The one part of the story of the Beatles in Australia that I haven't written about is what allegedly occurred between the Fab 4 and the female fans in the hotel room after the concerts. It has been said that the Beatles had their fair share of relationship with young ladies, especially during the first world tour. There is a sketchy tale of four beautiful "older" women (as in early 20's) dressed in elegant gowns seen going up the stairs to the Beatles suit late one night in Melbourne. There are other stories of a woman who used to brag at parties that she had sex with all four Beatles in one night. John Lennon spoke about this during the "Lennon Remembers" interview in 1970. He said, "The Beatles tours were like the Fellini film “Satyricon.” We had that image. Man, our tours were like something else, if you could get on our tours, you were in. They were “Satyricon,” all right."
Fellini's Satyricon was a film that was released in 1969 and was full of orgies and wild sex. I guess John had seen that film not too long before the interview and thought, "that was what our tours were like in 1964!" Only those who were there know for sure just how wild they were. John goes on to say, "Wherever we went, there was always a whole scene going, we had our four separate bedrooms. We tried to keep them out of our room. Derek’s and Neil’s rooms were always full of junk and whores and who-the-fuck-knows-what, and policemen with it. “Satyricon!” We had to do something." Was John exaggerating a bit? I am not sure---I know that the Beatles did not always have four separate bedrooms on the tours. And lastly, John said "There’s photographs of me crawling about in Amsterdam on my knees coming out of whore houses and things like that. The police escorted me to the places, because they never wanted a big scandal, you see." Well---this has been a mystery to me since I first read this interview. Photographs of John crawling on his knees in Amsterdam? Where? Has ANYONE out there ever seen such a photo? Again---not that I am doubting that John and the others didn't have flings with a lot of girls on these tours, but I just think that John is making things sound a bit different than they really were.
While there were many, many girls on the tours, a few things surprise me about this. The first is that there aren't ANY paternity suits from babies that were born in March of 1965. The Beatles had sex with all of these girls during this tour and not one single girl ever claimed that she was pregnant by one of the Beatles or Beatles associate from a wild night during the tour. The only Beatle to ever have a paternity suit thrown at him was Paul---one from a girl in Germany and another from a girl in Liverpool. The second thing is that with one exception (which I am getting to), none of these ladies have came forward in the past 50 years to sell their "wild night with the Fab 4" story to a tell-all book or tabloid magazine. Things have been usually quiet on this topic. In one of the interviews I watched, one of the girls from Paul's birthday party was asked about getting together with the Beatles and she short of chuckled and said something about how that was a long time ago and not worth talking about now. I understand that these girls now have families of their own but if you slept with one of the Beatles, surely it can't be THAT embarrassing 50 years later to admit it.
There is one exception. One woman has been brave enough to step forward and admitted to having sex with John Lennon and having a wonderful night in Sydney, Australia in 1964. That woman is Jenny Kee. I first heard of Jenny Kee when I read Albert Goldman's book, The Lives of John Lennon. (No--I do not recommend that book). Since then she has told her stories on a few interviews over the years and she story has never changed. So here is Jenny Kee's story:
Jenny saw the Beatles perform during one of the concerts in Sydney. She was determined after the concert that she and her friends were going to go back to the Sheraton hotel and try to meet them. It wasn't an easy task because there were guards and police lined up everywhere. Jenny had met a fan club member who told her an idea on how to meet the Beatles. The plan was to get into the lift and start pressing all of the buttons and eventually the lift will jam and the Beatles will have to use the stairs. So that is what they did. The saw when the Beatles' car was arriving from the concert and started to push all of the buttons in the elevator until it jammed. Then they ran up the stairwell and saw the Beatles making a run to the 8th floor. The girls were very pretty and all were in fashion school. Jenny was wearing tartan suit with leather trim and leather boots as well as big round sunglasses. John looked at Jenny and said to her, "Come up for a party."
Jenny was just 17 years old and she knew that her mother would be worried about her staying up late. So before she went to the party, she called her mum and told her that she was going to a Beatles' party. Her mom was also a big fan of the band and thought it was fantastic that her daughter was invited go to a party with the Beatles! As Jenny says, "She was very naive. I mean did she think I'd go and sleep with john Lennon? I don't know about that. But she was so happy for me."
