A rainy welcome

June 11, 1964 -  Sydney Australia

Over 50 years later and we still don't get this photo

April Showers....

Paul and Linda's wedding day

It was 49 years ago that many Beatles fans' hearts were broken --   Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman were married.      When they got married, no one was sure what to think about Linda.  However, Paul and Linda had an amazing life together.   

John Lennon Forever in Japan

Here is a photo of the  10 minutes of silence in memory of John Lennon that took place in Japan in 1980.   I still think those 10 minutes had to have been the quietest time in world history.

Hotel signs

Rainy days with Ringo

Peace Action

On a rainy April 22, 1972, John and Yoko appeared at a protest gathering in Central Park.   They ended up singing "Give Peace a Chance" with the large crowd.    Some of the fans in the audience snapped these pictures, which turned out pretty good for a rainy day with a large crowd!   I even like the pictures of the participants.  

Beatles in Birminham

Beatle fans waiting in the rain before the concert in Birmingham in 1964

Ringo and John walking into the Odeon

Another day of the tour for the Beatles as the moved onto Birmingham on October 11, 1964.    Here are some memories from those who experienced this performance:

I was 11 years old. My sister worked at the Odeon cinema in Birmingham. She would literally force me along to these weekly live events. But this evening was different — I sensed it. My instructions were to sit in the middle of the lower amphitheater and under no circumstances move from my allocated seat until the whole place had been emptied of people.

Mentally tied to my seat, suddenly the place became a seething mass of excited, screaming teenagers. The girls around me started quaking, changing from nice normal people into lunatics. The first acts dragged through their sets, then the company mimed the position and way the four members of the next band held their instruments. The place went wild. The girl near to me pulled at her hair, screaming and then as the curtains opened promptly fainted on the spot. Girls were being carried out; some only part-conscious or so overcome they had become hysterical.

The whole thing seemed over in a flash. By the end, the front six or seven rows of people had been removed in tears by the St John’s Ambulance. I went to many other festivals, concerts, but never have I experienced anything like that night.

Professor Marty St. James

Don't ask me how because we were right at the back, but for some strange reason we could hear them singing over all that screaming and it was a fantastic concert.  You could hear everything.  There were police in uniforms placed all along the wall upstairs, but the girls downstairs were trying to get up on the stage.  I couldn't believe that we could hear every word.  When the curtain came down at the end everyone was waiting for them to come back out and take their ovation, but when the curtains opened there were just their guitars on the stage.   John Harte (age 18 at the time)

The cape caper

The story behind the cape that the Beatles wore when they came to Australia was that in Amsterdam, when they were on the canal trip, waving to all of the fans, John spots a young man wearing a cape.   He really likes it, as do the other Beatles and they say something about wanting one of those capes to Mal Evans.   Mal chases this young guy down and finds out what he can about the cape.   If I remember correctly, the guy gives him the cape and the boys have a set custom made for them.   But that part might not be totally correct. 

Anyhow....Neil Aspinall talks about this in the Anthology, that they must have been made out of poorly made materials because once they got wet in Sydney, the dye in the cloth ran and when they took them off in the hotel, the Beatles had blue-ish (not Blue Meanie) skin!  

However, they obviously really liked the capes because they continued to use that style in the movie and cover for Help!

This past fall, Paul's cape that he wore in Sydney was up for auction.   However, Paul's people pulled it from the auction a few days before the auction started.  I am not sure if Paul has the cape back in his possession or what happened to it.  

A wet welcome in Sydney

Where I live, near St. Louis Missouri, it has been raining a lot this past week.   It isn't unusual for this time of year to get a lot of rain.   However, this year it made me think of 50 years ago when the Beatles first landed in Sydney, Australia in a downpour of rain.    I think their entrance to Australia is one that is the most burned into my mind...seeing them with those umbrellas trying to wave to their fans.   I am not sure if any performers today would be willing to do such a thing for their fans.   I am not sure if I would be willing to stand out in the rain to see the Beatles----oh who am I kidding?   I would be grouchy about it while we are waiting, but glad when I got to see them.   

This story does make one mistake.  Did you catch it?

Here is the newspaper report about the Beatles arrival.   A special thanks goes out to "the Gilly" for all of the research she did on the Beatles Australian tour of 1964.   She currently is not updating her sight, but it is still a treasure-trove of information and I appreciate all of the work she put into digging information.   This article came from her files.

Sydney fans' Welcome to Beatles near Wash-out

Not even the Beatles could beat Sydney's weather today.  The expected tumultuous, riotous Australian airport welcome for the British quartet was almost a washout.

Bedraggled fans, drenched by the heavy rain that had fallen all night did their best to give the Beatles a big welcome.

They roared, "We want the Beatles" as the BOAC Comet airliner came to a halt on the tarmac.

The Beatles did not disappoint them.  Sheltering under huge airport umbrellas, they were driven around the tarmac on a specially decorated lorry.  But the rain became heavier and they were soon very wet Beatles.  Airport officials whisked them into a car and they were driven to their city hotel.

Hundreds of fans spend the night behind a specially constructed steel-fenced open enclosure which has been wind-lashed and rain swept for days.

Heavy rain was falling as the aircraft taxied to the tarmac but this did not deter the screaming, squealing teenagers.

It has rained for days in Sydney.  More than seven inches has been recorded.   More than 150 police were on duty to keep an expected crowd of 10,000 in check. The hardy ones did not let the weather dampen their andour.  As they waited for the airliner to land they waved welcoming banners and brightly coloured umbrellas.  Periodically they burst into choruses of "yeah yeah yeah,"  "We love you Beatles" or "Happy Birthday Paul."  Paul McCartney will be 22 on June 18.

