Ringo Starr 36 Years Old and a Pop Star (1976)

 

Ringo Starr — 36 Years Old and a Pop Star

The drumming ex-Beatle held a press conference in Copenhagen
 By  Arve Strømsether

The Nationen 

October 9, 1976

    Ringo Starr, ex-Beatle, ex-film star, ex-record-company director, but still a singer, was in Copenhagen last week to promote his new LP, Ringo's Rotogravure. After the Beatles broke up in 1970, Ringo has been the one of the four Beatles who has had the hardest time retaining his popularity. As is well known, he has no great singing voice and little talent as a composer, and just being a drummer isn't exactly something people would normally want to hear about.

    He has certainly made a number of successful records, but these have been more characterized by his skillful musician friends than by himself. It was therefore a somewhat exciting prospect to attend the press conference in Copenhagen. Can an old Beatle still attract attention?

    Well, it must be made clear right away that there is nothing in the world like Ringo's small talk. I sat for almost an hour listening to the famous star drummer, who was witty, sarcastic, irritated and cheerful in turn, answering all kinds of questions, whether they concerned the Beatles' past or Ringo's future.

    The first questions were not particularly original, but nevertheless very topical:

Will there be a reunion of pop's most popular and influential group?

"No, why? It would be a catastrophe. When we were together, it was fun, and I sincerely think we added something to music. But today we are all different and occupied with our own things. We are still good friends and meet regularly, but there will be no permanent cooperation. We have played, and will continue to play on each other's records, but that's all."

    Ringo becomes irritated that every time he holds a press conference, he spends 20 minutes explaining something that could be said in three or four words. He sincerely wants the Beatles kept far away and is more interested in his own career.

"With my new LP, I hope I can now make people aware that I can still produce music."

With some help from others, a cheeky journalist interjects.

"Yes, I am first and foremost a drummer, and that is not music, but rhythm. I can play a little piano and three chords on the guitar, and I am dependent on other instrumental help. I like to play drums, sing and write songs. Arranging and production can be left to others."

    How was the new LP made?

    "Very scattered. The songs were mostly ready in the spring, but they were recorded during the spring and summer. This was because the musicians I wanted to use weren't available."

    You don't have any particular problems getting top musicians?

"No. I am very nice [laughs], and I think people understand that. There is a certain prestige in being allowed to play with him. But there is also another reason: Years ago, all the groups were bound together by a sense of togetherness."

    Do you think it will be difficult to get some of them to work with you?

    "I hope not. It depends on whether people have time when I need them. Most of them have their own groups."

Speaking of concerts. During the Beatles' time, there were many concerts, but despite this, there was never a record released of a Beatles concert. In recent years bootleg records have flourished, and some of these contain very good concert recordings. What does Ringo think about something like that?

    "That's something I have nothing to do with."

    Allan Williams and “King-size” Taylor claim they have recordings from Hamburg with good quality?

    "Yes, I heard something about that. They called me and asked whether 200 million dollars would be a suitable price. I haven't heard the tape, but as far as I remember, the recordings weren't good enough for anything to come of it."

    What does EMI have in its possession? Can you or the others control it?

    "What EMI has in its possession, I or the others cannot control. It may be possible that they will release something."

    Do you like the reissues of the old Beatles records?

    "Not so much. I think it is exploitation of the public, all the time finding things that are on other records. The only one that was a little fun was the reissue of all the singles. I don't think I or the others can do anything about it.

    "John and I disagreed about the choice of material on Rock 'n' Roll Music. No one wanted to listen to our suggestions. John offered to make another cover because the one that was used was too bad. But they weren't interested in that either."

    Since Ringo hasn't made much music since the breakup of the Beatles, the Nationen reporter asks about his musical activities.

    "Music is most of my life. I have acted in some films, and although that is fun, I am known as a drummer. I am going to make ten films next year, but whether I can say anything more about that, I don't know."

You have directed a couple of films. Would you like to do it again?

    "No, I don't. It is too demanding and requires too much work in too many different areas. I am not suited to organizational work."

You have also been a furniture designer?

    "That was eight years ago. I made a whole lot of nice furniture in glass and steel, but it was too expensive."

Couldn't you have made your own records?

     "Yes, I suppose I could have, but since the distribution agreement was with Polydor, it didn't make much practical sense."

What do you think of your new LP, Ringo's Rotogravure?

    "It is the best one I have made. There are good songs, good music, and it is a nice product, and I hope other people think so too."

Is this the only way the Beatles will come to play together?

    "It is."

In England, pop artists are treated harshly by the tax authorities. Several of the country's major artists have had to leave the country to avoid the tax pressure. This applies to Ringo Starr as well. Was his move really worth it?

    "I would gladly have stayed, but I simply couldn't afford to pay 53 percent of my income in taxes. Would any of you do it?"

Now you are living in Monte Carlo and seem to be enjoying it?

    "Yes. The only thing that bothers me is that I can't get to England and see my children for a year."

A politically interested journalist asks why Ringo, who has such great influence, couldn't enter politics and try to change the situation.

