Over the past six months, I have been extremely blessed to meet FAB Beatle people who introduce me to other Beatle people who then introduce me to yet more Beatle people! It is the proverbial stone tossed into a quiet pool. The ripples keep spreading out and out in an every widening pattern.
And that is exactly how I came to know our featured "Meet the Beatles Fan," Harold Montgomery.
At the Meadowlands Fest for Beatle Fans last March, (and if you haven't ever attended a Fest for Beatle Fans, you must! It is a rockin' GREAT time - live bands, art shows, trivia contests, famous guest speakers, dances, and a finale concert that brings the house down - but I digress) I met a fellow Beatle author and one heck of a nice guy, Garry Berman. Garry, who has written many books, the most recent of which is We're Going to See the Beatles, was at the Fest's huge Seller's Market Place selling his book, just as I was there selling Shoulda Been There. We chatted and have since become close e-mail friends.
As we corresponded, Garry discovered that I knew (and here is the second ripple!) Erik Taros, a Beatle expert who is busy creating a movie about the 1966 Suffolk Downs Beatles concert in Boston. And Garry explained to me that he had a friend who had been at that concert in '66 - a friend whom Garry felt would be of interest to Erik.
Sooooo, I offered to write to Erik on Garry's behalf, introducing and recommending Garry's friend. That friend was, (yep, you guessed it) Harold Montgomery. Since that date, I've also chatted with Harold via e-mail countless times. (Third ripple!) And I've come to learn a great deal about him - first and foremost, Harold is a devoted Beatles fan, as you'll discover when you read his incredible story about the day he shared John and Sean's birthday with them! (Like the U.S. Post Office, neither rain nor sleet nor wily chauffeurs will keep Harold from his appointed task of meeting a Beatle!) I've learned that Harold is very gregarious - he has many friends and includes them in all his treks and adventures. You'll see their photos and meet them in the article below. Harold has, get this, met ALL the Beatles! He even snuck in to the Grammy Awards in 1975 and spent 10 minutes with John Lennon at his table! And Harold met Ringo, Paul, and George several times at Apple where Mr. Montgomery served as an MPL Scruff, helping with the mail and doing any necessary odd jobs. Imagine that!
Since 1964, Harold has consistently had an affinity for all things Beatle, but he has had a very close and special spiritual tie to George Harrison. In fact, Harold was close friends with George's secretary, Muriel Houseman, and Harold mourns the fact that he lost contact with her when Dark Horse Records closed in Los Angeles.
*****Here is where YOU can create the fourth ripple in the sequence! Harold is "desperately seeking Muriel." If you are Muriel or if you know her, please tell her that Harold is looking for her and misses her! She can write to me (Jude) at ontherockbooks.com, and I'll hook the two of them back up again!
But lest you think Harold's life is "all Beatle and no work," 'tis not so! He's a store operator, working in Admin Support - and he's an avid gardener as well. His friends know that in the mornings you can find Harold out in his garden, sipping tea, spending tranquil time with his tabby, Dhani, and listening to Ravi Shankar! The quiet spirit of George lives on in moments like these. But Harold's life is not always so mellow - just like that day back in September of 1976 when the phone rang in Harold's kitchen...
On Friday, 17 Sept.1976, my friend in Boston, "Blue," caught wind (from her friend, Tempy) that John, Yoko, and Sean had been "sighted" in Boston at the Copley Plaza Hotel. The Lennons were up there visiting friends in Brookline, Massachusetts. She called me to ask if I wanted to come up and try to catch a glimpse of John on Saturday. Did I? Of course.
I called my other friends, Patti and Jennie, in Hartford, Connecticut, to tell them the news and to see if they to wanted to come along! I suggested we all go together to the Copley Plaza. Naturally, they did want to participate and drove up to my house in Springfield that afternoon.
My then 14-year-old "mega Beatle fan" nephew, Gene, Patti, Jennie, and I piled into my buddy Jimi's trusty white Ford and the five of us drove off. We arrived in Boston around 10 p.m. and immediately checked into the Copley Square Hotel for the night. Although the clerks weren't too happy that two guys, two girls all in their 20's and a 14-year-old boy were checking in with not much luggage to speak of they only exchanged glances and gave us a suite anyway. Thank God!
We quickly unpacked the little we brought and began making plans for the following day and trying not to be distracted by our environment. The once elegant Copley Square Hotel had clearly seen better days, and Patti even encountered a few roaches there. I think that was the first time she had ever seen a roach (the six legged kind, not the smoking kind). Another landmark experience on our "Magical Boston Tour!"
(By the way,..the hotel is still there! But I'm sure it's been spruced up since the 70's. Of course, the Copley Plaza is still there, as well, only now renamed the Fairmount Copley Plaza.)
Copley Square Hotel, our hotel
John, Yoko and baby Sean were staying at the Copley Plaza. Our hotel was just a few blocks away. So bright and early the next day, we all walked down to the Copley Plaza to wait. "Blue" eventually met up with us in front of the hotel.
At long last, someone spotted a Japanese man who worked as a occasional driver for John and Yoko. He had gone to fetch their car, an old green Town and Country Chrysler Plymouth Station wagon. (Later, the Lennons purchased a green Mercedes station wagon.) They primarily used the Plymouth for long trips like treks out to their house in Cold Spring Harbor. In the City, they always used Esquire Limo Service or cabs.
Anyway, the Japanese man first parked at a side entrance across from the John Hancock Tower, and of course, all of us rushed over there! Blue, who had studied Japanese said "hello" to him in Japanese, which pleasantly surprised him. She also asked him (in Japanese) what his name was, and he said it was 'Nishi'.
