An online Beatles fan club for and about Beatle fans
We know that Ringo has never eaten a slice of pizza, but he can't say that he has never been to a pizza party because here he is with the cast of Shining Time Station during a pizza party, and he seems to be having a good time, even without eating a slice himself.
By Gordon Burn
Sunday Times of London (Reprinted in the Cleveland Press)
May 7, 1976
10 years is a short time in adulthood. 1966 was only yesterday, wasn't it? But to a 10-year-old, 1966 is prehistory, as Gordon Burn found out when he asked some London school children about the biggest popular phenomenon of the 60s, The Beatles. Parents might like to ask their own kids the same questions and get equally surprising results.
Robert Pink, age 10: When the Beatles were famous, it was before the war, at least. They had bodyguards around them all the time, and all the gutters were filled with dirt because people would never empty their dust bins. People chucked rubbish out the windows, and the ladies all wore old-fashioned dresses, and they trailed in it.
The Beatles came from Newcastle, and they made a lot of films. My dad used to watch them all the time. He wouldn't miss any of them ever. My dad wanted a set of drums like one of the Beatles. He bought some, but he had to give them back again. Mum said, "You won't be getting up all night playing the drums, will you?" And he said, "Probably."
Andrew Bailey, age 10: There were five. I think there was Paul McCartney. He was the guitarist, wasn't he? I don't know who else. Oh, hang on, Ringo. Ringo Starr, all their old films are on the telly. I remember now. Three of them have died. I betcha, it was in a plane crash, something like that. That's what my brother told me. And my brother's much older than me. He's 12.
1966, let's see. The war was 30 years ago. So if it was 10 years ago, it was 56, wasn't it? The dresses were a bit old-fashioned, and the men all wore what they called drainpipes, dead tight and short. That's what the Beatles were like. They weren't the first ones to start off long hair. Hair's always been long. I had long hair when I was born.
The Beatles, I think, came from Yorkshire. And they used to play in New York and on airplanes, and all the people then were crazy. There were some other groups that came from Yorkshire as well. I think Bill Haley and all that lot. Hey, Are you a policeman?
Douglas Smith, age 9: They came from London, but I can't remember what the music was like. You got lots of girls screaming for them, didn't you, and they were fainting. Wherever they went, there was always crowds, always shouting. They had funny suits, and the boots they wore were funny too. They had big heels to make them look tall. For the girls, I suppose.
My dad's got a couple of their records, but my mom plays them, not my dad, because he's at work nearly all the time, or he's going to football. When my mom goes to parties, she takes her records with her. I think the Beatles are still popular at things like that.
I suppose they got married and they're normal men now. They must be about 89; they must be walking around with walking sticks. No, if it was 10 years ago, maybe they're 50-something. I bet they buy lots of records of the Beatles to remember. I bet they miss it all. They think they're still pop stars, but they're not. I can't remember their names.
Andrew Jones age 9: Ten years ago, I was just a baby. Wait a minute. No, I weren't even born. Then the Beatles were a pop group like Sweet and Mud. In those days, they were literally the only pop group going. They used to play at beaches and at the top of airports, and everyone used to scream.
We got a cupboard full of records at home, but only three of them are by The Beatles, and they're not even mine. Those ones, they're my dads. They're all LPs, but I don't know the names. He never tells me. He only listens to them when I'm out. The News Seekers have split up. I know that. I'm not sure about the Beatles
Allison Martin, age 9: When you see them on television, they're usually wearing horrible black suits like doctors, but they were the first ones to have long hair. I suppose people like the music or them. Ringo Starr was the best looking. He used to go bonkers. He used to throw his sticks into the air, catch them again, and start drumming. Paul whatchamacallum, he's in Wings, and John Lemon, isn't it? He might have been great, but I don't think he was very handsome. That last one, what was he called? George Harris? I didn't like him.
Kim, my sister, the one who started that fire in the school toilet. She's a fan of theirs. Least, she used to be. She used to have a Beatles record, and she played it so loud you could hear it a mile away. I can remember it. I was in the house screaming my head off. It was so loud, and the neighbors used to complain.
But now the Beatles have split up. I think they broke up because one of them, John, I think it was found some girl. He wanted to bring her into the pop group, and they didn't like each other anymore.