    "I am a musician, not a politician. I would rather play than talk nonsense, and then I leave. That doesn't mean I don't care about the country. What is worse for Mother England is that both doctors and teachers are fleeing from there. It is no wonder the pound is falling."

The questions rain down on Ringo, jumping from one subject to another. The aforementioned subject concerns The Beatles Tapes, which George Harrison made a legal attempt to stop. Why?

    "It was a rather [topical/current] record, where the interviews were made for the press conference, or one-man show, as you might call it. "[The exact wording here is difficult to read in the scan.]

At another point Ringo is asked about the Rolls-Royce matter:

“For my part, I don't deal with that anymore. Otherwise, I thought about using Rolls-Royce parts as heaters, but the factory didn't think much of that idea.”

One of the last questions concerns Ringo's imitation of Kojak.

Was that an attempt to attract some declining attention?

 "It was an experience every man ought to allow himself at least once in his life. I did it to shock Nancy [Ringo's then companion/fiancée]. Besides, I did it because I wanted a change. My hair has benefited from it too."

But the reporters have now asked enough. Only one question remains, and it will be given to the person who has not yet asked anything.

A modest woman's voice calls out:

“What about when you are 64, Ringo? Will you still be a musician?”

 “If you'll still feed me, 64,” says Ringo with a crooked smile, and leaves the room with a trail of autograph-hungry journalists following him.

The watchful eye of the manager

 

George stops for a spot of tea

 

Dracula Schmacula (1974)

Dracula Schmacula 

By Tom Dupreee

Zoo World

June 6, 1974

    With searchlights, hearses, a hot air balloon, a Dracula makeup contest, a street dance, and assorted other promotional avenues, the new film Son of Dracula suddenly slid into town in its world premiere engagement, escorted by its two principal actors, Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr. It wasn't the biggest party in Atlanta since Gone with the Wind, but they tried. They tried.

     Nilsson, who has the title role, and Ringo, who plays an ancient Merlin the magician, hosted a press conference the afternoon of the initial showing to plump for the world's first rock and roll Dracula movie before attending the midnight preem at a North Atlanta shopping center.

     Although the two were ready for an arsenal of flip answers  ("Why did you decide to open the film in Atlanta?" Ringo: "Because nobody else would take it."), it was clear that Ringo had developed a serious interest in the technical side of filmmaking, perhaps as a result of his before the camera experience in the Magic Christian, 200 Motels, and the Richard Lester Beatles movies. 

    Ringo produced Son of Dracula after making a major script rewrite on the film, an experience which he doesn't particularly want to repeat, but which has made him anxious to direct a major project. His first attempt at film direction is a movie with Mark Bolan, which has not yet opened in the United States. "Film is a director's medium," says Ringo. "I have no desire whatsoever to produce any more. I want to stick with acting and direction, which is the extent of my interest, really."

     The movie, which Nilsson describes as a "science fiction horror musical about a boy and his bat," is the first of what may prove a new film form: the rock and roll monster movie. Since rock and roll and horror were many years staples of the drive-in movie crowd, this genre has strong commercial possibilities. Rock and roll movies, in their now hipper presentations (Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Woodstock) are still vying with horror films in outdoor theaters across the country. Why not combine the elements? Already, we have Paul Williams' Phantom of the Fillmore ready for release, and if it or Son of Dracula makes anything like a respectable amount of money, the floodgates will open. 

    "It's not the best film ever made, but I've seen worse," says Ringo of the movie, and most who saw it would agree with him. Ringo says the original script, which was presented to him, was "too flower power. The audience would have been asleep in 10 minutes." He decided to add some friction to the plot, and takes full responsibility for what's on the screen. And though Son of Dracula is not bad for a first try, its problem largely rests with that script. 

    The movie centers around Count Down, the son of Dracula, who was born a vampire and must glom necks for sustenance, but he is also into just about every kind of music there is, and occasionally he takes a break from the action to rush downstairs and perform with his band, which includes Keith Moon on drums. When Count Down comes of age, he will be crowned Overlord of the Netherworld, an occasion for which the assorted creeps of the Nether have been waiting for years. Doctor Van Helsing, Drac's enemy in the Bram Stoker novel, now his ally, noting Count Down's uneasiness over the coming affair proposes an operation which would take away his vampirism and implant within him the capacity for love, but would also wreck his claim to the Netherworld throne, and probably hack off its residence in the bargain. 

    Count Down agrees, though some monkey wrenches are thrown occasionally by a jealous rival for the throne, one Baron Frankenstein. I'll not spoil the ending. 

    The film features outstanding set designs and photography, and professional direction by Freddie Francis, a member of the Hammer Films Horror Corps, the guys who have spewed out those 40 or 50 beautiful British remakes of American classics with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, is often lovely to look at, but the movie's stilted script sires uninspired and unbelievable performances. The dialogue is too earnest to be funny in most places. There are amusing moments, most of them coming when the idea of a rock and roll vampire is explored. Yet it's too showbiz and tongue-in-cheek to appeal to anyone unfamiliar with the career of its two stars.

