At the Fest this past weekend I just happened to sit near a woman who saw the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan Show in Miami in 1964.    She said that she was staying at the Deauville Hotel during a vacation with her parents and she was 15 years old.  They had no idea that the Beatles were going to be there.    She said that since the audience of the Sullivan Show were just hotel guests, that many of them were older.   So that made it much easier for her to watch the Beatles rehearsal and get their autographs.  She took photos of the rehearsals that she showed me (they were amazing!).    She said that as much as she loved the Beatles being there, it was sort of nice when they left because they could enjoy the hotel.   When the Beatles were there places like the pool were off limits to the other guests.   

Here is the last part of the article Ed Rudy wrote in 1964 about the his time with the Beatles during their 1st U.S. trip.    This section covers the Beatles in Miami, including the Sullivan Show.   The details are pretty interesting.

I wanted to thank Ed Rudy for giving me the permission to reprint his story.   Be sure that you check out this sight to order your own Ed Rudy interview Cds and hear him talk to the Beatles during this time. 

This part of the story appeared in issue #46 (April 1984) of With a Little Help from my Friends.

I am hoping to finish up on the 50 years ago stories tonight (at least for now...there are always more stories to be told!).    Here is another one from the Feb 16, 1984 issue of Rolling Stone magazine.  This story comes from the promoter of the Sonny Listen/Cassius Clay heavyweight championship fight, Harold Conrad.   This fight was a huge deal and was going to take place on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida.   The fight was getting just as much publicity as the Beatles during February of 1964.   So Harold Conrad thought it would be a great for publicity to combine the two.

You can see Harold Conrad in this photo.  He is the guy in the white jacket and shades

Newspapermen from all over the world were streaming into Miami Beach to cover the fight scene, but several were examining this Beatles phenomenon.  That's when it occurred to me that the chemistry of the Beatles and young Cassius--they were close to the same age--would make the perfect mixture.  I could see page-one pictures all over the world.  I had to put them together.

To get to the Beatles, you had to go through Brian Epstein.  I finally tracked him down in the Deauville lobby the day before the Sullivan show.  I explained I wanted to invite the boys to Clay's workout.  He was facing me squarely, but his eyes were looking far away.  He was on a magic carpet, flying 10,000 feet over Bombay.  Then he mumbled, "Can't do it, security" and shuffled off.

I scratched the project then and there.  I had enough problems with the fight denying rumors that Clay was about to become Muslim.   The day of the Sullivan Show, it took a couple of cops to get us past the hotel entrance.  I was with Liston and his wife, Jerry.   He was going to take a bow on the show.  After a couple of early acts, the Beatles were introduced and halfway through their number, Liston poked me with his elbow.  "Is these bums what this fuss is all about?  My dog plays better drums than that kid with the big nose."

Liston and his wife took off after the show, but I went backstage to see Sullivan.  I asked hm if there was any chance I could meet the boys.  He said, "Sure, I'm going up to their suite now."

The Beatles were sitting around with some British friends, and Sullivan thanked them for a great show.  "And this is Harold Conrad," he said.  "He's here doing the Liston-Clay fight." I could see this ignited a spark.  McCartney said, "I think Clay's going to win."  His partners agreed.

I asked them if they'd like to watch Clay workout.  "Can we?" they responded, almost in chorus.  I told them that they would be picked up at 11:30 the next day, but to keep it quiet.  I also explained Epstein's refusal and John Lennon said, "don't worry about Brian; we'll handle him."

The eventual summit meeting a the gym left nothing much for posterity except the pictures.  Clay upstaged the British kids all the way.  He even choreographed the picture of the them lying down on the ring and him hovering over them.  But I had to score one for the Beatles.  Clay said, "You guys got to be making a lot of money.  you ain't as dumb as you look."  John Lennon came right back with, "But you are."

The next story from the Feb 16, 1984 issue of Rolling Stone is about Eddie Liles (or Mr. Edward as the Beatles called him), who was the man who ran the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida in 1964.  



