Lucky Days!

A Special Easter Treat

I want to wish all of the readers of Meet the Beatles...for Real a very happy Easter, or just a happy Sunday if you don't celebrate.


Traditionally I take this day off from blogging to spend time with family.   Tonight I am taking the day off to spend time with James McCartney.

Gloomy

Why isn't anyone really smiling in this photo??

Interview in Manchester

Finsbury Park 1964

Very little information can be found about the Beatles November 1, 1964 performance at London's  Astoria Cinema at Finsbury Park.   Perhaps information is hard to find because the Beatles did so many performances at this venue over the years that this one in 1964 just got lost in the mix. 

The theater itself was a sight to be seen.  It had 3,000 seats for fans to enjoy the show along with a huge stage and 12 dressing rooms backstage.    The Beatles had performed 30 shows at the end of 1963 and into 1964 during the Christmas show at the theater.  

Thing we do know about this stop along the tour is that all but one ticket was sold for the show that night.    The Beatles were interviewed backstage before the show and George Harrison, was telling the reporter about some awful scripts the band had gotten recently and how terrible they were.   Paul heard him talking about this and stepped in to stop him from getting the band into trouble.  You know Paul McCartney---always Mr. PR.


The biggest news story of this night would have to have been the story of the 13 year old American runaway, Elizabeth Freeman who met the Beatles backstage on this date.   You can read her entire story here. 

As for the concert itself, there is really nothing exciting to report.   Mary Wells was well-received by the Beatle fans.    When the Beatles hit the stage, the screaming seemed to have been louder than at other points in the tour, but that may  have been because the theater fit about 1000 more fans that other stops along the way.

These two photos of Brian Epstein were also said to have been from this date, although I am not sure where they were taken or if they have anything at all to do with the Beatles performance.  But Brian does not get as much attention as he deserves on this blog, so I am going to include them.

At the City of Discovery

The Beatles had played in Dundee, Scotland year prior to this performance and the fans were excited to have them back for another set of concerts.  The Beatles arrived in Dundee and went to the Caird Hall where they were interviewed and photographed.

One visitor they had backstage was Margaret, the Countess of Strathmore.   The Countess was in the minority of the day because she spoke out about how much she disliked the Beatles concert .  She wrote a letter to a newspaper saying how the Beatles fans were "appalling and bad mannered for screaming so hard that she couldn't hear the music." 

The concert itself must have been quite a scene.  40 large men, many of them national wrestling champs were standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the stage to block any young Beatlemaniac from trying to get onstage with the boys.  There were another 35 on stand-by at various places around the hall just in case things got really out of control.

The fans were warned of all of this and things started out nicely with chants of "We love you Beatles" that turned into all out screaming by the time the boys hit the stage.  The newspaper reported that in the first  5 minutes of the Beatles performance 50 (!) fans fainted or were crying hysterically and had to be carried away.   Wow!

At the end of Long Tall Sally someone came on stage and tried to get the fans to call the Beatles back onstage for an encore, but us Beatle fans are smart and they already knew the routine of the show.  So when the Beatles were trying to leave the venue, at least 1000 people were blocking their way.  The police had to use their cars and dogs to try to get the Beatles into the car.   And even then, fans were flinging themselves onto the car while screaming uncontrollably.    No injuries occurred and it was just another regular night for the Fab 4.

Here come the fans!

As we read in the newspaper reports, the fans who were trying to see the Beatles did $5,000 worth of damage to the property where the Beatles were staying and the surrounding houses.    Fans tried to get in but they were not fortunate enough to make it....

members of the fan club with their Hollywood Bowel tickets in hand...are off to locate the Beatles!

open to Residents only???  Sure officer---we all live here!   

Another contestant for "who wants to be the 5th Beatle"

I have seen this photo before, but the officer on the end, next to Ringo is always cut out.   But look at him.  He is standing there like he is trying to join the band.  That smile....how adorable is this guy?   And good ol Mal standing back there in the background.  

Not Shea

The Beatles play at the Hollywood Bowl in 1965 in their "Shea Stadium" jackets. I like the KRLA hanging above the Beatles as compared to the huge cut outs in front of them that happened the next year at Dodgers Stadium.

San Fancisco 1965

Here are some not that great fan photos from the Beatles last concert during the 1965 North American Tour.

Trying to reach the stage....

These New Zealand fans didn't make it to the stage.....

Invastion of the Beatles Hideaway!

I have for you all yet another fan story from the January 1967 Teen Datebook magazine (which is the best $5 I have spent in a long time). This tells about a teenager named Carol Decoteau, from Los Angeles, California who invaded the Beatles California get-a-way home in L.A. during the 1966 American Tour.