    If Son of Dracula didn't feature Ringo and Nilsson, in fact, it would have had about as much general- audience appeal as a dubbed Mexican monster movie on television. American horror fans are used to seeing corny Hammer plots pulled off with sophistication and personality and made believable. Among other weaknesses, with Ringo's first line, one irrevocably refuses to believe he is Merlin, but that's just the monster movie element.

     It is a field day for Nilsson fans, including as he does nine songs. Added as an afterthought, according to Nilsson, the original script didn't have music, and only one new song, "Daybreak", written for the film, and accompanying them with film scenes of Nilsson lip-syncing to the album tracks, most of them coming from Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson. Since Nilsson does not perform in public, those who doted on the songs in their album incarnations will find it interesting to see Harry wailing away with his band with no interference from the movie plot. 

    All the songs are set pieces having nothing to do with the action, except for "Without You," which is played under the operation scene, and "Day Break," which, with its lyrical connection to the vampire theme. Harry has, of course, been photographed as a vampire before on the album cover of  Son of Schmilsson. Although Ringo has played on the album (as Richie Snare) he has never seen the cover art until two weeks after he offered Harry the lead in Son of Dracula.

     As is obvious from the cover and Ringo's work with SOD, both say they love monster movies and wanted to make one of their own. "We felt that it was time," said Harry. Both are careful to emphasize that musical element of the show because, as Ringo said, "There hasn't been a good Dracula movie made since Bela Lugosi." When asked if he thought Son of Dracula could compare with Lugosi's performance, he quickly said "No."

     Nilsson and Ringo talked about other projects besides their movie. Both have Richard Perry-produced albums in the works, not counting Harry's new release, The Son of Dracula soundtrack, which includes all nine tunes and dialogue from the film. Ringo's to be cut in May. Did he have the cooperation from the rest of the Beatles, which marked his Ringo album? "The only one who's cooperated up to now is John, who says he's written a song for me," said Ringo, "But then the last one was largely coincidental. I was recording for the first time in America, and some of them wound up helping, and they're still my mates, aren't they?"

     For the 50,000,000th time, Ringo answered a reporter's inquiry into whether or not the Beatles were planning to get back together rather officially. "I would like to say here and now, no". When asked about the lawsuits that surround the dissolving Beatles, Ringo made a distinction between "the thing between the four of us and the thing against Alan Klein," and said that the priorities dictated resolutions of the thing which separates the four Beatles. "That's the most important thing, and everybody knows it."

     Although Son of Dracula is credited as an Apple film, it is being independently distributed in America by Cinematian Industries, the people who brought you Fritz the Cat and the Cheerleaders. The soundtrack is manufactured by RCA, Nilsson's record company on the Rapple label.

     RCA took over after the press conference and turned Harry and Ringo over to a city that has been fairly throttled by publicists. The stars drove from their downtown hotel in a Son of Dracula hears to the premiere's theater, where hundreds of people waited on Nilsson Boulevard and Stare Drive to greet them. In front of a cardboard facade built to resemble the battlements of a castle, a huge hot air balloon was surveying the parking lot scene. A street dance punctuated by the glare of searchlights. A local radio station had promoted a contest. The outstanding 10 makeup jobs worn to the premiere would win Harry Nielsen watches. Each entrant won a watch. 

    Harry and Ringo bounded from the car to the bandstand and waved a few waves. They did a short advertisement for the movie. "All of you can't get inside the theater tonight, but come back next week and bring your friends." And then located themselves in the back of the house, where they had as much fun watching Son of Dracula as everybody else did
 

Solo Press Conference

September 21, 1976

Meeting more Good Guys

 

Germany interview

 September 18, 1991 -  Hamburg, Germany 

Beatles' Junior Press Conference was Fantastic (1966)

Beatles Junior Press Conference Was Fantastic

By Sylvie Reice

The Spokesman-Review

September 11, 1966

    The girls were screaming and squealing inside the hotel room where the Beatles were holding their first press conference for teens. The national press reporters and cameramen were waiting in an adjoining room to hear the conference over loudspeakers. I left them and stationed myself unobtrusively outside the door of the conference room.

     Girls were still coming in, nervously showing their credentials to the policeman at the door. One girl got hysterical when the officer questioned her pass, "But it's just like that, girls'!" She cried and burst into tears before they could even assure her that it was okay. The screaming continued just before they closed the door. 

    Another reporter and I begged and cajoled, and finally were allowed to slip into the back of the room. When I entered, I was amazed to realize that despite the screams, the Beatles hadn't even arrived! There were 150 girls present and about three boys. 50% of them were members of the Beatles USA fan club. The other 50% had been selected randomly by WYCA deejay Gary Stevens who had greeted the girls, (12,000 teens had written in for these passes.) 

    "Now this is an honor, girls," Tony Barrow, the Beatles' press representative, was saying, "And we know you're going to prove you can be well behaved." He was perspiring. He looked nervous, as did all the adults in the room wondering what the girls would do when the Beatles appeared. Beside me, a policeman whispered, "Boy, oh boy, this is nuts."

