Lennon's Birthday (1971)

 Lennon's Birthday

No Writer Listed

Democrat and Chronicle

October 11, 1971

    It was John Lennon's birthday Saturday, and the songwriter and former Beatles celebrated number 31 in Syracuse amidst a box of salt on a four-foot-high plexiglass pillar, a bed, a bathtub, and a rusting automobile in an art museum. 

    The backdrops for the birthday party come from the British musician's wife's first solo art exhibit. This is Not Here, which was open to the public Sunday at the Everson Museum of Art. Visitors to the exhibition are fitted with rubber gas masks, the eyepieces of which are made of distortion-producing glass, and enter the display room through a telephone booth that has two sides removed. 

    Yoko Ono Lennon, husband John, and Everson director James Hartitus took the press on a preview tour. John Lennon said, "Everyone who is desperate enough can communicate. We're all artists, and when you walk through this show, you'll find you're involved in it. Anyone who has gone through the museums today would have communicated with us."

     In the basement of the museum, direct communication is encouraged through blank canvases provided for visitors who want to leave messages or paint designs of their own. For tenderness, viewers are invited to wrap with gauze a cylinder labeled "Yoko's tears."

     "I think Jim Hartitus is very, very courageous in taking a chance on me." The Japanese-born Yoko said. "People elsewhere probably didn't want to take any risks," she added.

     Once through the telephone booth entrance to the display, the viewer finds himself in a large room with a bed, a kitchen table with canned goods on top of a refrigerator, a steel I-beam, and a soccer ball. In the next room are the rusting automobile, a bathtub, a box of salt, and on an identical plexiglass pillar, a hypodermic syringe. 

    Attending the Sunday birthday party and opening dedication to Lennon were Ringo Starr, drummer of the former Beatles, his wife Maureen, bassist Klaus Voormann, drummer Jim Keltner and pianist Mickey Hopkins.[sic]

So this is 50

 

Today (October 8, 2026) is my 50th birthday.  Yes, I am a bicentennial baby.   I think this photo of Paul from the Apple Anniversary concert earlier this year is a good one to celebrate with.  Hope you all are having a good day.   What am I doing for my big day?  Nothing.  I am working somewhere near the Chicago area and tutoring.  It is just another day....

John's busy birthday

 

October 9, 1971 

Birthday Party for Stella

 September 13, 2011 

The birth of Stella and the name "Wings"

 September 13, 1971 

That's Sir Dr. Ringo

 July 7, 2026

On his birthday, Ringo received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Liverpool.  

Peace, Love and Cake

 July 7, 2011

Hard Rock Cafe in Hamburg, Germany 

Ringo's famous 21st birthday party

 July 7, 1961 

Spreading Peace & Love

  I am posting this at noon Central Time to say PEACE & LOVE!   Happy birthday Ringo!!!!   

Paul, Linda Enrapture Huge Throng (Tuscon 1976)

Paul with his birthday cake and gift baskets backstage in Tuscon

 

Paul, Linda Enrapture Huge Throng

By Larry Fleischman

Tuscon Citizen

July 21, 1976

    At 7:15pm Friday night, they opened the doors to the Community Center Arena for the Wings Over America concert, and 11,000 people came bouncing through. They came in shouting, having stood outside in the heat for several hours. Some had fainted. Inside the arena, meanwhile, the band went through its soundcheck, and local VIPs basked in the cool air conditioning, trying not to look overwhelmed by what was happening that night. 

    When the fans came in, they slid across the empty arena floor and crammed against the wood blockers a few feet from the stage. One wheeled his friend across in a wheelchair, standing on the back to gain speed like an Eskimo out for a sleigh ride. 

    They had come to see and hear Paul McCartney. After the concert, several young women stood on the lip of the stage, trying to send him notes and presents. One local jeweler had made Paul a gold pendant for his birthday. It cost $300, the jeweler said, but he didn't seem to mind. He had seen Paul McCartney.

     Paul and Linda were sitting in a little dressing room. One side of the room was filled with flowers, cakes, and hors d'oeuvres. A telegram "from your fans in Phoenix, who couldn't make the show" was presented to Paul, and he seemed genuinely glad to receive it. 

