John in 1976

This little nugget of John news from 1976 was discovered in the May/June 1976 issue of The Write Thing



John seems to be taking a sabbatical from the business for a while at least so that he can be free to just stay at home and watch over his new little son.   Some of our New York members have reported seeing him "en Familia" walking about in Central Park.  As one member wrote, "The day was March 14 and I was near Central Park, near where John and Yoko live.  I was reading a sign on a building and turned around and right next to me was a man who looked just like John.  I put two and two together and it definitely was John.  He was looking at me like, "don't give me away."   We followed him and Yoko down the block.  John had Sean in a knapsack on his back.  Yoko was smiling at him.  John now wears his hair very short and he was also wearing clear glasses. 

George Harrison "Interview" on WNEW

This "interview" that Geroge gave on WNEW in April 1975 was transcribed for The Write Thing newsletter and was published in the January/February 1976 issue.  I put interview in quotes because no one is really asking George questions.  They are just statements.  


Announcer:  One of George's early ambitions was to leave Liverpool.

George:  It was pretty depressing really ... there seemed to be a shortage of anything to do.  It looks as though you had to your best in school to get even the worst job. 

Announcer:  Liverpool was a tough town in those days and Teddy Boys would usually beat themselves up for entertainment.

George:  At that time I was about 15 and sort of puny -- in fact in those days I used to be a good runner.  Anytime I'd see a bunch of them coming I would just avoid that sort of scene. 

A:  George recalls that John Lennon fairly idolized Marlon Brando and his favorite movie was "The Wild Ones."

George:  It used to be a joke on The American Teenage movie scene.  John would say in his American accent, "Where are we going boys?"  and we would say, "To the top Johnny!"

A:  George would like to put his Beatle image behind him but can't quite seem to do it yet.

George:  I do think about it a lot because people are thinking about it all the time.  It's just like when I came to Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine said to me, 'Hey!  I just got a copy of 'The Beatles in Japan at the Buddha Kahn' so I said, good let's listen to it and then you get into reminiscing about it.  It's like if I ride down Sunset Blvd.  There's more chance that I'll hear an old Beatle tune than a newer tune.

A:  George is still amazed by the popularity of the Beatles.

George:  Ya see that was the amazing thing about it is that it never stopped peaking. ...usually thinks peak and just level off...

A:  George says things began to turn sour after the death of Brian Epstein, and that the making of the White Album was a time of tension for all of them.

George:  At that time things started to get crazy.  It was obviously in the planets, toward the end of that album I felt relieved to get out of the studio, usually, I would feel happy when we completed an album.

A:  The tension climaxed during "Let it Be"

George:  "Ya see this was the plan, we were gonna do a TV show and the album was gonna be the soundtrack of the show, but what happened was that the album became the rehearsal basically and the film became a documentary of us rehearsing.

A:  George felt the tension more than anyone else.

George:  you see when you are disallowed to grow and that was, you know, I was against a broke wall.  It was very difficult for me.

A:  George felt he was being shoved aside as the presence of Yoko Ono and Linda Eastman was being felt.

George:  In the early Beatle year our girlfriends or wives would come down occasionally but it was always the four of us.  But at this point, it became Linda and Yoko.  I don't say this to be spiteful but that was really another straw that helped break it.  You know that there was o way I was suddenly gone abe in a group with Yoko, not if it's gonna be called The Beatles.  I mean I don't mind being in the Plastic Ono Band.  It was more difficult for me to communicate with John or Paul as if the same way I was trying to talk to you now and somebody's sitting on me shoulder butting in and giving his opinion.

A:  George claims he had written dozens of songs that were being rejected by John and Paul and he was bitter about it.

George:  We didn't have enough space  At that time twelve tracks were recorded and each of us had more than twelve for any given album.

A:  In 1966 the Beatles discovered religion clasped tightly to the bosom of the Maharishi.

George:  Actually what happened is that I went to see the Maharishi and I just asked John if he wanted me to get him a ticket and then later found out that Paul wanted to go and whatever went down I planned to go to India.  John came along and Paul and Ringo came along too.

A:  none of the others were so turned onto the Maharishi as George.

George:  They all went through it but, I think there is a scene in "Let it Be" where Paul is talking about what happened in Rishikesh from what he said, I forget what it is, made me think that he completely missed the point of what he was doing there.  John definitely benefitted from it.  Ya know, it was the brightest I'd ever seen him.  His eyes shoned and he looked very well and he got off drugs for a while.  It's like the song on Rubber Soul or something, "turn off your mind, relax and foot downstream..."  ya know if you turn off your mind, start to relax and then try and grab hold of something for fear of what's gonna be downstream, then you blow the whole thing and I think that is what was happening with Paul.

A:  George, when did the first turning point come within the Beatles?

George:  It came when we were given that first acid.  That's when things started changing (laughter).  The first time John and I had dinner with this guy who was a dentist, and he just dropped it in our coffee and so John and I went on this trip.  It was very spiritual. I mean I experienced more in twelve hours than I had in 20 years.  It was the first sign I ever had.  I mean I used to go around saying, 'give us a sign, give us a sign..."  Then I just looked and saw the whole thing was a sign.  It was the first time I really noticed the sky, grass...things like that and something like a tree had more significance than most of the things I'd ever come across in my life.  After that, we were trying to tell all our friends and Paul and Ringo.  You know, and like it took Paul two years to try it.  I suppose a lot of gaps started happening there.  It really changed me all for the better.  It made me less opinionated and more humble.

John signed for Karla

This story is from the April/May 1976 issue of the Write Thing and was written by Karla Wambold


That Monday morning when I first turned on the radio, I thought Iw as hearing things.  WFIL radio in Philly said that their Helping Hands Marathon has been scheduled for that weekend May 16-18 and their special guest was John Lennon!!

I got to WFIL that Friday at about 1pm to a crowd of about nine other people.  We were all nervous about meeting John.  this would be the first time any of us had met any of the ex-Beatles.  2pm arrived and so did John!  The television part of WFIL was taping his arrival for the news.

During the taping, John embarrassed the hell out of me.  See I was wearing a Beatles t-shirt and I asked John to sign it.  He said to me, "Where am I?  Oh, there I am!"  Then he pokes me in the chest.  After John autographed my shirt he said, "I'm signing her boobs!"  I nearly died!  (and it was even more embarrassing when they showed the entire thing on TV).

After a few minutes, John went inside the studio, stayed there for about half an hour, came out again and left to go back to the hotel he was staying at.  But before he left he stopped to sign a few more autographs.  He came back about 4pm and he came out periodically to sign autographs and the usual before he went back to his hotel about 9 (the crowd had grown to a few hundred by the way).

The 2nd day when John came out he surprised me.  He remembered me -- which I didn't expect  More people were there then and poor John got writers' cramp within five minutes.  Everyone must have brought about one-fourth of their collection for him to sign.

About noon -- when John came out for a third time that day, the days of Beatlemania returned.  This one girl got overly excited and her excitement spread quickly through the rest of the crowd and john had to hurry back inside.  That was the first time the entire weekend the studio's guards and the Philadelphia cops actually worked.

about 11:45 Sunday night, the deejays dedicated the song "When Will I See You Again" to John and I almost cried.  John was so very nice and well, I can't really describe how nice he really was.  As for the marathon, WFIL raised between $114,000 and $115000.  Most of which were donated by Beatle fans on John's behalf.  After that weekend all  I could say is that I have a special place in my heart for John.  And I'm glad I had those few moments to spend with a great man like him.  Thank you, John, for everything!

