McCartney in Angry Clash with Camera Men (1981)

 McCartney in Angry Clash with Camera Men

No writer listed

Liverpool Echo

February 18, 1981

Paul McCartney called the cameramen "monsters."

 Paul McCartney was involved in an angry clash with press photographers on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he and fellow ex Beatle Ringo Starr are making a record. A Jeep driven by McCartney was in a collision with a car containing the photographers, and McCartney got out and shouted at the cameramen. 

    Photographer Doug Jennings said that McCartney called them monsters and angrily lectured them for 20 minutes on why they should not bother him. No one was injured in the collision. The photographers claim McCartney deliberately rammed their car. Jennings said the incident happened as McCartney, his wife, Linda, and three children were on their way to a recording studio for a session with Ringo Starr. McCartney told the cameramen, "We're here only to record. There is no story. There is no Beatles reunion!"

Beatles Came in Night and Slipped Away (1965)

 

A plaque outside the King Arm Hotel, Berkwick, states that Charles Dickens stayed there during his lifetime. Now the management could erect another plaque stating that the Beatles stayed there. Ringo, Paul, John, and George stayed overnight in the hotel on their way to Glasgow, but few people knew about it. John Lennon turns to crack a joke to Ringo Starr and George Harrison, but Paul McCartney was missing. 

Beatles Came in Night and Slipped Away - Cloak of Secrecy Beat Fans

No Writer Listed

Berwick Advertiser

December 9, 1965

    The Beatles: John, Paul, George, and Ringo slipped in and out of Berwick in a cloak of secrecy on Friday. Only a handful of people knew that they had arrived, and they were planning to head north on Friday afternoon. 

    It was all so different from the amazing scenes when the Beatles were expected and never came. Then there were crowds everywhere, crowds who waited, hopeful but fruitless. 

    Hardly anyone saw them go on Friday, and even fewer saw their arrival in the early hours of the morning. The famous Four chart toppers, MBEs, idols of the pop lovers, crept quietly upstairs to their rooms in the King's Arms Hotel in Hide Hill. They had breakfast in bed, and just after lunchtime, they slipped out of the hotel with little fuss.

     The management and the staff of the King's Arms Hotel were sworn to secrecy. Police knew the famous Four were in town. They, too, kept it quiet, and hardly anybody else knew until the last minute that the Beatles were in town. 

    They left Berwick in a rainstorm in a black Austin Princess car with the rear windows clouded over.

     The Beatles had been in town, and they had left without a Yeah, yeah, yeah. Left with a ticket to ride in comfort, without crowds or hysteria. 

    A few miles up the road, misfortune befell one of George Harrison's three guitars. It fell from the car onto the A1 road and broke.

Nearly 300 Beatles Fan Taken to Hospitals (Houston 1965)

 

Nearly 300 Beatles Fans Taken to Hospitals

By George Christian

The Houston Post

August 20, 1965

 

The Beatles created something like mass hysteria on Thursday, when they came to Houston for two performances in the Coliseum. Nearly 300 girls had to be carted off to hospitals from the Coliseum area in 12 ambulances, estimated R.S. Bill, an officer of the volunteer Mercy Corps.

 His vehicle alone handled 65, mostly suffering from hysteria. Bill said some were stretched out in front of the Coliseum, still “bawling and squalling” on Thursday night while awaiting empty ambulances; hundreds of ammonia capsules were given to the fainting fans. Bill said the Beatles were such hot cargo that they had to be carried to their Coliseum concert in an armored car.

 As befitted nine-day millionaires, they will make at least a million from their nine-day US tour. The grinning singers from Liverpool were slipped into the back entrance of the Coliseum in an armored Motor Service Inc van at 4:40 pm. The car was decided as a necessity by the police after the Beatles' boisterous reception at the international airport early Thursday morning. After the Beatles arrived here from Atlanta, youngsters engulfed their charter plane, walking on the wings and wrapping themselves around the windows.

“They were scared to death,” Ira Sidelle, The Beatles' company manager, said later. “They didn't want to go out unless they could have protection.”

 “Terrified”, agreed.Ringo Starr, the Beatles drummer, at a press conference at the Sheridan-Lincoln hotel Thursday afternoon.

 A quarter of an hour after the armored van brought them, the Beatles went on stage for a 35-minute stint, during which they were pelted with jelly beans, paper, and even keys. (The Beatles are supposed to love jelly beans).

They smiled good-humoredly through it all, but from the minute they stepped out before an audience of about 10,000, they could hardly be heard at all. Youngsters, predominantly girls, stood on chairs and shrieked continuously. Some held up pictures of their favorite Beatle. Others had homemade signs bearing messages of affection. One sign that hung out over a box said, “The Beatles are here. The Beatles are here. Now we have nothing to fear. Sue and Nancy”

 Starr rapped his cymbals on a high platform, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison sang and played electric guitars on the stage below. All of them were wearing dark blue suits and high Black Beatle boots, and Lennon had on a small blue cap.

 Grinning through the din, they sang such favorites of theirs as “Twist and  Shout” and their new number, “Help.” But the real big shrieks came when Ringo joined in to sing, “I Want to be Your Man,” and all four did “A Hard Day's Night”.

 The police blocked off a perimeter around the stage with sawhorses and held the line behind it. When excited youngsters began to push forward, the concert had to be stopped. Once the Beatles fans standing on chairs were asked to sit down, they were back on the chairs again in seconds, Captain Tom Sawyer of the police department said about 185 policemen were on duty.

 After the Beatles sped away, Kathy Bell, 14, was crying happily outside the Coliseum. “They threw a kiss to me,” she wept. “John and Paul. I knocked on the window, and John and Paul threw a kiss to me.”

 Suzette Cloete, 15, of New Orleans, was weeping too. Why? “Because I love them”, said Suzette, as if it ought to be obvious.

 Beetle admirers from as far away as Alabama milled around the Coliseum and the Sheridan-Lincoln. The Beatles slept late Thursday morning. They breakfasted on grapefruit, scrambled eggs, shredded wheat, and tea, and turned up for a press conference, including many teenage reporters.

 At 2:30 pm in the hotel, they smoked and drank water, chatting among themselves, answering a field of questions. A sign reading "The Beatles" fell behind them as they talked.

As for an impression of Texas, Lennon said, “We haven't seen much of it. We've only seen Dallas and here. We nearly got killed both times.” Lennon, who was wearing a white jacket and a black and white striped shirt, said, “You've been reading the wrong books.” When asked if the Beatles had been knighted.