    When the reporters were led into the room, there was no sign of their traditional cynicism. It took McCartney and his wife to get things going by saying how much they liked Tucson. Linda said they had been planning to spend some time in town with friends, but never got a chance (she once attended the University of Arizona). Paul said he had never been to Tucson, noting that "Get Back", with its famous reference to the city, had come out of a Beatles jam session, "and the fact that I had met Linda."  "Jojo," Linda said, "had just been a name."

     The conversation turned to talk of the Beatles. When asked whether it took him a long time to get used to being a Beatle, McCartney said, "It takes forever. You never get used to it. You start a little group and you think, 'What should we call ourselves?' Every group knows the feeling."

     Paul has a way of handling people that indicates he is honestly concerned with the individual he happens to be talking to. It is a neat thing, especially around reporters who are sometimes treated less than civilly by big stars. 

    One thing McCartney disagreed with was the need critics feel for analyzing his music, for comparing the music he makes with Wings with the music he made with the Beatles. "When the Beatles first came out, it was called the 'Merseybeat'." McCartney recalled, "We didn't say that, we didn't call it that, some fellow did, and everybody listened to him. I've had to live with that for years; it was really just some bit of music.

     "Some fellows on guitar, bass, and drums, a little bit of a show. Get out there, do it. If they liked it, great.

     "I hate anything besides that myself, talking about it, analyzing it. I just enjoy it."

Paul's Birthday party

 June 18, 1976

Can you imagine going to a birthday party and watching Paul McCartney hit a piñata blindfolded?  Paul's birthday party 50 years ago was quite a fun time for those who were there, according to these photographs.  

I hope his birthday today is just as joyful.  Happy birthday Paul!!!! 

Mother and daughter

 Heather and Linda McCartney at a birthday party for Denny Laine.  I have shared this photo in black and white in the past and there was a lot of discussion about if that is really Heather.  So I am going to share the back of this photo with you as well.   Denny's birthday is October 29.  When I turn the back of the photo upside down, it looks like it is stamped to have been printed "Nov 76."  While the date written is 1976-1977 -- it had to have been taken at Denny's birthday party in 1976 which makes Heather 13 going on 14 in December. 

T-shirts for Yoko's Birthday

 For Yoko's birthday in 1971, John took photographs of lots of people Yoko knew (or sort of knew) wearing a "Yoko Ono" t-shirt (including himself) and made her a special photo album of the photos.  Here are a few of the photos that were in the album. 

Happy Birthday Wishes to Yoko

 

Happy (Belated) birthday to Lee!

 

I missed Lee's birthday on November 11 because I had these photos labeled as November 16, which could be the day they were published in newspapers or magazines.  

Ringo and Maureen must have really liked the name "Lee" for a little girl because if Zak had been a girl, his name would have been Lee, and if Jason were a girl, his name would have been Lee.   The third time was a charm for the Starkeys because Lee was born!

Paul's Here! (1967)

 

Suddenly the door bursts open and other photographers dash in.  Jane keeps her eye on our man, while Mum and Paul watch the others. 

And now, bearded Mal Evans spots the camera as Paul and Jane look at the cake. 

Birthday cake, followed by photographer Howell, is brought to the table. Note that Paul spots the camera

Present were other members of the Bristol Old Vic company, as well as Beatle road manager Mal Evans and Jane's mother Mrs. Margaret Asher. That's Jane's Mum at Pau's left. 
All photos taken by Duane Howell

Paul's Here! (DB's Exclusive Coverage of Paul McCartney's Secret Visit with Jane Asher!)

No writer listed

(Teen) Datebook

July 1967

    "It's Jane's show, and I don't want to steal any of her spotlight," Paul explained to us when he slipped in and out of the US for a secret five-day stay. 

    

    But Jane's 21st birthday party almost turned into a public spectacle when Denver photographers forced their way into the restaurant. Since the damage was already done, we contacted Denver Post photographer Duane Howell and arranged for exclusive use of the photos on these pages.

