Ringo through the fence

I showed a photo of Paul through a fence not too long ago, so I might as well share this one of Ringo!

Shortie

I know Paul isn't a super-tall man, but wow he sure looks tiny standing next to these Chicago Bulls basketball players.    Supposedly these fellows were really excited to meet Macca.   I know Paul follows American baseball, but does he know much about basketball?

Gotcha!

It seems to me that George is the Beatle who found himself with a girl clinging to him the most often.   At least he was the most photographed like that.  I love John in the background of this one!

Happy Birthday Sir George!

Best wishes to Sir George Martin for a happy and wonderful year!  

Indian Birthday surprise

While looking online for something totally unrelated to the Beatles, I stumbled upon this little story about when it was Pattie Boyd's birthday in India in 1968.   It was written by the daughter of one of the men in the photo.   I have seen this photo (or one similar) before and I wondered who the English looking men were.  I assumed that they were fellow students at the Ashram, but now I know the truth.   Of course the story itself has some errors.   Of course the Beatles were working on "The White" album and not "Abbey Road."   I do not think there was a "official Beatles photographer"  with them in India.   I would guess that the photo was taken by Mal Evans.  

This is a picture of my father, Stephen Browne (far right), taken in Rishikesh in northern India with John Lennon, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd in 1968. He was on a gap year, teaching at two schools, before going to university.

The Beatles were in Rishikesh for much of that year, learning Transcendental Meditation with their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and experimenting for their next album, which by my calculations might have been Abbey Road.

My father took up the dilruba (half sarangi, half sitar) while he was in India. On the day this was taken, his dilruba teacher had asked my father and his friend, Nick Nugent, whether they would like to come along to present an instrument to Pattie Boyd for her birthday. The picture was probably taken by the Beatles' official photographer.

This photograph is a prized family possession and is tinged with bittersweet emotion. A few years ago, when we lived in New York, my parents, siblings and I trudged through the snow to Kinko's copy shop on Christmas Eve to photocopy and scan the picture for safekeeping, and so that we could each have a copy.

Nobody remembers who was responsible for removing the original from the photocopying machine – but whoever it was forgot.

We returned to Kinko's on 78th Street many times over the next few days in the vain hope that somebody would hand it in, as they might have in the snowy, Christmassy New York of the movies, but they never did.

At least we're left with this facsimile. The dilruba is still in the attic. Malika Browne

John lends a Helping Hand

Two more photos that are much larger better focused than ones I have previously posted.  

Backstage fun

Any guesses on who this lucky girl happens to be?    I like the look the girl way in the background is giving.  

The Red and the Blue

Those who were in attendance for the Red and Blue CD release in 1993, where in a for a treat!   (You can find a story about one such person on this blog already...look in the 1993 tags).    They went to Studio 2 of Abbey Road studios fully expecting to hear George Martin present the Red and the Blue CDs.   And let me say, that in and of itself would have made for a very exciting day.    Going into Abbey Road Studios and sitting there with George Martin himself narrating some of the Beatles best songs.   Yeah....sounds amazing!   But......to everyone's surprise that day, George Harrison showed up and helped George along with the songs!    I am not sure exactly what George said in this presentation for the press.  He did answer questions from those in attendance.   So I am not sure why George is showing us double peace signs in this particular photo.    Was anyone who read this blog at this press conference/ listening party?

Happi to fly with the Beatles

A few weeks ago someone named Mark happened to email me and told me that his mum was the airline stewardess that flew with the Beatles to Japan in 1966!  Now that is the dream of any Beatle fan, isn't it?   To be "stuck" on an airplane with all four Beatles on a long flight!    

His mother's name is Satoko Kawasaki and in 1966 she worked for Japan Airlines.   She wanted to be the stewardess that was on the Beatles flight, and so basically she was told by the head person of the airlines that she would make sure that the Beatles were wearing the Japanese Happi coats that had the Japanese Airlines logo on them (JAL). 

And so Satoko was given the task of being the stewardess of the Beatles flight.  She met the Beatles in Alaska during their unplanned layover due to the weather.  

