Meet the Beatles for Real: boat

Showing posts with label boat. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Monday, September 22, 2025

Monday, August 4, 2025

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Life With the Beatles (part 5) -- Just One More Show? (1964)

Life With the Beatles

Just One More Show?

By George Harrison

Liverpool Echo

February 29, 1964

Hoping to ride on the crest of the fantastic Beatles wave, the boss of the Miami Beach associated hotels chain, Mr. Morris Landsburg, came along with a juicy last-minute offer. A proposition that the boys should give one more show at the Deauville Hotel in Miami, where they were staying. "Just one performance", he urged, "to give another chance of seeing the Beatles to some of the 1000s who had been unable to obtain free tickets for the Ed Sullivan Show."

And for that one extra chance, Mr. Landsburg said he would pay them £3000 or 50% of the box office receipts, whichever was the greater. It sounded good, but the boys' manager, Brian Epstein, the 29-year-old behind-the-scenes genius, who was making our Beatles rich, turned down the offer.

He told Mr. Landsburg, gently, "They really need rest now, more than money." Disappointed, but still a staunch Beatles fan, wealthy Morris Landsburg, who was a prominent owner and breeder of racehorses, consoled himself by choosing a name for a foal which was born to his fine mare Papoose, during the previous Sunday's Ed Sullivan TV show. He called the colt "Beatles" and said, "I only hope he earns the same kind of money as those boys do."

During our last week in Miami Beach, concert offers showered in on the Liverpool quartet from all over America. Handsome young Brian Epstein refused them all in the most courteous and charming fashion, but nonetheless firmly for that. One interesting trait about Brian was that he would never discuss money matters or the earnings of the boys with anyone outside the inner circle. Newspapers were making the most gaudy guesses at what the Beatles would eventually take out of the United States from their tour, the royalties on their records, and on the marketing of Beatles products such as wigs, shirts, slacks, pajamas, wallpaper, and the rest. But Brian kept mum.

A few financial facts emerged, however, despite his reticence. Nikki Byrne, president of the New York company called Seltaeb, Beatles spell backwards, which is licensed by Brian Epstein's Liverpool firm, NEMS Ltd, to control the sales of Beatles wear in America, told me that he estimated they would sell about $50 million worth, more than £16,000,000 of Beatles articles this year. Capitol Records announced that The Beatles had earned more than £80,000 in royalties on their staggering sales of nearly 3 million albums and single discs during the month of January alone. February figures, they declare, would exceed that because of the huge profit given by the Beatles' American tour.

Don't forget that Paul McCartney and John Lennon are the composers of most of the hits, including the 3,000,000-plus top seller, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," come in for a tidy bonus on top, as the songwriters. Their extra cash could be £ 10,000 each.

My own estimate of the last two months, Beatles wages, American wages of the Beatles, not reckoning sales of Beatle products is likely to be nearer than most. For is based on information from sound sources. I put down royalties as £180,000, another £ 10,000 for three television shows, £ 4,000 for the Carnegie Hall concerts, and £ 5,000 for the wonderful night in Washington, making a grand total of nearly £ 200,000. Not bad for eight weeks' income.

Yet the boys treat the mention of money with complete indifference. George Harrison shrugs his shoulders when the matter is brought up. "Well, we can now afford a few more ciggies and suits, I suppose," he grins. Paul says, "What's money? We never see any. All they give us is spens." For the uninitiated, "spens". Is Liverpool for spending money.

The reporter asked what they thought of the Prime Minister's comment that they were his secret weapon for foreign trade and one of Britain's biggest dollar earners. Ringo exclaimed, "What's all this about us earning dollars for Britain? Are we supposed to share them out or something? "

When I gave John Lennon the tip off that "I Want to Hold Your Hand " was certain to top 3 million sales, all he did was screw up his face, as if working out a difficult sum, and shout across to Paul. "Hey, what's free million fardings faddah?"

For the last few days in Miami, the boys made the most of the glorious sunshine. They swam, went out water skiing and fishing, or just lazed around a swimming pool at the home of a few newfound friends. "This water skiing lark is fabulous, George," Paul enthused to me. "I've done a bit of it on holiday in Greece last year, so I was a way ahead of these peasants at it," he added, waving a lordly hand in the direction of the other three. "He's good", admitted George Harrison, "but he isn't all that good, even if he can do it one handed like, he still falls over as often as us."

They were guests one day aboard a 93-foot yacht owned by a millionaire furniture maker whom they met. The object was to bob around the Gulf Stream for a few hours in the sun and maybe catch some fish, even a shark or two. It had all been kept very hush hush by their publicity man who insisted that the boys required peace and quiet to pursue their pleasures untrammeled by such beings as cameramen and reporters.

