Report from Beatlefest -- top 5 highlights of the weekend.

I am here for my annual report back from the Fest for Beatle Fans in Chicago.    2018's Fest was a great time.   I was on four panels and gave a presentation -- so I was pretty busy.    I did not have a table set up to sell anything, so I was still able to see a lot of great things.    It was AWESOME talking to so many of you at the Fest!     A special hello to Kristine, Lola, and Kaeli who I met for the first time at this year's Fest and to all the people that stopped me and said "hi."   It really made me happy to see so many blog visitors in person.   You guys are really out there! 

Here are my personal top 5 best things about the Fest this year....


5.    Jude Southerland Kessler's Book Release Party

Before the Fest got going on Saturday morning, there was a special party to celebrate the release for Jude Southerland Kessler's 4th book in the John Lennon series called Should have Known Better.     What a great party that was!   Scott Erickson played John Lennon songs on the guitar,  there were donuts, door prizes, and lots of mingling and chatting about the Beatles and John Lennon.     

4.  Little Nicola

Remember the adorable Little Nicola from the Magical Mystery Tour film?   Well, she is now all grown up and was a delight to hear speak at the Fest.    Her memories were so cute!  It was a treat listening to her and meeting her after her talk.

3.  Seeing the next generation of fans

No need for more cowbell on this great rendition of "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and Monkey" by the Chicago School of Rock 

I can't tell you how much I love 3rd generation Beatles fans.   You guys are amazing!    Let's just stop and think about the fact that The Beatles have three generations of die-hard major fans.    I love the fact that places like The Fest for Beatle fans, all three generations can gather together and express the same passion for the guys.     The third generation fans made a big impression on me at the Fest this year.   The Chicago School of Rock did an amazing job on songs from the White Album and Hey Bulldog on Sunday morning.    If this is how we are going to hear Beatles music performed live in the future, then we have nothing to be concerned about because they play music that rocks!     I also enjoyed talking to several third gen fans.       These are the ones that will keep the Beatles legacy going, so more power to them!

2.  Tea and memories

On Friday night there was a nice session called "Tea and Memories" where those of us who regularly attend these conventions came together and shared our favorite Fest memories, photographs, programs along with a lot of laughs.    The Fest has become a sort of family reunion among all of us that go and it is a great time to spend with each other.   We have made so many wonderful memories and so many unforgettable things have happened over the years that it was so great to share those memories and be reminded of things forgotten.    Wally was a wonderful host. 

1.  Jack Douglas

John Lennon's producer, Jack Douglas was one of the best guests the Fest has ever had.    He really was the star of the weekend.    He told so many stories about John while making Imagine and during Double Fantasy.    His stories really brought out John's humor and personality.    Jack showed some photos and then he played the songs "Watching the Wheels" and "Woman" starting with the demo, then the rough mix and the final mix.    Hearing those songs like that was really emotional for everyone, but it was so appreciated that Jack brought them for us.     He was such a nice man.  He met with every one after his talks and his line was really long because he spent time telling more stories at the table.    He signed the book "Starting over" for me underneath a photo of him in the book and he told me all about when the photo was taken.    Such an unforgettable moment, especially since I am such a John lover.   

Honorable mentions go to All of the panel discussions, Geoff Emerick, late-night sing-alongs, singing "Hey Jude" on the stage, the artwork in memory of Nicole,  Ringo's drum kits,  and the brownies at the staff party.         It was great and I hope to do it again next year.     Attendance was noticably low, but it was pretty crowded on Saturday and everyone I spoke with was having a great time.   

Yellow Submarine 50th Anniversary - A Review

On July 9, 2018, I had the opportunity to see the classic animated Beatles film, Yellow Submarine on the big screen for the first time.     As a Beatles fan, it is always fun to experience a Beatles' movie in a group setting.   It is nice to hear others laughing at the jokes and singing along to "All Together Now" at the end of the movie.


I saw the film at the Tivoli in St. Louis which I would guess seats about 300 moviegoers.   The room was almost filled.   I noticed a variety of ages from first-generation fans all the way down to small children.   Many of us were wearing Beatles or Yellow Submarine T-shirts.  The cutest thing I saw was a little boy holding a stuffed Yellow Submarine and Paul doll. 


The general plot of the Yellow Submarine is extremely basic and is just as relatable and relevant today as it was 50 years ago.   The Blue Meanies are doing whatever it takes to remove all of the music and love out of Pepperland and it is up to The Beatles to restore order to the land.     The Beatles are our heroes and we are thrilled that they are able to beat out the baddies with love and music.   