McCartney, in a gray jacket and shirt, dodged questions about marrying the English actress Jane Asher, “It's been reported,” he said, “I never said it.  The newspaper seems to know .”

Starr, the nattiest of the four in a black and white checkered jacket and a red and white jersey, will soon become a father. He says he does not care whether it's a boy or a girl. “I don't mind as long as it's one or the other.”  He said the Beatles agreed that they have the most fans in America because it's bigger.  “We don't know when our popularity will run out”, that they “only hope we're still alive at the end of their tour”, and that they never tired of being the Beatles. “We'd give it up if we did,” said Lennon.

 Other Beatalisms:

 Lennon on space shots:  “You see one Space Shot and you've seen them all.”

 Lennon on musicians:  “We don't read music. A real musician is someone who can play. If he can read it's all the better.”

 McCartney on music:  “We like colored American groups.”

 McCartney on teenage girls nowadays:  “They're about the same everywhere.”

Lennon on Elvis Presley:  “He's still the king.”

 Harrison was in a beige jacket and a white shirt on Press speaking on McCartney's reported engagement: “They'll make it up because they're short of a story .”

After the press conference, one of the teenage reporters was carrying a glass of water out.  “Ringo touched this water”, she said. Another had John's water glass.

 The Beatles reappeared in their armored van to sing for a sell-out crowd of 12,250 in the Coliseum Thursday night. They went on as they had in the afternoon, after an hour's entertainment by the shimmying, Discotheque Dancers, four athletic singers called Cannibal and the Headhunters, the instrumental Sounds. Inc., singer Brenda Holloway, and the King Curtis band.

 Bill Weaver of KILT, which sponsored the show, estimated the total attendance at 22,250 and the total receipts at $111,250. So the Beatles took away about $72,000. After expenses, the Variety Boys Club gets the rest.

The Troop left the airport and headed for Chicago. Immediately after Thursday night's performance, two of the younger fans at the sawhorse barricade near the stage during the evening performance were Pete and Tommy Conrad, sons of astronaut Charles Conrad. Asked if he was a Beatles fan, 10-year-old Pete replied, “I guess so. “Tommy, 8, was asked if he was disappointed that his father's space flight was postponed. “Not too much,” he said. The boys attended the performance with Mrs. Nancy Robbins of Clear Lake City, a friend of the Conrads.

 Overall, observers agreed that the evening performance was more orderly than the afternoon one.  “It was a more mature crowd”, said one of the mob of mostly teenage girls.

Beatles Tired but Quick on the Draw (Toronto 1965)

Beatles Tired But Quick on Draw at Press Conference

By Jane Kowicz

Star-Gazette

August 25, 1965

 

The Beatles gave their second annual performance at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens last week and held a press conference. Jane Kowicz, 19 of 135 Hillvue Avenue, Corning, attended the press conference, and as she did last year, returned with a report for the Star Gazette.

Area Beatle fans, once again, the Beatles returned to Toronto to do two performances at the vast Maple Leaf Gardens. The famed English MBEs performed in 100-degree heat before 36,000 fans.

 During a press conference held between the two shows, the group showed visible signs of being tired. However, in show business tradition, the Beatles held their own at the conference. The Beatles, despite the heat and their exhaustion, gave ready answers to such questions as:

 Do you like being the Beatles?

 George and John: Yes, or we would be the Rolling Stones.

 Ringo, how does bachelorhood agree with you?

 George:  He's married. You're married, aren't you?

Ringo:  I'm married.

I mean, does married life agree with you?

Ringo: Yes.

 What kind of shampoo do you use?

John:  Any kind we can borrow.

 Why is the color of John Lennon's hair different this time?

 John: Me hair? Because it's all covered with sweat. That makes it different.

What did you think of Rome when not many people showed up to meet you?

 John:  That's gotten all over here?  Nobody met us when we got in at 5 am but the concert was a sellout, so sit down and shut up.

Paul, do you plan to marry Jane Asher?

 Paul:  I have no plans, but everybody keeps saying I have. So maybe they know more about it than I do. Everybody is always writing about my marriage and 50 children.

John:  He's only got 40.

 Paul:  and it's not true, but if you want to make something up, I'll sue you.

John, I've read an article about this. Are you and Bob Dylan the same person?

 John: That's very funny. I didn't read the article. No, we're different people. That's very funny.

Are you planning any more films?

 George:  we'll be making another one in the spring. Yes.

Will the Beatles do a third Christmas show?

 John: Ask Mr. Christmas Epstein.

 George:  Mr. Epstein, may we have a Mr. Epstein Christmas show? Let him work.

What is it like during a performance, not being able to hear yourself sing, let alone being able to hear yourselves think?

 John: How do you know we can't hear ourselves think?  Are you inside our minds?

Paul:  I'm tired of hearing about all the noise and how the audience and the Beatles go through it all the time. They paid to have a good time, so leave them alone and up with the workers.

 John: Yeah.

 Would you like to tour with an all-English group of supporting acts?

 Ringo: We usually do in England.

 

Sweet George (1987)

 

Sweet George

By Legs Labelle

Manchester Evening News

November 21, 1987

It's been five years since George Harrison's last album, Gone Troppo, which was virtually ignored by the critics and the public. So George has virtually ignored us for the past five years, but he has hardly been the monkish recluse he's been painted. He's running Handmade Films, popping up at live concerts and on TV specials, and making lots of music that he just chose not to release.

 But now George is back with a strong new album, Cloud Nine. We met when George was in LA to promote the new LP. Like many press people, I hadn't seen George since the '70s, and I too, had heard the rumors that he was drawing away from the material world, that he was retreating more into his spiritual pursuits.  That George the aesthetic was an apt description.

 What is most striking about George in 1987 is his brilliant sense of humor, his obvious strength, his surprising humility, real warmth, and a sense that he's very in touch with himself. And it was nice to be in touch with George again. We talked about everything from religion to gardening to his guitar style to yes the Beatles ("Are we still talking about them?" he asked.)  But the main topic of interest today is his new album. Here's what he had to say about it.

GH:  "I racked my brains for weeks and months trying to think of a title because I was trying not to have a song title. We had various titles. Had hundreds of them, but the next day, none of them seemed to work. You know, in the end, I just had to have some title, otherwise the album would have never come out. So, as there were clouds on the cover, we called it Cloud Nine.