George Driving Up To His Home

Photos by Sil Perrone (September 1977)

Story by Sil Perrone
The Write Thing
February 1978

It was a beautiful sunny day and just perfect to go to Henely.  so we did.  Iw as with my friends from Germany and New York.  As we approached the big gates we didn't hesitate to go up to the castle.  The grounds were green and breath-taking.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it really was.  When we reached the front I noticed a familiar site.  A sign leaned against a tree that was from the film and said "Crackerbox Palace".  I  was so amused I had to take a picture.  There was no one around as far as we could see, so we walked on to find him.  The house was another unbelievable sight.  Old and mysterious.  We turned to our left to see what we could find and as we passed a big window I could see pictures of George in concert and as a little boy with his brother.  And a huge black Dark Horse statue was in the middle of the room.  A whole room was filled with goodies.  I've seen the Dark Horse statue at our L.A. Beatlefest.  Then a voice from above was asking us what we wanted.  We pleaded with him to just let us see George.  I must say we were very nice.  It was Kurnar Shankar who lives there and he backed down to our politeness and said he wasn't there.  So we all agreed to go away and just be thankful we had come this far. 

As we were leaving I heard a voice call to us, "Hello!  Hello!" It was Olivia and she didn't seem happy to see us.  Again with our charm she backed down and advised us to "go have lunch and come back in two hours, then George will be out."  That's when I realized that if we would have made a right instead of a left at the front of the house we would have ran smack into George and Olivia sitting in the sun in their backyard.  Olivia had on short embroidered cut-off jeans and a summery blouse.  The temp. was about 75 F.  She was very nice.   I especially liked her because after hearing her California accent it made me feel like home.

So off we went to have lunch at a pretty quaint Henely restaurant.  We were looking forward to our excitement.  Back at the gates we waited, waited and waited.  We began to think we were too late.   Then a blue Mercedes came rolling in and I was determined to find out if this guy saw George.  It came back out shortly after and I asked.  He said yes, George and Olivia were coming out soon in a brown Porsche.  Sure enough, it came rolling down his little road and we all got ready.  He stopped with a beautiful wide grin and the pictures went snapping.  He seemed shy as usual by very sweet and gentle.  He wanted to know where we were from and everyone blurted out their city or country.  When he hard me say California, he looked right at me and smiled as if to say, "Oh California, nice place!"  It warmed my heart so I took his picture.  altogether I took 10 close-ups.  His hair was curly and shined like gold.   He had a denim embroidered Levi jacket and was strapped into his seat, ready to take in the Grand Prix.  We hoped he was gonna be careful.  I asked him when he was coming to L.A. and he said, "probably October."  He didn't lie.  But we missed him.   Then I asked when he was going to tour again.  "Everyone is waiting in the States for you to tour."  He looked straight into my eyes and again gave me one of those melting smiles and he seemed to be very happy and flattered to hear that.  But he said, "I just can't get into the music right now."  I didn't really know why he said that because he can do no wrong with music as far as I'm concerned.  As all of this was going on I was on my knees clicking away.  George finally drove away and we watched his car go out of sight.  I couldn't help but think how sweet of a guy George really is.  John is usually the one for me but after seeing George and just getting a taste of his kindness it is hard to separate between the two or four, or whatever.

A helluva way to live

Another fan story from The Write Thing Jan/Feb 1976 issue.  This John encounter was written by Sharen Uzarewicz.

Photo by George Tebbins
December 29, 1975

As we drove past the doorman, he waved at us but we thought it was only in recognition and we didn't stop as we were going a few blocks down for something to eat. When we returned, Nancy got out to talk to him, and it turned out that hew as waving at us to follow the limo a few cars ahead of us which contained John and Yoko!

Knowing how much it meant to me to see John, Nancy and George agreed to wait at least a few hours (it was about 10pm), but then we'd have to leave to start the drive home.  Eventually, George fell asleep in the back seat, and Nancy curled up by the steering wheel.

It was 3am when the silver Lincoln continental pulled up, and without seeing its occupants, I knew it was them.  I shook George and Nancy and tried to gather my photos, camera and jump out of the car.  When I turned around John was standing there looking very, very paranoid.   What I learned later was that when I woke Nancy, her first reaction was to start the car, gun the motor and flash on her headlights.   I guess I was bursting out of the car at the exact same time.  John not knowing our intentions literally jumped a foot.   I hurried over to him and said, "John, we're from Chicago, and I have some photos I'd like to give you."   His face relaxed, and he replied, " Oh sure."  Then George asked if we could take some pictures and he said alright.  I pulled out the photo I wanted to give him, and he took it and said, "Yoko, look at this."  He genuinely seemed to like it and asked me where it was taken.   I said Chicago, and he looked down at me and said, "But when was that?  What was I doing there?"   Being completely freaked out by that point, I told him he'd just been in town to visit Dick Gregory, and he replied that was strange because he'd just been talking to Dick that very day.  In the photo I gave him he was wearing a scooped neck black t-shirt and denim jacket, and when he looked at it he said, "What was I wearing?  A low cut black bra?"  and "Was I fat then."

Photo taken by George Tebbins 

Nancy asked if they'd gotten our cards and he said, yes, and they were sorry they couldn't come down before, "but we're very busy - with the baby shittin'"   He added that they get cards and letters all the time even from Rome.  "But we can't come down and look for the Romans."  It was as if he was actually apologizing for not coming down and that he really wanted us to understand why.  George asked if he'd pose for a photo and he seemed very willing.  After I took two shots I wanted to get in a photo myself, but I was too shy to ask him.   Instead, I sort of walked in back of him while he was signing something and leaned my head around his side just so it would get in some of the photos George was taking.   I didn't think John knew I was there, and I was waiting for George's flash to go off when suddenly John ducked his head down next to mine making a funny face.  Overcome I touched his back and mumbled a thank you, moving away.

John and Sharon
Photo taken by George Tebbins

Someone mentioned that we'd been in the car for three days and he said, "That's a helluva way to live." It wasn't a put-down, it was more like, you must be crazy to go thru all that for me, but I'm pleased you have.

Then I remembered I had more photos with me and I handed them to him telling him he could have them if he liked.   He genuinely seemed to like them, and he went thru them more than once showing them to Yoko.  He looked down at me and repeated, "But I want to know what Iw as doing when I look at these."  It was incredible of him to say something like that.  Whether he intended to toss them out or not, it was still fantastic of him to give the impression that they meant something to him and that he'd be looking at them again.

Yoko was rather quiet, but once, out of the blue, she looked at me and very sweetly said, "I like that top you're wearing."  I was so stunned that she even noticed, all I could think of to say was, "Thank you, I got it just for the trip."  When we finally left she wished us all a happy new year.   John asked us if we had everything (at least three times we'd asked him for one more photo and he didn't seem bothered at all) and then they walked to the gate and rang for the doorman.