The animation is dated.   It looks very much like the late 1960's.    It is very colorful but the characters are flat.   Maybe I think this because I watch Pixar and Disney animated films that are popular today.  The animation actually reminds me of some of the stuff you'd see on Sesame Street in the 1970's.  However, even with the outdated style of animation, it still seems to work and parts (the sea of holes for example) almost appear 3D in this new release of the movie.

The most disappointing thing about the Yellow Submarine is that John, Paul, George, and Ringo did not record their own voices.     I do not like the voices used for the Fab 4, and I have a hard time distinguishing between the four, especially when they are not on the screen.     I have come to accept this over time, but I can't help but think just how much better this movie would have been if John, Paul, George, and Ringo had made the time in 1968 to provide their own voices.   Thankfully you do hear the REAL Beatles throughout the many great songs that are used in the film.    They sounded wonderful in the 50th-anniversary film and mixed along with the vibrant colors, the music sequences were outstanding and well worth the experience. 

The VERY best part is the last few seconds when you see the four real Beatles hamming it up.   I got a kick out of hearing John announce that "newer and bluer meanies are seen in the vicinity of this very theater...."  while I was actually sitting in a theater and not on my couch. 

I know the 50th-anniversary showing is still being released in more cities around the globe.  If you were on the fence about going, I do encourage you to go.     I haven't heard if a new Blu-Ray/DVD is going to be released, but it should be.   The 1999 version has been out of print of some time.   Right now the only new things available for the anniversary if a vinyl single.

Yellow Submarine movie poster selfie!  2018

Denny Laine and the Cryers - A concert review

On October 21, 2017 my mom and I saw Denny Laine and the Cryers at the Trainwreck in St. Louis as part of the St. Louis Classic Rock Society Celebration.     We had seen Denny Laine in a full concert a few years ago and had seen him with other members of Wings at the Fest in August.   It is always hard for me to resist going to a concert (especially when it is an affordable $10) with a Beatles connection when it is happening in my area and so we went to see the 3rd member of Wings again.


There was a time when I didn't really like Wings.   However, once the Wingspan documentary came out, I decided to give them another chance and I started to really appreciate Wings as a band separate from the Beatles.    I think the harmony parts that Linda and Denny did really make the band. 

Of course Paul and Linda weren't with Denny Laine in this concert and it wasn't a Wings show.   Denny started off singing some songs that he did with the Moody Blues.    Besides the song "Go Now."  Speaking of this well-known song, when Denny did it at the Fest, his voice couldn't hit the notes.    This time his voice sounded stronger and he had a member of his back-up band (the Cryers) singing some of the higher notes.    I don't mind the older performers using the assistance of another younger person in hitting the notes.   

Denny went right into the Wings portion of the show and sang all of the songs you think of when it comes to Denny Laine and Wings (Time to Hide,  Spirits of Ancient Egypt,  No Words, Again and Again and Again) with a lot of energy and got everyone dancing or signing a long.      Those songs I expected to hear him sing --  I didn't expect to hear Picasso's Last Words and it just might have been my favorite song of the night.      I also really enjoyed when he sang the song Paul left off the Red Rose Speedway album,  "I would only smile."     Of course songs like "Mull of Kintyre," "Live and Let Die" and "Band on the Run" are always fun and get the audience singing along, but I much prefer when Paul sings them.

I have to mention that Denny's backing band, the Cryers, are outstanding.   You have to watch the girl on the keyboards.    I think she was channeling Linda some of the time and her harmony was spot on. 

Denny was happy to sign things that fans brought with them and he had a few Wings promo photos for sale that he would sign.  He also posed for photos and chatted a bit.    He was charging money for this at the Fest.   It was all free of charge at his concert.   

If Denny Laine is a guest at the Fest for Beatle fans again, I think I will skip it and go see him in concert again instead -  it was an overall better experience. 

The Cutting Edge by Leslie Cavendish : A book Review

Paul and Leslie look over the newspaper before boarding the Magical Mystery Tour bus 

Every year there are a few new Beatle books that stand out to me as being better than the rest.  I am happy to say that The Cutting Edge by Leslie Cavendish is one of those books.   When you first hear that the man who was the "hairdresser for the Beatles" wrote a book, most people roll their eyes and say something like "wow--anyone that ever knew the Beatles are coming out of the woodwork and writing tell all books.  Now it is the barber-- who next??"     Push those thoughts straight out of your mind because while Leslie was the Beatles hairdresser during their recording years, he was also a contemporary of the Beatles that spent quite a bit of time with them.   He was invited into Paul's home, spent time at Apple, EMI studios and participated in the Magical Mystery Tour among other Beatles adventures.    He was there and experienced things with the Beatles as someone not quite in the Beatles inner circle, but close enough to have an interesting perspective and tells new and different Beatles stories.

