Checker jacket it out.

Ringo at Disneyland

I can't believe I have never posted this photo on this blog!  It is awesome!   It is in the mid 1970's and Ringo Starr is with his children at my favorite place on earth to be:  Disneyland!    They are walking in New Orleans Square near a gift shop that sells glassware (or at least that is what I think).   Walking with them in the "plaid"  (the cast member that is assigned to escort famous people around the park so that their day at the Disney park is easy) named Nancy Allen.   I love how Ringo is holding Lee's hand.  Is that Zak behind her in the sunglasses?   Where is Jason?   Behind Ringo maybe?   I have no idea who took this photo, but I thank them greatly!

Getting out

Another car photo

A wild night is in store....

Surrounded by fans

Baby Sean

This Lennon family photo just melts my heart!

Double the Cavendish

This is a photo that is current up for sale on ebay. It is really a neat photo. Here is the little story that the seller tells with the photo

While we were driving through London looking for Paul's McCartneys Office, Abbey Road Studio and other Beatle related sites I was pleasantly surprised.
There he was, walking down the street, carrying a wooden plaque.

"Hello Paul, may I take your picture?"..... "No, but I'll show it to you"

One snap with my cheap camera. "Bye" "Cheers"

What are the chances of seeing Paul walking by his London home holding a Linda McCartney photo of himself that was taken at the same place? I mean really? Why can't stuff like this happen to me?

Those Darn water marks!

So....who is the girl in the car with Ringo? I think it might be Nancy, but I am not sure.

Paul behind the keyboard with Wings

I do not know anything about this particular concert. But it amazes me that someone could get THAT CLOSE to the stage and to Paul to take these photos of him at the keyboard.

Everybody's happy....

I have no idea who this guy with the mustache is, but he sure is happy to be photographed with Paul McCartney! I bet this guy is still talking about the day he met Paul!

Mullet Paul

No one rocks the mullet hair style quite like Sir Paul McCartney.

My Date with Ringo Starr

Here is a story from a blog by someone named ML. He met Ringo during his partying with Harry days in the mid 1970's and has a great story. The second part of the story is sort of funny, but not what most of us here would have done at all!!! I add a photo of Ringo in 1975 just so this post wouldn't look so bland on the blog. :)

After what I thought at the time was an amazing show, my friend and I made our way to the after concert area, which in this case was a place called the Forum Club, a bar about halfway up the rather large building. We found seats and ordered some free drinks and gawked at all the music and movie celebrities that were wandering around. The table that was directly across from us held the most interest for us. Ringo Starr was sitting there with several other people, including a very drunk Harry Nilsson.

Now I should interrupt here to let you know that celebrity has always meant very little to me. I seldom care if there's a famous person next to me and I rarely ask for an autograph. People are people to me, and the fact that some are more famous and recognizable than others is something I just don't care that much about. But there are exceptions and at the time, an ex-Beatle was one of those exceptions.

I was very excited and decided that I was going to walk over there and ask Ringo for his autograph. I grab a nearby napkin and both my friend and I walked over to his table.The first thing we noticed is that Nilsson wasn't the only one who was horribly inebriated. Everyone at the table was, including Ringo. They were all being rather loud and obnoxious, but I was at the table and I wasn't going to let anything stop me. I asked, "Ringo, can you please sign this?" All conversation at the table stopped and Ringo turned to look at us .He sat there for quite a long time just eyeing us without saying a word and then he finally said, "I'll sign it if I can have your pin."

At that time, just like these days, I almost always wore a pin on whatever jacket I was wearing. In this case, I had one that I was really rather proud of. It was a Sun Records label for the Elvis Presley song, "Mystery Train". I wore it everywhere I went. It was something I really didn't want to part with.I looked at the pin. Then I looked at Ringo. I looked at the pin again. I looked at Ringo again. This went one for a few minutes and then I sighed loudly and unclipped the pin. "Okay. You can have it", I said as I handed it to him. He took the pin and signed my napkin. (I still have that napkin to this day.) I thanked him as I turned to go back to my table and he said, "Hey Kid". I looked back at him and he handed back the pin to me. "I was just kidding", he claimed. I didn't take the pin back though. "That's okay, Ringo. A deal's a deal. Besides, I think you need that pin worse than I do."

A look of surprise broke on his face. Then he did the last thing I expected. He stood up and grabbed me in a bear hug, thanking me the whole time. He then invited us to sit at the table with him. We proudly took him up on that offer and sat there for over an hour, listening to stories and BS while Harry Nilsson's head bobbed up and down trying to keep conscious. That single moment was one of the best memories of my life!

Cut to almost thirty years later. Joe and Chris were in town for some reason or other and along with Skip; we decided to go to the Whiskey to see a band I've long forgotten. Before the show, we decided to duck into the great L.A. independent book store, Book Soup, to see what was new. We spent some time in there and then realized that the show was going to be starting any moment. I wanted to buy something, so the other guys went outside to wait for me while I made my transaction.

As they were leaving, Ringo Starr walked in, causing a bit of a stir amongst them. Ringo looked over and saw me at the register. He just stood there by the door. As I finished paying for the book and started to head out the door he said, "Excuse Me".I turned towards him and he said, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"I said, "No. I don't think so" and headed out the door, leaving him standing there staring after me.