No matter how many times I repeat it, I just can't' convey how absolutely marvelous he was toward us.  He really seemed to care about us, he understood what we'd been thru, and he was pleased to give us a little of his time.  He must have been tired, but he didn't rush us in the least.  He was fantastic.  He also looked fantastic.  The most recent photos I had seen of him made him look old and tired.  When we saw him in the flesh, he looked like he was in his early 20's -- healthy and happy.  His hair was drawn back into a ponytail, and he was wearing a blue beret and a long navy blue pea coat and beige slacks.  I didn't get a good look at anything but Yoko's face.  Her hair was very long, and she was pale but looked beautiful to me.  She was incredibly sweet to us.  Not at all the way the doorman had described her (the doorman said she was jealous of the fans and always called the police on them for hanging around).  She talked to us but mainly stayed in the background and didn't seem to mind how hysterical we were becoming over her husband.  It really proved to me how little of what you hear 2nd and 3rd hand can be believed.

Was it all worth it?  You better believe it was worth it -- it's just "a helluva way to live."

The Impossible Dream

Time for another fan written story from a fanzine of the 1970's   This story was written by Joanna Rakowsi and was published in the January/ February 1976 issue of The Write Thing. 

Charlene, Paul and Joanna December 24, 1975
photo by Joseph Maloney 

It seems that whenever Paul McCartney was in New York, I'd be the only person unaware of the fact.  Or I'd take a trip to London in quest of the man and he'd be on a flight leaving the same time -- going in the opposite direction, of course.   To make a long story short, I'd say that my luck has been about as good as that of a search party looking for a polar bear in a blizzard.

However, on December 24, 1975, my luck took an incredible turn in the right direction.    Our editor, Barb, called me at my house on Long Island with some encouraging news:  Paul was in the Hamptons for Christmas with his in-laws.  So, then and there, Barb and I made a unanimous decision to get the story for "the Write Thing".  I promised to visit Paul on Christmas Day and send back some kind of story.   Well, to me just seeing Mr. McC, was a story in itself, because I'd been waiting since 1964 for just a glimpse.

The next day, my sister Charlene, her husband Joseph and I began the journey of my eleven-year quest, some forty miles of the travel with very nervous stomachs.  We had passed the Lee Eastman home many times over the years and simply admired it.  It's a typical Hampton home with all the typical trappings, including a TV camera in the hedge which eyes all visitors' cars.  We drove silently by several times feeling a bit crestfallen.   There were no cars in the driveway and no lights in the house.  Finally, we conjured enough nerve to drive into the driveway and ring the doorbell.  Yes, we were right, there was no one home.  Slightly discouraged, we returned to the car wondering what to do next.

We were just about to leave the town when I thought out loud, "No one comes to see their family on Christmas day and then doesn't stay."  It occurred to me that maybe the object of our quest if you'll pardon the expression, was visiting with his brother in law, John.   Only where does John live?  So I went quickly to the nearest telephone booth and the phone directory.   Bingo!  Same street as his father.

Back across town, we went, our spirits high again.  Nearly to the end of the street, we came upon a small house with a Christmas tree flowing in the window.  On the ground on the sign:  John L. Eastman.  We decided all we could do was to go to the door and ask and all they could do was tell us to leave.   I grabbed the bottle of French wine I had bought as a gift and we hauled out of the car.  We were met on the porch by a blonde lady who looked very much like Linda.  It was her sister Laura.   I squeaked out, "Is Paul here?" in a meager voice.  It was answered by a curt, "What?"  I repeated my question with a growing apprehension.  John stepped out onto the porch just in time to hear Laura repeat another "What?"  Either she's very hard of hearing or she was putting me on.


"Are you friends of his?" John inquired.  Bingo! again.   The dead giveaway.   "Well, no, we're not actually friends but we have a Christmas present for him."  They both disappeared from the porch without another word.

No sooner than did John and Laura return to the house than Paul himself appeared, wearing a wine and cream colored smoking jacket and black velvet slippers.  At last, my quest was over!

I greeted him with a "Merry Christmas, darlin'".  We exchanged Merry Christmases twice and I handed him the bottle of wine.  Paul took my hand, smiling and kissed my cheek saying "Thanks!"  Then he turned to my sister and did the honors.   After he had announced that they were just about to "East a bit," motioning absently to the door, I started pouring out every question I could think of without seeming too anxious.

"do you have any specific plans for your upcoming album"

"No.  I have lotsa ideas," smiling that effervescent smile.

"No title tunes yet?"

No, he's just going in and let "whatever happens, happen."  This is going nowhere, I thought.  Then the tables turned and he was asking us the questions!  "You live around here?"  "How'd you know I was here?"  The walls have ears, huh?  Joanna told him no, New York has ears and the fans in New York told someone in St. Paul, who told her.  She said she was a friend of mine and Paul said, "Oh, I remember her."

Finally, after some small talk which I only vaguely recall, and seeing that Paul was freezing in the 10-degree weather, we asked permission to take a few pictures.  With a hearty, "Oh, sure, yes," as an answer, Joe returned to the car for his camera.

Meanwhile, Paul smiled a lot and asked my sister Charlene if we were related, remarking that we look so alike.  He was pulling on his blue suspenders with his thumbs.

Joe returned with the cameras and started snapping away while Paul offered suggestions (Let's get one with the twin sisters,  You want one with me and you?  No, I guess you don't want one for me with your husband.   Just me?  Okay how's this?)

Paul closed his jacket and looked toward the door.  "Well, I have to go eat now."  We thanked him for coming out into the cold and assured him that we'd be seeing him on the American tour this spring.  He grinned knowingly as he opened the door.

"Have a happy....rest of Christmas!"

Happy???!!!  Seeing Paul had to be the best Christmas present I could ask for.  At last, the quest was over and somehow, it didn't seem too long after all.  Thanks to Paul's admirable hospitality, the final journey was worth every mile!  He certainly made Christmas of 1975 one I'll never forget.  Thanks, my love....

The Best Sick Day Birthday Ever!

This story was written by Kim Wikans of Valley Stream, New York and was originally published in the August/September 1978 issue of  'The Write Thing.'

Kim and Ringo at WABC on April 10, 1978

Monday,  April 10, 1978, started out special.  It was my 20th birthday.  I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home from work.   I work at WABC radio in NYC.   About noon I got a phone call from a girlfriend at work.  She said she knew Iw as sick, but she would never be able to live with herself if she didn't let me know that Ringo was coming up to visit the station.  I wasted no time in getting my camera and heading off for work.  Sick or not, I wasn't going to miss this day.  Ringo arrived at about 4pm.  Everyone was very nice and they all introduced me to him.  He was such a gentleman -- kissing my hand and wishing me a Happy Birthday.  He then posed for a picture with me.  The thing he is holding is one of my birthday cards.  If you look closely at his tie you will see a small button that said "OGNIR RRATS".   He later gave me that button.   He was SO very nice.  It was certainly the best birthday I ever had.

Meeting John

This short fan story comes from the July/August 1976 issue of "The Write Thing."  It was written by Bruce Vogel of Bellerose, New York. 