As the plane circled Sydney's Mascot Airport, after an unscheduled stop at Darwin to refuel, a crescendo of squeals and shrieks arose.

The rain became heavier when the Beatles appeared at the aircraft door.

The gust of wind whipped Paul's umbrella out of his hand and wearing a big black top hat, he stood in the rain saluting the crowd.  John Lennon, George Harrison, and "stand in" for Ringo Starr, Jim Nichol waved and smiled.

Their umbrellas and capes sheltered their heads but the lower sections of their bodies were soon drenched.

John Lennon and George Harrison stood looking at the small crowd and waved their arms two or three times.


The Beatles looked cold and startled by the Sydney weather because they had flown overnight from tropical Hong Kong.

As the truck moved away to transfer the Beatles to a private car, the fans burst through the barricades and ran after them.  But the Beatles' car left for their city hotel before the fans reached them.  The tarmac was like a sheet of water as rain poured down as the Beatles left.  Ten minutes later the sun came out for a few seconds, then the rain  began again.

A special ambulance squad at the airport had a quiet time.  No collapse cases or other causalities were reported.  "But I bet there'll be a few fans with pneumonia and heavy cold tomorrow" an ambulance attendant said.

A group of youth who paraded with a sign saying "Stamp out these bugs" was booed and hissed by Beatle fans.

Mr. G. Inglis, the airport manager said, "It is all a little disappoint.  We had expected about 10,000 here, although we really didn't know what to expect.  There is no doubt that the weather has made a tremendous difference."

Mr. Inglis said most of the early arrivals at the airport had spend teh night int eh rain by the barricades.  Only a few had found shelter by huddling in doorways of the domestic airline terminals.

Deafening screams greeted the Beatles when they appeared on a hotel balcony.

George appeared dressed in a white shirt and a towel, and indicated that he was wet and cold.  The others appeared in jackets and waved.

John Lennon told a reporter, "How could we be disappointed when they came out to see us and stood in all the rotten wind and rain to wave to us?  They were great, really great. We came in just waving to people, the wind blowing us around adn wet as anything, but it was great fun for us too."

Paul McCartney said, "You might think they are daft--but to us, mate, they are terrific."

He's getting better all the time

It is nice to see Paul and Nancy out walking in St. John's Wood.   These photos were taken yesterday, May 27, 2014 and they are the first photos we have seen of Paul since he got sick while in Japan.  I think he is looking pretty good for someone who was sick and I honestly think he will be back to his usual self by the time his tour hits the U.S. in a few weeks.

Richard Porter the Beatles Coffee Shop at the St. John's Wood tube station reported this little story of a fan meeting Paul while he and Nancy were out yesterday

a fan in St John's Wood went up to someone to ask them where Abbey Road was. The fan then nearly had a heart attack when he realised the person he was asking was Paul McCartney!! Paul, of course, knew the way :>)

The fan came into Richard's  Shop right after her encounter with Paul, still in shock!   Isn't that hilarious?   Of all of the people to ask directions from!

It was all HER fault!

I know that I recognize some of the fans in this photos from Paul and Linda's wedding day.   But this particular photo looks pretty funny.   The fan on the end there (who I think I know her name, but I am not going to say just in case I am wrong) seems to be mad and everyone else in the photo is looking at her, including little Heather who is pointing at her.   I wonder what this was all about!   

About Paul and Linda wedding:  I do not think that girls were actually crying in the streets over it.   I think just two girls were crying and the press took tons of photos of those two girls.     I think those two girls would have been crying if they just saw Paul on any occasion.   I know that fans were upset and angry that Paul was marrying Linda.  I think it was more the fact that he was marrying Linda and the assumptions some of them had about her.  I do not think they were truly devastated because Paul was no longer single.   But then I wasn't there.....  It just seems like the it was one of those things that the media twisted  to make Beatle fans look like foolish girls.  

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

It was 44 years ago today that Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman.   This was a huge event in the life of Beatles fans.   There are several stories of fans who heard the news of Paul getting married and left the life that they once knew and went to London to be what became the Apple Scruffs and the other fans. 

We all have seen the footage of the fans weeping and wailing at Paul and Linda's wedding.   I have often wondered why they had such a huge reaction to Paul getting married.    Two of the other Beatles had weddings while the band was together and you didn't see an outpouring of extreme sadness and tears at their weddings.   Surely the fans did not think that they had a chance with Paul?   I know on some level many of them did (just as I thought I had a chance in marrying Joe McIntyre when I was 14), but really they couldn't have truly believed it.    And then I start to think deeper and wonder if Paul had married Jane Asher, would the display had been as big?   I doubt it.   Most of the fans really liked Jane whereas they highly disliked Linda.   Alright let me just lay it all out there.  Many of them hated Linda.  They hated how she treated them.   They hated how she was attached to Paul's arm every single time they saw him.   And most of all they felt that Linda was making Paul change into a meaner person.    I cannot say if any of that was true, but I have read some really cruel things about Linda from 1969.    Some fans were nicer to Yoko than they were to Linda, which is something history overlooks.    And that is my feelings why the fans were bawling in uncontrollable ways out in the streets of Paul and Linda's wedding.

So here are some photos of that memorable day in Beatle fan history.

Broadway 1974

Lots of photos were taken by fans who spotted Paul and Linda out for a night of Broadway Theater to see the play, Equus in December 1974.