     When the boys finally came out, there was a rush of screams, camera flashes, girls stood up on their chairs. "If you don't quiet down," Mr. Barrow said, "we'll have to stop." Pandemonium continued, but then the Beatles themselves spoke. "Keep quiet," said John. "Why don't you quiet down?" said Paul. "Thank you for keeping quiet," said George, and suddenly they kept quiet. In fact, they behaved wonderfully the rest of the session, expressing their unique love in many marvelous ways. 

    One girl didn't take her eyes off a set of binoculars, though she was only 30 feet away from the Beatles!  Another had tears running quietly down her face the whole time. Two girls in front of me were all dressed up with little white fur capes. When the mike roved among the girls, one said, "I want to welcome you back to America." She said it so formally and sweetly; it was touching. Another asked Paul, "How is your tooth?" He smiled. "It's fine, thank you." "Are you going to marry Jane Asher, Paul?" Screams at the sound of her name. "Probably," he said. Happy congratulatory applause followed.

     These girls really do love the boys. "Do you like the Beatles cartoon?" Answer: "Not really, but it's fun." "John, are you writing a new book?" Answer: "I have about 20 pages." Small applause. 

    "Do you like English girls better than American girl?" Answer: "No, girls are the same everywhere." "Who decides which of you will take the lead in a song?" John: "Whoever knows the words." The Beatles are smiling now and loosening up. "Do you know a girl named Patricia Slater?" Paul muses.    "S-u-r-e."  Everyone knows he's kidding. They laugh.

     "Don't you ever find your real self getting lost in the Beatles group self?" Answer: "No, we don't really work at a Beatles image." Girl:  "I want to wish John a happy anniversary." John smiles, "Thank you," and everybody applauds. 

    There's love in the room coming from these girls. You can feel the goodwill and the sweetness. The Beatles feel it too. They're smiling, and they joke around more than they did with the professional press. "John, who cut your hair?" Answer: "George."  "Did you buy a 12-string guitar in Hoboken?" Answer: "Where's that?" Mr. Barrow interrupts to say, "There's time for only one more question". Anguish sounds through the room, and the wells as the boys disappear through a side door in the stage.

     The girls mill around, smiling, talking, flushed happily. "It was fantastic," a girl said to me. "Fantastic." Her eyes shone. "Were they like you expected or different?" I asked Robin Burkowitz of Brooklyn. "It's amazing. They were exactly the same. I mean, you expect them to wear wild clothes, and they did, and to act friendly, and they did. I mean, it was even better than what I expected."

A group of girls, all presidents of Beatles fan clubs in Queens Village, Long Island, gathered around me:

Barbara Fox and Martha Cohen, and Susan Mullery and Elaine Stileman, "I still don't believe it happened," Robin said. The Beatles were more mature than she expected. The girls too. "The girls acted marvelous. I was so pleased."

    

     Elaine didn't want to leave. "Don't you want to ask us more?" she said, but the policeman was trying to disperse the crowd. As I left, they were still staying, saying "It was fantastic. I can't believe it."

 

Toronto P.C.

 

Beatles Hits Seattle Like a 3-Ring Circus (1966 Seattle)

 

Beatles hit Seattle Like a 3-Ring Circus 

By Barbara Hanna

Kitsap Sun

August 26, 1966

    Cool is when you recognize the whole thing's a circus. You go ahead and play the game anyway without losing your sense of humor, and throughout all of Thursday's happenings in Seattle, the Beatles were clearly cool. 

    Their three-ring circus began Thursday afternoon when they arrived at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport to be greeted by 33 fans, even more policemen, and the Port of Seattle's fire truck. From there, they were driven to the Seattle Center Coliseum, where they moved through crowds of screaming teenagers who lay in wait at the gate and into the Coliseum. They emerged only to give two concerts at three and 8p.m. and headed for Hollywood that night. 

    The action in Ring One of the Beatles Circus was staged by some eight dull-looking persons who paced up and down in front of the Colosseum, bearing signs that included "Teenagers who support the Beatles continue to crucify Christ." They were in distinct contrast to the excited teenagers, male and female, who milled about the Colosseum in all their mod finery, waiting for the big event inside the Colosseum-- Ring Two.

     The big event transpired twice before an 8,200 afternoon audience and a 14,382 sellout evening crowd. Now, when it is said that the Beatles are giving a concert, it does not mean that they are giving an entire concert. So the teenagers had to first sit through the Remains, Bobby Hebb, the Circle [sic], and the Ronettes, which they did in profound silence. It's not that these groups are bad; it's just that they aren't the Beatles. 

    With the announcement that the Beatles were coming on, the teenagers began venting all their saved-up energy. They began screaming, and as the Beatles appeared on the stage, it was like the Fourth of July. What with all the flash bulbs going off all over the Colosseum, neither screaming nor flash bulbs bursting abated significantly in the course of the concert. As for the Beatles themselves, they wore gray suits with lilac stripes and lilac pint shirts. Their singing style was easy and open, and their music, while people who like Beatles' music like it, and all the words in the world won't convince those who don't that it's really a pretty good thing. 