Yoko, John and Bruce on April 9, 1976

My two friends, Ronny, Lee and myself, set out for Manhattan in hopes of meeting John.  We carried along with us a shopping bag full of pictures and books in hopes of getting a few autographs.  We waited outside John's apartment for an hour and a half before John and Yoko stepped out of a taxi cab.  We approached John and I asked him if it would be alright if I took a picture of him.  He said he wouldn't mind.  I couldn't believe I was talking to him.   Of course, I know what he voice sounds like but to hear it in person is something else.  He kindly posed next to me with Yoko on his arm while Ronny snapped the picture.  He told us that he had seen us waiting outside but that he had to go out for a while.  It sounded as if he was apologizing for not seeing us sooner!  I thought it was great of him to say that.  The date was April 9 and Sean was exactly 6 months old.  I mentioned this to John, and he looked at me and said, "You know about these things, eh?"  That killed me.  I felt it was a great compliment.  He said I looked a little young to be a Beatle fan and I told him I was 17.  He signed our books without seeming bothered at all.  I  asked him if he didn't mind, but he very kindly obliged.  Yoko stood quietly behind John but before we left I went up to her and asked her how she was.  She smiled and said okay.  We said goodbye and thanked them for talking to us.  He waved and said goodbye.  I went too quickly but I'll never forget how nice he was.   THANKS, JOHN!

A German in England

The following fan story was found in the August/September 1978 issue of The Write Thing.  It was written by a fan from Gerbrunn, Germany named Rainer Adam.

The photo was taken by Rainer Adam

On Sunday, the 7th of May (1978) I went to St. John's Wood in north London, where Paul McCartney lives, if he's not at any other part of the world, and where the Abbey Road Recording Studios are as well.  I asked the doorman at the studios if Paul was there or would be coming in.  He told me Paul was downstairs!  Great news!  I waited half an hour and Linda came out.  We talked about Wings (she told me about the new drummer and guitarist and that they were planning to tour again), and also about records and football.  Later Denny came out, and I talked to him too.  We were nearly alone outside the studio.  At this time an orchestra was playing inside with Paul. 

Linda told me they were finishing the tapes for the television screen "Wings Over America" which comes out this winter.

Meanwhile, I was hungry and hurried over to a pub round the corner where Denny and some other people of the Wings roadies stood together with a pint of ale.   I had no time to talk to them for long, as Paul was still inside the studio and it was 1 o'clock.  I was sitting on the stairs to the studio when he came out.  He said he liked the photos I took of him in Berlin in 1976 and I gave one copy to Linda, on the other one I got autographs, also on the cover of "London Town" and "Mull of Kintyre" picture.  I asked for a photo and he says "later after lunch."  One hour later he came across the street with Linda and one daughter (Mary).  I shot the picture and he says to me in German "Auf Wiedersehen."  I hope so.

After this, I went to Henley on Thames where George lives in a castle.  There were some problems because of the traffic connections on Sunday, but I came to Henely finally.  It's 15 minutes by taxi from Reading railway station.  I waited ten minutes and went to the house by the entrance, where Goerge's brother lives.  But no one was there.  Then suddenly, a man comes down the street (a private road) and he was sitting on a motorbike.  He turned and went away.  Two minutes later George came down the same way.  He stopped his bike and said hello.  We talked a little bit about his new album which will come out this summer.  Ringo lives in Monte Carlo he told me.   Then I took one photo of George and the taxi driver took a photo of George and me.  It was a very fantastic day weather wise, just right for those great moments.

Meeting George in Brazil

This story/interview was found in the April/May 1979 issue of 'The Write Thing.'     It was written by Henrique Filho.

Photo by H. Filho

George gave a press conference at the WEA offices here on February 7, 1979, at around 2 pm in Rio.  My wife and I managed to be present and were lucky enough to record his interview, take some photos and film him in super 8mm.  Here is the interview George gave to a local TV station.

Q:  How do you feel about the constant approaches regarding a  Beatles reunion?

George:  I think it's a waste of time.

Q:  Because of your involvement with the Hare Krsna movement you've influenced a lot of youngsters everywhere.  What do you think about that?

George:  I think it's very good because first of all Krsna is one name for God.  So there's only the same God, it's like what we call Buddha, Allah, Jehovah, Krishna so there are many names.  Krsna is the divine energy we should plug in and so you chant Hare Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama and if you chant it millions of times you feel great.

Q:  What do you know about the Brazilian people and its music?

George:  I don't know too much about the music other than what I've seen about the Carnival on TV.  I've heard about samba, rumba, you know, this sort of thing and about the fields.  It's very much like India, the same hot (at this he shook his shirt), smell and the same flowers, trees, fruit, vegetables, you know, very similar.

Q:  Please, tell us something about your new album and the song "Faster", it is really dedicated to J. Stewart?

George:  One of the songs on the new album is "Faster", inspired by Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda, you know Formula 1 motivates it and the song is also in the memory of Robbie Peterson.  All about the Formula 1 circus and what happens to people.

Q:  Is there any real possibility of some concerts here, in Brazil?

George:  Maybe, because one reason I came -- used the Grand Prix as the excuse to come and see Rio and a little bit of Brazil, you know, it's like a test to come and see what it is like and I didn't realize it was so interesting.  So I think it's a good place to come and maybe I'll come late this year or next year.



On the same day, George returned to Europe by the Concorde.  During the press conference, George was wearing jeans, a white shirt and arrived with his glasses on.  All the time he was very nice and gentle.  He signed some records for us and we gave him a present for Dhani.  It was great to see George and to talk to him.  Late that night we remembered it was February 7th, the day you were completing your 15th Beatles anniversary celebration, the same day we saw our first Beatle here in Brazil!

Encounters in 1971

This is the first part of a story about a fan that went to England in 1971 & 1972.  I posted part 2 last year (and I will link it at the bottom of this story) and just now got ahold of Part 1.    

I think it is an interesting story because it was during a time that Paul was not very kind to the fans, as you will read here.   However, he wasn't a total jerk.    

I disagree with what the writer thought about the Apple Scruffs (if that is really who he met).   It sounds like they were trying to help him out.    I think it is natural that they would be a little possessive of the Beatles and their territory.     They were there day in and day out for many years.   This guy is a tourist that will be there one day and then gone.   But still it didn't sound like they were being rude to him---sounds like they were trying to give some advice.   *shrug*

Encounters in 1971 (Part 1)

By Mike Sacchetti

The Write Thing June/July 1984

My story of meeting a Beatle is kind of a two-part story, and not only tells of the excitement of meeting “one,” but also of a personal tour of Savile Row.

In July of 1971 myself and five other friends were on a three week tour of Europe, including six days in London.  Soon after our arrival in London, two of our group went off to see “the sights.”  Totally exhausted from a long day of traveling, I just wanted to eat and go to sleep.   Later that afternoon, there was a call for me at the front desk.  It was our wanderers babbling for us to hurry down to Abbey Road EMI Studios because PAUL was going to show up at any time.  Needless to say, with camera in hand, the rest of us grabbed a cab and rushed to the historical spot.  Once we arrived and met up with our friends, they introduced us to a few other people who were the “Apple Scruffs,” or so they said.  I must say that for all I heard about them, I didn’t think much of them, they seemed so possessive of the whole scene.  Example:  They told me not to go into the driveway or the front yard, because Paul didn’t like that.  Anyway, I wasn’t very fond of their attitude.

