Denny Laine contest winner!

Thanks to the 20 people that participated in the Denny Laine contest!    I chose 2 winners---the first winner get the genuine Denny Laine autograph and the 2nd winner gets a $10 Amazon gift card!

It was interesting to me what songs people sent to me to answer the questions---what song did Denny Laine write or co-write during Wings.

The most popular answer (not surprising) was "Mull of Kintyre" followed by Deliver your children, Time to hide, Again and Again and Again, London Town,  and Morse Moose and Grey Goose.

Here are the winners:


#1:   Andrea Hicks!

#2:  Angstcheer


Congrats to the winners and be on the look out for the Winter 2016 contest from Meet the Beatles for Real!

MTBFR Fall 2015 contest!

It is once again time for a fun MTBF contest for each and every one of you to enter. 

Denny Laine in Paris in the mid 1960's

If you keep up with this blog, then you will know that I was fortunate to see Denny Laine in concert this past September.    After the concert, he came out to sign autographs and pose for photos and he signed two things for me.   One was a photograph of him with Paul and Linda for me and another is the cover of the Wings Greatest Hits Cd for a contest prize!

So I am giving away one genuine autograph of Denny Laine, who was the guitarist during the entirety of Wings as well as the early years of the Moody Blues. I can guarantee that he signed it because I saw it happen myself.  

If you want to enter this contest, here is what you need to do.

1.   Send an e-mail to meetthebeatlesforreal@gmail.com and tell me one song with Wings that Denny Laine helped write (or wrote by himself).  

2.  Do NOT wait for a response.    I cannot send email from the meet the beatles for real account, just receive them.    I will assign everyone a number and then use a random number generator to pick the winner.

3.  Return here in two weeks--November 15, 2015  to see if you are the winner!   If you are the winner, you have 2 weeks to contact me with your address so that I can send you your prize.

Please note that this contest is open to anyone in the world, however only one entry per person (even if you have different email addresses).   Please spread the word!

Sara S.

Cure for the summertime blues

I don't know about the rest of you, but I just feel like this has been a bummer of a summer.    I haven't gotten to see Paul or Ringo this summer (although I know a few of you have), viewership on this  blog has gone down and the days have been very rainy or extremely hot.   I haven't gotten to get out of my house a whole lot because of the weather.    So I thought I would brighten up the summer (or winter if you live elsewhere) with a small contest.     Oh---another bummer----the Help! contest I thought I was going to have this summer I guess isn't happening.   But I am holding a small contest for some little souvenirs that I picked up with you all in mind when I was at the Rock n roll Hall of Fame in June.    Please note that these are just little trinkets and nothing special.  


Prize A:

• A British Invasion kids book.  This is full of cute stickers that look like the Beatles and little activities like a maze to help the bass player get to his bass
• Rock n roll Hall of Fame 2015 inductees badge--Ringo's name is on it!
• $10 Amazon gift card

Prize B:

•  a purple bracelet that says imagine peace
• a tye-dyed Rock n Roll Hall of Fame coaster
• $10 Amazon gift card

To enter the contest email me at meetthebeatlesforreal@gmail.com  and tell me if you want to be entered into the contest for prize A or prize B.     I will then give each person a number that I will keep track of (I will not be sending you an email back this time).   One August 2, 2015  I will pick two numbers and announce who the winners are.

Please note that you can only enter the contest once, regardless of how many email addresses you have.     You can enter the contest regardless of what country you live in.   (although I am not sure how amazon gift cards that were purchased in the United States work in other countries).    I bought this stuff with my own money just for a fun contest, so please be kind.    Good luck!

The the Winners are-----

The Beatles ring the bell to announce the winners of the Meet the Beatles for Real 6th anniversary contest!    If your raffle number is listed, please email me back with your original email with your mailing address.    There were 33 contestants this time!  Congrats to all winners!


Winner #1:   A set of Ringo for President buttons (only sold at Ringo concerts) and a yellow submarine pin:   015

Winner #2:  Original PYX 1964 Beatles magazine:   033

Winner #3:  All of my double photos from my photo collection:   023

Winner #4:  $10 Amazon gift card  018

Winner #5:  Recipe Records:  A Culinary Tribute to the Beatles book donated by Lanea Stagg at http://www.reciperecordscookbook.com/index/    07

MTBFR update and contest!