When I got outside, the other guys asked me what that was all about.I told them the whole Ringo story (Skip had already heard it) and they were in amazement. They asked me why I didn't tell him that I was the kid at that show. I just said that we had a show to go to and we were going to be late. "Right now, I just don't have time for Ringo", I said. That caused both Joe and Chris to go into hysterics and Joe claimed he would use that quote in one of his books someday. And this year he finally did. I just wish he would have gotten it right.

Ringo is awesome!

This meeting with Ringo Starr happened to Andrew Matheson in the mid 1970's in London. I think it is a really neat story and the ending is just awesome. It was originally published in the August/September 1985 issue of Beatlefan magazine. In the story, Andrew speaks of how Ringo's date for the evening was Lynsey DePaul. Ringo only dated Ms. DePaul for a very short time and the story has it that Ringo gave her a fishing rod as a gift because she was always "fishing for compliments." Ouch! So I has posted the few photos of her with Ringo that I could locate in my files. Maybe the photos here were taken at the party in this story! You never know!

A few years ago I happened to be visiting London and was staying at the apartment of a journalist friend of mine. While I was there, he received an invitation for two from the rock group Queen to attend a reception in their honor. It was to celebrate the final performance of their European tour and was to be held after the gig at the newly finished Cunard Hotel in West London.

We took a taxi and arrived at about 9:30pm at the Cunard, where our engraved invitations served as the only passport through the tight security and into a lavishly appointed ballroom where the action was well underway.

The wine and the good food were in abundance as were the toast of the British rock scene. Roxy’s Bryan Ferry, Rod Steward as well as members of the Clash and Generation X were there and ever David Bowie put in a brief appearance.

At 11:00pm I was in fine spirits indeed and sitting at a table with a group of people when someone came through the door the sight of whom almost made me fall out of my chair. It was none other than Ringo Starr.

The magical effect that the Fab Four had on people obviously was still intact even in this rather exalted company, for as soon as Starr entered, a veritable buzz went through the room and the 300 or so guests – many of whom were major personalities in their right – became just 300 or so Beatlefans.

He was instantly surrounded by a crowd and for a good 10 minutes most conversations ceased and most necks were craned (some discreetly so, so less so) trying to get a glimpse of him.
I was amazed by this turn of events and spend the next half hour alternately watching Starr and the reaction he was causing.

Anyway, my friend, journalists that he was decided this was an opportunity not be missed, so he said some on, let’s go meet him. No way. I said. I found the prospect of meeting Starr a bit nerve wracking. And besides, although I wasn’t immune to the sudden resurgence of Beatlemania that was going on around us, it seemed like there were too many people button holing him already. Indeed, his date for the evening, Lynsey De Paul (immediately before Barbara Bach won his heart) was finding herself all but ignored.

Thankfully (as it turned out) my friend was insistent and persuasive and almost before I knew it we were across the room, formalities were whisked through, and I was shaking Starr’s hand.
It was all a bit of a mad blur. I mean this was RINGO STARR, one of the four guys that had played the soundtrack to my entire youth. I didn’t count on saying anything brilliant. I was hoping for intelligible at best.

Starr, on the other hand, was chatty, funny and very natural. He was intent on putting everyone at ease and he succeeded marvelously.

We spoke for about five minutes and, of course, I attempted the impossible and tried to tell him in a sentence or two what his music had meant to me over the years. Despite the fact that he must have heard variations on this stammering testimonial a million times, he thanked me in turn with graciousness and sincerity as though it were the first time anyone had mentioned it to him.

We shook hands and as we were parting he tipped his glass of champagne to me. Cheers! I noticed he wore three rings.

We left the party shortly after that and stood in front of the hotel to attempt the near impossible task of finding a taxi in London at that late hour.

And half an hour later we were still there when who should could through the doors behind us but Ringo Starr. He recognized us, waved and called out, “No taxis?” WE said not yet. “Well, best of luck,” he said. Then he and De Paul climbed into the back seat of a limo that was parked off to the right of the hotel’s entrance. The chauffeur closed the door after them and they drove off into the night.

We were surprised and pleased that he had recognized us and stood there laughing and keeping our eyes peeled for a taxi.

Another 20 minutes went by. The cab we had telephoned for didn’t appear to be coming and there was no sign of one on the London streets.

Then something incredible occurred to top off what had already been a most incredible night. A limo pulled up directly in front of us, which we assumed was for one of the illustrious guests still partying up in the ballroom. But out stepped Starr’s chauffeur to inform us that he had taken Starr home and that he had then been instructed by him to drive back to the Cunard, see if we were still there and if so take us wherever we needed to go.

Well, we were quite simply dumbfounded but we got in and all the way home kept shaking our heads in disbelief.

On arrival, the chauffeur, who obviously was amused at our shock, politely opened our car door, bade us good night and drove off.

We stood there on the pavement looking at one another and then burst into hysterical laughter which continued off and on for the next couple of hours. And so ended a most amazing evening which I’ll never forget.

Ringo, thanks for the memories!

Mid 1970s Beatles

Ringo and Nancy in 1977 (maybe not a fan photo, but I had to find a Ringo shot to include)




Paul and Wings on tour in 1975






George with a party-goer in 1977







George and a fan during the summer of 1976








John in 1975







John goes to see a Broadway show in 1975