After a while a couple of guys came out and sat on the steps.  I had no idea who they were but they looked like they were in the band.  I overheard the Scruffs saying their names and that they were working with Paul on the new LP.  Of course some months later I realized they were none other than Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell.  Anyway, after an hour or so, someone yelled, “here he comes!”  And up pulled this green Rolls Royce convertible.  It was not more than three feet away and I had a great view of the one and only James Paul McCartney!  What a weird feeling that was.  It was really more of an experience than an emotion.  He and Linda looked quite good.  He had on a denim jacket with black slacks and had long hair in the back.  Linda was very pregnant.   I walked in the yard even though I was “told” I shouldn’t and took a few shots.  Then a security guard came out and said everyone had to go, and that Paul wouldn’t be out until very late.  After some joyous minutes with my friends, saying over and over that I can’t believe it, we all thought, hey, tomorrow we’ll try again.

The next day came and off we went to see the real tourist sights of London.  We had a great time, but by 1pm or so I said to my friends, let’s try and see “the house” on Cavendish Avenue.   All agreed and off we went.  After we rang the bell there a couple of times, his housekeeper, Rosie, came out very upset and told us to leave, that Paul wasn’t home, and that he was very mad at the fans for what they did.    She pointed out that the wall had been painted and someone had written the words “F--- Linda.”   We told her we’d never dream of doing anything like that.  But she went on to say he was angry at everyone in sight.  As we were talking, I peeked in the yard and I saw a cat, and also the one and only Martha the sheepdog.  I also noticed his green Rolls, so I knew he was home.

Just as we decided to leave, a car started up and the doors to the yard opened.  There we were face to face with Paul and Linda.  We all smiled and waved and he pulled out of the driveway like a madman and gave us all the finger!  God, we couldn’t believe it, we were so pissed!   We began to curse Paul, but soon after we’d cooled down and realized he had the right to be upset, and we just happened to be there at the moment of his anger.   We began to laugh and say, “after all—who can say that Paul McCartney gave them the finger?”

After dinner that night we decided to go down to Abbey Road once more, and maybe even try to say Hello, and tell him that we weren’t the ones that painted his wall.  Not more than half-hour after we’d arrived there, the now familiar green Rolls pulled in the yard.  I thought this might be the last chance to say something.  The excitement level was high, and I got a surge of nerve up and just walked into the parking area and up to the car, much to everyone’s amazement.   When Paul got out, I said something like, “excuse me Paul, could I just have 30 seconds of your time?”  He looked at me with a weird stare and said, “yeah?”  My brain then went numb!  I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say for what seemed like an eternity.  All I could think to say finally was, “are you recording a new LP?”  (Brilliant, as if he was there to build a house) He said, “actually we’re just trying a few things out.”  “Well,” I told him, “my friends out there and I are fans and look forward to your next record.”  He said, “thanks, gotta go---good night now.”  He walked up the stairs and inside.   My friends all rushed up and congratulated me and trying to make me believe what I had just done.  We then went to a pub and basked in our glory for the rest of the night.

The next day was our last in Europe, so we thought we’d give Savile Row (Apple Corp.) a try.  It was a Sunday and the city was quiet.  We looked up at the building all painted white and tried to imagine the rooftop scene in Let it Be.  We knocked on the door and a very pleasant man dressed like a security guard answered, “Can I help you?”  We blurted the usual stuff about being fans from the U.S. and that we just wanted to look around.  He said that none of the Beatles were expected, but we were welcomed to come in the lobby and take a few pictures.  After clicking like crazy, he asked us if we’d like to sit for a while.  So we stayed for about two hours talking about life in the U.S. and England, politics and of course the Beatles.  When time came to go, he said he would like to correspond with us so I exchanged addresses.  We did write to each other for quite a bit over the next seven months until February 1972 which was my next trip to London. 

Part two can be found here

http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2016/10/tonight-is-great-story-about-young-man.html

Paul in Sweden '72

Another short memory from a fan that I found in the Aug/Sept 1975 issue of "the Write Thing".    This one was written by Carl Hallberg

 Beatlemania returned in August 1972 when Paul and Wings played in Stockholm.  He drew the biggest ever crowd to a pop concert in Sweden:  30,000!  It was at the open-air Tivoli gardens.  the biggest crowd before Paul, was in 1969 when 16,000 came to see Jimi Hendrix, Paul drew almost twice as many but there were a bit too many.   You see the capacity for the place is 20,000 and many people got crushed, hurt and fainted.  The show though was a great success, especially when Paul as an encore said, "an old number form the concert with my old pals" and then sang "Long Tall Sally!"  Me and my friends in the front row could not believe our ears and eyes, just like in the old days.  Paul was better than ever also on "Maybe I'm Amazed," and "I'm your singer."   If only the rhythm guitarist had been a Mr. Lennon, the drummer Mr. Starr and the lead guitar Mr. Harrison it would have been 100% perfect!  As you can see I'm a  Beatle-fanatic and it grows stronger each year it seems!

Wings Party

I found this story written in the Aug/Sept 1975 issue of the "The Write Thing" by Kathy Turner

The one and only time I've met and spoken to Paul is something I'll never forget!  I'd seen him several times at various places but never spoken to him, but in 1971 when he had the party for Wings, I decided to go along to the Empire Ballroom armed with camera and a large shopping bag which I always carried around with me at the time.  Anyway I arrived at 8 pm and found I had just missed him by about 2 minutes.   I decided to wait.  I just had a feeling that I'd get to speak to him.  Well, after waiting five hours, the doorman whispered to me that Paul was on his way out; then he appeared with Linda on his arm.  I thought how handsome he was close-to, a bit smaller and slimmer than I realized.  Linda was much prettier than her photos.  Anyway, I took a photo (of his jaw-line as it happens because he turned his rotten head away!) and as that was the last exposure in my camera, I couldn't take anymore.  He went skipping (yes it is true) down the road with Linda and just as he turned the corner to a side street, I took courage and called him back.  He stopped and said "yeah" so I ran to catch him up and breathlessly asked him for his autograph.  The funny part is my pen as at the bottom of this large bag of mine!  He stood patiently watching me with arm folded as I rummaged elbow deep.  I asked him if he had a pen as I just couldn't find mine; he said no (which isn't surprising as he had this crazy suit on that had no pockets).  By then loads of people had appeared but Paul still waited patiently until I emerged which I thought was really nice of him.  Linda was very smirky when a fellow said to Paul "No more Beatles then Paul?" and before eh could answer Linda leaned across me and smirked "No, no more Beatles."  Paul then waved to all and said "OK love" when I thanked him for stopping.  He disappeared into the night and I stumbled, shaking into a taxi!

An Apple Tour

Tonight is a great story about a young man that not only spotted George and Ringo, but was able to take a private tour of Apple in February 1972.    This must have happened a few times to lucky fans, because I own photographs of some female fans taking a tour of Apple in May 1972.      Not offense to Mike, but I found his story a little difficult to read.   I didn't want to mess with his writing style, so I didn't change the grammar and punctuation too much, just a little bit. 

An Apple tour (part 2)

The Write Thing  Feb/March 1985

By Mike Sacchetti

After becoming friendly with Lindsay, one of the Apple security guards, in the summer of 1971, I made sure to stay in touch with him until my next trip to England in February 1972.    This time I traveled with a different group of people.  Just my two roommates were really into the Beatles, the rest of the group was there for the tour of England.  We arrived on a Saturday morning, and after the usual customs and trip to town and jet lag, we decided to catch a nap before going out to see “the sights.”   Our friend Jack, on the other hand was too geared up and wanted to go right out.  We weren’t in bed in more than an hour when he came rushing back in all excited and telling us to get up – George and Ringo were expected at Apple in a few hours.  Feelings half in the bag, Billy and I decided to go with Jack and warned him that this had better not be a joke.

