asked Kevin if only the English girls were being allowed to go.  He assured me that anyone could come and so we all arranged to meet at Paul’s the next day to go to Twickenham not really knowing how incredible the day was going to be.  

First to arrive at the studios were John and Yoko sitting in the front of a small white (everything was white for those two then) van with Mal driving.  It was Ringo being driven in huge black rolls by a chauffeur.  He stopped the car for a few minutes while we all took pictures through the windows.  Ringo just sat there as if it was something he just had to go through till he could run into the studios.  It was a few minutes till the next member arrived and did it in class. A white Jaguar drove up and pulled into EMI’s driveway.  George was at the driver’s seat and he stopped and rolled down the windows slightly to take pieces of paper form the fans for autographs.  There was only one girl standing on the passenger side so I stood behind her trying to see into the car.  The girl bent down at one point and I could see George and apparently he could see me too just then because he looked up at me and smiled and waved.  I smiled back and walked away from the car floating on cloud 9.  Sounds silly now I know, but it meant a lot ot me then to be remembered.  I told Margaret what ha d happened and she thought it was really great he had picked me out of the mob.  By the time Paul arrived quite a few minutes had passed since George had gone in.  Paul always used to come last.  Had to make his entrance I guess.  He stopped the mini to let us take pics and sign autographs.   Paul and George had been the only ones to do so for the fans.  Paul looked very handsome indeed, still wearing his pink suit and looking quite tan.  I took a few photos and he drove in and went into the studios.  Unfortunately I had to leave to meet my parents so I missed them coming out but I heard it was very, very late.   “Hey Jude” had just come out in England then and the first time I heard it I loved it.  Some girls brought down a portable record player to Paul’s one day and were playing “Hey Jude” on it and Paul sent Rose out to tell us to cut out the noise.  Haha!

Well, this point brings me to what is probably the most exciting day of my life:  September 4, 1968.  The entire story of the “Hey Jude” filmingwas printed in The Write Thing a fewissues ago so I won’t go into the whole night again.  I’ll just tell you we were with the Beatles for five hours filming and re-filming the seven minute film that was on the Smothers Brothers TV show October 1968.  In between the actual filming they would jam.  Playing everything from “Hang down your head Tom Dooley” to the Stones records.   It was amazing.  I had never been that close to all four Beatles before, nor would I ever be again. They were so beautiful together, musically and personally.  If I’d known that night how close the Beatles were to splitting up I would have never believed it.  They seemed as close as ever.  I guess that was a tribute to their professional abilities to forget whatever personal crap was going on for the benefit of putting out a perfect product.  Just the fact that they decided to redo the film so many times was an indication of how carefully they created their music.  It was a thrill and a pleasure to have been a part of what was to become the last time they ever performed in front of an audience as The Beatles.  After the film some people (six of us actually) stayed at the studio while everyone else left for the ride back to London (Apple provided the buses to and from the studio which was in a small town outside of London).  We had no transportation back to the city but we didn’t care at that point.  We waited in the studio while the Beatles and David Frost re-did some introduction and while we stood there George once again amazed me.  As he was sitting on the little stage smoking he turned full around to me (I was standing alone watching them) and gave me this huge grin.  Once gain he had acknowledged me.  One of the girls nearby said, “Did you see the look he gave her?”  I was really happy as this was to be my last chance to see him this trip (and not again until 1970 it turned out).  We walked out with Paul to this little studio kitchen and I asked him if we could all pose with him.  He agreed and we stood all around him with Margaret taking my camera to get the picture.  Of course the flash didn’t go off. Paul took the camera and turned it around in his hands a few times (trying to do what I’ll never know).  Then he handed it back to me and said, “Catch me later.”  Naturally the flash did go off a few minutes later but I never did get to pose with Paul.  Oh well.  After about an hour, George and Ringo came out and said goodnight to us and left in separate cars.  Then Paul, John and Yoko came out together and I got a picture of Paul as he stepped into the lighted doorway.  When the flash went off he flung out his arms as if to say “you got me!” (very hammy).  He looked quite tired (it was 1am, so it was understandable) and when I asked him how the film had turned out he said, “great” and gave the thumbs up sign.  He, John and Yoko all got into a limousine and Paul kept waving to us all the way down the road until they were out of sight.  I left London two days later brimming with wonderful memories of seeing Paul for the very first time close up, of talking to him and finding out he was real.  It was a chance to see the Beatles as a group close up and also, unknown to me at the time, it was the last time I would see Paul as a bachelor.  There were so many things about that trip that have remained unsurpassed in the 10 years that have followed and the three other England trips since.  I guess for everyone the first time is always the most special and a decade has done nothing to change that.