It was absolutely the most hectic week in my entire life.  Friends and people I had not heard from in years inquired about tickets for the Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show at the Deauville Hotel.  One, a lady friend form Chicago, offered $2000 for four tickets for her grandchildren to fly in to see the show.


My two secretaries finally had to shut off the calls.  Our switchboard was flooded.  Companies form all over the United States send products for me to pass on to the Beatles to try.  I had a storeroom full of shit.   Coca-cola, Pepsi...

After the Beatles arrived, we had to completely surround the hotel with security guards.  We had to issue special passes to our hotel guests and employees to get in and out.  We actually found teenage girls camping out underneath the cars parked in the side driveway of the hotel, hoping to catch the security guards off-guard so they might sneak up to the suits where the Beatles were staying.

On the night the Beatles appeared on the Sullivan show, I strolled through the theater to see a sight I had never seen before:  5,000 people jammed in the Napoleon Room- screaming, weeping and fainting at the sight of the Beatles.  The excitement and electricity generated in the Napoleon Room that night were indescribable.  Only Judy Garland's famous comeback in that same room even came close to the Beatles Ed Sullivan appearance.

They seemed terribly frightened of the huge crowds.  Paul was shy, but he was my favorite.  I did everything I could to make him feel at home in America.  I even promised him a nice Jewish girl.  John was so talented, he frightened me.

they loved our hotel.  They loved our service.  I could see they just loved Miami Beach, period.  They enjoyed water skiing, and our pool and cabana manager taught them how to snorkel in our Olympic-size pool.

they were terribly fascinated with our American style of men's clothes.  They left word for an early wake up call one morning and asked me to take them shopping.  I brought them to one men's store.  They bought $6,295 worth of clothes and charged it to their hotel account.  Eight months later, our credit manager had to sue Brian Epstein to get our money.  I'm sorry, but we had to sue to get our money.

Tips?  Brian Epstein handled the money.  He loved the Beatles and he loved American money.  He did not like to part with either.  I did add a fifteen percent gratuity on the bill for the hotel staff.  I did not receive anything from Brian Epstein or the Beatles.  Come to think of it, I did get a few headaches.  But I still love the Beatles.

I am sure you are all familiar with the two girls that Ringo met on the beach in Miami 50 years ago.   If you recall, Ringo took one of them out on a date and then later, we see Ringo's wife to be, Maureen wearing the exact same bathing suit as the girl that Ringo dated in Miami.  Well I have always been a bit curious about these girls and how it happened that they met Ringo.   I located a little story about them in the February 1984 issue of Life Magazine.






Miami mustered a welcoming committee for the Beatles that included four bathing beauties, a chimpanzee and 7000 shrieking teenager girls, who in their crush to get just a little closer broke 23 windows and a plate glass door in the airline terminal.  Few fans were rewarded with more than a distant glimpse, but three seniors from Miami Beach High, who were working as models at a car show, got lucky.  A photographer asked best friends Barbara Turchin, Carol Olesky and Diane Levine if they would like to pose with the Beatles at the beach.  They were skeptical but turned up for the pictures session and an hour and a half later, the Beatles did too.  Shots of Ringo with his arms around Barbara and Carol appeared in Modern Screen and on the cover of Inside Movie magazine.  The girls were invited to The Ed Sullivan Show in a Miami Beach hotel, but after that Carol kept her distance.   "My mother wouldn't let me go out with them," she explains, "and I had a boyfriend."  Barbara became the object of Ringo's singular, if transient, attention, while Paul was smitten by Diane.  The four of them double-dated at a drive in movie theater.  Barbara invited Ringo home to dinner.  He arrived concealed in a Hertz moving van and the family was amused when her grandmother kept calling him Hugo and tugging at his hair to see if it was  a wig.  Ringo pounded out boogie-woogie on the piano to entertain Barbara's younger brothers.  "Music just poured out of them all the time," says Barbara of the group.  "They'd compose a song right on the spot."  Ringo's parting gift to her was a ring with a gold "R" in a black onyx stone, which, for a time, she wore on a chain around her neck.  Barbara, now a Miami designer of silk quilts about to enter her third marriage, and Carol, an Annapolis, Maryland housewife, have maintained both their friendship and a wise perspective on their brush with fame 20 years ago.  "It was an exciting time in my life," says Barbara, "but I'm not waiting for the Beatles to come back or anything."