What he didn't know, and neither did the Beatles, was that the boat's owner had also invited aboard for the trip a Miami news reporter and photographer as his guests. Things went fine for a while. John prepared corned beef "sarnies" -- Liverpool for sandwiches -- for his wife, Cynthia, and himself in the galley, while George and Paul lounged on deck with cans of iced beer and coke.

Nobody thought for some time to inquire into the identity of the two strangers aboard. When they did, the lads set up shouts of "Aha! Still always on board about you lovers!" and other odd nautical sounds. The publicity man got angry and demanded that the boat be turned around and head for shore, so that the newsmen could be dumped off, and that's what happened, despite the protestations of the pair that they had been asked to board by the owner.

Incidents on similar lines occurred frequently throughout the whole tour as enterprising news or camera hawks tried to break through the tight security ring around the Beatles to obtain exclusive pictures or stories. I was on a different footing from the others, having come all the way from the boys' home city of Liverpool, and I was able to see them pretty well, and when I wished.

But there were lots of angry scenes involving some of my press colleagues. But if the newspaper people tried every ruse they knew to get close to the boys, just imagine the tricks that the hundreds of faithful fans, aged 12 and 13, at the Deauville hotel every daylight hour hoping for a glimpse of their idols. Scores of eagle-eyed police were on Beatle duty inside and outside the hotel and basement lobby, lounges on every corridor on the sandy beach, by fire escapes, and in the kitchens. You'd think that with such on guard, it would be impossible for any unauthorized visitor to get through to the Beatles. Yet some of these youngsters did it.

A police sergeant told me, "This job is giving me white hairs, but I gotta hand it to our Florida kids. They sure are clever. It's taking us all our time to catch them. One boy fooled us this morning," He chuckled. "He borrowed a telegraph messenger's uniform from a pal, and with the hotel tray in his hand, he walked along to the 12th floor corridor to the Beatles' suite, pretending he had a cable for them. Another boy got through dressed as a waiter, and we've had a couple of cases where girls wearing maids' uniforms were able to get by the guards." Even so, these are the rare exceptions. Hundreds of kids have tried, but only a few have succeeded outside the hotel. "They've even staged fake fights to draw off the guards for a few moments and let their pals in the door," he added, I'd like to go on record as saying that the Miami Beach Police, who were saddled with this difficult and sometimes near heartbreaking job of Beatle duty, did it with tact, kindness and above all wonderful understanding. They were a great bunch.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Sea Shanty

June 7 or 8, 1980

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Making Music at the Mardi Gras (1975)

Paul McCartney: Making Music at the Mardi Gras

By D.J. Claw

Rolling Stone syndicate

March 10, 1975

Paul McCartney slipped quietly into this graceful city of swamps and sin while the vast apparatus of the Super Bowl cranked up to a climax. He slipped out a month later, in the wake of another local fever known as the Mardi Gras, with an album under his belt and rumblings of his first possible American tour since the days of the Beatles.

McCartney arrived on January 16 with his band Wings, his wife Linda, and their kids to cut an album at Allen, Toussaint's Sea-Saint Studio, a brilliantly gifted producer, arranger and keyboard artist who has worked with Van Morrison, the Band and Dr John, was recommended to McCartney by Paul Simon when the two met in Jamaica some time ago.

"Years ago, when we did an American tour with The Beatles, everyone said, what a pity it was. We never got to see New Orleans," McCartney noted, after being a fortnight into the palm fronds and gumbo buckets. "So what we're doing now is combining work, cutting an album, and doing the tourist bit. It gives you a sense of adventure."

"Actually, we get tired of the cold," Linda McCartney added as she sat next to her husband on the rear deck of the pleasure boat Paul had rented for a brief go round with the press.

Much of the time, they had been shuffling back and forth between the French quarters, the Richelieu Hotel, and the Toussaint Studio.

` Drummerless since the departure of Denny Siewell after the Red Cross Speedway [sic] album, McCartney has recruited a Macon, Georgia drummer named Joe English. Until the phone call from McCartney, English had spent the last three years playing with a group called the Jam Factory and living at Greg Allman's mansion in Macon. He has been recommended to Sea-Saint staff arranger, Tony Dorsey, by the Allman drummer, Jaimo.

Asked if the Mardi Gras was inspiring any of the music they were making. McCartney said, "I wrote a song about it called 'My Carnival', but it won't be New Orleans music. It'll be distinctly McCartney."