    At 6 p.m., between the two concerts in Ring Two, Ring Three was activated. A couple dozen press people who had duly presented their letters at each checkpoint found themselves in a hot, dingy room in the basement of the Coliseum and were given the ground rules for the press conference. One of the ground rules was that still photographers had priority the first five minutes, and then they had to step back so the TV cameras could have clear shooting. So the Beatles came in and stood behind a table, and everyone with a camera rushed to the front of the room and stood along the other side of the table. And for five minutes, the Beatles stood there trying to be casual about the whole thing, while being thoroughly photographed. Actually, that part wasn't like a circus. That part was like a zoo. 

    During the press conference proper, the Beatles parried the reporter's sometimes silly questions with good humor and apparent frankness. The number one issue was whether Paul McCartney was to be married to British actress Jane Asher that evening, as the Associated Press had reported. "No," said Paul. "I just got here today and found out I'm getting married tonight," he said. Yes, he really knows her. He said, "But really, it the marriage rumor was just sort of a joke."  And fellow Beatle George Harrison added, "If she does come here tonight, we're going out, so we'll miss her." The Beatle spoke the truth, as it turned out. For this morning, Paul was still unwed.

     Asked about all the furor over Beatle John Lennon's "The Beatles Are Bigger Than Jesus" statement, Beatle John said they've all been missing the point. Beatle George said, "People who think that need their mind straightened out."  Beatle Paul said it was ridiculous for people to say they despised Jesus and Christianity, and Beatle John concluded that "Twisting what they said that way isn't Christian." 

    When they were told that a revival would be given at the Seattle Center during their evening concert by an anti-Beatle religious group, Beatle John quipped, "Yeah, we'll be there". The Sagarid concert by baritone Fuge Springman drew 250. The Beatles weren't there.

    Has the furor hurt their present tour? The press keeps saying, "See, it hurt you, but our manager keeps telling us no," Beatle Paul said. "And we listened to our manager. "Then a reporter asked them if, having disposed of religion, they'd like to try American foreign policy. They agreed that they wouldn't.

     Asked if it's true their average fan is older now than when they started out, Paul said "Yes, somewhat older." Was that what they were trying for? "We don't intend anything," Paul said.

     And a woman who identified herself as a mother of three said she was concerned about a statement of theirs that "When moms love us, we're dead."  "We were rebels when we said that," said Paul. 

    In the evening, there was more picketing and another concert, and then the Beatles were whisked off to the airport, taking with them $73, 717.81 for their half-hour performance at the two concerts and at the press conference. The gross take for the two concerts, $118,071, was the largest one-day take in Seattle entertainment history, according to Zolly M. Volchok of Northwest Releasing, the event sponsor.

Yea Yea Yea They are Here for Concert (1966 Los Angeles

 

Yea Yea Yea: They Are Here For Concert

By Ken Lubas

The Van Nuys News

August 26, 1966

    "Hot" best describes the day, and "frantic" denotes the atmosphere as crowds surged about the Capitol Record Tower in Hollywood last Wednesday evening, awaiting the arrival of rock and roll's young kings, the Beatles. Youngsters and oldsters alike awaited the opportunity to catch a glimpse, and that's all that it was of the shaggy-haired foursome, as the Beatles emerged from the back door of an armored truck and were quickly swept away by security guards to their Hollywood press conference. 

    Revolver, the title for the British foursome's 20th gold record since the Beatles made their U.S. debut in January '64, proved to be the golden word of the evening. Alan W. Livingston, the president of Capitol Records, announced that with the awarding of a gold record for Revolver, their latest album, the Beatles now have a greater number of certified million sellers than any other artist in the history of the Record Industry Association of America. A gold record for a single is given for selling more than 1,000,000 copies. Capitol Record officials estimated the Beatles' separate recordings of either "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby", both on Revolver, will reach the magic mark.

     Sitting before the throng of reporters gathered in the large but, under the circumstances, not too spacious sound studio, Ringo Starr, the drummer, appeared in a blue-and-white polka-dot, high-colored shirt, multicolored sports coat, and blue-and-white striped pants. John Lennon was dressed in a reddish-brown wide-lapel suit and black sweater. Paul McCartney wore white slacks and a gray striped long-sleeve shirt, and George Harrison was in blue jeans, a white silk shirt, and a brown suede jacket.

     Answering questions concerning everything from their latest run-in with religion to future plans, the mopheads flourished their Liverpudlian personalities and aired their views. In reference to the widely quoted article in which Lennon allegedly said the British foursome is more popular than Jesus, Lennon said at the press conference. "I've clarified it about 800 times. I could have said more popular than telly or any other number of things, but they certainly wouldn't have been as good publicity."

