Playing the Beatles guitar

 

The Long and the Short (1966)

 

The Long and the Short 

Rave Editors

Rave Magazine

February 1966

    The long and short of this particular Beatles lunch date was that the Beatles weren't exactly the world champion spaghetti eaters. It's not that the four boys didn't like the stuff- they did. It was a question of, how did they ever get to eat it? Like their spaghetti, our story begins here and goes on.

     When in Rome, do as the Romans do. That's the old saying, and the Beatles, non-conformist that they are, went along with the idea, just for a laugh and a giggle. Every good Roman has his daily spaghetti, just as the Scotsman has his porridge. 

    So with two days to spend in Rome, John, Paul, George, and Ringo decided to have a go at spaghetti, eating at a special luncheon in their hotel. This all took place on the Beatles' last European tour. All over the continent, they went tasting --wine in Spain, delicate dishes in France. So it was only natural, really, that spaghetti in Italy was to be the next in line. 

    The results rather bewildered the Italian photographer, as you can imagine. With comments like, "Is it dead?" From John as he inspected a single strand from his plate.  "No. One of them just wriggled off my fork," George replied, looking rather dubiously at his mountainous pile. 

    Ringo, meanwhile, had wound most of his spaghetti over his fork, and it was now progressing up his arm. "Get back, you fools!" he shouted to the advancing white strands. Paul twirled on. John, however, soon decided that the best way to win was to twist the spaghetti round his fork until it was the size of a candyfloss and then take big bites out of it, candyfloss style, unsuccessfully. We might add. 

    His next move was to take a huge handful, hold it above his head, and just let it all drop, well, most of it anyway, into his mouth. George nodded approval at John's move. "Yeah, John, think you're right. It's quicker by hand. Can't understand how Italians get fat. It'll take me a week to get this lot untangled, let alone eat it."

     Rango, meanwhile, had been taking spaghetti eating tuition from an Italian girl present at the lunch. She was the president of their Italian fan club, and though it was only fair to help, her name was Anna Maria Cecchi, a cousin of Gina Lollobrigida --unsurprisingly enough, an expert on the matter at hand.

     Now spurred on to great things, Ringo started eating professionally from his plate and Paul too at the same time, a continuous stream of spaghetti going into his mouth. "Beat that," said John. They could not. So the other three retired, covered in most of their lunch, leaving Ringo as the champion of the day, a very unusual day in the life of a Beatle.

The Lost Weekend Lost Photo

 

I wrote about this photo in 2018 when I reviewed the book about Jann Wenner called Sticky Fingers. There was a story in that book about how Jann was sent a Polaroid photo of John, Paul, Keith Moon, and Linda anonymously, with "How Do YOU Sleep???!!!" written at the bottom.  Jann never knew who sent it, but assumed it was either Paul and Linda or John. 

Paul was shown the photo in recent times (I think 2015) and confirmed that the handwriting was not his nor Linda's, and that neither of them would write "Palm Sunday 1974" on a photograph because they don't know when Palm Sunday is.  He said he would think John or May sent it.  

I don't care much about who sent the photo to Jann Wenner.  What I care about is that this photo, which I only read about, is now out there for all of us to enjoy!  Another photo from April 1974 -- thank you!  

Farewell Neil Sedaka

 

Ringo doesn't like Paul messing with those drums

 

The Married Life of the Beatles (1966)

The Married Life of the Beatles

By Maris Ross

UPI

February 27, 1966

     "Money Can't Buy Me Love" sang The Beatles --- and it didn't. With fame and fortune of their own, they could have married fame and fortune, but their wives are just ordinary girls-- an ex-art student, an ex-hairdresser, and a little more glamorous, an ex-hairdresser who became a model. That leaves Paul McCartney, 23, as the only bachelor Beatle.

     What's it like being a Beatle wife? "Just great," said Cynthia Lennon, husband of John [sic]. "I've no regrets about it."

    But it's not all fun, and means keeping a bit in the background. Beatle manager, Brian Epstein once said, "The Beatles present a better image without girls in the foreground."