By then the lift was in working order again and Jenny and the girls got inside where they continued up to the 8th floor. They were stopped by a wall of police officers. In the crowd was Derek Taylor who motioned to them to follow him and took them to John and Paul's hotel room, where the party was held. There were several young adult girls and everyone was just hanging out and chatting.
According to Jenny, there was an obvious chemistry between her and John. As the night wore on, John said to her, "You should stay here." She said "yes." Jenny says that John was only the 2nd man she had ever slept with, and he treated her very kindly. John was funny and the two of them laughed all night. Jenny made him sing to her. She was wearing contacts and he showed John how to put them in and take them out. John made her feel comfortable and it was a fabulous night. According to Jenny, "I don't think he had been with an Asian girl before. He was very aware of it. He was quite excited by it."
Vicki, one of Jenny's friends got to kiss Ringo Starr and then her parents came and picked her up from the Sheraton. All of the girls they knew hated them because Vicki got to kiss Ringo and Jenny got to "really be with" John.
Vicki decided that the two of them would try to see the Beatles one more time as they were leaving Australia on July 1, 1964. The girls went to the airport and saw that the Beatles were riding around in a Rolls Royce or a Bentley with an open top and waving to everyone. Vicki and Jenny found a little path along the side and somehow they got on the tarmac. John say Jenny and yelled out for her to go into the press room. The two girls went running and once again were faced with a wall of police officers and once again Derek Taylor came to the rescue. He came out to find Jenny because John had told him to go find "The Chinese Dragon Lady." They got into the press room and they were able to spend five hours with them before they left for England.
Jenny moved to England after meeting the Beatles and her time with John and say John out with his wife, Cynthia at the Speakeasy club. John recognized her and said, "Ah, I remember! Australia, contact lenses, great night!"
50 years later, Jenny recalls John by saying, "Looking back on that really cool, sexy young guy, John Lennon--I just feel so privileged that I could spend that one night with him because the rapport was genuine. That is what will live with me forever because I think he was one of the greatest men in the world."
Resources
Lennon Remembers: The Rolling Stone Interview with Jann S. Wenner (1971)
The Lives of John Lennon by Albert Goldman (1988)
The Beatles in Australia: An interview with Jenny Kee (2013) Youtube video
When the Beatles Drove us Wild (video documentary) (2014)
Fellini's Satyricon was a film that was released in 1969 and was full of orgies and wild sex. I guess John had seen that film not too long before the interview and thought, "that was what our tours were like in 1964!" Only those who were there know for sure just how wild they were. John goes on to say, "Wherever we went, there was always a whole scene going, we had our four separate bedrooms. We tried to keep them out of our room. Derek’s and Neil’s rooms were always full of junk and whores and who-the-fuck-knows-what, and policemen with it. “Satyricon!” We had to do something." Was John exaggerating a bit? I am not sure---I know that the Beatles did not always have four separate bedrooms on the tours. And lastly, John said "There’s photographs of me crawling about in Amsterdam on my knees coming out of whore houses and things like that. The police escorted me to the places, because they never wanted a big scandal, you see." Well---this has been a mystery to me since I first read this interview. Photographs of John crawling on his knees in Amsterdam? Where? Has ANYONE out there ever seen such a photo? Again---not that I am doubting that John and the others didn't have flings with a lot of girls on these tours, but I just think that John is making things sound a bit different than they really were.
While there were many, many girls on the tours, a few things surprise me about this. The first is that there aren't ANY paternity suits from babies that were born in March of 1965. The Beatles had sex with all of these girls during this tour and not one single girl ever claimed that she was pregnant by one of the Beatles or Beatles associate from a wild night during the tour. The only Beatle to ever have a paternity suit thrown at him was Paul---one from a girl in Germany and another from a girl in Liverpool. The second thing is that with one exception (which I am getting to), none of these ladies have came forward in the past 50 years to sell their "wild night with the Fab 4" story to a tell-all book or tabloid magazine. Things have been usually quiet on this topic. In one of the interviews I watched, one of the girls from Paul's birthday party was asked about getting together with the Beatles and she short of chuckled and said something about how that was a long time ago and not worth talking about now. I understand that these girls now have families of their own but if you slept with one of the Beatles, surely it can't be THAT embarrassing 50 years later to admit it.