     McCartney said bigots took it (the remark) up. He feels the bigots understood the statement to mean, "Ah, he's bound to be arrogant." When asked about reports of Beatles' record burnings, Lennon said Pictures he had seen showed "middle-aged disc jockeys and 12-year-olds burning a bunch of LP covers."

     When asked if they thought all the publicity hurt their image, all agreed."Our image is what we read in the newspaper." Elaborating on the subject, McCartney said, "We know our real image, which is nothing like our picture image."

     Turning to the subject of their expected money from the current American tour. The Beatles don't have time to worry about such matters, Lennon said, "If we worried about it, we'd be nervous wrecks."

     About future plans, the group is considering a script for a new movie, but couldn't give any details of pending production. Lennon explained his appearance in the movie How I Won the War came about while he was alone on a holiday. "They just asked me, and I said yes." When asked what his favorite American singing groups were, Lennon said the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Lovin' Spoonful. 

    Starr explained to disappointed reporters that he doesn't carry pictures of his baby in his wallet, or any other pictures for that matter. Harrison, the quiet Beatle, was overshadowed by his counterparts during the meet. 

'    When earlier asked about politics, Lennon said, "Politics? They have no message for me, nor for any of us. I haven't got much time for politicians. I've never bothered to vote. The bomb? Nuclear disarmament? Well, like everyone else, I don't want to end up a festering heap, but I don't stay up nights worrying. I'm preoccupied with my life, not death."

     The Beatles, who were in Southern California for a performance at Dodger Stadium Sunday evening, said their most disappointing tour was in Manila, Philippines, last month, where they were booed as they left the islands.

    Following the conference, the Beatles, surrounded by security guards, bounded for the nearby armored truck and were mobbed by about 500 hysterical teenage girls. Guards surrounded the truck, and once their valuable cargo was safely enclosed, they rode through the Capitol parking lot on the rear and front bumpers to prevent the girls from hanging on. As the vehicle departed into the sunset, heading toward the Hollywood Hills, many of the excited youths leaped onto motorcycles to follow the group back to their residence there.

Photographer caught in the photo

 

Solemn Beatles Respond to Silly Press Questions (Washington D.C. 1966)

 

Solemn BEatles Respond to Silly Questions

By Muriel Dobbin

The Baltimore Sun

August 16, 1966

Solemn Beatles Respond to Silly Press Questions

By Muriel Dobbin

The Baltimore Sun

August 16, 1966

Washington, August 15. 

    There were Beatles in the locker room of the Washington Senators tonight. Beatles in polka dots and velvet, long-haired and straight-faced, were giving solemn answers to silly questions. The Beatles' press conference at the D.C. Stadium sounded like an attempt on the part of the mop-haired rock and rollers to soften the American impact of the remarks made by one of the quartets, suggesting that their popularity exceeded that of Jesus Christ.

     The offending Beatle, an apparently inoffensive man called John Lennon, was subdued tonight before a group of alleged reporters who behaved like a Beatles fan club. Lennon was even conservatively clad in a brown sports coat compared with the purple polka dots of Ringo and the canary yellow of Paul, sitting in the locker room with the temperature of both their surroundings and the screaming faithful outside rising.

    The Beatles conducted themselves with more sobriety than the occasion demanded. The first question involved reincarnation. "In what form would the Beatles like to return to this world? "  "A tree," said velvet-coated Ringo. "Did they feel that Lennon's comments about Christ versus the Beatles had affected crowd attendance, which is said to have diminished on their present American tour?"  "The crowds are big enough for me," said Lennon, carefully adding that he was concerned because so many people were upset by his remarks. He had recently explained apologetically that he did not mean what people thought he meant. 

    "What did they think of British Prime Minister Wilson's stabilization policy which involved wage-price freezes?"  "Not much," said the Beatles unanimously. They were asked about a magazine interpretation that one of their songs was sinister. "The song means exactly what it says," said a Beatle patiently. "Nothing." What would happen to them when they stop being Beatles? "We will just be four people, "they said. 

    After 18 minutes, the press conference was over, and the Beatles went to face what was estimated to be 30,000 quivering fans, including four girls who had baked them a cake. A man selling Beatles pendants and buttons was pessimistic about the future of the group with whom he had been traveling on their current visit. "We're dying," he said. It was reported that around 400 police were assigned to maintain order at the Beatles' performance, but one large policeman took time out to find a taxi cab, into which he thrust a sullen teenager. "Take my daughter home," he told the driver.

Beatles Sing New Tune in Subdued Tone Here (1966)

 

Beatles Sing New Tune in Subdued Tone Here

By Jean Etsinger

Chicago Tribune

August 13, 1966

    On my way to the blasphemous Beatles press conference, this cab driver told me, "I guess they didn't really mean it. (You know whose remark about you know what) But they shouldn't boast about themselves."

     Well, if they ever did before, they don't any more. I was prepared for most anything from the Beatles, except quiet, polite, and thoughtful replies to reporters' questions. From what they've been saying during their brief stay in Chicago, the four floptops not only don't think they're greater than Jesus, they don't even wish they were.