Nishi knew that he would have to trick the fans somehow by parking the Lennon's car some place else. Then, he would try to get the Lennons into it before we could find the car again. But I don't think Nishi had any idea how persistent (and very clever) John's fans could be. For quite some time, Nishi kept moving the car, then he'd disappear for awhile but we always found him again. After a while, I think he just gave up!
So eventually, Nishi pulled the car up to the side entrance facing the expressway entrance ramp where the Lennons could drive directly onto the expressway heading west to New York.
This is the side entrance of the Copley Plaza (the exit that the Lennons used).
When the time came, John and Yoko walked into the hotel restaurant
first and peered out the window to scope out the situation. I
don't recall any police, doormen, or any other kind of security
present. No one was assisting them in keeping the fans at bay.
First the Nanny, Misako, came out of the hotel. Then John, wearing a t-shirt which read, "This Is Not Here," a Bolero tie, and a denim jacket and jeans emerged. He was carrying Sean. Yoko followed right behind him.
What a moment! I was able to get one cool photo of John through the window of the car.
After all the hoopla, our group (talking a mile a minute) drove
back to Springfield. All the way home, we talked about the idea
of going to the Dakotas next month for Sean's first birthday and
what would be John's 36th. And before we knew it, the plans became
reality
On the overcast, rainy morning of 9 October 1976, I set out to
meet friends Patti and Jennie in Hartford, Connecticut (where
they planned to pick me up at the bus station). We had made plans
with other friends to meet up at the Dakota in New York City and
to drop off birthday cards and gifts for John and Sean. We were
in a party mood, but the weather was not! It kept pouring rain,
on and off, all that day.
We drove down from Hartford to Queens, New York, and we parked at Shea Stadium taking the No. 7 train into Penn Station. There we met up with our other friends and headed for the Dakota apartment building! When we arrived there, a pal of mine, Jude, and the rest of the gang were all waiting.
Having been up quite early to make the bus trip and then the car trip, I was famished! So I went off with one of my friends to get a bite to eat (and to use the restroom facilities) at Cafe La Fortuna, (one of John's favorite neighborhood stops.
Me, with a sandwich from Cafe La Fortuna:
Soon, however, I was refreshed and back "on the scene." On duty at the Dakota doorman's station was Hinez, a very nice guy who seemed happy to chat with us. He did have a strange sense of humor, but once you knew him, he was actually very funny. We told him why we'd come to New York, and we showed him that we all had birthday gifts for John and Sean.
Hinez was already well-acquainted with my friend, Jude. She was a "regular" at the Dakota stoop! Jude asked him if she could get a note up to John explaining that we had all congregated to bestow birthday gifts. Well, surprisingly, Hinez obliged. So Jude hurriedly scribbled the note to John, and Hinez had it sent up to the Lennon's apartment.
After about twenty-five minutes, the phone rang in the doorman's station, and Hinez answered it. It was a message from the Lennons asking us to stay put. They informed us that someone was coming down to retrieve the gifts. This was amazing news! So we waited.
It seemed like an eternity, but about forty-five minutes later, someone finally did come down to collect the gifts.
A little bit later, another call rang in the doorman's station, and Hinez, smiling from ear to ear, told us that John and Yoko conveyed their pleasure with all the gifts - they were very thankful. Heinz added they were also worried about our health, since it was windy, cold, and drizzling. Hinez said that someone was coming back down with something for us!
Minutes later, John Lennon's family helper, Nishi, (whom we'd met a few weeks earlier in Boston) appeared with bamboo (gold with white criss-crossing) plates, matching napkins, and...a CAKE! The cake was a homemade one and had one missing piece cut out from it. It was an applesauce cake with peanut butter filling. Nishi said John and Yoko wanted to share this cake (unmarked with a birthday wish) with us and were concerned for us all standing out on the sidewalk in the rain.
We were all so moved by this gesture. We figured it must have been a cake that John had made for Sean since this was the time when John was really into baking.
Nishi, Hinez and the cake :
In quite a celebratory mood, we all posed for pictures. Nishi took my camera and got one of us all together.
"The Dakota Six"
While we were busy munching down the delicious cake, a taxi pulled up at the driveway curb. Hinez opened the taxi door, and out jumped a man and a woman with fire red hair! I recognized her as Cherry Vanilla (an Andy Warhol "superstar" celebrity). Her friend was carrying her props ( a stool and a bag). She was there to sing a Happy Birthday telegram to John, from Ringo.
Cherry Vanilla arrives:
As the afternoon wore on and the weather failed to improve, our little group began to think we just might take the Lennons' advice and head for home. It was now getting close to 5 p.m. Most of us had a long way to travel. And we'd been there for more than five hours already. We were just about to leave when . . . wait . . .
Just then the Lennon's nanny appeared with Sean in his stroller! They came right out of the grand entry gates. This was Sean's first birthday, and as fate would have it, we were getting to share it with him! I got one picture then the protective Nanny told me "no more pictures." She also warned, "do not to sell our pictures to newspapers." I never did that and, even if she had not warned me to "cease and desist," I wouldn't have taken advantage of John and his family anyway. This is the first time any of the pictures from that wonderful afternoon have ever been seen, other than by my immediate friends.
Nanny and Sean
For what was supposed to be a dreary, rainy day, it sure turned out to be a memorable and fun one with a group of great friends. I can hardly believe it's been three decades now. But I am so happy that I was born when I was. I can't imagine living in an era in which I couldn't have possibly met the Beatles.
It was the best era ever.
Harold Montgomery (and with a little help from my friends,
YOU know who you are)
Somewhere in Northern California 2008