     You also have to put up with the 1000s of other women who adore their husbands. "I don't let it bother me," said Cynthia. "I know it's not for real. It's the music, I'm sure that makes them feel that way, but one of the things I have realized now, in the high price one has to pay for fame is loss of personal freedom."

     When the Beatles gained their first yelling fans, they were all taken to be bachelors. Nobody realized that John and Cynthia, now both 25, were married in the summer of 1962, just before the Beatles cut their first disc. "Love Me Do." They had met over a pot of paint when they both did a course at the Liverpool School of Art. 

    "I never kept my marriage a secret," said John. "It's just that when we first came on the scene, nobody asked us. I kept my wife out of it, and I do now, because I've always disliked reading about people's families."

     Drummer Ringo Starr, 25, was the next to go, and he admits he was worried at first about what the fans would think, but in the end, "I thought I would get married, whatever happened," said Ringo. "I don't think many teenage girls broke into tears when they heard the news."

     He was married on February 11 of last year to ex hairdresser Mary Cox, known as Maureen, to her friends. Ringo and Maureen, 19, had to pay the price of publicity when the press discovered their seaside hideaway within 24 hours of their wedding and camped outside the gate. The couple ended up giving a news conference on the first day of their honeymoon. 

    George Harrison, 23, put Ringo's experience to good use when he became the third Beatle to wed on January 21 of this year. His bride was an ex-hairdresser turned model, Patricia Ann Boyd, 21, otherwise known as Pattie. They announced outright that they weren't going on a honeymoon, because "we would just be hounded and wouldn't get any peace."

     They went instead to Georgia's  $56,000 five bedroom bungalow in suburban Esher south of London, and got some peace behind the 14-foot-high wall that surrounds the property. 

    The Beatles' wives have long hair in common, in addition to the fact that they all do quite a bit of staying home. On October 26, 1965, The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to receive the single honor of membership of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) from Queen Elizabeth. John and Ringo could have taken their wives along, but they stayed home looking after their respective sons, John Jr. now two, and Zak, born September 13. Epstein went to the palace instead.  Pattie,  unmarried then was on a modeling job, and Jane was rehearsing a new play. 

    When their husbands go on tour, the wives stay home. Cynthia went along on the first US tour early in 1964, but this led to adverse publicity when one national British newspaper told how it tried unsuccessfully to talk to her at London Airport on the group's return. "Not a word, Cyn," one of the Beatles' publicity men was quoted as saying to her.

    In 1964, Maureen went off on a month-long holiday in the West Indies with Ringo when she was only 17. A story appeared in the press that her father, ship steward Joe Cox, had learned she was 5,000 miles away only because he read it in the papers, but he would have given his permission for her to go anyway. Paul and Jane were also on this trip. 

    When Maureen came back, she said she was not going back to her hairdressing job in Liverpool. Ringo said, "Maureen is to be my personal secretary. She can give my mum and dad a hand with the mail."

     Both Maureen and Cynthia, like their husbands, grew up in the rough seaport of Liverpool. Maureen lived with her parents in a block of slum clearance flats on Liverpool's Boundary Street. "I met Maureen three days exactly after I joined the Beatles, and from then on, it's been a knockout all the way," said Ringo. "We met in the Cavern. Doesn't everyone?"

     The Cavern, the now-famous cellar club in Liverpool, was the place where Epstein first met the Beatles. At their first recording session in 1962, he decided they needed a more distinctive drummer, so they chose Ringo in place of their old one. 

    Cynthia, the longest married, is poised, sincere, and rather shy. She has artistically furnished their home. She cooks plain food well and doesn't like it if John keeps jumping up and down from the table to change records. A dinner guest recalls, "She once said, 'For goodness sake, sit down. You're giving me indigestion.'"

     John has always wanted to keep her out of the mob scene. At London Airport on the return from that same US trip in 1964, John was heard to shout while surrounded by battling fans, "Get Cyn  out of this!" 

     One thing they don't have to worry about is transport. The Lennons have a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, a Volkswagen, a minicar, and a chauffeur. 