There is one exception. One woman has been brave enough to step forward and admitted to having sex with John Lennon and having a wonderful night in Sydney, Australia in 1964. That woman is Jenny Kee. I first heard of Jenny Kee when I read Albert Goldman's book, The Lives of John Lennon. (No--I do not recommend that book). Since then she has told her stories on a few interviews over the years and she story has never changed. So here is Jenny Kee's story:
 |
| Jenny sits next to John Lennon on July 1 in the press room in Sydney |
Jenny saw the Beatles perform during one of the concerts in Sydney. She was determined after the concert that she and her friends were going to go back to the Sheraton hotel and try to meet them. It wasn't an easy task because there were guards and police lined up everywhere. Jenny had met a fan club member who told her an idea on how to meet the Beatles. The plan was to get into the lift and start pressing all of the buttons and eventually the lift will jam and the Beatles will have to use the stairs. So that is what they did. The saw when the Beatles' car was arriving from the concert and started to push all of the buttons in the elevator until it jammed. Then they ran up the stairwell and saw the Beatles making a run to the 8th floor. The girls were very pretty and all were in fashion school. Jenny was wearing tartan suit with leather trim and leather boots as well as big round sunglasses. John looked at Jenny and said to her, "Come up for a party."
Jenny was just 17 years old and she knew that her mother would be worried about her staying up late. So before she went to the party, she called her mum and told her that she was going to a Beatles' party. Her mom was also a big fan of the band and thought it was fantastic that her daughter was invited go to a party with the Beatles! As Jenny says, "She was very naive. I mean did she think I'd go and sleep with john Lennon? I don't know about that. But she was so happy for me."
By then the lift was in working order again and Jenny and the girls got inside where they continued up to the 8th floor. They were stopped by a wall of police officers. In the crowd was Derek Taylor who motioned to them to follow him and took them to John and Paul's hotel room, where the party was held. There were several young adult girls and everyone was just hanging out and chatting.
According to Jenny, there was an obvious chemistry between her and John. As the night wore on, John said to her, "You should stay here." She said "yes." Jenny says that John was only the 2nd man she had ever slept with, and he treated her very kindly. John was funny and the two of them laughed all night. Jenny made him sing to her. She was wearing contacts and he showed John how to put them in and take them out. John made her feel comfortable and it was a fabulous night. According to Jenny, "I don't think he had been with an Asian girl before. He was very aware of it. He was quite excited by it."
Vicki, one of Jenny's friends got to kiss Ringo Starr and then her parents came and picked her up from the Sheraton. All of the girls they knew hated them because Vicki got to kiss Ringo and Jenny got to "really be with" John.
Vicki decided that the two of them would try to see the Beatles one more time as they were leaving Australia on July 1, 1964. The girls went to the airport and saw that the Beatles were riding around in a Rolls Royce or a Bentley with an open top and waving to everyone. Vicki and Jenny found a little path along the side and somehow they got on the tarmac. John say Jenny and yelled out for her to go into the press room. The two girls went running and once again were faced with a wall of police officers and once again Derek Taylor came to the rescue. He came out to find Jenny because John had told him to go find "The Chinese Dragon Lady." They got into the press room and they were able to spend five hours with them before they left for England.
Jenny moved to England after meeting the Beatles and her time with John and say John out with his wife, Cynthia at the Speakeasy club. John recognized her and said, "Ah, I remember! Australia, contact lenses, great night!"
50 years later, Jenny recalls John by saying, "Looking back on that really cool, sexy young guy, John Lennon--I just feel so privileged that I could spend that one night with him because the rapport was genuine. That is what will live with me forever because I think he was one of the greatest men in the world."
Resources
Lennon Remembers: The Rolling Stone Interview with Jann S. Wenner (1971)
The Lives of John Lennon by Albert Goldman (1988)
The Beatles in Australia: An interview with Jenny Kee (2013) Youtube video
When the Beatles Drove us Wild (video documentary) (2014)