     In the press conference Thursday, the Beatles apologized for a slur upon Christianity attributed to John Lennon in an interview. Lennon told reporters he didn't mean it, and "I don't have unchristian thoughts."

     Their first night's headquarters were at the Astor Towers Hotel, Astor and Scott Streets, but they slept at the Ascot Motel, 11th and Michigan Avenue, and spent last night at another undisclosed hotel.  The secret maneuvers were undertaken to prevent teenage crowds from creating incidents outside the Astor Towers Hotel. 

    Things weren't up to Beatlemania standards. Some 200 teenagers, mostly girls, dutifully demonstrated for their idols. Now and then. Mostly when the television cameras were grinding, and the flash bulbs were flaring in their faces. When "they" tossed a paper object from a top-floor window, dozens of screaming girls dived to the pavement, trying to grasp it. A few emerged triumphantly with wadded scraps. One of the few males noted, "Maybe next time they'll throw something big -- like Ringo."

     Are the Beatles still number one? Not according to a group of teens I talked with outside the hotel. One boy said the Byrds are the most popular, but the other voted for the Stones and the Raiders. "Mostly because we see them a lot on television and dance to the records."

     John Lennon says "We don't think we're slipping. Our music is better. Our sales are slipping," he says it as if it's no big thing. In fact, I got the impression that being a Beatle isn't the greatest sometimes. This is the group's third visit to Chicago on tour, and they've yet to see anything of the city. George Harrison notes philosophically that if they really do slip in popularity, "Then we'll get to do things like visit Chicago." That made me feel sort of sad.

Press Conference for Bangladesh

 July 27, 1971 

Paul spills the tea

 July 8, 1966

The press in Munich

 

June 24, 1966 - Munich, Germany 

The Thrill of a Lifetime (written in 1976 about 1964 tour)

 

The Thrill of a Lifetime

By Jack Thomas

The Boston Globe

June 2, 1976

    In every life, there are moments of extraordinary pleasure that we cherish above all others. Those few vivid seconds when life seems perfect, and we are lost in a special memory that not even time can tarnish. The Beatles sang sweetly about such moments. "There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed, some for better, some forever, some are gone, and some remain."

     Paul McCartney's recent visit to Boston recalled such a moment in the life of an Auburndale teenager who was driven to ecstasy 12 years ago when she kissed Paul McCartney. It is still the happiest moment of her life. 

    The city was excited on September 11, 1964, because the Beatles were giving their first concert in Boston. Those were happier days. We were still recovering from the shock of John Kennedy's assassination, but the agony of the Vietnam War, the trauma of the race riots, and the murders of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were still in the future. 

    Tickets for the concert had long been sold, and dozens of teenage girls had written to the Globe for help in obtaining tickets. The Globe obtained a ticket and signed me to take 14-year-old Debbie Chase to the concert to write about her experience. The Beatles held a press conference early in the evening at the Madison Hotel, and security was exceptionally tight. Indeed, they made a point that teenage girls were to be excluded, but we were able to fast-talk our way into the press conference with the promise that Debbie would stand quietly and inconspicuously at the back of the room.

     That was naive of me. I should have known that the kind of girl who wore her hair long and loose because McCartney liked it that way would never stand quietly and inconspicuously at the back of the room, no matter how sternly I admonished her. Surely enough, midway through the press conference, when I wasn't looking, she stepped over the television cables and headed for the front of the room, where the four Beatles sat behind a table.

     "God", I thought, "we're both going to be thrown out on our ears, and the story will fall apart." But before the security guards could stop her, she was standing in the bright lights between George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Her eyes were wide, her face was flushed, and her hands were shaking.

     McCartney turned, offered his hand graciously, and said, "I'm pleased to meet you." He must have felt the coldness of her hand and realized she was shaking because he touched her arm assuringly and said, "Hey, you'll be all right then." With the television cameras whirling and me scribbling madly in my notebook, she leaned down slowly and kissed him on his right cheek. There were about 40 reporters and photographers in the room, and they watched silently, choosing not to interrupt a tender moment. 

    When she arrived at her seat in Boston Garden, a preliminary rock group was singing. Debbie sat down and screamed as loudly as she could, "I just kissed Paul McCartney!" That threw two sections on the south side of the lower level of Boston Garden into a dither. Dozens of teenage girls yelled, leaped in the air, pounded their chairs, and lunged at Debbie to touch her. It took two plainclothes Boston police officers and a state trooper to restore order. 

    Debbie sent a thank-you letter a few days later. "You have made my fondest dream come true," she wrote, "and I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you. At school on Monday, the kids came up to me and congratulated me, and either shook my hand, so they could say they shook the hand that shook the hand of Paul and George, or they kissed my lips, so they could say they kissed the lips that kissed Paul McCartney. I can hardly stand to hear one of their songs or see a picture of them, because I get this really weird feeling inside, and I almost start crying for no reason at all. "

    The incident happened a long time ago, as the Beatles said, "Yesterday, when all our troubles seemed so far away." Today, Debbie Chase is 26, single, living in Cambridge, happy, in love, and working as a box office manager for a rock music promoter. 