He explained that he had gone down to Apple and introduced himself to Lindsay as a friend of mine, and said I’d be down in a little while.

Unfortunately, this was a cold and windy day, which made waiting around not very desirable, but I guess it’s just the thought of seeing one of the Beatles that gives you a kind of shot of extra endurance (witness the Apple Scruffs).  On the way to Apple, I stopped and bought a gift for Lindsay.  He’s been very nice to me, writing back and forth for some 6-7 months and made it seem like we were old friends.  When we finally got to Apple there must have been about ten people already there also waiting around.  My first thought was, hell, we’ll never even get in the lobby.  We attempted to speak to a few other fans, one or two of them were ok, but those wonderful Scruffs were a bit rude and certainly much too possessive.

I decided to go up to the door and knock to see if I might get a quick hello in with Lindsay.  To my surprise when he came to the door he smiled and kept shaking my hand and asked us to come in for a minute.  I gave him the gift and we chatted about a million things in 15 minutes.  He said our friend Jack was right; George and Ringo were due that afternoon.  We said, we’d go back out so he didn’t get in any kind of trouble.  Before we left though he said that if we weren’t too tired, after George and Ringo left about three or four in the morning he would call us at our hotel and have us come back for a “special treat.”  We said “DEFINITELY.  We thought to ourselves, “what in God’s name could it be??”

Back outside we took some pictures of the building and hung out.  Finally about 4pm a white Mercedes pulled up and a couple of the girls began to get excited.  As the car drew closer you could see inside and lo and behold, Mr. George Harrison was at the wheel.  Poor George had to parallel park, and I must say it was one of the funniest things we saw on the whole trip.  He must have tried it eight to ten times before he finally got it right.  And even though it was a bit comical, still I realized a serious case of nerves were kicking in.  For those of you who have not actually seen one of them up close, let me tell you—your senses kind of get confused for the first few minutes.  Then your mind starts to think, ‘what do I say?’

George's white Mercedes--this is the same car he would crash later the same month 

When George finally got out of the car, he was only ten or fifteen feet away so we could see him quite clearly.  He was thinner than I thought he’d be, not as tall either.  He had an army fatigue jacket on and jeans.   From the other side of the car another guy got out who turned out to be Klaus Voorman.  They both walked over to the trunk and took out a couple of guitars and proceeded to walk by us.  I said a simple, “Hello George,” and he replied “hello” back.  He looked very much like he did in “Bangla-Desh.”

Suddenly this guy who had been waiting around all day, reached out and grabbed George by the arm.  He looked very alarmed and Klaus kind of grabbed the guy’s arm and gave him a silly push.  Something was said that I couldn’t hear.  George also spoke a couple of words to the girls who were Scruffs and then dashed in.

Ringo interviewed at Apple in March 1972

Not more than 15 minutes later a green Jaguar pulled up, but the driver didn’t look familiar.  Then from the passenger side, Ringo just bounced right out.  He too looked pretty much like he did in Bangla-Desh.  He had a full length fur coat on and his looked a bit greasy.  He did a quick pace right by everyone, not giving us time for pictures or hellos.

Afterwards we babbled on over what we saw and about what a great accomplishment it was on our first day in England, seeing half of the Beatles. 

Back to our hotel for rest and food.  Then about three in the morning the phone rang in the room and it was Lindsay saying to come over to the Apple if we weren’t too tired.  Well, we were, but we didn’t tell him that.  His surprise had to be something for him to call us over in the middle of the night.  Lindsay was looking out for us when we got there about 4am.  He seemed happy to see us again.  And our curiosity was driving us crazy!

Lindsay wanted some pictures together, so we took a few in the lobby, doing various poses.  Then Lindsay told us the surprise was a complete tour of the Apple building.  I must say without sounding too boastful, that I don’t know many fans who ever had the opportunity to see “the inner sanctum.”

So after the pictures, we headed to the door to the right, it was a waiting room of sorts with a stereo and magazines and a large picture of the Beatles.   By the way, the lobby had a couch, a desk for the receptionist and several different covers of Beatle albums framed on the walls.  The place was mainly white and green (like the apple).  The place got quite untidy as we left the reception area and went up the stairs.  Believe it or not, there were gold framed LPs and 45’s just sitting on the floor or leaning here or there.  It’s funny now, years later, as I see the prices of things at auctions and conventions.  I could see how many items got into so many different people’s hands.

  So up the stairs and into the private offices.  First Ringo’s.  Lindsay told us he was involved in a contemporary furniture company.  There was a large egg-shaped chair that was hollowed out and you could sit in it and listen to music playing in the built-in speakers.  For its time, it was strange.   Then Paul’s office—there was a beautiful picture of him and John over the back wall, one I’d never seen before.  On the wall over the fireplace was a basic white wooden chair, sawn in half and just hung up there!  As we walked by his desk, I noticed a stack of 45s and I picked one up.  Lindsay said it was Paul’s new record due out that week.  It was “Give Ireland Back to the Irish” and these were promo copies.  He gave us each one.

From there we went into a small room which turned out to be a private screening room, with lush leather seats, but also pretty messy.  The projection room was right up from there.  This was probably my favorite, if there was any room I wish I could go back and spend some time in.  there was a wall 30 feet long and ten feet high loaded with cans of 16mm film.  The tape on the outside listed the contents: “J & P in India” “Studio Feb ‘66”, “Takes 4/5/6/7 MMT” etc.  I was going crazy!  Just imagine these films exist somewhere.  If only the Beatles fans of the world could enjoy them.  What good are they sitting in cans?

Back downstairs we went into a little kitchen and Lindsay made some tea for us.  Then he said, ‘let me give you some souvenirs before you go.’  He went into some filing cabinets and took out four copies of each item for us.  Promo pics of each of the Beatles, Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, and a beautiful magazine with pictures, telling of the opening of Apple recording studios, and some 45’s.  He also gave us a set of Apple matches sealed in plastic with the Apple logo and some Happy Christmas stickers.

After tea, we went downstairs to the new studios where the Beatles were to record, but obviously never did (as a group).  First we sat at the control board and with the touch of a button the lights came on very gradually in the studio.  Everything was brand new and beautiful.  The piano was just magnificent.  We all got to play a couple of notes on it.

By now we had been there about two hours and should have been tired, but it was one of those natural highs that was not going to stop.  Lindsay invited us over to his home for dinner the next night, but we couldn’t because the tour we were on was moving on.  That was the last time I saw Lindsay, and England for that matter.  I’m just sorry I couldn’t stay in touch with him over the years.  Even though I’m sure he won’t get this message, I just want to say a million thank yous for one of the most memorable times in my life. 

Meeting Paul in the Windy City

Here is a good story about a fan who did not win the contest to meet Paul during the "Broadstreet" promoting, but did have several meetings with him that day.    It comes from the Feb/March 1985 issue of the Write Thing and was written by Mike Matela.