Well I have posted the story of the two girls that were with Ringo, Carol and Barbara and how Barbara went on a date with Ringo.   There was another girl in that story, Diane Levine, who caught the eye of Paul.   I found her story in the Feb 16, 1984 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine.  You will notice that Diane's telling of the events differ a bit from Carol and Barbara's.    

Diane got married and moved to Hawaii where she had three children. 

Diane is the girl sitting on the far right.

Well, I've always kept it a secret.  But for the 20th anniversary, it's okay.  I hope Paul doesn't mind.

It started at a private beach.  Three of my girlfriends and I were relaxing after taking the college boards.  I was seventeen.  We were Seniors at Miami Beach High School.

We heard sirens.  We thought it was an ambulance or something.  There they were.  They popped out of a car.  They were white--blue-white, skinny.  They looked white because everyone in Miami Beach is tanned.  We couldn't believe our eyes for a minute.  I backed up.  I was totally blown away.

A bunch of people were converging on them--press photographers.  The Beatles were in the water taking pictures.  Some girls were chasing Paul.  I  was standing by myself.  He was coming in my direction.  At that point I was really thrilled.  I held out my hand.  I said, "I don't want an autograph.  I don't want to rape you.  I just want to shake your hand and welcome you  to the United States."

It's not like I was a spectacular beauty.  I  was really quite shy.  He had sand and water on his hand.  He sort of wiped his hand on his bathing suit and shook my hand.  Then he said, "Come with me."  We ran toward a house where the entourage was.  He sat me down and just started to joke immediately.  I felt so at home with Paul.  We had this Gemini thing in common, I suppose.  We really clicked.  It was very nice.

After we talked for about 45 minutes, he was whisked away.  He yelled out form the car window, "come to the concert."  so I went to the Deauville Hotel, but I didn't have a ticket. A man who had been taking our pictures on the beach came running out.  He said, "Wait, I'll get you into the show.  Paul said he wants to see you."

When the show was over, I was taken up to the room.  The Beatles were just as excited about the show as everyone else.  After they left, the hotel guard told me I had to leave.  I gave the guard a note thanking the Beatles and wishing them luck.  I said I was sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye.  I left my father's number and my home number.

Then next day, when I dropped by my father's office after school, he said, "Who is this Paul McCartney calling you?"

I wanted to do something special to celebrate the Beatles 50th anniversary of coming to America.  Going to the city where it all started, New York City, seemed like the best idea to celebrate.   Knowing that there was a Beatlefest (Fest for Beatle fans...whatever you want to call it!) going on made it even neater.   Being an elementary school teacher, it isn't exactly easy to just go off to New York City in February.   But luckily for me, I rarely ever take time off work, and I have only used a couple of personal days in my 11 years of teaching at my school district.   So my principal thankfully approved for me to take off 2 personal days to go to the Fest.

My mom (who is my forever Beatle buddy) and I left St. Louis, Missouri on Friday February 7, 2014 and the temperature was -5 degrees F.   Insane!   We felt like we were in a heat wave in New York because it was 35 degrees F when we arrived.    After making our way to the hotel that we were staying at, we decided to find the Ed Sullivan Theater to check out the marque that had been changed for the anniversary.    So out we went into Time Square.   And we got lost.   We asked for help and quickly learned that no one in New York City knows where David Letterman tapes his show.   I think we walked around in circles a few times before we finally found it!       Being the Beatle geek that I am, I thought it was SO neat to see the marque changed to look like it did 50 years ago.   I could just imagine the fans walking up to the front doors to get into the theater to see the Beatles.



After finding that, it was time to venture back and find the Grand Central Hyatt Hotel, where the Fest was being held.    Time to get lost again!    By this time we were really tired and wind-burnt, but we made it just in time to stand in an extremely long line that wrapped all around the lobby of the hotel to get our wrist bands.