    "How long ago was that?" She asked yesterday. "Wow, 12 years ago. Well, I still love the Beatles, but it's not nearly the way it was. No one could have been more excited than I was that night. I was really shaking. If it happened today, it wouldn't be the same. I had laryngitis from telling that story, over and over.  "You know, that was the happiest moment of my life," she said, "and it probably always will be."

Laid Back Ringo Starr Comes Out in Caveman Movie (1981)

Laid Back Ringo Starr Comes Out in Caveman Movie

By Lou Cedrone

The Evening Sun

April 2, 1981

    When Ringo Starr goes from place to place, now, he gets into a limo, but he has been doing that all the time. He says, "I was never much of a walker. I don't do any less than I did before. I always get into cars in New York. I don't just walk around. I never did."

     He does admit, however, that he gives more thought to security these days. "It wasn't a question of increasing security, because we never had any before John's death. Now we all have it," he said.

 He was speaking about John Lennon, the Beatle gunned down outside a hotel [sic] in New York. It was inevitable that the conversation turned to Lennon, and Starr spoke of the tragedy with no trace of weariness. "I can't really add to it," he said. "There's nothing more I can say. I lost a good friend. He was like a brother to me. We were all like brothers. He was a fine musician and a great human being. And when I think about it, it still blows me away."

     He was in New York to talk about a movie he has done with Barbara Bach, the current love of his life. She was with him when he talked to the press, her hand in his, his and hers, theirs entwined. I don't think they ever let go. She calls him Richard or Richie. She never once referred to him as Ringo. And when someone asked her how it felt to be so closely identified with one of the Beatles, she said that the big time in her life was when she did the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. "I was just a girl from Long Island, and there I was in a Bond movie. That was fantasy. When I fell in love with Richie, I was just falling in love with a man. I never felt I had to deal with the Beatles. They were just friends of Richie." She remembers that she was at the New York airport in 1964 when the Beatles first arrived in this country; she was there with her younger sister. She said her sister was the Beatles fan, Barbara just went along.

     Ringo Starr, the former Richard Starkey, is very laid-back. Answered all questions with admirable equanimity. His hair is jet black. He still wears black mostly, and wears two earrings on the left ear, a star, and a pendant. On his lapel is another star, twin to one Miss Bach wears on her lapel. They are mementos of the accident they had in London. The car turned over several times. She was thrown out. He stayed with it, and they wear those stars made from the windshield of the automobile to remind themselves of their brush with death, of their good fortune to be alive. 

    "Why the black?" someone asked. "I don't know," said Ringo. "It's just easy. Everything matches. I'm breaking out, though-- I bought a black and white shirt."

     The same reporter said it made him look almost sinister. "Sinister? Do I look sinister? That's probably because I dye my hair. I don't see myself as sinister or diabolic," he said, No, he does not intend to reunite with the remaining Beatles. "I am totally against it." He said he also objects to the continued sale of Beatles memorabilia. "I didn't mind it then because it was new, because it related to what we were doing.  Now  I'm against it."

     He can listen to the old Beatles songs and still enjoy them. He said, "I can listen to them now without thinking of the things that were going down at the time. I used to do that. I used to relate more to the time, to the memories. I don't do that anymore."

     He asked if any of the reporters had seen his new movie, Caveman, and what they thought of it. No one answered. Most had seen it that morning, but no one admitted to it. "Well, did you like it? We did. We enjoyed making it." He plays a caveman, and Miss Bach is the cavewoman he covets. It's a comedy with very little dialogue, and most of that is cave talk.

     Someone said it was a kid's movie. Why did Starr make it? What statement did the film make? "Statement? Well, if it makes a statement, it is that good triumphs over evil and brain wins out over brawn. It's a family movie. It's very light. I'm very big with kids and mothers," he said.  "My own kids were tired of seeing science fiction films, and we figured we would have a good chance with a prehistoric comedy. The fact that the film has no dialogue also interested me. Words can get in the way sometimes.

     He denies that the film is an attempt to put the Beatles behind him. "I just did the film as an actor," he said.

     Someone wanted to know how it feels to be 40. How did he think it would feel at 40? "I never thought about it, Starr said.  "As a teenager, I thought all people should be shot at 60, but that was teenage madness. I didn't give much thought to tomorrow, did you? "

    He said he thinks of himself now as a human being. "None of us is limited to one thing. We all play several roles. I'm a father, a musician, an actor, a furniture designer, all those things. I would like to be judged as an actor rather than an ex-Beatle. But everyone relates back to that. We can't escape it. "

    He said it wasn't painful breaking away from the Beatles. "It had to happen."  He said he wishes people would relate to him as he is now, rather than as he was. He looks back on the old Ringo as someone else. "When I watch one of our movies like Help!, it's like watching another person. It's the same for me as it is for you. "

    After almost one hour of this, the interview was ended, and Starr and Miss Bach walked out hand in hand; they're probably still holding hands.