L.L   You sit and listen to this record, and you know certain tracks, and in two seconds, you know it's George Harrison, because there is that distinctive sound

 G.H. (laughing and looking jokingly concerned).  Is that good or bad? 

L.L.  It's good. You want to be unique, don't you? It means there is a George Harrison guitar sound.

G.H.   Well, I suppose I should be thankful for that, because a lot of people sound the same as each other. It's just one of those things that came about, sort of our old Beatley sound and guitars, yeah?

 But you see, that was helped by having Jeff Lynne co-produce the record with me. Jeff, like some other people, was a big Beatles fan, and he himself went on to write some of the greatest pop tunes of the 1970s with Electric Light Orchestra. Jeff is really into all these sly sounds and stuff, all the nostalgic sounds as well. 

L.L.   Let's talk about the musicians on the album. You've got Elton, John on piano. What is it like working with him?

G.H.  Elton's fun. He's great. Elton was phoning up and sending messages through, saying, 'If you want me to come and do something on the album...' So when he got back to England after his Australian tour, I called him up and said, 'Okay, you're on tomorrow, two o'clock'. And he just nipped in and played. He's a great rock and roll piano player. 

L.L.  And then, of course, Eric Clapton....

G.H.   How did I get to meet him? (Laugh) We shared the same wife! 

 I've been friends with Eric for years. He's a lovely fella, and I love him very dearly. I just called him up again. You know, 'doing an album, Eric, can you come and play'? 'Sure.' He came over. Played great stuff. 

L.L.  Of course, Ringo is on drums.

G.H.   You could not make an ex-Beatles record without having Ringo. Could you?  If I play a song to Ringo, I don't need to say to him, 'I wanted to go like this'. I just play, and he joins in. He's got a great feel. 

L.L.  There have been so many technological changes just in the five years since you last made an album. What changes did you have to make because of the technology? 

G.H.  None. I was determined not to make one of those sort of clattery records like everybody else seems to be doing. I was going to make a record, something like 20 years ago, just like a rock and roll band making a record, except the modern technology is going to make it sound like it's just been made. I've avoided all those drum machines, those MIDI this and that and the other, and all those emulated little phony trumpets and stuff.  We had real playing. 

L.L.  What was your biggest change then in you personally that you brought to your music? 

G.H.  Just that I'm at ease with myself, maybe?  I was happy to be making the record, whereas in the past, I got a bit fed up and got bogged down by having to write, sing, and produce the whole thing myself. I was in a good mood to do this record, you know, I didn't really think of the business end of it. I've always felt that if I were to make this kind of music, I should not try to fashion any songs or my music to a pseudo market. I think that kind of thing was happening in the '70s. That's when I decided well, I'm getting at it here. It's like somebody once said, Take me as I am or let me go.

The Cat Got your Tongue, Paul?

 

The Cat Got Your Tongue, Paul

By Stan Mieses

Daily News 

May 30, 1976

    At 5pm on the Friday of the Wings concert in Nassau Coliseum, I received a phone call I'd been waiting for all day. "He'll do it tonight. Can you get out here?" Ask the press agent.  I'd been given a chance to interview Paul McCartney, and frankly, I couldn't think of a more exciting prospect. He's the only ex-Beatle I haven't seen in performance on his own, and would be the first I'd interview. 

    Now you must understand, I've always held John Lennon as my favorite Beatle, having made that choice at a time when it was mandatory to do so in order to define your position in the world, along with the decisions like Mantle or Mays or three years of French or Spanish, but I've attached more than a few indelible memories to Beatle songs. Didn't the girls always go for Paul? And having shared sodas with a few of Paul's biggest fans, it was an encouraging sign of progress that this time around, very few still threw tantrums in the name of Paul McCartney.  At the Nassau Coliseum, hardly an adolescent rushed the stage.

     His show was a strong rush of rock and roll that came up a little short winded, but it was still great to see him, and the band was impressive, even if McCartney seemed to lack a distant stage personality.

     Still, I was hopeful to find out how he felt about more than 10 years of attendant hysteria in his life. I should have known better. A few minutes into the interview, I felt as trapped as The Beatles did in the press conference scene in A Hard Day's Night.  Talking to McCartney is like playing tennis with a badminton racket or being sent upriver without a paddle, if you like. He's quite skilled at the game of noninterview, which consists of glib, one or two-word responses that draw planks of wood into deep silence. I long for the Long Island Expressway. 

    The backstage dressing room reserved for Paul and Linda McCartney was a gray cinder block locker room more accustomed to Mets and Islanders than Beatles. Paul and I sat on round back comfortable chairs opposite Linda and a friend named Humphrey Ocean perched on the armrest of a third chair,

     Humphrey was introduced lavishly by Linda as "our friend."  A skinny young man of medium height. He wore pink plastic sunglasses, the drugstore counter kind, which were much too narrow for his narrow face, a seersucker sports jacket with a contrasting plaid shirt, and a further offsetting patterned narrow tie. His pants were too short and his socks didn't match.  All that was missing were shoes with bells on them. 

    The McCartneys had identical little amusing smiles on their faces to match their identical English mod haircuts, low, bangs, short sides,  long in the back. Humphrey sat with his hands folded over a closed sketch pad, and Linda toyed with a Polaroid. 

    Paul looked across to them as he spoke. "Oh yes, I'm quite taken with America," he began with seeming great amusement. "We visit America regularly. I have an American wife, you know, so I keep up with things."  Linda sent us a coquettish smile that vanished quickly. "Winston Churchill had a wife from the United States, too you know. I know about America. I know about pizzas," He said proudly.

     Humphrey and Linda looked positively charmed. There was a long silence. How'd it feel to be an international pop idol for as long as he's been one? "It's fine," he said, "but I never thought of myself as a pop idol. I'm a singer-musician. That's why I got up there in the first place, for the fun of being in a band, whatever anyone may think, that's still why I'm here."

     "Oh, good!" chirped Humphrey. Linda smiled again and lit up a half-smoked cigarette. Paul rolled up the sleeves of his green print silk shirt and sipped on a scotch and coke. "You're not going to ask me the same question. Are you?"  He asked. Did he mean about the rumored $5 million offer to reunite the Beatles? "I'd like to end it as far as people asking about the X million dollars, but I'd like to keep the door open if the other Beatles thought there was something worthwhile in doing it," he said, offering the same answer.