Yet he had obviously been impressed by the scene, adding that "This time of the year in New Orleans, there certainly is a great deal of lunacy in the air." The as yet untitled album has an anticipated May release date.

As for live performance possibilities, so far, talk about the anticipated tour has emanated chiefly from McCartney's able army of publicists. The 1972 European and 1973 British tours have been his only experience with live audiences since the disintegration of the Beatles. And McCartney was careful to point out that the band won't go out "until we're musically ready".

Asked if the disastrous reviews accompanying the recent George Harrison tour had discouraged him. McCartney said, "No, we loved it. We had a ball! In defense of the audience, though I thought George should have played more of his hits, more of his music. George was not accustomed to a great deal of prolonged singing, and perhaps the tour was too long." Returning to his own touring prospects, McCartney said that he was "excited by the prospect of getting out before a lot of old, friendly faces."

And were there any circumstances which might draw the Beatles back together? "I don't think that's possible," McCartney answered. "After all, we came out of the sticks and went full circle with the group. If you ask any of the others, I think you'll find they're very happy with what they're doing. We're all doing something new and stretching ourselves a bit. That's really how it should be."

A strict security blackout has been posted by McCartney and his production people, with warnings issued to the musicians and the Sea-Saint studio staff against discussing what was going on in the recording sessions. So when McCartney decided to meet the media, it was by way of a vehicle designed to take inquiring minds off their business on a warm, languid February afternoon, McCartney hired the services of the 50 year old tourist river boat Voyager to put- put around the bayou with 50 reporters and photographers for the occasion.

McCartney also hired the New Orleans Tuxedo Brass Band to liven up the dockside proceedings while sweating delivery men unloaded boxes of freshly boiled shrimp, crayfish, as well as terrains of gumbo. A pair of white limousines delivered McCartney, Linda, and Wings all decked out with Top Hats and walking sticks, plus a somewhat overwhelmed Joe English and studio partners Toussaint and Marshall Seahorn.

Pulling out of the Canal Street berth, clutches of tourists clad in Bermuda shorts goggled as The Beatles and Co. Voyager made for the lazy, spooky bayous --the mangrove swamps --where, through the course of an hour and a half, McCartney tried to definitely evade telling anyone what he was up to.

"Yes, I wrote nearly all the music. We came here to see Professor Long Hair, an elderly jazz pianist in New Orleans, a fixture. No, we haven't named the album yet. It'll be out in about two months. It'll be better than Band on the Run."

His obligations to the press were discharged, and McCartney and Voyager swung back to Canal Street. Waiting at the dock was yet another cargo of good grub, red beans and rice, ham hocks, sausages and mustard greens, bottles of grog, and a second shift of grinning passengers. This dime-a-dozen local musician with whom McCartney would cheerfully spend the better part of the night floating through the swamps, jamming and wailing while clouds of bugs hovered over the ham hocks.

McCartney spent the muggy night out on the Bayou with the cream of contemporary New Orleans music, Robert "Barefootin" Parker, Earl "Trickbag" King. Lee "working on the coal mine" Dorsey, Ernie, "mother-in-law", K-Doe, Mylon LeFevre, Clarence "Frogman", Henry, Alan Toussaint, the Meters, a band called Chocolate Milk, and Paul's longed for Professor Long Hair.

Under the more than five-hour cruise party, the Meters and Chocolate Milk performed, but it was not long before McCartney and Wings joined the Meters and Ernie K-Doe in a rendition of "I want to hold your hand", quite unlike the 1963 original, one observer reported. Followed by a trust of "Get Back" off the Hey Jude album and a wrap-up Soul melody as the ship steamed back to the Canal Street dock for the last time.

In a phone interview from the studio later, McCartney described his Riverboat Shuffle as a "ball." But when asked why he hadn't used any of the local artists on the album, he said adamantly, "because we're recording the ideas to be among the ambiance, not to record with it. Band on the Run was cut in Lagos, Nigeria, but it didn't have anything to do with Lagos."

As for the actual proceedings, McCartney still refused any attempts to describe it, though he said he was joining the Tuxedo Brass Band momentarily to lay down a track. Evidently, their appearance on the album and some earlier keyboard work by Toussaint would be McCartney's sole exception to his avoidance of the locals.

Paul and Linda finished recording in New Orleans by the 24th of February, preferring to avoid any additional three weeks of mix downs and polishing. They're evasive about their next steps, but indicated they were bound either West for LA or back across the barney seas to England, or changing their plans, they may always rely on their multidienuous disguises.