You might not realize it, but today we have something to celebrate here at Meet the Beatles...for Real!   This very blog has been online for 6 solid years today!   Hooray!   Want to hear something silly?  Today one of the kindergarten students at the school where I teach came up to me and announced that today is her birthday and she was 6 years old.  And so I thought, "wow---if my  blog was a person, that is what it would be like."     Over the past 6 years I have seen a lot of awesome Beatles blog and sites come and go.   But I am still here and I have no plans on going anywhere.  So as long as you all are enjoying the photos and stories---I will be here.    Oh who am I kidding?  I would do this for myself even if no one read this, which I still have my doubts that people even pay attention to this blog.


I am holding a contest for the 6th anniversary of the blog!  It isn't a big deal contest, but here it is.   I will be giving away 5 prizes to 5 random winners.  

Prize #1:  A vintage PYX Beatles magazine from 1964.  
Prize #2:  Ringo Starr "Ringo for President" buttons.  I bought these at the Ringo concert in October 2014.  Plus a Yellow Submarine pin
Prize #3:  $10 Amazon gift card
Prize #4:  All of my "left over" Beatles photos--these are a grab bag of photos that I happen to have doubles
Prize #5:  A mystery prize (because I haven't came up with it yet)


To enter the contest send an email to meetthebeatlesforreal@gmail.com (note this is a different email). And I will give you a number.   Keep your number and on April 1st (no joke), I will use a random number generator to pick the 5 winners.   I will announce the numbers on this blog at 10pm that nigh.  The winners have 3 days to contact me with their mailing address or I will pick another number.   The contest is open to everyone everywhere.  Celebrate with me 6 years of MTBFR!

  I am still working on my book.   I have been gathering some amazing stories and photos to include in the book and I know everyone is going to really enjoy it.   If you haven't done so, please look at the link at the top of the blog to see if you can help me with the book.   I am also still accepting donations towards the book to pay for the more expensive photographs that I want to include.    If you have a few dollars to donate, it would be greatly appreciated! 

Beatle fans in the City of Lights

Beatle fans at the Eiffel Tower

One of the British newspapers held a contest in January 1964 for an all expenses paid trip to Paris to meet the Beatles, attend their concert and to sightsee at all of the well known Paris spots!    This sounds like the ultimate contest win to me!    Not only did these fans get to meet the Beatles and have some fun backstage photos taken with them, they also got to have fun with other Beatle fans in Paris, France!    I love these photos!

Contest for Beatlemaniacs!

Attention all Beatlemaniacs!    MTBFR is holding a contest for some "Beatlemania" era items.   Here is a photo of what you get if you are the lucky winner:

1. Issue of Feb 2014 Parade newspaper
2. Current issue of Missouri Life magazine with a story about the Beatles trip to the ranch (compliments of my friend, Michele Morrison!)
3.  8 x 10 of four photos of George with his sister, Louise from Feb 1964.  This was signed by Louise Harrison in September 2013.
4.   3 small photographs of Paul McCartney (one has Mal Evans in the background).  These were prints that one of the fan magazines sold in the 1970's.


To enter this contest, please answer the following two part question:   Which Beatle was not present during the 1964 press conference in Milwaukee?  Why was he absent?

Email you responses to me, Sara at Starshyne9@yahoo.com by 12:00pm (Central Standard time) on Sunday September 21, 2014.

Here are the offical rules of this contest:

1.  Anyone from anywhere (except for one person who's name is that of a flower or a pizza topping) may enter this contest.    It does not matter what country you live in.

2.  Only one entry per person please.

3.  One you have entered the contest, I will email you a number.    Please do not lose your number.  I will not be keeping track of them.   I will use a random online number generator to pick the winner of the contest. 

4.  The winner number has 48 hours to email me with the original email that I send him/her to declare that he or she is the winner.   If I do not hear from a winner within 48 hours, I will pick another number.

5.  I will announce the winning number the evening of September 21, 2014.


Please note---if you are the winner, I will mail your prize out to you USPS.   At times I work late and am not able to get to the post office.  I will get your prize to you eventually.  I am not going to rip you off or anything....it just might take me a week or two.  

Best of luck to all of you Beatlemaniacs out there!