 

Hey Jude

This is a story from a 1978 .issue of "The Write Thing."  It was written by Sher M. of Brooklyn New York. It tells her story of her once in a life-time experience of singing with the crowd during the song "Hey Jude" on the David Frost show on September 4, 1968. 

It began the evening before, when at EMI we were all given invitations by Mal (Evans) to attend "a TV performance by The Beatles" as they worded it. But actually the key word on the priceless piece of paper was "take part" in a Beatles performance. None of us had any idea what that would involve. Some thought we'd be on the popular English program "Top Of the Pops" with the Beatles. "Taking part" would have meant dancing on the show. That prospect was not exactly thrilling.

 Well anxious and excited we met at Paul's house (Cavendish Avenue, just blocks from EMI) to wait for him to leave for the studio. The filming was to take place at Twickenham Studios. At Paul's there was about 10 people including my three friends and I. Paul came out after a limousine arrived. He was with Nat Weiss, an American lawyer and associate at the time and friend of the late Brian Epstein.

Paul was wearing a red velvet jacket. He held up the limo while we crowded around his side of the car. After a few minutes of autograph signing for some German girls, the car drove off with Paul waving to us.

 We made our way to Victoria Station. Apple was providing our bus transportation to the studio and back. A lot of the "regulars" from Cavendish Ave. were already there. We all boarded the bus, about 30 of us now, and headed for the studio.

We later found out that meanwhile The Beatles were filming the "Revolution" promo film.



When we arrived and ran up to the gate I could hear John singing at the top of his lungs. Mal came over to us and said we'd be allowed in shortly. I heard John stop singing and then start again, trying to get the song perfect. It was unreal thinking The Beatles were right in the building next to where we were standing. Needless to say we were all nervous wrecks!

 Mal led us through the gates and took us to a cafeteria for tea and sandwiches, but we weren't very hungry. As we sat there two more buses arrived with about forty more people. We were getting mad thinking there would now be a real mob scene. Finally we were all led into a courtyard over which was a glass enclosed walkway going from one building to the next. As we were standing there James Paul McCartney himself comes walking overhead and seeing all of us down below he stops and waves. Never let it be said that Paul passes up an opportunity to ham it up a bit. We all started jumping up and down going quite mad by then as the tension and excitement built.
 Paul ran out of sight and we (now about 50 people) were brought into the studios. (Mal Evans wrote in the Beatles Monthly Book magazine (Issue #63, October 1968) that 300 extras were given invitations.) There were no Beatles in sight, but their equipment was on a small stage and a piano was put up there for Paul. We couldn't see much at first as there were a lot of cameras in the way.

After the instruments were properly set up in walked the four of them. I froze on the spot as this was the first time I'd ever been so close to all four of the Beatles at once. The Beatles went to the stage where John and George began tuning their guitars while Paul doodled on the piano. I was busy watching Paul joke around with John.

John, Paul, George and Ringo then started jamming with hit tunes like "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley" and other favorites. It was quite funny. I was able to make my way closer to the stage and happened to over hear George singing to himself, "I Just Want To Make Love To You" by the Stones. I think he suddenly realized that he could be heard and stopped abruptly.