     Again, the conversation died, Linda attempted to pick up the medicine ball with a rap about some obscure British comedian she was dying to see, and blimey, wouldn't it have been great to have him along on the tour too? Humphrey clapped his hands gleefully. I don't know if I've ever heard a speech pattern quite like Linda's. It's a mixture of finishing school, nasal drone, and Scottish colloquialisms pushed by a snappy East Side career girl rhythm that doesn't quite add up in the believability department. 

    I asked Paul if he still had to defend his wife against unhappy critics and fans. "Used to", he corrected me, "and now we just keep smiling through," he replied, mirroring the Mrs. Smirk.  "The whole Johnny Ray thing of getting ripped to pieces never happened to me," said Paul sincerely, his boyish face could make the put on, at least interesting to look at.

     "Hold it!" shouted. Linda cocking the Polaroid (she was once a photographer). W"hat we need here is some balance!" cried Humphrey, leaping to his feet, he ran over to the table at the center of the room and picked up a half filled cup of Coke, placed it on the back of his hand, and walked it around the room until it teetered and fell to the applause of the Mccartneys. "This is the kind of regularity we seek", he said, with a charming grin. "Your time off on a tour is rather important. On days off, we take our shoes off and sit around, kind of like Archie Bunker."

     And where were the children? "They're at home dreaming of a White Christmas," replied Linda.  "Is this going into the paper?"   "Hmm, sort of backstage with Paul?  Interesting. You don't want to know about the Beatles? It's all right, all that stuff, Beatle cartoons, Beatle handbags. " He shifted into second gear and began to sound like a press agent. "The more important angle for most people is the living angle? Yes, the now angle."

     Then, as if he were revealing some secret. "It's all very well these tokens of The Beatles, but it all fades out when you come to play."  What did he mean? "I could have not done anything. I could have lived as a  legend or whatever, but I'm still alive. Contrary to rumors," Why was he keeping Beatle rumors alive then if part of his reason for touring America with the new specially prepared band was to dispell the Beatle memories? 

     "That's a good one," Humphrey said, stuck in lifting his head from a sketchbook. "Tell us a little something about yourself, Stan," said Linda moving over to her husband's left hand armrest.  I quickly told them that I've been born and raised in New York City. I knew that neither of them was looking at me as I spoke. "Is that enough?" I asked." Oh yes, quite." Paul answered politely, "Thank you."

      Was the living legend able to find and keep friends at this stage of the game? I asked. "Well, let's ask the friend here," said Linda, pointing at Humphrey, sprawled on the floor. Humphrey looked at us through his pink, pinched sunglasses. "Oh yes", he gushed. "Oh yes". Long silence.

     "I'm just moving through life," McCartney said, in a philosophical tone, "Do you suppose that's it?" He asked in a voice that intimated that he was uncomfortably close to a cadaver, "Yes, of course", I said relieved. 

    On the way to the door, the McCartneys stopped to show us some from the sketchbook, a mini record of tour scenes. They reviewed each rough drawing as if they were original Damiers. "You know, Captain Kidd used to keep a man on board just to take sketches. This was before photography, of course," McCartney said, holding up Linda's new Polaroid snapshot.

    "It was nice to meet you." We shook hands and Linda called out "Bye Stan!" after me, I walked out into the hall and wondered what the hell it was about this man that pleased me to no end when I was a kid. Then I realized I was humming an old tune.

Meeting Beatles Some Experience!

 

Meeting Beatles some Experience!

No author listed

Kingsport Times

August 19, 1965

    Two Kingsport disc jockeys who returned here today from Atlanta, Georgia, may well be the envy of scores of teenagers in the area. 

    They returned with pictures, tape recordings, and at least one bonafide souvenir from a face-to-face interview with The Beatles, a British rock and roll singing group. 

     As DJ Gary Morse put it, "It was some experience!"  Morse and fellow WKIN announcer Rusty Cury were among the 200 press representatives attending a press conference with the teenage idols prior to their appearance at Atlanta Stadium Wednesday night.

     Among other things, the disc jockeys learned that Ringo Starr, a member of the mop-headed group, will become a father "before too long" and that the singers don't think too much of another rock and roll singer, Elvis Presley. "We liked him a lot better when he was a little newer on the scene." The singers told the Kingsport disc jockeys, but they added, "he's middle aged"now.

     Cury has what some teenage teenagers would value as a priceless memento of the occasion, a pencil which Ringo idly chewed on during the press conference and left behind following the interview. 

Lindsay De Paul talks about Ringo

 

Ringo Angled For Me With a Fishing Rod

By Lindsey De Paul 

Sunday Mirror

April 25, 1982

    James Coburn was the love of my life. But I had enjoyed one or two light-hearted romances before I met him, and although none of them meant very much, at least they were fun. One of my nicest involvements was with former Beatle Ringo Starr.

    I first met him in 1976 at a New Year's Eve party. He had been divorced from his wife, Maureen, for some time. I was wearing a black silk jersey top and a skirt covered in feathers. Ringo came up to me, took my hand, and said, "Did you fly here all on your own?"

     After I stopped laughing, he told me he had been following my career for two years. As you can imagine, I was terribly flattered and found myself spending the rest of the evening in earnest conversation with him. As I was going through a hectic phase in my career with my hit records. I promptly forgot about the whole thing.

     A few months later, I ran into Ringo again at a Paul McCartney concert. As we sat talking, he asked me for my phone number. I agreed to give it to him and asked him where I should write it. Then Ringo did a most unusual thing. He opened his jacket and told me, "Write your number on the label."

     I did what I was told. A few weeks later, I was sitting in the bath one morning when the phone went off. Ringo said, "I was going through my suits, and I came across your number. What are you doing tonight?"

     I said, "You don't exactly give a girl a lot of warning. Do you?" 

     I was waiting for some furniture to be delivered that evening, but to give Ringo his due, he was persistent. He came around and waited with me for the furniture to arrive. Then he took me out to dinner at London's exclusive nightclub, Tramp.

     As usual, he was tremendous company, and he made me laugh a lot. So I invited him back to my house for coffee when the evening ended. We were standing in the kitchen, and in front of me was a dish of dried figs and dates. I turned to Ringo and asked politely if he wanted a date. "Yes," he said, quick as a flash, "tomorrow night, please."

     As it happened, I was free the next evening, but I wasn't going to let Ringo know that.  I wasn't sure how I felt about him, and I wanted to put the reins on my emotions until I was.

     We ended up going out a few nights later, and when Ringo turned up to collect me, he arrived with a gift-wrapped package. When I unwrapped it, I discovered, to my surprise, it was a fishing rod.