The party for Apple Tailoring.  That is Leslie in the hat on the very end. 

Leslie was a Beatles fan, just like most every other young person in the UK in 1963.   He listened to their music and loved it.  He even saw the Beatles in concert on April 21, 1963 at the "Jew-do" dance and was in awe of them.      Never in his wildest dreams did he think when he began working at Vidal Sasoon in London that it would lead to him becoming the Beatles official hairdresser.    However, through pure luck, that is exactly what happened.

In 1966, Leslie found himself at 7 Cavendish Avenue (with his last name being Cavendish -- it must have been fate!) cutting Paul McCartney's hair in his bedroom.    Soon after that he was cutting George and John's hair as well as many of the people that worked for the Beatles.  (He didn't cut Ringo's hair because Ringo's wife was a hairdresser and took care of Ringo's locks.)      When Apple came along,  he got the amazing opportunity to open up a shop in the basement of Apple Tailoring.  Things ended for him, as they did for many people when the Beatles broke up. 

What I liked about this book was that it was written in a very casual way.    It felt like Leslie was telling you these stories over a cup of coffee at a cafe -- although maybe I felt that way because I was fortunate to hear a few of these stories in person with Leslie at the place that was once his shop in London on a tour this summer.     Regardless, I think anyone that read The Cutting Edge will be able to relate to Leslie and find his writing to be very personable.     I also did not find any mistakes in this book.   He obviously had his research down because all of the dates and locations were correct and if there were any errors, they weren't obvious on my first reading unlike so many other books that have been published recently. 

Me and Leslie on a tour in England (we are standing outside of the building that was once Apple Tailoring.  It is now an art studio and had Beatles art in the window)

My mom and Leslie standing where he once washed George Harrison's hair 

As we see time and time again with those who remained employed by the Beatles for long periods of time, Leslie has a lot of integrity.   He never sold locks of the Beatles hair, even though he easily could have.   He never asked them for autographs (with one special exception), and he always treated them with total professionalism and respect.    It couldn't have been easy for him at times since he was a big Beatles fan before he met them   However,  because he chose to treat them this way and not go blab their secrets to every newspaper in town, the Beatles rewarded him with not only their businesses but with other special treats that you read about in this book.

As far as I am concerned, The Cutting Edge by Leslie Cavendish is a "must read" Beatles book of 2017.


The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon where you can purchase this book..   I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/3P8WYch

Sara's Beatles travels in the Netherlands

Like many people, I enjoy to travel.   I just love seeing new places and experiencing the culture as well as meeting the people.    Part of my traveling experience is to track town Beatles things wherever I go.    

Last month I went to Liverpool, London and the Netherlands.    I have reported about Liverpool and London in the past, and so I am not sure if anyone wants the whole "what I did on my summer vacation" to those places again.    I can tell you that I had an amazing time.   We celebrated Paul's 75th birthday with a bus load of likeminded fans in Liverpool,  went to the Whirral,  spent time in the Cavern Club and the typical Beatles sites.    In London we crossed Abbey Road, went into the Abbey Road shop, had lunch with a Beatles friend, went on a great Beatles tour and got to go inside of 3 Savile row.   

The last part of our trip took us to Amsterdam and since it was a new experience, I thought I would share a little bit about Beatles traveling in Holland. 

The Netherlands is a very small country, especially if you are from the United States.     We stayed in Amsterdam, but I am pretty sure we saw the entire country.         It was fairly easy to get around in Amsterdam because they had a tram that you rode around the city.   As long as you knew where you were going once you got off the tram, you were all set.  

Everyone in Amsterdam rides a bike.    I have not been a bike since I was a kid.   Here in the United States, bikes are sort of thought of as a child's toy and is not a major mode of transportation for most adults.    There were bikes everywhere and they seem to have more rights than people walking.   Just something to remember if you are ever in Amsterdam.

There are a lot of museums in Amsterdam, but the only one that we went to was the Anne Franke House.    If you are ever in Holland, you must see the Anne Frank House.  It is an unforgettable experience.