Peace and Love,
Sara S.

Drum roll please!

The boys came over and helped me pick out the winner of the autographed Good Ol Freda DVD.... alright...you got me.  They didn't come over and only had 29 entries into the contest.  I just put the numbers into the random number generator.   Here is the winning raffle number----

If you are number 015 please email me by responding to the email I originally sent you with your number in it.   Please send me the address where you would like your DVD mailed.  

Thank you everyone who participated.   These contests haven't been getting a whole lot of response.  I am thinking about not doing as many of them.    Maybe if I did a few contests instead of one every other month, I would get a better response?   I am not sure.  

Contest for Good Ol' Freda DVD

Hello Beatle fans around the world!   It is time for another contest from MTBFR.   This time I have a great item that I am raffling off and it is an item that I just love.   When I was at Beatlefest this past February in New York City, I bought this special item especially to give away as a prize for all of you.   I have one copy of the DVD of the documentary  "Good Ol Freda" which is a touching story of the Beatles fan club secretary, Freda Kelly.   And to top it off, the DVD is autographed by Freda Kelly herself!   So yes, this time I am giving away an autgraphed copy of the DVD, Good Ol Freda. 

How do you enter this raffle you may ask?  Well...since this film is the story of the Beatles fan club, I am looking for anything that pertains to the Beatles fan club.    Tell me if you have ever been in a Beatles fan club?   What did you do?  What items did you receive?   And if you have scans of anything fan club related to share with me, you will get 2 raffle tickets for the DVD.  Alright!    What if I have never been in a Beatles fan club, you might ask.   Well....MTBFR is a like a Beatles fan club, isn't it?  So tell me a Beatles forum, chat or site that you contribute in some way to.  

I have only been a member of one Beatles fan club.   From 1994-early 2000's, I was a member of the St. Louis Beatles fan club.   I attended a fan club picnic and I won the Beatles trivia contest.  I also attended a few tribute band concerts around St. Louis with the club.   I received a newsletter about four times a year.   It was neat being in a Beatles fan club!

Here are the official rules for this raffle:

1.  Email your answer about Beatles fan clubs to me, Sara, at Starshyne9@yahoo.com .   I will email you back with a raffle ticket number.   Keep that number!   I will not be keeping track of who has what raffle number.

2.  All entries must be received by May 14, 2014 by 5:00pm (central time).  I will announce the winning number that evening on Meet the Beatles for real blog (not on facebook or tumblr).   If you have the winning number you have 3 days to email me with your mailing address.  If I do not hear from the winner in 3 days, a new number will be chosen.   I will be using an online random number generator to choice the winning number.

3.  This raffle is open to anyone and everyone.   It does not matter what country you are from or if you are a regular visitor to this blog.

4.  Only one entry per person please.  



Best of luck to everyone!

The winners are----

There were not a whole lot of contestants this time around for the "left-overs" contest to celebrate the blogs 5th anniversary.   That is fine.   I didn't publicize this particular contest as much as I have others in the past and I know the prizes weren't as grand as other prizes have been.   I also have to say that you all have gotten very creative with your names these days.   Anita Deal had to be one of my favorite contestants and there were 2 Paul McCartney's that entered.  

Here are the winners:

Prize pack #1 (Lot of George Harrison photographs): no entries
Prize pack #2 (Lot of Beatles magazines):  Daniel K.  ( He has been visiting the blog since 2012 and visits every day!  He is getting back into the Beatles and enjoys learning about them on the internet).  Congrats to Daniel!
Prize Pack #3 (Beatles Solo in the 70's book, magazine and $10 Amazon gift card):  Paul McCartney!  Can you believe it!  Paul McCartney won my contest!   This Paul's email address begins with "Rocky Raccoon."    (Paul has been visiting MTBRF for the past 6 months and his favorite part is the fan stories).

So if Daniel and "Paul" could send me your addresses, then I will mail your prizes off to you when I get a chance.   Although we all know that Paul McCartney lives at 7 Cavendish Avenue in St. John's Wood London.  Haha!

While I am talking about winners, one of the winners of the Vincent Vigil Beatles print has never sent me her address.   Rebecca K if you are out there, I need your address!    If I don't hear from her by April 15, 2014 I am going to pick another winner.   I can't let this awesome photo go to waste!