    "But I don't fish". I told him.

    "Oh yes, you do," said, Ringo, "You fish the whole time for compliments."

     I decided to have a relationship with Ringo for two reasons. Firstly, he was attentive, funny, and delightful. Secondly, he was more successful than I was. That might sound odd, but at the time, I had a lot of hit songs on the charts, and most of the men I went out with felt threatened by my success. Ringo was far better known than me, and it made a good balance. 

    We spent about five months together, and during the period I was at my most prolific musically, Ringo just loved my songs, and he would sit with the brandy and listen to me playing and singing for hours.

     We had a very relaxed companionship, and we respected each other, both as professionals and as people.

     I always believe you should never demand things from a man which he cannot give. Ringo couldn't give me his Sundays. He was a wonderful father, and every Sunday he would spend the whole day with his children from his first marriage. 

    This didn't bother me at all. I was in the habit of spending every weekend at his house and Ascot, and after he left me at around 11 in the morning, I was completely happy to be on my own. 

    In a way, my relationship with Ringo was doomed from the start because five months after we started going around together, he had to go and live abroad for tax reasons. He told me this at the very beginning of our romance, but I wasn't prepared to sacrifice my career to travel the world with him or anyone else. Perhaps if I had been older, things might have turned out differently. You see, Ringo is the kind of man who likes just one woman in his life. He is not the Casanova type at all. And when I met him I knew he was ready to settle down and get married.

Chirpy Ringo Steals the Show

July 25, 1964 -  Ringo on Juke Box Jury

It is such a shame that the Beatles and individual members Juke Box Jury Shows are lost media.  They would have been such a great piece of Beatles history to have. 

 

Beverley and Paul July 1967

 One of the first things I posted on this site in 2009 was the "Lost Little Girl" story.   The "Lost Girl Tapes" were a Beatles bootleg of a recording a fan named Leslie Samuels made in July 1967 when she went to Cavendish and Kinfauns with a tape recorder and spoke with Paul and George.   

I was obsessed with those recordings.  I couldn't believe that a fan could go onto the property of a Beatle house and talk to them.  I was amazed that Jane Asher served Leslie and her friend lemonade while Paul chatted away with them.   I listened to that Cd over and over again and even made a transcript of the recording.    

Toward the end of the Paul section, you hear a 4th female voice.   You hear Leslie ask the girl for her name, and she says, "Beverley."   She asks how she got there, and Beverley says, "My Grandmother."   Then you can tell that Paul and Beverley leave and then Paul returns to say goodbye to Leslie and her friend.  

So, for at least 15 years, I have wondered, "Who was Beverley? Why was she there that day? Was she a fan?"    I came across a photograph of a girl in pigtails that looked to have been taken on the same day Leslie met Paul.  I knew the girl was far too young to be Leslie or her friend (plus, she didn't look like either of them).  Was she Beverley?   The photo had more questions than answers.

Thanks to Guus at the Solo Beatles Forum -- I now know who Beverely is and why she was on the Lost Girl Tapes!  Thank you so much Guus for solving a mystery.  

Beverley  Sayers was Paul's housekeeper at the time, Mrs. Mill's granddaughter who came to London to visit relatives and stayed at Paul's house in July 1967.   She IS the girl in the photograph and she was at Cavendish when Leslie made her unforgettable trip.

Here is the news story from Herald-News from Passaic, New Jersey which was originally published on August 7, 1967.

Paul and Beverely Sayers 

Lions Head Lass Spends Week in Beatles Home 

Written by Bea Klacsmann 

Beverley Sayers, 11-year-old daughter of Audrey and Charles Sayers, 16 Claremont Terrace, Lions Head Lake, is the Envy of Beatle fans all over the world, for she not only met their idol, Paul McCartney, but actually stayed at his London home for an entire week. 

Beverley is the granddaughter of Mrs Lillian Mills (her mother's mother), who for the last six months has served as housekeeper for the bachelor member of The Beatles, who resides in a 29-room mansion in St John's Woods, London. 

Paul presented his small admirer with several presents, including five pounds in English money to do some shopping, many small gifts of dolls and the like, several autographs, and one of his latest recordings,  "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."   Beverley admits, however, that she liked their earlier recordings more, and this is a "little far out." 

The youngster, who was born in England, has just returned from a five-week visit to relatives and the London suburbs. She traveled on the plane with a family friend, Alan Hayes of Pompton Lakes, and alternately visited relatives: the Brian Mills and Peter Mills families of Ashford, Middlesex, the Leslie Flowers of Stanwell, and the Raymond Coleys of London. 

Beverley's first disappointment was when she took a whole roll of pictures of Paul and the family pets: "Martha," the English sheepdog, and "Thisbey," the cat and her three kittens. Something was wrong with the camera, and the pictures didn't turn out. However, Paul came to her rescue and had pictures taken of his young visitor with himself and his family. 

The young girl had already become used to the mod fashions of London, for her English relatives were right in style with their miniskirts and bright colors. According to Beverley, "Only the old people of London dress like we do here; all of the young people are in mod-style dress. The family attended a wedding where the groom wore a red shirt with orange flowers, bell-bottom trousers and sandals. I saw many of the young men with shoulder length hair tied with a ribbon in a ponytail and most have long droopy mustaches." 

McCartney, when he went out on an evening date, according to Beverley, wore a bright green velvet button-up jacket with bright orange velvet bellbottom slacks. One of his Hobbies is painting in the garden, but instead of scenes or portraits, Paul uses tubes of bright colored paint and pastels to draw geometric designs on his shirts ... no pictures, just different colored lines, dots, x's and squares. 

"His shoes he also paints and bright colors, and when he goes out he wears sunglasses with one purple and one yellow lens," she said. 

On the pictures with Beverley he is barechested and wearing light baby blue bell-bottom trousers with brightly colored designs of children playing all sorts of games. 

Beverley said there are at least 20 girls, ranging from 14 to 24 years old, who are always on the street outside the house. 

Mrs Mills has become a celebrity in her own right and receives her own fan letters and gifts as McCartney's housekeeper. 

Beverley reported that McCartney's home consists of four floors with two kitchens, one on the main and one on the second floor. There is a winding staircase and an enormous ballroom that Paul uses as his rec room, two TVs, a built-in record player and movie screen, and all sorts of recording devices. It was here that Paul showed Beverley home movies of himself and the other Beatles. 