It was a rainy and windy night in Chicago.  I arrived at the Ambassador East about 10pm and saw a few people sitting out in front holding signs and pictures of Paul McCartney.  I tried sneaking up, but I took one step off the elevator and was informed to please go back down, that's when I knew for sure hew as there.  So the wait started.  I lasted until one in the morning and went home dejected.  I set my clock for five am because I heard he'd been jogging the other day.  October 19, 1984, five o'clock came and jumped out of bed and headed back downtown Chicago.  A 25 minute  ride took fifteen minutes.  I was flying!    When I got there the same devoted girls were still there from last night.  I have to give them a lot of credit.  And the wait continued and it got colder and colder and much more windy.  We all stood by the entrance hoping to get a glimpse of Paul.  Then the next thing you know a voice comes out saying, "excuse me, I'm running late."  It was Paul!  He was coming in from jogging by himself.  Everyone there was shocked.  While we were looking for him to come out, he must have run right by us.  Luckily I somehow managed to take a slightly out of focus shot.  That sneak!  After that meeting my adrenaline was so high, I knew there was no way I was leaving.

Three limos pulled up about 9am, and people began to sense something  was going to happen.  About 9:15 he came out with Linda beside him.  Before you knew it, he was surrounded by people.  Luckily I got to take a couple of shots.  After he hopped into his limo another Beatle fan I'd met named Rich asked me if I wanted to hop into his car and follow him to the Ritz Carlton and of course I said yes.  We actually blew two red lights on Michigan Avenue, trying to keep up wit Paul.  We got there in time to catch him coming out of his limo.  We then found out he wouldn't be out for about three hours.  So I went to get some more film.  Later I found out that ten of my best pictures didn't come out because I trusted the lady there to load my camera.  Later on, back at the hotel we found out he was having lunch on the 12th floor and we shot up there and sat around.  And before you know it, he popped up, walking right toward us.  He came over and said hi, hugged the girl I was with (they died!) and then let me take those 10 pictures I was talking about.  Then he said he had to run because he had an interview with Gene Siskel.  Believe me, it was all too good to be true.

I got to meet him one more time about an hour later, which proved to be the highlight of the day.  He came out wit h the press and I caught up to him and asked him for an autograph.  He said "sure."  I shook his hand and said, "thanks for everything Mr. McCartney."  And that was it.  I'm still to the moment on cloud nine!


Side note from Sara:    The interview with Siskel was where Paul asked Siskel what he thought of the film and Gene admitted that he thought the whole thing was terrible.    It was reported that Paul was VERY mad at this and was close to throwing a glass of Orange Juice at Gene Siskel!      

Encounter with Paul

Encounters
Written by Keith Denemark
From the Fab/March 1985 issue of "The Write Thing"


My meeting with Paul and Linda McCartney all started when I received a phone call from New York on October 12, 1984.   The phone call was from a representative of Roger & Cowan's International Relationship Consultants.  I was told that I was selected through Paul's Club Sandwich mailing list to meet Paul when he comes to Chicago.

October 17th, I received another call from Roger & Cowan.  I was told to meet Paul tomorrow afternoon at the Ritz Carlton at 160 E. Pearson, 12th floor at 1:15.

October 18th I arrived at the hotel at 12:55.  Waiting on the main floor with Gwyn Ashley.  she was another person who was picked to meet Paul .   At 1:15, Gwyn and I went up to the 12th floor.  Couple of minutes later, Linda was walking towards us.  I removed my copy of "Linda's pictures" from the bag.  After she signed it, we had to wait about five minutes.  During that time, I was talking to Denis Golden and Gloria Rossi.  Five minutes past, the representative of Roger & Cowan brought us up to Paul's room.  Getting off on the 28th floor we walked to room 2819.  Walking into the room, Paul was not to be found.  Then Paul entered.  First he started shaking our hands.  Then he said, "why don't you all sit down on the couch next to me and tell me what's new."  I started taking pictures of Paul and Paul with the other fans.  then I was sitting next to him.  I gave him a drawing of Rupert the Bear and him, and he also signed some albums for me.  I had some pictures taken with Paul.  and then there was a photo session for the Club Sandwich.  After that photo session, I had my picture taken with Linda, too.

See the Beatles in 1977

Wow 1977 was sure a great time to be a Beatles fan!   One fan met Paul, John and Ringo all within the same year!  Here is his story from the August/September 1977 issue of "The Write Thing."  Written by Mitchell Borofsky.

Photos by Vinnie Zuffante

Seeing John was not that exciting.  We knew he would be at the Minskkoff theatre so we went there and followed them into the press section backstage.  There everyone was shooting pictures of him, Carly Simon and James Taylor.  A girl that I was with went up to him and said, "Hi, I'm nobody, but I'd like to say hello."  John said, "That's okay, we're nobody either."   I went up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Jimmy Carter" and he repeated me!  It's funny because the next night he was at the President's inauguration.

I saw Paul again when he came into the city to see "Annie."  I saw him at the hotel.  I just asked him and Linda if they remembered us.  They said yes.

The next day was a complete shock.  I saw him walking with Ringo into the Plaza Hotel.   They had been walking down 5th Avenue together.  We went up to Paul and Larry asked him to sign Linda's Pictures.  They both did and asked us not to follow them.  Ringo went straight up to his room.  Larry met Ringo the next day and gave him a shirt to which Ringo replied, "Thanks, I'll take anything!"

Photo by Vinnie Zuffante

I saw Ringo a couple of days later going into the hotel with John and Yoko.  I went up to show him the picture my friend took of him and Nancy with Paul and Linda.  He looked over my shoulder and said, "ahhh...that's a trip!"

The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl

With all of the excitement of the new Beatles album, "Live at the Hollywood Bowl," I thought it would be fun to take a trip back to 1977 and see the reaction from fans during the release of the original live Beatles album.   I have an arnenal of Beatles magazines and books in my basement, and so I went digging through the spring & summer 1977 files and was a little surprised to see that not much was written about the Beatles new album at that time.   Was it because Paul was so busy with Wings during that time?    Was it because new Beatles albums in 1977 weren't a big deal?   I don't know.   I did find one review tucked away towards the back of the May/June 1977 issue of "the Write Thing" written by Nina Goss.   

Reviews
By Nina Gross
June 1977

I found "Hollywood Bowl" to arouse greater emotion in me than I thought it would.  I h ave my share of bootlegs, but the state of those recordings isn't even worth speaking about.  "Hollywood Bowl" had much better sound than you would expect from the liner notes.   With any Beatle performance it seems irrelevant to discuss how well they played or sang.  I doubt the majority of Beatlemaniacs left concerts thoughtfully remarking that 'they really didn't do 'Ticket to Ride' as good as the album.'Yet, for the 1964 performance especially, their playing does reflect welcome good spirits and john really knocks you out with the sheer power of his voice.  For a while the screaming bothered me, until I realized the only reason was that my voice wasn't among the peoples' there.  By the time the rendition of "Can't buy me Love" rolled around, I was in tears, because I know this album embodies something I will never really know, and something I would sacrifice everything to experience for five minutes.  What was going on that night in August--while my mother was trying to toilet train me- transcended the boundaries of music and people going to a concert.   Perhaps I never will know what it is to be 100 feet from performing Beatles, but this album accomplishes what Martin humbly suggests in the liner notes, it gives us a "clue".  

A personal meeting with Ringo!