Now you and I know that the Beatles had strict orders from Brian Epstein to never give free publicity to companies.   And you may also recall that John Lennon particularly disliked this practice of being used to give out free publicity.   You might recall a photo of an angry John pulling a sticker off a car in Australia?     So Satoko might have had hit a dead-end in having the Beatles wear the JAL Happi coats if it wasn't for a bit of luck on her side.

When the Beatles were unexpectedly delayed in Alaska, they were not able to get their luggage out of the plane.   So they were wearing wrinkled, old clothes.   John just so happened to ask Satoko to press his suit jacket, which gave her the opening to offer the Happi Coats to the group.   She said that it would be a great way to cover up the old clothes they had one and when the fans see them in Japanese garb, they would be thrilled.   Surprisingly, John thought it sounded like a great idea and the Happi coats were handed out and worn by all four Beatles.  

I have a Christie's auction catalog from 1995 in which one of the coats was sold, and it states that nine coats were made and given out.   The way I figure it from looking at photos the coats went to:  John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Brian Epstein, Mal Evans, Alf Bicknell, Neil Aspinall and Robert Whitaker.   

Besides the one sold in 1995, another one was up on ebay a few years ago.  That one had Ringo's name inside, but it couldn't be proven to be one of the true coats or not.   A company now makes the Happi Coats that look just like the Beatles ones and sells them online.     So funny that the advertising for Japanese Airlines goes on today!

Mark's mom, asked the Beatles for their autograph on a photo, which she still has to this day.   Plus she was given tickets to see them at their concert in Tokyo.   What an amazing story!

To read about this and see a neat video, please visit  Mark's blog.  

Satoko serving Paul in the airplane to Tokyo.  

Happy New Year to you all!

Happy 2013 to all of the visitors of the "Meet the Beatles ... for Real" blog!    2012 was a great year to be a Beatle fan.   I know that a lot of you out there had a rough 2012 and you were glad to say goodbye to it, but I had a wonderful year and I look forward to another great year in 2013!   

I have had this blog for almost 4 years now and 2012 is when it really seemed to take off.  I now get well over 1000 new hits a day.   Most of the visitors are from the United States.   I also see people visiting from the UK, Italy, Brazil, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, and Argentina on a regular basis.    When I dig even deeper into the stats, I see that people from Bolivia, Chile and Spain have also visited.   It is pretty neat to think that the things I find and share from my computer here in Illinois are reaching all around the world.    For the most part, I have gotten a lot of encouraging and wonderful emails from fans everywhere.     In 2012, I started the facebook page that goes along with the blog.   As of today, there are 321 people who have "liked" the page.    I also spoke at my very first Beatles convention on a panel and talked about this blog.    I have heard from authors, historians, detectives and producers all asking me for information about the Beatles.    Very exciting stuff!  

While all of that is neat, it is each and every one of YOU that makes this blog what it is.   My idea was to try to bring the fanzines of the 1970's into the 21st century.   I never want this blog to become a commercial place  (even though from time to time I will promote things that I think you all will like as well).   It is supposed to have that "homey" feel of a fan club.    I hope that comes across the screen as much as I think it does.

This would be a good time to remind everyone that if you have ever met one or more of the Beatles and have a photo or story you would like to share, please email me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com  and I will put your photo or story on the blog.   You can email me if you just have something you want to share.   I sometimes take a few weeks to get back to you (if you ever have emailed me you might have noticed), but I promise that I do respond.     I LOVE hearing from you!

What will 2013 bring to the fans of the Beatles?   Well one thing we know for sure is that our friends "downunder" will have a visit from nonother than Ringo Starr in the next month!   Ringo is taking his All Starr Band tour to Australia and New Zealand for some concerts.    Hopefully some of you fans in that area will be able to meet Ringo and let us know about it.       I will be heading out to Liverpool, London and Hamburg this summer with the Beatles Pilgrimage Tours.   I will be there in July to celebrate Ringo's birthday!    If you are interested in joining me, let me know and I can hook you up with the information.    If you live in one of those areas and would like to meet up at a Beatles sight, that would be awesome as well.    I will be taking a lot of photos to share on the blog. 

Thank to all of you for making this blog what it is.   I really don't do a whole lot and I feel like I get all of the credit.    The Beatle fan community is one of the best out there.    I am so blessed to be apart of such a fun and exciting hobby.    Best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy 2013!

All my lovin'
Sara S.