Be on the lookout for my next contest.  It is for an autographed DVD by someone who  is very important to this blog.  

MTBFR update March 2014 / New contest

 

What Goes on?   MTBFR update for March 2014

Greetings  Beatle fans everywhere!    A special welcome to our new friends who have joined us after hearing me on the "John Lennon hour" tonight.   Welcome aboard.   Have a great time exploring the archives and feel free to email me if you have any stories of your own to share.   I hope you find this blog to be different than other Beatles sights out there.

Today is the 5th anniversary of the blog.   Can you believe that?   Well I sure can't!   Five years ago tonight I started to post candid photos of the Beatles taken by fans.  I have gone over why and how I started the blog a zillion times by now, so I won't get into it again.   I just want to thank all of you who have supported me over the years.   I especially want to thank Lizzie, Exclamation Mike,  Mister Kite, and Bruno for the extra support they have given me.   

There has been a lot of ups and downs on this blog over the past 5 years.   I have seen drama over photo scans  and two threats of law suits and you all have been there by my side through it all.  I have also seen friends get reconnected, family members find photos of deceased loved ones that they thought were gone forever, a plea to help find a photo of a loved one that was found and so many more amazing and wonderful stories.   Beatles photos are meant to  be shared.   I started all of this 5 years ago with that manta and I still have it today.  Thank you to everyone who has ever emailed me a photo or a story of meeting the Beatles to share with the world.   We all appreciate your willingness to allow us into your lives and share in your good fortune.   

I have said for years that Beatle fans are some of the best people in the world.   And while we might unfortunately find that rare black sheep of the fandom, I still believe that is true.   The kindness that so many of you have spread to me over the past five years is amazing.   Thanks to each of you.

One of the big things I did in honor of my 5th year online, I bought the websight "www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com"  What does that mean?    Well it means that you no longer have to put the "blogspot" into the address to get to this blog.   It will make it much easier for me to tell people to go to the blog.  However, you do not have to change your links or anything.   The old address and this new one will both show the exact same thing.  Cool huh?

The last thing is that I am holding a new contest for the 5th anniversary.   It isn't a big deal contest.  It is Sara's leftovers.    Just doubles and extras of things I found in my collection.   To enter this contest you need to send an email to Starshyne9@yahoo.com  and tell me how long you have been visiting MTBFR and what is your favorite thing about this sight.   Next chose which prize pack you would like to win.  Number 1, number 2 or number 3

Here are your choices

Prize pack #1   photos
10 photographs that are mostly reprints.   Most of these photos are 4 x 6 of George Harrison.  There is 1 8 x11 of Yoko and the band from 1980.

Prize Pack #2  Magazines
The Write Thing (Aug/Sept 1977), Parade magazine (Feb 9, 2014), McCartney Observer (1990), Beatlefan (July-August 1994), Strawberry Fields Forever (#52), Strawberry Fields Forever (#51), Beatlefan (Paul McCartney 1990 World tour special---tons of photos)

 

Prize Pack #3  Books
Solo in the 70's by Robert Rodriguez, Mojo 1000 Days that shook the world (1965-1967), $10 Amazon gift card (to buy your own Beatles book)



The fine print:   Only one entry per person.    Please have your entries into my by email by 5:00p.m (central time) on March 31, 2014.  On that day I will pick 3 winners from each prize pack using a random number generator online.  This contest is open to everyone everywhere.

Peace and Love,
Sara (aka Starshyne)

Winner Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest with the scrambled words to win the 8 x 10 print of the Beatles at LAX in 1964 provided by Vincent Vigil!   It was a really fun way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles.    For those of you playing along at home, here are the correct answers. 


1.  interviews
2.  paul
3.  peppermint
4.  coliseum
5.  buddy
6.  carnegie
7.  plaza
8.  cynthia
9.  george
10.  ringo
11.  screaming
12.  airport
13,  beach
14.  john
15.  maysles
16.  beatles
17.  miami
18.  train
19.  concerts
20.  sullivan (this one seemed to have been the one most missed)
21.  transistor
22.  deauville
23.  beatlemania

There were 34 contestants and 26 of them got all 23 answers correct!   Of the 23 corrects, I assigned everyone a number and the winner number given to me by the random number generator were 8, 9, 10, 16, 17

Here are the Beatles pulling out winning raffle tickets at the British Embassy 50 years ago tonight.