I invaded the secret, Beatles' hideaway in the Hollywood Hills! It all began when I walked to the bus stop to go to Dodger Stadium. There I met Jane Hunt, an attractive 17-year-old, and together we became involved in one of the most exciting raids in our lives.

Before the bus arrived at the stadium, I had learned that Jane knew where the Beatles were staying in Hollywood. So, we decided that after the concert we would journey to the mansion, where the Beatles were hanging out. Jane and I weren't able to sit together at the concert, but we agreed to meet afterwards near a palm tree.

The Beatles concert was the first I had ever attended, and I will never forget it. I had never screamed so much in my whole life. All around me girls were screaming, and when I noticed that some were crying, I started laughing, but promptly stopped when someone hit me on my head with a heavy purse. I enjoyed the concert very much and was sad when it ended at 10 o'clock.

Jane and I met as planned. It took us nearly two hours to get to Hollywood because the traffic was so heavy. Our escapade began when we arrived at Curson Street. There were so many teenagers and police, we had to detour through other streets. All the streets leading up to the house on the hill where the Fab Four were staying were blocked. Few people were allowed to pass through. Fortunately Jane knew someone who lived nearby, so we told everyone we weren't looking for the Beatles, just going home.

We went to her friend's home and climbed the hedge. I tried to climb another hedge, but a man popped his head out of a window and yelled to me to get my ---- off of the hedge. Boy! Did I move!

I jumped off the hedge and ran down the sidewalk as fast as my legs could carry me, to a corner cluttered with Beatlemaniacs and policemen. The policemen wouldn't permit anyone to walk or drive up the street leading to the Beatles' mansion. I pondered for a few minutes then decided that I had no choice but to go back and climb the hedge if I wanted to see the Beatles. Nothing and no one was going to stop me, so I went back. I found Jane and together we jumped hedges, ran across peoples' yards, hid behind twigs, bushes and trees when cars went by. Soon we met some other Beatle fans and we all slithered through the bushes across lawns, and climbed hills.

WE finally found ourselves below THE house! How were we going to get to see the Beatles? All this time, we were hiding behind bushes as police cars drove by. Finally, we started to climb the high hill. We made it clear to the top, but were promptly found by a policeman who shooed us down the hill. Jane and I climbed the hill again with other fans, but the policemen met us with hoses and we were drenched through to our skin. We slid down the hill on our seats, but we vowed we wouldn't give up. By that time we were wet, dirty and muddy. We looked like a hurricane had hit us.

Then, Jane and I decided to make one last try and started to sneak up the road to the gate! To our surprise, there weren't any policemen guarding the gate! I hid in the bushes while Jane scouted the area. When Jane realized that there weren't any police on the other side of the gate, she motioned to me and I ran over to her. We climbed over the gate and hid in the bushes.

I heard three voices talking! Someone was speaking with an English accent. "It's Paul! I just know know it's Paul." I said to myself. So I poled my head out. "Paul!" I yelled. I guess he didn't hear me and walked into the house.

Jane realized, then, who he was, and started running after him. She almost made it, but she was caught by Malcolm Evans and another policeman. I was still hiding in the bushes, but jumped out and started running. A policeman ran after me. I collided with Malcolm Evans and bounced off him.

As Jane and I were led away I happened to glance up and saw Paul standing there looking at us. I could tell by the expression on his face that he felt sorry for us. "Paul!" I yelled. There we stood all dirty and grimy. Then I felt a little ashamed and didn't want Paul to see dirty ol' me. The police shoved us out the gate, but we immediately sneaked back in and saw John at the window. A policeman saw us again and we started running. We ran all the way around the house as fast as we could. We glanced at all the windows as we raced by and saw George once, then Ringo. By this time three policemen were running behind us in a hot pursuit. "Beatles we love you!" we yelled loud enough to wake the dead. WE eluded the police and ran down the road away form the house. We didn't stop until we were two blocks away.

It was early in the morning, 6:00, so Jane and I started home. We were grimy all over. People stared at us, but we didn't care. We were deliriously happy. We had actually seen the Beatles! There were few who did what we did. I can still picture Paul standing there in the house looking down at us, his handsome face filled with concern for us, his fans. I'm sure he wanted to meet us -- but the police were just too protective.

I know that some people will say that we're a couple of silly girls who just made a nuisance of ourselves. But I don't' believe the Beatles feel that way, even though we did invade their privacy for a few moments. They know how important they are to us. They understand why we did it. You other Beatle fans out there --- you understand, too. Don't you?

Lyon France

This appears to me to be a fan photo taken at a the Beatles concert in Lyon, France on June 22, 1965. Sadly the 1965 World Tour is one that I often overlook....