 One of the first places we went was to the Amsterdam Hard Rock Cafe.    I make a point of going to the Hard Rock at any city where I am staying.      They did not have a lot of Beatles things on display, but they did have this box that John and Yoko gave out to friends for Christmas in 1980.  

If you are a Beatles fan in Amsterdam you have to go to the Amsterdam Hilton, right?     The outside of the hotel looks very much like it does in the photographs of the hotel from the 1969 Bedin.    I am told that room 702 is decorated in John and Yoko decor.    I tried to get into the room myself.   It costs over $1000 a night to stay there, so that was out of the question.    I went to the front desk and asked the woman there and she told me that they were too busy at the time to take guests up to the suite, but I could come back at 11pm.    It just wasn't possible for me to return so late.   I asked her if I could just go up to the door.   To use the life, you have to have a keycard.    She again told me no and so I left the Amsterdam Hilton with some disappointment.

Speaking of hotels, there was a record shop near ours that had a big Sgt. Pepper display in the front window.    Look what was #2 that week!   Who would have ever thought that the Beatles would be back on the charts after 50 years!

Something else we did that had a Beatles connection was go on a canal boat ride.   As I am sure you recall, the Beatles (without Ringo) did this in 1964 when they were on their world tour.    It was fun to imagine the streets and bridges filled with fans as we took our one hour boat trip around the canals. 

We also made a visit to Alkmaar.    Alkmaar is a quick train trip from Amsterdam--about 30 minutes.   Here is my advise if you want to go to Alkmaar from Amsterdam.   Don't use the ticket machines at the Central Station.   Go to a live person and purchase your ticket.    The machines are for people with the "Dutch card," which if you are from the Netherlands, you don't have. 

Why did we go to Alkmaar?   It wasn't for the cheese---it was for the Beatles museum!   There is a large Beatles museum in Alkmaar.   Once you leave the train station, look for blue signs that say "Beatles museum"  and follow them across a bridge and you are there. 

The Beatles Museum is the personal collection of the fan that runs that place.   I was impressed by how organized it was.    Everything is laid out by album.  So anything that has to do with " With the Beatles" is grouped together, etc.    There is just so much original Beatles memorabilia to look at.  If you go, plan on spending well over an hour to look at everything.    "Let it Be" was showing on a big screen in the back and there was a lot of stuff for sale, including a great selection of "Dutch imports" (which aren't imports since they are in Holland!  I got a good laugh out of that).      My only issue with the museum is that a few of the items on display there (Ringo's Abbey road jacket, Paul's Shea Stadium jacket and George's first guitar to name a few) were labeled as being the original, when I am certain that they are reproductions.    

The last day we were in the Netherlands, we spent on a tour with Guus and Gabreilla of Beatles International.     They couldn't have been nicer or more helpful.    They drove us all around Holland and we saw Beatles things along the way as well as plenty of wooden clogs and windmills.      We went to Blokker and saw where the Beatles (again without Ringo) performed in 1964.   They have a monument build to honor this occasion of the Beatles' performance. 

Another one of the really amazing sites we saw was the WWII memorial where Alan Williams took the Beatles right before they went to Hamburg as well as the store where John stole the harmonica.

The trip ended to a visit to a Beatle friend, Ed's house.   Ed is one of the co-writer of the A is for Apple series, which I contributed to.   It is great to meet Beatles people in person after knowing of them online for so long.   Ed has a great Beatles collection and it was  a real treat to see it in person.

As you can see, the Netherlands has a lot to offer Beatle fans.    I know it isn't on the top of the list like Liverpool or London, but I think it is well worth the time to go and check out these sites as well. 

60 years of John and Paul!

Today marks a wonderful day in Beatles history.    It was 60 years ago TODAY that John Lennon and his band, The Quarry Men performed at the the church fete and Paul McCartney was in the audience.  Paul met the guys inside the church, played a little "20 Flight Rock" and well--history was made!


I was lucky enough to be at St. Peter's church two weeks ago.   Here are the photos I took of the area.  The stage from the hall is no longer there---instead it is in the Liverpool Museum down on the dock area.  It is really difficult to photograph the stage, but I did see it.

Photographs on display from July 6, 1957

Since a photograph wasn't taken of John and Paul meeting artist, Eric Cash painted this amazing depiction of what it was like.  Look at the details!

Here I am standing where the stage was back in 1957

Jackie Spencer shows the Rose Queen cape that was worn by the Rose Queen of 1957.