    Pattie, the newest Beatle bride, is a blue-eyed baby-faced blonde who likes the fashion for skirts way above the knee. She comes from a family of six in Somerset, southwestern England. She was educated at a convent and spent most of her childhood in Kenya, where her father had a farm. She started working as a hairdresser, didn't like it, and turned to modeling. Her "dolly girl" looks made her a favorite with fashion photographers and led her to part in A Hard Day's Night. After it, she said, "I'm no actress. I'm terrible." She decided to stick to modeling. 

    George kept denying rumors of marriage right up to the morning of their wedding. "Now, the rumors can start about me, I suppose," said Paul. In fact, they started long ago about him and Jane, the daughter of a surgeon and an up-and-coming actress. So the question mark over the Beatles is, when will the last one get married? 

"Meditation is Great," Says Beatle Paul (1968)

 "Meditation is Great," Says Beatle Paul

No writer listed

Go Magazine

April 5, 1968

    Paul McCartney returned to London last week from Rishikesh, India, where he was studying with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John Lennon and George Harrison, the two Beatles left in Rishikesh, will probably return home later in the month. 

    Upon his arrival in London, McCartney told reporters, "Meditation is great. You sit down, relax, and count to yourself. It sounds daft, but it's just a system of relaxation, and there's nothing more to it."

     Describing the activities and the retreat, McCartney said, "We meditated about five hours a day, and the rest of the time, slept, ate, sunbathed, and had fun. I don't know how much it cost, but it was very cheap."

     Although there are reports that the Maharishi charges his students a week's salary. McCartney shrugged off reporters' questions about the guru making a fortune. McCartney pointed out that all religions take money to keep themselves going. He explained, "The Maharishi himself has nothing, only a room, a pair of sandals, a chair, and he eats nuts. He doesn't use money and hasn't a flashy car or anything like that."

     McCartney's departure from the Guru's retreat was not as unexpected as Ringo Starr's. Ringo and his wife, Maureen, left after only 10 days with the Maharishi because they were unhappy with the food and also missed their children. At the time. Ringo compared the retreat to Butlins holiday camps, which are British vacation camps with tightly organized schedules.

     McCartney actually stayed in India longer than he had originally anticipated. Jane Asher flew back with McCartney from the retreat.

     In June, the Beatles have scheduled time in the recording studio to work on their next album. John Lennon's psychedelic-painted Rolls-Royce has been on exhibit as the feature attraction at the International Auto Show, which began at the Coliseum in New York last Saturday. The car, which has been used by Nat Wiese of Nemperor artists in New York, has been in this country, in case any of the Beatles come over here and need to use it. 

Photos from Montserrat

 Recording Tug of War in Montserrat February 1981 

The Real Thing (1996)

 

The Real Thing

By Carlos

The Birmingham Evening Mail

February 28, 1996

    Top legend Paul McCartney reckons that the new Beatles single is much more of a Fab Four effort than the disappointing "Free as a Bird" flop. After being tipped for the top, the first moptop reunion failed to make the grade, beaten by more contemporary Brit pop at the final hurdle. But "Real Love", says Macca is business, and he reckons that it will appeal not only to Beatle buffs, but also to fans of bands like Oasis.

     "It was good fun recording this one," says Paul. "Unlike 'Free as a Bird', it had all the words and the music intact; nothing had to be added. That meant that George, Ringo, and I could be more like sidemen to John,  joining in with the tape vocals that he left behind when he died.

     "It was a very joyful occasion, and I think that we did a good job."

     The sentiment is backed up by former Meriden Maestro Jeff Lynne, the one-time ELO leader, who produced both the new Beatle cuts. He says, "It's sort of a love song, and it's a lot bouncier than the first single. It's a beautiful tune as well, and they all do great harmonies with John."

     To make the cut as authentic as possible, Macca used a stand-up double bass, while George played six string acoustic guitar, and Ringo used his original Ludwig drum kit.

 It's released on March 4, doubtless allowing time for Oasis and Take That to wind down their big battle in the charts.

Everyone wants to talk to George