According to Beverley, McCartney drives a dark green Mustang with black bucket seats. However, he also owns an antique Model T Ford which he is having refurbished and painted in various bright colors. 

Beverley was sorry not to have meant the other Beatles. She just missed Ringo Starr whose car was pulling up to the gate as she was leaving for her return to the United States. 

The Sayers family came to this country from England when Beverley was two and they resided at Lions Head Lake for the past 7 years. Beverley, who is entering the 6th grade at Schuyler-Colfax Junior High School in the fall has two sisters, Laurie,4, and Jane,1.

Mourning Brian

 Brian Epstein died on August 27, 1967, and on August 28, it was big news around the world.  Fans gathered at his home in London to pay their respects and mourn together. 

Paul's Haircut Shocks the Barber

 

This is a newspaper article from 1981 about a barber that unexpectedly cut Paul and James' hair. 

Paul's Haircut Shocks the Barber

By Geoff Garvey

Old-style barber, Jack Turner nearly dropped his clippers when a customer demanded a short back and sides. 

For sitting in the chair was the owner of one of the world's most famous heads of hair - Paul McCartney. 

Jack, 59, said at his shop at St. Lenord's-on-sea, not far from McCartney's Sussex home. "I told him that I was not going to give the king of The Beatles a short back and sides.  Even when his wife Linda asked I still refuse.  In the end, we settled for a trim."

Afterwards, Linda sat in the chair with 4-year old son Jamie {sic} on her lap so that he could have his hair cut as well.

Jack said, "I asked Paul why he hadn't gone to a top salon.  

He said, "I don't want that.  I want a traditional hairdresser.  I don't want fuss or bother."

McCartney had waited his turn behind five other customers in the traditional salon.

Jack said, "He was absolutely charming and people were chatting to him. He was very down to earth."

McCartney, who is reported to earn £25 million a year, paid Jack £2.00 and a tip.  "We don't talk about that, do we,"  said Jack. 

A member of Paul's staff said of his visit to Jack's Barber Shop "I'm not surprised.  He likes to be treated as an ordinary person."  

How Can You Get to Know a Girl With 50 Big Cops in Your Room?

 

This is a newspaper article that I found in a scrapbook.  I writer of this article is not known and I also do not know what newspaper it came from. 

How Can You Get To Know a Girl With 50 Big Cops In Your Room?

"If we went down and sang 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' to that mob of girls down there, we'd probably get our hands torn off."

"Ring you are, mate." said Ringo Starr, the drummer, who looks somewhat like a Buddist idol and wears a worried frown more often than he wears a smile. 

"But it might be nice to shake off our guards and get out and meet them all.  One by one of course.  

"I try not to think about the girls," said Ringo.

"I take my mind off them by reading lots of science fiction.  It's my great kick.  

"Sometimes I think we've created a more frightening monster than anything I about in my books.

"We're captives of our own creation -- The Beatles, but we can take it -- we're young. 

I asked them what kind of girl they'd like to date if they had the opportunity.  

Lead guitarist, George Harrison answered, "We like girls with longer hair than ours -- so we can tell the difference."

"Seriously, though," said Harrison, "we're just like anyone else.  We like parties and a bit of fun.  Trouble is, we can't have fun like normal people."

"We tried to get into the Peppermint Lounge.  Lots of twisting down there, but we couldn't do anything.  Everybody surrounded us in one large circle.  So the only thing left for us to do is sit around a big fire at home with our slippers on and watch television.   Once in a while, we even have a pillow fight.  What a life!"

"Don't get us wrong.  We like the screaming fans."

"We'd be dead worried if the girls weren't around.  But sometimes we wish we could get back to the kind of thing we were doing a year ago -- just playing some of the small places around our homes, and having a quiet, date after the show."

"It's only a passing mood, though.  Most of the time we've been living on top of the world.  We love our fans and we'll always have time for them.  They've all been marvelous to us. 

"If it was possible, we'd meet them all."

John Lennon -- the married Beatle interrupted:  "Look, if the four of us ever regretted our personal lives being so restricted, we'd pack the job in -- that means quit!"

Ringo reminded Lennon that he had a wife, therefore no girl problems. 

"Yes, but it's terrible when I'm away from her, though," Lennon said.

"She's here with me now, but usually we're apart and we have to talk by telephone. 

"But the voices don't sound the same.  It's too distant.  I don't like to talk about my private life.  I'd like to keep it separate from this business.

"I want my wife to lead a normal life and not be pestered day and night just because she's married to one of the Beatles.  She never gets jealous about the fans. 

"She loves them, in fact.  She's received lots of presents from our fans for herself and for our son.

"She knew what it would be like when she married me.  My wife is very understanding about it."

Ringo looked up from his cup of tea.  He looked sad.  "I'm not really miserable," he said.  "It's just my face.  I really feel amazed about the whole business, the success and all.  Don't ask me to explain it because I can't.

"Everybody wants to investigate us, get inside us, try to understand what makes a Beatle tick.  We've even been questioned by psychiatrists. I couldn't answer them because I never was able to understand the questions.  Long word, y'know."

Ringo -- so named because he wears as many as six rings on his fingers -- p[osed as a strong man, flexing his muscles and gritting his teeth.

"See!  We're quite normal.  If the girls were here right now, I'd be torn to bits."

"Everyone would get a bit of Ringo for a souvenir."

They all laughed.  "Tell him about the haircuts," Ringo said to George Harrison.

"The haircuts were a complete accident," said Harrison with a smile.  "I was in a swimming pool in Hamburg, West Germany, a year or so ago.  I didn't have a brush or comb and by the time it dried, my hair looked just like it does now.  We decided we'd all wear our hair the same way.  It caught on -- a real fluke."

"The whole thing's a fluke," said Lennon.  

"We'll fizzle out one day.  It's inevitable.  But it will have been a lot of fun."

"We hope to make enough money before that happens to be able to buy New York and England.  Then we'll tow them both behind a big boat down to the equator.  It's nice and warm down there, and very far away.

"I'm sure even the people who don't like us now would love us then."

"And" chorused the other three, "we'd be able to date the native girls." 

If you Must Throw Things....Throw Kisses

 

I hope you all have been enjoying the newspaper series from 1964 known as "The Beatles by the Beatles."  I think they are really funny.   Here is the last part -- George. 

The Mad, Mad Beatles certainly enjoy being knockouts, that is, slightly more than sensational, because of the lucre, etc., but, as one of them, George Harrison, observes today, they don't like being knocked out by such tokens of esteem as a barrage of apples.  The Mops hope that they are pelted -- with kisses only.  Such are some of the thoughts of the shaggy-maned quartet in today's concluding articles. 