     Says Duane, "I found out the party was at the Quorum Restaurant and arranged for the owner to ask if a picture was okay. They said absolutely not! So I decided to wait by the kitchen. Nobody paid much attention to me, and as the waiter took the birthday cake into the private room, I followed and started shooting like mad.

     "A few other photographers had pushed their way in through the other door and came in as the cake was presented, and about a minute and a half, McCartney's bodyguard (editor: he means road manager, Mal Evans) escorted me out the front way, I might add.

    Besides celebrating Jane's birthday, Paul managed to get in some business conferences with his American agents, then he secretly took off for San Francisco, London, and the finishing touches on the new LP.

McCartney Attends Miss Asher's Party

By Del Carner

The Denver Post

April 6, 1967

    Are Beatle Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, actress Jane Asher, getting married soon?  That was a question Wednesday night in the wake of a 21st birthday party for the actress at the Quorum Restaurant. A party attended by McCartney, who flew to this country from London earlier this week to be with her.

     No one would talk for publication, least of all the two young principals. But a reliable source who attended the party said, "It wouldn't surprise me if they got married very shortly."

     The birthday party, hosted by the actress's mother, Mrs. Margaret Asher, was for the company and cast of the Bristol Old Vic Repertory Company, which opens a three-day engagement at the Auditorium Theater Thursday night. Miss Asher plays Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed Sunday night. She also appeared in Measure by Measure on Friday night.

     McCartney, perhaps the best looking of the Beatles, flew into town Wednesday, apparently from Dallas, where Miss Asher had spent Tuesday. McCartney came to the party sporting a coal black mustache and a double-breasted sports coat with a large yellow and black striped tie. 

    During the dinner, he sat between Miss Asher and her mother, a strong-willed woman who left no doubt in anyone's mind as to who was in charge of things. She cautioned several people not to discuss with anyone outside the room the relationship of her daughter and McCartney. On more than one occasion, she made it clear that there were to be no photographers or reporters admitted to the banquet room. 

    However, photographers from the Denver Post, Associated Press, and a London newspaper gained admittance just as Miss Asher's large birthday cake was served. The company booed and hissed the newsmen (good-naturedly, it seemed).  McCartney's unidentified bodyguard got up from the table and firmly escorted Post photographer for Duane Howell from the room.

     Miss Asher didn't appear to be upset, nor did McCartney. Both seemed to forget all about the incident once the newsman had left. Throughout the dinner, which consisted of a French vin rose wine, (Remy Dupont 1964) and chicken served in burgundy wine with wild rice.

    McCartney said very little. His conversation was low-key and centered on Miss Asher, whose long red tresses complemented her jet black cocktail dress. Among the presents Miss Asher received at the party were a large black pocketbook with a horn-rimmed handle, a brightly colored parasol, and a small single record phonograph player. 

    She also was given a large, oversized birthday card signed by the cast. The cake, decorated with 21 candles, simply said, 'Happy birthday, Dear Jane.' She also received a congratulatory telegram from Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, and Peter Asher, her brother, who is half of the Peter and Gordon rock-and-roll duo. 

    After the dinner party, the guests, led by Miss Asher and McCartney, danced in the Quorum Senate Lounge. Slight speculation in the Post on Wednesday that McCartney was in town, and rumors, which were rife throughout the day, less than a dozen teenage fans turned up at the Quorum to get a glimpse of the famed Beatle. Where McCartney is staying in Denver isn't known, but he and Miss Asher were scheduled to take a skiing trip to the mountains on Thursday.

John's 30th

 

The Family Starkey

 July 7, 2025

Everyone in the front row is a member of Ringo's family.  And I swear -- all of them look really chill and amazing. 

A Beautiful Family

 

Roy Orbison Jr and his gorgeous family celebrated Ringo's birthday with him back on July 7.  

Ringo's birthday surprise

 

July 7, 2010 -  Can you believe it has been 15 years since this amazing moment in Beatles history happened?   Paul surprised Ringo on his birthday by coming out and singing with him.   Everyone was shocked.  (Well not everyone -- you can read that story here) and it is something fans still talk about today.