Once we made it inside we quickly learned that the Hyatt is an extremely confusing hotel.   We were there for three days for this Fest and I never did feel like I had my barrings.    The events were spread out all over the place and the rooms were small.   Personally, I wouldn't recommend for further Beatle conventions to be held at this hotel.   I understand that it was the exact hotel that the very first Beatlefest was held in 40 years ago, but geesh....things have grown in 40 years and it just wasn't a good choice for this convention.       I met up with the girls from the panel I was going to be on the following day, and we went to a nearby deli to discuss our panel.   Once I got back from the meal and discussion, we decided to have a look around at the marketplace and buy some Beatles goodies.   There were two places to buy things.  One just had merchandise from the Fest for Beatle fans catalog and the other had the various other venders.   Let me be honest:  what a disappointment.    The rooms were small, but there were not a lot of venders.   I brought money with me to spend, and with the exception of one particular vender from England, there was very little that I was interested in.    The best thing that happened during this time is that I was able to buy John Lennon's half-sister, Julia's book and get a photo taken with her. 

Here I am with someone that shares the same mother as John Lennon!  How cool!!!!!

Okay....so the marketplace was a bummer, but Donovan is signing autographs.   I have always wanted to meet Donovan  So we somehow manage to sign where he will be signing and get in line.   We waited in line for a good 40 minutes before someone came and said that Donovan wasn't feeling well and he wasn't going to be doing any signings that day.   Well...Friday at the Fest was turning out to be a disappointment.  

Next we went to the ballroom and listened to some of Liverpool and the Beatles look-alike contest.  I do have to say that Liverpool sounded better than I recall them sounding in recent years (but then Steve Holly from Wings was their drummer all weekend).  There weren't very many contestants for the look a like contest, but it was still fun to watch.

The guy in the George Harrison costume was the winner.

The last event for Friday night was hearing Mark Lapidos talk about when he met John Lennon in 1974 and how he got his approval to have Beatlefest.   I recorded Mark's talk to share on this blog in the near future, because it is a great story.   There was also a small documentary about the first Beatlefest.  It was neat to see how things have changed and yet stayed the same over the years.


February 8, 2014--Saturday

Fest events started at 10:30a.m. on Saturday, and so my mom and I walked to the Grand Central Hyatt and didn't get lost this time.    First up was Bruce Spizer talking about the Beatles Coming to America.   While we have heard him give this talk in Chicago, there was something special about hearing it in New York during the 50th anniversary.  Maybe it was the Beatles wig Bruce wore?

Bruce Spizer in a Beatles wig.  Doesn't get any crazier than that!

Next in line was the panel I was on with some great women Beatles scholars.  We talked about the legacy of the Beatles.   I have heard some very positive things about the panel and I truly appreciate all of the kindness and support.   I had a lot of fun being on the panel and that is the reason why I agreed to do it:  I thought it would be fun.   One of my fellow panelists, Shelley Germeaux wrote a great article about the panel on the John Lennon Examiner.    If you are interested in seeing what it was all about, please check it out!   It is always such an honor to be included with authors and writers.  I just do this little blog because I love the Beatles and I love to share the stories and photos.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would give me the right to be on a panel where I am called a "Beatles scholar."
http://www.examiner.com/article/women-s-panel-at-fest-discusses-impact-of-beatles-on-our-generation

And I am qualified to be on this panel how??

Around this time I had the privilege to meet a bunch of YOU!    Yes, I was able to talk to many of you readers in person and see scrapbooks and give hugs.   It was so nice to meet each and every one of you.

Then I ran off to hear Bob Gruen talk about his famous John Lennon photos.   I just watched a really amazing documentary about Bob Gruen on Showtime and there he was in person telling his stories about John.

Bob Gruen has the best John Lennon photos ever!

My tour guide from Liverpool, Jackie Spencer, whom I just adore and recommend was talking on a panel and my mom and I didn't want to miss out on seeing her.   It was so nice to see our friend from Liverpool again.