Susan Batterby, age 8: The Beatles? They're in history, aren't they? Everybody had hair then, like Bobby Charlton's; The Beatles were the first ones to grow it long. I think they're in a group still, aren't they? I bet they listen altogether to their old records to see if they were gods or what. They listen, they think "that's me." I think they must feel sad now they're not famous no more, and all the people aren't fighting to get to touch them and screaming, but with all that singing, they must be quite rich.
By Bruno Bornino
The Cleveland Press
May 7, 1976
The ex-Beatle Paul McCartney's current initial tour the US with his band Wings, is being billed as the "Rock event of the decade", and judging from the first show the group did in Fort Worth, Texas, Monday night, it could very well be.
During his first performance in this country in 10 years, McCartney and Wings did a two-hour and 15-minute set that earned them numerous standing ovations and three lighted matches encores that lasted for minutes. And Fort Worth crowds reportedly are very reserved about most pop rock acts.
Besides McCartney on lead vocals, bass, and keyboards, Wings featured Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch on guitars, bass, and backup harmonies. Joe English on drums and harmonies, and Paul's wife Linda on keyboards, percussion, and harmonies. They're also a quartet of wind and brass players doing backup instrumentation.
The program, which McCartney said later backstage would likely remain fixed throughout the sold-out 31-performance 20-city tour that runs through June 22, consisted of 29 tunes. There were 26 McCartney compositions, one by Laine, one by McCulloch, and a Paul Simon classic called "Richard Cory."
So the 21,000 fans holding tickets to Wings Coliseum concert Monday night will probably hear nine songs from the band's Venus and Mars album, five from Band on the Run, four from the new At the Speed of Sound LP, one each from McCartney's first solo album, and Red Rose Speedway, two singles, and an unrecorded rocker called " Soily"
But if Clevelanders are like Texans, the greatest cheers will be for the five Beatles songs that are included in the program. The songs, which McCartney insisted were random choices, were "Lady Madonna", "Long and Winding Road", "I've Just Seen a Face", "Blackbird" and "Yesterday."
The New York Times reported the band's first performances as a "spiffy show, nicely paced with a clear, solid sound system and some pleasing special effects, including one spectacular bit with lasers at the end, in which a thin sheet of light was deployed over the audience, and marbled smoke patterns reflected off it." The headline said, "McCartney's tour starts triumphantly,"
Afterward, an obviously excited McCartney said, "I was a little bit nervous, but I pretended I wasn't. I used to get much more nervous with The Beatles. I was younger, I guess. I love American audiences. They're just great. The response to "Live and Let Die" (McCartney's original score for the James Bond movie of the same title) was ridiculous."
Although the Beatles' songs received the greatest applause, McCartney obviously was eager to de-emphasize those and to promote the newer Wings material. "We didn't want to be too precious about choosing them. He said, That's the trouble with the Beatles thing. People will think it's all we can perform. Some of the younger kids like the new songs better than the old ones." McCartney 34 probably was referring to the much younger kids in London who, according to the other story on this page, don't even remember the Beatles, but the rest of us could never forget them and hope someday they will get together again.
My Fear of Death
Written by George Harrison
Daily Mirror
May 22, 1984
Former Beatle George Harrison revealed yesterday how he lives in fear of being gunned down in the street by a mad gunman crazy for fame.
Harrison, 41, has never been able to relax totally in public since the murder of fellow Beatle John Lennon, over three years ago, and now he rarely goes outside his 35-acre estate at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, without a team of bodyguards.
Harrison spoke about his secret fear when he made an unexpected appearance at the gala opening of the Chelsea Flower Show. He said, "After what happened to John, I'm absolutely terrified. I don't like being seen in public. I never know who might be around, and I don't like being photographed."
John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment in December 1980. After the killing, dozens of pop stars bought security systems and hired bodyguards to protect them. Now, guard dogs patrol the grounds of George Harrison's £2 million estate, and his house has a sophisticated alarm system.
Yesterday, Harrison was followed everywhere by two heavyweight minders who glared suspiciously at passersby. A leggy burnett, who refused to give her name was at his side.