You know, at first, I thought it was going to be a bit tough writing an article.  Well, I don't reckon myself to be a literary genius.  But having seen the load of old rubbish the other three wrote, I think this is going to be dead easy.

That drawing of me shown here was worth waiting for, wasn't I?  Well, I mean, you don't often see me like that.  (there is a cartoon drawing of George holding a guitar and pointing)

On the stage, I usually show just the top of my head.   It's not that I'm ashamed of my looks.  It's sheer self-defense.   

Ringo mentioned it in his pieces, but I'd like to say again that we would all be knocked out if the fans would stop throwing things on the stage.  If they don't we're likely to be knocked out literally.  Some time ago an apple hit me right in the eye, and I had a shiner for a week afterward. 

It's not really very hilarious.  So please don't throw things -- or, if you must throw them on John's side of the stage.  His head's tougher and a bigger target as well, come to think of it.  But seriously, please stop bombarding us.  It could be dangerous.  But if you have to throw something -- just throw kisses!

Apart from this one, hazard, life with the Beatles is really fab.  I can't think of anything I'd rather do than what I'm doing now.  It certainly beats being an apprentice electrician.  Touring, of course, is tough on you physically.  Sometimes you feel dead beat and you just don't feel like going out to face an audience. But once you get on the stage, the tiredness vanishes and everything is great. 

How could anybody be unmoved with a couple of thousand fans clamouring and screaming?  Sometimes it's a job to hear ourselves play -- and I'm sure lots of people in the audience never hear more than a few notes. 

John tells them to "Shurrup!" every so often -- for the sake of quiet ones in the theater -- but we don't really mind the screaming.  The kids have paid their money, and they're entitled to do what they want. 

You see, the press has built us up a lot and, as we get bigger, and fans think we're getting farther away from them.  So they scream.  Some people say it's sexual, but we don't do anything on the stage to invite that sort of response.  

Anyway, I can understand how the kids feel because I used to be the same way when I watched Eddie Cochran.  You know, if you dig somebody like mad on records and then you finally get a chance to see him in person, it sends shivers through you.

I don't know if that's what we do to our fans, but I know we send shivers through a few non-fans who think all Beatles should be crushed.  I don't mean people who don't like our music.  That's fair enough.  We don't like theirs.   But it's people who condemn us personally, people who dismiss us as a lot of clogs without knowing anything about us.  And people who reckon our success is money for old rope. 

What we do may not be brilliant, it may not even be particularly hard work.  But hardheaded promoters don't' pay small fortunes to people who can't draw the crowds.  

At the moment most kids seem to dig the Beatles.  Maybe this time next year we'll be on the way down.  That'll be a shame because we like popularity and the money.

But we're not going to turn up our toes and die if we're chased out of the charts by some group with the Leighton Buzzard sound or something. 

If we were only in this business for the money, we wouldn't have lasted so long when we were getting 2 pounds a night. 

But, of course, it's fab having so much money.  It's great to see an overcoat worth 25 pounds and be able to go in and buy it cash down.  A couple of years ago I would have had to save up for a couple of weeks and buy one for 8 pounds. 

It would be nice to have more time to spend the money we're now getting -- to have more time to ourselves.  But on the other hand, we're not entirely prisoners of our own popularity. Not so long ago Ringo and I walked around Soho quite freely.  We were spotted, of course, but we weren't mobbed.  And in the evening I took a girl friend to a quiet pub in London. 

Here again, people recognized me, but they left me alone.  They were mostly adults, of course.  But, even so, teenagers only get frenzied if they are in large groups.  in ones and twos, they're more subdued.  

I don't really miss the privacy of being unknown very much.  But what I do miss is driving.  Nowadays we are driven everywhere.  I'd love to own a racing car -- not necessarily to race it myself -- but just to be in on the racing scene. 

Another ambition of mine is to own a big house somewhere where it's red hot for most of the year.  The house would be by a big lake or by the sea so that I could swim and water ski.

As for musical ambitions.  Well, of course, I'd like to hear John sing in tune.  And I'd also like to become a really good guitar player.  I paid two pounds for my first guitar and practically ruined my fingers on it.  I picked up ideas from guitar tutors and from other guitarists, but I'm still a long way from being as good as I'd like to be. 

When I was in the Canary Isles a Spanish guitarist taught me a Segovia piece.  It was marvelous.  And I'd love to be able to play Spanish guitar -- you know, where it sounds like eight people playing at once. 

Since then I've been trying to find a really good Spanish guitar.  I've got about four guitars at the moment.  and the best one is worth about 250 pounds.  But I don't get enough time to practice.  And, when I do, I find myself playing the same old thing. 

But more than a Spanish guitar, I'd like a steady girlfriend.  You know, it's a bit of a drag when you've got a day off and no one to go out with.  I like all sorts of girls, so long as they know what's going on fashionwise and as long as they're not absolute clogs.  You know, soft.  They don't have to be intellectual.  Just with it, you know. 

But, really, when people ask me, what my ambitions are, I can't give a direct answer.  Things happen so fast.  I year or so ago my ambition was to make a record -- not necessarily a hit record but any old record.  I just wanted someone to let us into a recording studio for an hour or so.  

Today?  I don't' know.  I'd be knocked out if things just carried on as they are now.  Apple excepted, of course. 

The Day Beatle George bumped into P.C. Gardner

I have been looking through an old scrapbook from 1970-1972 full of Beatles news clippings.   There is this story about George and some legal issues he had while driving in January 1971.  I had never heard about this before and thought I'd share the stories with all of you.


The Day Beatle George bumped into P.C. Gardner
Adella Lithman
The Daily Express
January 26, 1971

Beatle George Harrison ignored the hammering on the roof of his car.  He thought it must be one of his fans.  But in fact, it was a policeman trying to draw his attention to the fact that he had caused a traffic jam in the centre of London. 

After that, it was alleged yesterday at Wells Street magistrates' court, Harrison drove three times at the constable.

Harrison pleaded guilty to driving without reasonable consideration.

Mr. Michael Holmes, for the prosecution, said that Harrison was driving in Orchard Street near Selfridge's store, on September 3 last year, when he advanced into a "yellow box" and caused a traffic jam.