After that, we wanted to go back up to the ballroom to hear some of the concerts and speakers up there.  But there was a problem:   there wasn't any room in the ballroom for anyone to enter.   Huh?   There were no seats and the fire laws said that no one could stand along the sides of the room.   I really couldn't believe it.   No room at the Fest?   We somehow squeezed into the back of the room while Chad & Jeremy were singing.   We were still standing when Billy J. Kramer took the stage and was being interviewed.   I don't really recall what he said because I could barely hear him and couldn't see him at all.   It was extremely hot in the ballroom and it was sort of a sick feeling.    Suddenly I saw two seats open up right towards the back.  They were still far away from the stage, but they were seats, so I jumped on them.   We stayed there in the back of the room.   We were able to listen to Pattie Boyd talk.  Pattie is such a lovely woman.   The interview did not tell us anything she hadn't already said when I first heard her in 2008, but it was nice to see her again.    Then it was time for  the Hurdy Gurdy Man himself Donovan!  I really enjoyed hearing Donovan perform.  I am disappointed that because of the full schedule, that this was the only time I was able to hear him.  Donovan sang just about all his hit songs and he sounded just like Donovan! 

Donovan with his groovy green guitar

After Donovan we wanted to go back to the room with the panelists and hear a little bit about Liverpool humor and the tribute to Brian Epstein, but guess what??   You guessed it.   The room was full and closed down.   The security would not allow anyone else into the room.  Can you tell that I had some disappointments during this convention?   So I sat on a bench for the longest time and waited for 2 people to come out, so we could go in.   I spent all of that money to sit on a bench?   Disappointment!

That Brian Epstein tribute must have really been something to hear.   No one left it, and you could hear laughter and applause coming out from behind the locked doors.    How come I knew that this Fest was going to be huge?  I fully expected 10,000 people.   Did the Beatlefest people not expect the same?   At some point we decided to go and find something to eat (since we hadn't ate since breakfast), since we weren't getting in.   We found several other Fest goers at dinner that felt the same disappointment we were feeling.

We were able to get into the room to hear about the memories of the Ed Sullivan Show.   But where was the moderator?   It seems that no one planned for there to be a moderator for this panel.   That is one big difference I saw from this Fest and the Chicago one I am used to.   In Chicago the amazing Wally is the moderator for the entire time.   He sort of keeps things going.   At this Fest I think each panel was supposed to supply their own moderator, but if that was the case not everyone was aware of the fact.   Larry Kane (bless his heart) stepped up and took over.   Larry along with Vince Calandra and Irene Katz were on this panel.   Each of them had his or her own story about the Ed Sullivan show.   Let me just say that Vince was great!   This man should write a book or have a documentary done on him or something.   He had a story for everything and his stories were so engaging.    I wish Irene had been asked more questions, because I wanted to feature her on this blog.  (she had that sign that said "Elvis is Dead long live the Beatles")

Irene and Vince

Then it was time for yet another panel.   This one was with Ron Campbell, who is this amazing man who has animated everything classic cartoon that you can thing of, including the Beatles Saturday morning cartoon and the Yellow Submarine movie.    Mitch Axelrod, who wrote the book on the Saturday morning cartoons was the moderator and it was a really interesting interview.     By that time of the night, my brain and body were tired.   It was about 9pm and since we hadn't been into the shopping areas at all that day, we decided to go take a look around.   The Fest is supposed to stay open until midnight, but they were closing down the marketplace when we got there and we were told that we had to leave.   The main ballroom was extremely crowded and there wouldn't have been anywhere to sit or even stand at that point, so we walked back to our hotel.


Sunday
February 9, 2014

I was looking forward to Sunday at the Fest.   There was an excitement in the air among the Beatle fans and I was so happy to be part of it all.

The day started out really awesome.   My mom and I stumbled upon a New York radio station broadcasting their Breakfast with the Beatles program live from the Fest.   The room where this was happening wasn't crowded at all and we were able to see and hear Billy J. Kramer perform, hear more of Vince's stories and see our friend, Jackie get interviewed plus hear great Beatles music.   It was really fun!

The Fest then officially began and we headed up to the main ballroom (most likely getting turned around along the way) and heard David Bedford talk about the Beatles in 1960.    Then we did some of the shopping that we weren't able to do the night before.