The pop star, who has a team of 12 gardeners tending his estate, relaxed slightly as he spoke about the colorful show. "This represents real life to me," he said. "I love flowers and gardening, and it is a wonderful treat for me to see such a display."
A number of showbiz stars joined Harrison for a preview of the annual Flower Show. They include Penelope Keith, Susan Hampshire, and Bonnie Langford.
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By Dale Adamson
The Houston Chronicle
May 5, 1976
It's been over 10 years since Paul McCartney set foot on a stage in Houston. He was a Beatle then. Now he's the leader of Wings, which performed its second US concert Tuesday night at the Summit, but there was still a lot of old Beatle-crazed excitement surrounding the show.
From the throngs pressed against the glass, waiting for the doors to open as long as three hours before the show, to the ear-splitting communal scream that went up when the lights finally went out around 8:30pm to start the show and rouse the packed-in crowd like a stick stirs up an ant bed.
But after a tentative mic testing "Hello" and the visual thrill of special effects such as smoke, bubbles, and colored spotlights on a mirrored crystal ball, the concert was underway, and McCartney proved quickly that he hardly needed the rest of The Fab Four to dazzle the audience his own way.
The keynote of the show was its variety. A full two and a quarter hours of invigorating and refreshing music, well-paced and so impeccably carried out that only technical flaws stood out. McCartney has immersed himself in Wings so thoroughly that in performance, at least, the band no longer comes off as McCartney's backup group.
After hard-hitting versions of "Rock Show," "Jet," and "Let Me Roll It" with lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch wrenching out licks powerful enough to justify the band's earlier postponement of the tour when he broke a finger, the band slowly diversified. While McCarthy sang most of the songs with plenty of his familiar echo and the boyish exuberance that has been his trademark since his musical coming of age in Liverpool, he stepped back for guitarist Denny Laine on "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and McCulloch on "Medicine Jar."
After a moving "Maybe I'm Amazed" with McCartney on piano and McCulloch duplicating McCartney's early post Beatle lead guitar line perfectly. The band rocked through "Lady Madonna", then pulled back abruptly for the hymn-like " Long and Winding Road", turning the two Beatles songs into their own.
"Live and Let Die", which was as comically explosive as the James Bond film it was written for and wreaked enough musical havoc to set the stage for a finely tuned, homey acoustic guitar sing along. Sitting on simple cane chairs, McCartney, wife Linda, Laine, and McCulloch harmonized movingly through "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me), then turned about for an impromptu rendition of Paul Simon's chilling "Richard Corey" led with fierce determination by Laine.
The harmonies soared again on "Bluebird" and Laine handled the quick 12-string lead on the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" without flinching before leaving McCartney to fly solo on a beautifully finger plucked "Blackbird." Wings' horn section, (Thaddeus Richard, Howie Casey, Steve Howard and Tony Dorsey) buoyed up McCartney's gentle phrasing on the classic "Yesterday", as the rest of the band returned to the stage.
Laine helped lead the well deserved thunderous ovation for that one. The show had reached an emotional peak that left songs like "Magneto and Titanium Man" and "My Love" in a lull before drummer Joe English, one of the band's most vital assets, caught fire under "Listen to What the Man Said", "Let 'Em In", and Lane's powerful vocal and harmonica work on "Time to Hide."
Linda McCartney, whose role in the band is primarily extramusical, was cheated out of one of her few truly vital musical contributions when her microphone went out on the first harmonizing round of "Silly Love Songs", but the band was rolling through the tense " Beware My Love", the taunt "I Feel Like Letting Go", and the climatic "Band on the Run", during which the giant screen hanging over the stage finally proved its usefulness with a delightful cover photo come to life, film that diverted the crowd's attention through most of the song.
There was a full five-minute standing, stomping, cigarette lighter, burning ticket stub, flashlight, ovation before Wings returned for an encore. McCartney donned a cowboy hat, tossed on stage, and kicked off a frantic "Hi Hi Hi." This led to another ovation and the final turning of rock and roll "Soily" in front of an eerie laser beam spray that cut through the drifting smoke from behind the band. The last thing McCartney said was, "See you next time!" before walking off hand in hand with Linda. Hopefully, it won't be another 10 or 11 years before that next time.
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