 

The five lucky winners of the contest are:

Gary

longwith4

Rebecca K. 

Shannon

Jeanne

If you are one of the winners, please email me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com with your mailing address.

Thank you again to everyone who entered this contest and to Vincent Vigil for supplying such an awesome prize!   Be on the lookout for another contest very soon to celebrate 5 years of Meet the Beatles...for Real!

 

If you are one of the winner, please email me your address.  Starshyne9@yahoo.com 

Contest still going on

Just a reminder that the contest to win 1 of 5 photos of the Beatles at LAX in 1964 provided by Vincent Vigil is still going on.

Just unscramble these words dealing with the Beatles' time in America in February 1964 and email your answers to me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com 

Contest to win a Beatles photograph!

I am excited to announce the 1^st contest for 2014 in celebration of the Beatles 50^th anniversary of their arrival in America.     

Beatles photography collector and archivist, Vincent Vigil has been kind enough to donate five 8 x 10  prints taken from the original negative of the Beatles during the press conference held in Los Angeles at LAX in August 1964 just prior to the start of their North American tour.   Here is the photo and a youtube video where you can see the footage of when the photo was taken. 

This photograph can be yours!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yukTejx9Kc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Vincent has been making quite a name for himself as a Beatles archivist.   He began collecting vintage Beatles prints in the 1980’s and now has an outstanding collection of original Beatles photographs.  His photo collection has been showcased in several exhibits and he will be presenting a special Beatles 50^th anniversary exhibit this year at the San Diego County Fair.    I am very proud to be able to work with Vincent to make this contest possible for Beatle fans everywhere to win their very own photograph.

To enter this contest you need to correctly unscramble these 23 words.   The only clue I will give you is that all of the words have to do with people, places and things that deal with when the Beatles first came to America.    The five people who have the most correct answers will win the photograph.  In case of a tie, I will use an online random number generator to choose the winners.     Please send your answers to Starshyne9@yahoo.com before February 9, 2014 at 5pm central time.   The winner will be announced that evening.   Good luck!  

Time for the winner!

I am happy to announce the winner of the book Beatles vs. Stones.    There were 38 contestants entered into this particular contest (the most of all contests I have held so far!).    I went to the free online number generator and entered that I wanted one number between 1 and 38 and the number given was number 8.      Each contestant was assigned a number as the entries came into my email and number 8 was assigned to:


Doug K.!!!

Congratulations to Doug!  You have won the book.  Yippie!    Please email me your address and I will mail the book off to you as quickly as I can get to the post office after work this week.   

Thank you to Simon and Schuster publishing for providing the book for the contest and thank you to everyone who sent in you entry.   The correct answer of course to the question of "What song did John Lennon produce for Mick Jagger in 73/74"  was "Too many cooks (spoiled the soup)."

This is the last contest for 2013, but be on the lookout for an extra exciting photo coming up.  Check out the Meet the Beatles for Real facebook page for a sneak peek!

Sara S.  

One last call

This is my last reminder about the contest to win the book "Beatles vs. Stones."   The deadline to enter is Monday December 9 at 8pm central time.So far there are 28 contestants entered.   That is the most I have had for a contest, but it still isn't a whole lot.   So your chances of winning are pretty good!

 I wanted to let you know that anyone from any country in the world is welcome to enter the contest.I will pay for the shipping to whoever wins out of my pocket, but just know that if you live father away from the United States the mail might take a bit longer with the holidays.

Email me the answer to the question:  What song did John Lennon produce for Mick Jagger in 1973/74?

Starshyne9@yahoo.com

Contest time again!

Friends, it is time to hold the last offical Meet the Beatles..for Real contest of 2013!  I hope you all have enjoyed the contests I have held throughout the year.   Be on the lookout for more awesome contests in 2014!

Last month, Simon & Schuster contacted me about a new book they were publishing called Beatles vs. Stones by John McMillian.   They offered to send me a copy of the book to review and an extra to give away to one of my readers.    I was all over that!   Honestly, I have been so tied up with the "Tune In" book that this book hasn't gotten read yet.   I am going to start either tonight or tomorrow and will right a review of it.   The quote that grabbed my interest is:

"I didn't read this book--I inhaled it.  This a terrific new take on a great old rock n roll story, a clash of the musical titans."  --  William McKeen, author of Outlaw Journalist.