 A friend from Liverpool was on stage, who was quite drunk, wearing a flower behind each ear. He was cracking jokes and the Beatles laughed along with him until he started asking John embarrassing questions. The friend was completely soused, when he turned to John and asked "Can I ask you a question?". John nodded and there was complete silence. The friend continued "Did you love your wife?". John immediately came back with "Not lately". There was silence again after John answered then Paul saved the day. Paul began playing the piano and said to John "What was your most embarrassing moment?" Everyone laughed and all was okay.

 The director told us we'd be singing the long ending with the Beatles and we practiced it once, with everyone running into surround the small platform nearly knocking over huge cameras in the rush. Well we were told to cool it a bit, don't kill each other, we would all get pretty close to The Beatles without destroying the studio.
 We tried it again and it was less chaotic although I was frustrated in my attempts to get over to Paul's side of the stage as the largest rush was in that direction. We practiced a few more times still without filming and I managed to get either on the stage on George's side or right in front. Of course when we actually filmed I wasn't able to get as close as my two friends who managed to end up sitting behind George on Ringo's drum stand. What you ended up seeing on the actual promo film is the cameras backing away from the Beatles towards the end of the song and suddenly there are people there around them, but behind the scenes it was quite frantic trying to get the spot nearest the stage. It was a friendly competition though, except one time Ringo nearly got knocked off his stand! Ringo laughed about it. After we'd filmed it once the Beatles left to view it in their dressing rooms upstairs. At least I thought they'd all gone out. I turned to watch the film on one of the monitors and there in the middle of the crowd were Ringo and Paul watching also.

 When George and John returned we tried it again, and again and...we actually filmed for five hours till it was exactly what the Beatles wanted. Let me stress that I'm not complaining! If they would've kept us there 50 hours I wouldn't have minded. I never wanted that night to end. Each time the Beatles came back from viewing the film and decided to do it again we all cheered!

The best times were between actual filming when The Beatles would just fool around on stage. David Frost was to have the film on his show and when he mentioned them in the promo spot for the show we all cheered - but we weren't supposed to. So later on, we found out from Mal, David would be redoing the promo clips with the Beatles there.

 Six of us decided to stay when the filming was finished. everyone but us got back on the buses to London. It was about 11:30PM by now and we'd been there about six hours. Only The Beatles, Mal, David Frost and studio technicians were left after the buses had gone. It was the closest to being alone with the Beatles I would ever get. Frost's intro was re-done and while he was talking I stood alone on the side just watching. George suddenly looked at me from where he was sitting on the little stage and broke into this gigantic grin. One of the girls nearby said "Did you see the look he gave her?" I'd met George at his house three days earlier and obviously he'd remembered.
 The Beatles walked out to go to the dressing rooms and we went out with them. I asked Paul if we could all take a picture with him. He said, "sure" and we crowded around him. I had my Instamatic camera which one of my friends grabbed from me and prepared to get a shot of us around Paul. Well, naturally the flash wouldn't go off. Paul took my camera, turned it around in his hands a few times and then said, "Catch me later.". Paul ran upstairs and we sat outside waiting for them.

I could see The Beatles in a little kitchen having drinks, Yoko was up there too and some studio girls. After about a half hour Ringo came out with his chauffeur and said "goodnight" to us, not far behind him was George who smiled and got into his car. A few minutes later Paul came downstairs and as he stepped into the lighted doorway I snapped his picture. He threw out his arms as if to say "Ah you got me!"



 John and Yoko were right behind him and as they came out I got another pic of all three of them. They really looked tired and Paul said the film had come out great, giving the me thumbs up sign when I asked him about it. They got into their limousine and Paul turned to wave at us out the back window all the way down the road and out of sight.

That night heralded the end of my 1968 trip as I left two days later. It was surely a gigantic stroke of good luck and timing to have been a part of that historic night. I'll never forget it.