Speak to the Man on the Street

Look at the average person.  Speak to the man in the street

By Barb Beden

It is 11:45a.m. on 25 August 1983, and our lives have become complete, for at this time in the city of London we met James Paul McCartney.  My friend Bonnie and I had arrived at the studio about an hour earlier and settled in to wait for Paul.  Finally, at 11:45, he arrived in his green Mercedes and was dropped off on the corner about 30 feet from where we were standing, by the entrance to the studio.  He stopped to talk to a girl and sign an album for guy, then turned and came walking toward us.  He looked absolutely beautiful, slim, healthy and happy.  When he reached us I said, “Hi Paul,” then “Would you do me a favour?”   “What?” he asked.  “Would you sign the back of my shirt?”  I handed him a black magic marker.  He grinned and said, “Oh, that’ a bit public, isn’t it?”   Bonnie said, “Yeah, but look at the shirt.  It’s worth it!”  (I was wearing my “McCartney’s Back” shirt).  I turned around and he signed the transfer on the back of my shirt.  I could feel the pen moving and the feel of his hand rubbing across my back as he wrote.  Another girl walked up and held out her checkbook for him to sign and he said, “You’re not going to cash this, are you?”  Bonnie gave him a 45 record and asked, “Can you please sign my record?”  He did so saying, “Can’t hang around too long cause it causes a crowd.”  He said it was okay to take pics so I raised my camera to take a close-up and as I clicked the shutter he leaned toward me, smiling and said, “Here’s you pen back, luv.”  Paul McCartney called me luv!  I about died on the spot.  He was looking right at me and his eyes are beautiful.  After a few more second he said bye and went inside, leaving Bonnie and I to collect our wits, which was no easy task.

26 August:  we arrived at the studio and found some fans already waiting.  At 10:55 Paul was dropped off on the corner.  Bonnie had gone to stand by the street and I was standing by the studio entrance, which is where Paul headed.  He stopped to sign for the other fans and then continued to the door.  When he reached me I put my hand on his arm and asked, “Paul, can I take a couple photos?”  “Sure, luv,” he answered with a big smile, so I went ahead.  Bonnie had come over from where she had been standing and was also taking photos.  Paul was kind of looking down so I knelt on the sidewalk in front of him and aimed the camera up towards his face.  By this time people seemed to be dropping from the sky, there was suddenly a big crowd.  Paul finally said, “Bye, gotta go,” and made his way in the door.  Bonnie and I clutched our precious film in our hot little hands and beat a path to the nearest one hour Foto Inn.

31 August:  We had spent the last few days in Liverpool and upon our return to London we headed straight for the studio.  At 4:45pm we were standing on the corner wondering if Paul would show up when who should walk by us but…wait for it…Paul!  He was a few feet beyond us when we realized itw as him so I called, “Paul, wait!!” Bonnie said, “Paul!”  And I am thinking “Oh God here we are yelling for Paul McCartney to wait up.”  He stopped and turned around and we caught up and walked the rest of the way to the studio with him.  It was just the three of us, nobody else was there.  I gestured to Bonnie and said, “Paul can I take a picture of you two together?”  “Sure” he answered.  Bonnie was wearing a Liverpool t-shirt and Paul looked at it and said, “Oh, Merseyside.”  “Yeah Paul, your home town,” I said and he grinned.  Bonnie said, “We just got back from the M.B.E.”  “Mersey…Beatles…” said Paul, hesitating.  Bonnie finished for him, saying “convention” instead of extravaganza.  “Oh, M.B.C.” Paul grinned.  He smiles a lot.  I was looking at him through my camera viewfinder and again those eyes were looking right back at me.  I took the pic and he headed for the door, saying, “Sorry, gotta go, I’m in a hurry,” and went inside.  We decided to go eat and got back to the studio at 6:45.  At 7:30 Linda appeared on the corner so we went over.  She looked great and was so nice, very friendly and more than willing to stop and chat.  I asked when she and Paul would be coming out of the studio and she said in a little while and went inside.   A bit later George Martin came out in a hurry and jumped in a taxi.  He returned about 15 minutes later and stopped to talk.  He’s such a nice man, very friendly and quite distinguished looking.  By this time it was 8:30 and quite a few more people had gathered.  At 9:00 Paul’s call pulled up and parked at the corner so we knew it would be long.  At 9:05 Paul and Linda came out, smiling and looking happy.  They really seemed to be enjoying themselves, signing autographs for everyone and posing for photos.  After a few minutes they began making moves to leave, heading for the corner and saying “Goodnight, goodnight.”  Everyone walked tem to the car and they drove off with all of us saying bye.

1 September:  We arrived at the studio and joined a couple other fans.  At 11:45 I spotted Paul’s car stopped at a red light.  Yes, the man does have to stop for red lights!  The car turned the corner and Paul got out and began walking towards us, bouncing along with a coat slung over his shoulder.  As he reached us Bonnie said, “Hi Paul, can we take a photo?”  He smiled and said, “I’m in a hurry today, girls,” and headed for the door, briefly stopped to sign an autograph.  After he went in we went to celebrate because it was my birthday and seeing Paul was a great present!

5 September:  We got to the studio and found lots of people waiting for Paul, some by the door and a group on the corner.  Paul arrived at 11:50 and was immediately rushed and engulfed by the aggressive bunch on the corner.  He finally broke away and by the time he finally reached us by the door he was almost running.  I really felt sorry for him; all he wanted to do was get inside.   What a sweetheart, after all that aggravation he still had a smile for us.  That group of “fans “had been very pushy and hanging all over him and still he smiled.

6 September:  We were standing near the studio at 10am when Bonnie spotted Paul and Linda approaching form the opposite direction, not from the corner.  We began walking towards them and it was a case of them watching us watching them.  We all met up by the door and everybody stopped.  It was just the four of us, no one else was around.  Bonnie said, “Hi Paul, hi Linda.”  And they both said “hi.”  I put my hand on Paul’s arm and said, “Paul, last week was my birthday and I wanted to get a pic of us together, could I get one now?”  Linda grinned and put her arm around my shoulder, going “Awww!”  Paul flashed a big grin and said, “What do you mean, you’ve got a million pictures, you’ve been taking them every day!”  Well that knocked us out because it meant that he actually remembered us!  Bonnie said, “But we don’t have one of you and her!”  Paul laughed and said, “Can we get one, then?”  I grinned and said, “Yeah!” then moved to his left side and stood closerthanthis to him.  Linda was on his right, arm in arm with him.  I put my right arm around his back and hugged and Bonnie recorded on film an event I’ll remember the rest of my life.  I said, “Thank you both very much!”  And they headed for the door.  Bonnie said, “Bye” and they went inside.  That was the last time we saw Paul.  It was all just so fantastic and I still find it hard to believe that I actually met him.  Both Bonnie and I are first generation fans and meeting Paul after all these years is just absolutely the best thing that’s ever happened to us.  He is truly a beautiful person, sensitive, friendly, and so caring.  Paul, if you ever happen to read this I just want to say again, “thank you.”