I admit that I am not much of a Rolling Stones fan.   I really love the song, Paint it Black, but besides that, I don't know...they don't excite me like the Beatles.   But I am willing to give this book a try and learn some new things about the rivalry between the two bands. 

I have one extra copy of this new hardback book (a $26.00 value) sitting here next to me to give away to one of you!   Here is what you have to do:

1.  Email me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com  the answer to this question:

What is the name of the song that John Lennon produced for Mick Jagger in 1974?

2.  Make sure that you have you answer in by Monday December 9 at 8pm central time.

3.  I will give all correct answers a number that I will keep track of.   I will use a random online number generator to choose the winner.

4.  Winners will be announced on Monday December 9 after 8pm (central time).  I will mail the book out and the winner will have it before Christmas.

Spread the word!   And best of luck.

You know what I still need?

As far as I know Paul hasn't "thrown the ball" yet to anyone and so I am still in this competition and trying to get more votes.    I am now #25, which is pretty cool!     If you haven't clicked or if you want to try again, please help me.   Sorry to be annoying with this, but at least I post a different Paul photo with my begging every day.

http://paulmccartney.com/queenieeye/r/RMxp

And the winners are.....

So the Beatles put all of your contestants' (all 31 of you I might add...the most ever!) names into a hat and pulled out the two winners of the Liverpool/London Beatles souvenir prize pack.  And the winners are...  (Ringo can we have a drum roll please?).

Oak and Maria!!

Congratulations goes out to Oak and Maria!!   If you two would please email me your address, I will get your prizes out to you as soon as I can.

Some of you were wondering about the outcome of the question I asked.   So here are the results of that.   Of the 30 people who entered, 8 had been to Liverpool at one time in their life.    For some, it has been a long time, for others it was more recent.

The top places that those who have been to Liverpool liked the most were:
1.  Mendips (3 votes)
2.  The Grapes (2 votes)
3.  Strawberry Field (1 vote)
4.  The Cavern Club (1 vote)
5.  The Beatles Story Exhibit (1 vote)

The other 22 contestants who have never been to Liverpool, mostly have one thing in mind:  They want to see the Beatles childhood homes.   That seems to be the most common answer in some form, with 10 people total saying either an individual Beatles' childhood home or just childhood homes.  Here is the breakdown

1.  Mendips (5 votes)
2.  Strawberry Field (4 votes)
3.  Paul McCartney's childhood home (3 votes)
4.  The Cavern Club (3 votes)
5.  All of the Beatles childhood homes (2 votes)
6.  Penny Lane (1 vote)
7.  St. Peter's church (1 vote)
8.  The Grapes (1 vote)
9.  The Beatles Story Exhibit (1 vote)
10 Casbah Club (1 vote)
11.  Everywhere (1 vote...sort of a cheating answer....haha!)

So there you have it!   As for me, I have to agree with the majority here, Mendips was my favorite place to go in Liverpool.  Something about standing in John's bedroom and looking out of that window and standing in the front porch is just super special.   A close second place is somewhere that was barely  mentioned, and that is the Casbah club!   Unlike the Cavern (which is cool...don't get me wrong) the Casbah is still exactly like it was when the Beatles were there.   It hasn't been torn down.  John Lennon carved his name in the wall twice and it is still there!  You gotta see it if you are in Liverpool.

That being said, if you are planning on going, please consider using Tony at the Beatles Pilgrimage tours for your trip.   You get an amazing experience of both Liverpool and London.

Last Call for Contestants!

photo I took of Liverpool while on the Ferry Across the Mersey

Just a note to remind everyone that the contest to win the Liverpool/London Beatles souvenir prize pack is quickly coming to an end.    You have until October 30 2013 at 5:00p.m. Central time to send in your response.   Two winners will be chosen as well as the list of where people would like to visit.

To enter this contest, you just have to email me the one Beatles  place in Liverpool you would most like to see OR if you have been to Liverpool, what was your favorite Beatles related place.   Send those emails directly to my inbox at Starshyne9@yahoo.com

Good luck!