We had a decision to made.   Did we want to hear Mark Lewisohn's interview in the main ballroom or did we want to hear Julia Baird's interview in the smaller room?    Both of these were going on at the same time.    We ended up deciding to go with Julia because we were going to hear Mark later that night with the Fab 4 Free For All.   We knew that the smaller room was going to get filled up quickly and if we didn't get there early, we would find ourselves locked out again.   We we arrived early and got a good seat toward the front.   We saw some other Beatle pals around us and chatting with them while we waited.   The room filled up as we expected and we waited.   And we waited.    And Julia never showed up for her talk.   I am not sure exactly WHY this happened.  I just know that a room filled to capicity with people were all excited to hear this woman talk about her brother, and no one bothered to come in and inform us about what was going on.   And what was the word for the weekend?   Disappointment.

So we went into the large ballroom to hear Mark Lewisohn.    Of course, it was pretty crowded and the only seats were way in the back where it was hard to see and hear.   At this point I was jealous of my friends back in the mid-west that I knew were watching the live stream.   My least favorite interviewers of all time was interviewing Mark and I heard him ask Mark what his favorite subject in school was??  What did THAT have to do with writing the single best book about the Beatles?   I just couldn't take it anymore.   I couldn't listen to the interview.  I decided what I really wanted to do was meet Mark and tell him thank you for adding this blog to his links page.  

Here comes the worst part of the weekend.    My mom and I got into the short line that had started to form around Mark's table.   The tables were crowded right outside of the main ballroom and really wasn't the best place for people to que up for signing.    It was loud and crowded.    We had a misunderstanding with a man who was there.   I am sure you all know how things are in a line.   People aren't sure where the end of the line is and there is usually some overall confusion.    This man thought that my mom and I were addiment about cutting him in line.   I can see why he might have thought that.   In reality, we thought he was new to the line and asked where the end of the line was.  Suddenly something that wasn't supposed to be a big deal was blown up into this huge deal.   The man tells his friends how we are "typical Americans"  and if it was SOOOO important for us to be one person ahead, then we can just go ahead.    I really felt like he went on and on and on about it.  

It really upset me and it still does.    So if this person read this blog, I would like to tell him again that I am sorry for the misunderstanding.   You were more than welcome to get in front of me.  Really it wasn't a big deal.   It was just a misunderstanding and I am sorry that you think that I am a typical American (whatever that means) who had to get my way.     If I hadn't wanted to thank Mark Lewisohn so much, I would have gotten out of line and said forget it.    My mom tried to hug you and in a Beatle-fan way spread the peace and love of no hard feelings.     The bottom line was that my joy of being a Beatle fan was taken away by a little piece at that moment.  Aruging about queing is what I expect to happen at places like the train station or the airport or even Disney World.   I do not expect it to happen at a Beatles convention. 

So from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs I met Mark Lewisohn!  I was super nervous because I admire him so much and he was so kind to me.  He said the nicest things to me about this blog and I will cherish those words for the rest of my life.



Things then were on the upswing for me.   We saw that the line to get Donovan's autograph was short and we lucked out because the doors got locked just one person behind me.   So I did meet Donovan and shook his hand and he signed my copy of his autobiography.

In the smaller room there was a wonderful talk happening about John Lennon in 1972 with Gary Van Scyoc who was the bass player for the Elephant's Memory Band.   Any time I can hear someone who knew John Lennon talk, I am happy!  

Then we got to sit through the taping of the podcast of my all time favorite group of guys, The Fab 4 Free For all!   I think they are just so funny and whitty and geeky (in a good way).    I even got my question asked and they said it was Sarafest and had the room say hi to me.    Yes....silly things like that make me happy.