It is always nice to read a story about a true fan winning a contest to meet one of the boys.   Here is a great story about a fan that got to meet Ringo at his Hollywood house in 1976 as a result of a contest.  

photo taken by Cindy Rosenthal

Ringo and Cindy 

A Personal Meeting with Ringo!

By Cindy Rosenthal

The Write Thing  Jan/Feb 1977

It was pure luck that I won a contest to meet Ringo.  The contest was originally advertised as “Win a Diner with Ringo!”  To enter, I had to go to the local record store, put my name, and address on a slip of paper for a drawing.   There was also a replica of the Apple door standing in the store, which anyone could scribble on.   It was a clever idea to promote “Rotogravure.”  I won’t mention that I haven’t seen it used for any promotion yet.

Then came the drawing.  The object was to call the radio station within 5 minutes after the DJ called your name.   The first three names didn’t call within 5 minutes, and the 4^th name he called was mine.  I went into shock as I tried to dial the phone.  I got the station and proceeded to scream and cry to the DJ.  I had won!

What started out to be a diner with Ring in Hollywood, eventually turned out to be 20 minutes at his home and lunch with two Atlantic Records promoters.   Oh well, Ringo didn’t know what was going on so I couldn’t blame him.  It was three weeks before I even knew November 23^rd (1976) would be the day.  No one gave me details.   When Mary Ann took me to the airport, I still thought I was having lunch with Ringo.  I drank 2 glasses of wine before I got on the plane.  It really helped!  I had my instamatic camera and an 8 x 10 photo of Paul and Ringo from the LA Wings concert that Art Barry took for Ringo to autograph.  I flew to LA with the radio station promoter, his wife and their baby.   Gerry (the promoter) informed me I was going to go for a limo ride around Hollywood, then go to Ringo’s house to present the door to him, then to lunch.  Good thing I was a bit drunk or I would have jumped out of the plane.  I thought he meant Ringo was going to show me Hollywood by limo and go to lunch with me.   Wrong again.   

The Atlantic Record promoters, Steve and Barry greeted us.  We drove around in their limo for a couple hours.  They had to show me Beverly Hills, etc.   Barry explained that we couldn’t go to Ringo’s until 2:45 because People magazine was there interviewing him.  Great!  By that time I’d be sober again and scared to death.  Finally we drove slowly up to his home.  But then I wanted to ask Ringo if I could use his loo.  I was pretty calm as we walked into his front yard/patio.   I could see the swimming pool, the famous door, and a group of people.   Then suddenly all the people parted and I could see Ringo standing there waiting.  He was wearing a black oriental shirt, white scarf, blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up, red boots and sunglasses.  No bald head either, folks.  He looked a lot like the cover of “Rotogravure.”

As I walked towards him he yelled, “I’ll take the one in the short skirt.”  (A bit embarrassing since I was the only one in a skirt!).  I was introduced to him and shook hands.  Everyone else was introduced.  He looked at the baby and said, “give us a kiss.”  Steve told Ringo that he’d been at the Eric Clapton concert the night before and had seen the great ovation Ringo got when he came in.  Ringo said, “I always do!”  (And after the Wings concert, how could I doubt him?) .  Then Steve asked him if he had enjoyed the concert, and Ringo said, “some of it.”  Then Steve told him hello from Jim Keltner.   Ringo explained to Steve that he’d just been up partying all night with Jim.

Of course I was just standing there staring at Ringo.  There were several photographers there who wanted photos of Ringo with the door.  So Ringo went and stood by the door.  Barry told me to go point to my signature on the door.  I said, “No.”  I didn’t want to point to my corny message.  Marry told e to go stand by the door for photos.  Ringo stood to the left of the door and I was to the right.  Click, click.  What fun!  Now I know how the Beatles have felt all their lives.  I told Ringo all of the good stuff was on the back of the door.  So he and I stood reading the back (forget the photographers).  I mentioned all the phone numbers he could call.  He pointed to one and said, “I’m wondering about this one.  It says for a good time –call Tim.”  I told him San Diego has weird people.

Then Ringo came over and stood by me.  I was taller than him in my shoes.  He put his arm around my waist and sang , “Diamond are forever.”  (I can’t’ figure it out either)   I couldn’t get myself to put my arm around his small waist.  It took me a minute to gain my composure and then put my arm around his waist.  I asked him what he was going to do with the door.  Answer—“I don’t know.  Leave it here I guess.”  I said something about how people could knock on it.  He immediately started singing, “someone knocking on the door, someone’s ringin’ the bell..”  Didn’t’ sound bad at all either.   I told him he should do a cover version (no comment).  Then everyone else got into the photos.  Gerry stood on Ringo’s other side.  He asked him what kind f stone was in his ring.  Ringo licked the stone so it would shine (I guess) and told him; I don’t remember what his answer was.  I then mentioned the Eric Clapton concert and Ringo told me had had been at the Clapton party until 9am that morning.  About this time all the other people got into the photos.  The baby walked into the photo area, too.  People told her to move away.  Then someone said to keep her in the photos.  Ringo yelled, “Let her in the pictures!”  A clever lad pointed out that Ringo’s new single would be “Hey Baby” so the baby would fit in.

About then someone asked Ringo if the door really looked like the original door (Apple’s Savile Row).  Ringo stood in front of the door, back to cameras and said, “Actually, it doesn’t look like it at all.”  Everyone laughed.  Then to me he said, “The joke about this sign (pointing to the sign on the door) was that there wasn’t a ground floor.  It was just a hole.”

The photographers wanted to take photos of Ringo with the baby.  I grabbed my camera and took photos too.   He put his sunglasses on her and tried to tempt her with a sucker.   It was very cute.   Barry handed me my 8 x 10 to get the autograph.  I felt embarrassed to ask Ringo.  But when I asked him to sign it for a friend he said, “Of course I will.”  The photo was in a cardboard sleeve and when he opened it he saw Paul he jokingly turned away and said, “I’m not signing this!”  He turned back and stuck the wad of wrapping paper off the suck down the front of my jumper.   I explained that my friend had taken the photo at the concert and wanted an autograph.  He asked, “What’s your friend’s name”  I said, “Art.”  He asked, “Artie?”  I said, “No, Art.”  He seemed to be wondering where to sign the photo.  I told him I thought it was great that he had some out on stage at the Wings concert.  (He never answered my comment).  I  took the photo and put it by my purse.  When I came back everyone was standing around.  I noticed Nancy on the lounge chair.  She’s pretty.

Rich was standing alone so I approached him and asked, “When are you going to tour?”  He said, “I don’t know,” in a way that made me believe he doesn’t plan to.  He asked me if I h ad come all the way from San Diego.  “Yeah.”  He asked if I h ad driven up and I told him I had flown.  (I don’t think he knew I had won a contest!)

Someone was yelling that we should leave.  I shook hands with Ringo again and told him I  had been a fan of his for many years and that it was great meeting him.  He was so nice and calm.  I really wish I could have talked more to him.  My sincerity had to show.  I asked Barry to take a photo of Ringo and me.  A few photos were taken of Ringo with people.  Then we all said goodbye and left Ringo to have his interview.   I did get my free lunch with Steve and Barry.  It seemed ironic that form where I sat and ate my steak and drank my wine, I could see the building where I had frantically tried to see Paul at the Tommy premiere party in 1975.  Where does time go?   It was a day I’ll never forget.  Thanks Ringo!

Here are a few of the more professional photos taken that day