When Constable Stephen Gardner spoke to him about this Harrison began to slowly move forward.  "The officer walked alongside the car and told Harrison to pull over.  But the car continued forward and the constable went in front of it and indicated him to stop.  But he was bumped on the knee.  Three times he signaled him to stop and three times he got bumped."

Constable Gardner then stood in front of the car and refused to move.   Defending Harrison, who did not appear in court, Mr. Martin Polden explained, "the policeman was standing on the traffic island trying to draw his attention by hammering on the roof.  Being a Beatle, he is often subjecte to this treatment by fans and did not realize it was a policeman."

Magistrate Mr. I. McLean asked, "Despite what one reads in the newspaper, I suppose he is still a person of considerable means?"   Mr. Polden agreed. 

The case was adjourned until February 23 so that Harrison, who lost his driving license while moving to his new home at Henley-on-Thames can produce a duplicate.



George Harrison drove at me claims PC
By Graeme McLagan
January 26, 1971

Beatle George Harrison drove his Mercedes car three times at a policeman on point duty who signaled him to stop, a court was told yesterday. The policeman was hit on the knee,  but not hurt.

He just stood firmly in front of the car and refused to move, said Mr. Michael Holmes, prosecuting at London's Wells Street Court.

Harrison, of Savile Row, Westminster, pleaded guilty through his solicitor to driving without reasonable consideration in the West End in September.

No evidence was offered against him on other summonses alleging careless driving, failing to stop for a policeman and driving into a road traffic box without the exit being clear.

Mr. Holmes said Harrison drove the Mercedes into a busy road junction at Wigmore Street and blocked other traffic. 

PC Stephan Gardner spoke to him and was told, "I see no box."

Harrison then drove his car forward and PC Gardner walked alongside and asked him to drive to the off-side of the road.   The Beatle refused twice, so PC Gardner walked forward and stood in front of the car.   Mr. Holmes said, "Harrison advanced his car slowly and steadily and it hit the officer's knee.  Again Harrison drove into him while the officer had his hand raised.  Then Harrison drove against the officer a third time.  The officer was not hurt but a bit shaken."

Other police arrived at the scene and spent 15 minutes trying to get Harrison's name and address said, Mr. Holmes.

He was heavily bearded but eventually, PC Gardner recognized who he was.  Harrison's solicitor, Mr. Martin Polden said Harrison did not mean to hurt PC Gardner and was a "very mild-mannered man."

The sentence was postponed until February 23 because the magistrate, Mr. Iain McLean was told Harrison could not find his driving license.

Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" is No 1 in Britain in the New Musical Express pop charts, No 1 in America and No. 1 in Australia.


Driving Ban on Beatle George
February 23, 1971

Beatle George Harrison was banned from driving for a month and fined 35 (pounds) today for a driving "miscalculation which developed into a misunderstanding and ended in a misdemeanor." That was how the incident in which he slowly drove his Mercedes three times against the legs of a policeman in West London was described by his solicitor to Wells Street Magistrate, Mr. Ian McLean.


Harrison, of Kinfauns, Esher, Surrey, pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay 15 (pounds) costs.  His lawyer, Mr. Martin Polden said he would appeal against the driving ban.

Harrison, who was not in court, pleaded guilty to driving without reasonable consideration.  Mr. Polden said Harrison had been trapped in a traffic box at a Wigmore Street junction.  Although moving slowly, he had driven three times into the legs of a police officer, who banged on the roof of the car to try to stop him.

Harrison's miscalculation was in not stopping immediately but trying to pull to the near side before doing so.  Until he saw the officer in front of the car, he did not know he had committed an offense.

His car radio was on and he could not hear the officer shouting.

Mr. Polden added, "He took the whole business unpassively rather than arrogantly."

The magistrate, Mr. McLean said, "In my view, the most effective way of dealing with cases of this sort, whoever the driver may be, is by means of a short comparatively sharp disqualification."


Ban on Harrison
By Guy Rais
February 24, 1971

George Harrison, 27, one of the Beatles, was disqualified from driving for a month and fined 35 at Wells Street magistrates' court, London, yesterday for driving without reasonable consideration in the West End last September.   Mr. Iain McLean, the Magistrate, said: "In my view, the most effective way of dealing with cases of this sort, whoever the driver may be is by means of a short, comparatively sharp disqualification."

Harrison, who did not appear, was ordered to pay 15 costs and had his license endorsed.   His solicitor, Mr. Martin Polden, gave notice of appeal against disqualification. 

Harrison of Savile Row, pleaded guilty when the case was first heard four weeks ago and the magistrate postponed sentence because Harrison was said to have "lost his driving licence."

The prosecution had stated then that Harrison drove his car on to the busy junction of Wigmore Street and Orchard Street blocking traffic.  When stopped by the Pc, Stephen Gardner he drove the car forward with the constable walking alongside and twice refused a requestion to drive to the offside of the road.

Pc Gardner walked forward and stood in front of the car and Harrison advanced the car slowly and it hit the officer's knee.  He drove against the officer three times.

Police spent 15 minutes trying to get his name and address, but Harrison, who was heavily bearded, was finally recognized.  Mr. Polden told the magistrate yesterday that Harrison was trapped in the boxed area.  He was driving his wife's Mercedes, and drove slowly forward.

He heard a hammering on the car roof.  "Mr. Harrison's lot has been to find people hammering on the roof of his car and he did not associate it initially with police action."

The policeman believed the driver was taking no notice of his signal.  Harrison had the car radio on and did not hear the officer speak to him.   When the policeman ran in front of the car Harrison realized for the first time he was being requested to stop "for reasons quite obscure to him."

He decided to pull in to the near side and started to turn not realising he was being discourteous.  "He should have stopped, but it stemmed from a misunderstanding.  That is why he pleaded guilty."

"Mr. Harrison's nature is such that the arrogant level of driving does not really enter into it.  As far as a man in his position can have, he has a sense of humility.  He is not capable of deliberately driving into a police officer, causing him to hurt.  He took the whole business impassively rather than arrogantly."

Referring to Harrison's fifth week at the top of the hit parade with his song "My Sweet Lord.," Mr. Polden said, "the song is aptly named because he does have a sense of religious feeling."

He asked the magistrate not to ban Harrison from driving.  "This started as a miscalculation, developed into a misunderstanding and now before you as a misdemeanor.  He made a mistake which he will not repeat."

After disqualification was announced, Mr. Polden requested that it should be suspended pending an appeal.  Mr. McLean agreed that he had the power to lift the ban until an appeal and said he would consider this when the letters of appeal were available.