They were running behind in the main ballroom and so I managed to score us two decent seats for the big event.   Around 7:45pm those who were there in person and saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show came on stage and told some of their stories.   Then there was a count down, just like on new-years Eve to 8:00 and a big screen started to show the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.   Oh my goodness it was so exciting!  To be in this big ballroom at the exact moment 50 years later with all of these fans screaming.   It is just something you had to experience to believe.   By far that moment was one of my top 10 favorite moments as a Beatle fan.    Then Liverpool (not the Smithereens as written elsewhere) sang the set from the Ed Sullivan Show and it was just so much fun.  Everyone was singing and clapping along.  

After that excitement, Liverpool performed and we listened to them for a while, but it just wasn't holding our interest.   I wanted to find a group of people who were singing Beatles songs, but there weren't any to be found.   I also wanted to watch Ringo and Paul on the CBS T.V. special.   I would have thought that at Beatlefest they would have had a T.V. set up in one of the smaller rooms where you could watch it.   It would have really been a thrill to watch Ringo and Paul with everyone else.   But instead they told me that I should DVR it.  Really??   Like that even compares?   So at 9pm we went back to the hotel and watched it in the room.   I bet the people next door didn't like my screaming and singing, but who cares?   


So there you have it.   The 50th Anniversary Fest was full of emotions that were good and bad.   I struggled with what to share.   But I have always been honest with you all in sharing what occurs on my Beatles travels and I wasn't going to write something that made everyone feel happy just because I was on a panel and was there.   I am so glad that I went.   In the big picture, I had a great time.  I think I really put too high  of expectations on the weekend and ended up disappointed because it didn't live up to those expectations.

This photo was found on tumblr.   Does anyone know anything about it?  Where was it taken? 

I found this photo on this flickr photostream  and was totally in love with the cuteness of these girls and their albums.   We have two Beatle fans one unknown and the the girl on the end who is holding the Hollies.       Photo is posted here with permission

George looks great doing the one bad habit that we all wish he didn't ever do.    Any idea the year or place of this photo?

I found an extremely interesting story here.  I will try to give you the "Reader's Digest" version if you will.


In October of 1964 a 13 year old girl from Newton, Massachusetts saw the band, The Animals in concert in Boston.   Not just that, Elizabeth Freedman actually got to meet  a few members the band.    This meeting with the British band and her love of the Beatles, sparked a curiosity in Elizabeth about London and the music scene there.  Her Grandmother lived in Britain and she figured that she would meet up with her.  

So she took $400 out of the bank, got a passport and a smallpox shot and then told her friend that she was going on an exciting adventure.   On October 17, 1964, dressed in black, Elizabeth left a note for her mother saying that she was going to the movies and then took a plane from Boston to London.  

Once she made it to London, she found herself in a world of music.  She saw all sorts of concerts including Cilla Black, Petula Clark and Cliff Richards.   She was hoping to get to see her favorite group, the Beatles in the concert.  This would have been an exciting adventure had Elizabeth been five years older.  However, she was a 13 year old runaway with a widowed mother back home in Boston that was worried sick about her little girl.    This mother figured that her daughter had ran off to England and began a search for her.   She flew over to England and worked with the Scotland Yard to locate the teenager.   George Martin saw the news in the paper and announced that if Elizabeth came forward or was found, he would see to it that she could meet the Beatles.      Meanwhile Elizabeth was enjoying dances and shopping and tourist attractions in and around London.   She was living with an older girl at a boarding house.    But her photo and name were in the papers and finally one of the people she had gone out with turned her in.

George Martin kept his word and on November 1, 1964 Elizabeth Freedman met all four Beatles backstage at the Finbury Park Astoria.   They signed two albums for her:  With the Beatles and A Hard Day's Night.   She also got a ticket to see them in concert..

After it was all over with, the press wanted to speak with her.   She did not directly answer their questions.   Just simply yes and no answers.   Although when she was asked what the Beatles were like, she said "terrific"   She did admit that running away from home was a selfish thing for her to do.  She said that she was glad to see her mother, but at no point during her time in England did she feel scared.   Her mother told the press that she was going to be grounded for a long time.

The autograph's album, photographs, ticket stub and newspaper articles are being sold for $60,000.

I much better quality photo than what I previously had.   There aren't very many photos of George from the early 1970's, so this is a treat.

I found this gem from 1966 on tumblr.