My Beatle Life, the early years, started like many others I'm sure in 1963. Yes, 1963! Prior to appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show on that fateful Sunday evening, February 9, 1964, they made a brief appearance on Jack Parr's weekly TV show via a film clip showing them performing on stage in England. I'm sure I had already seen something about them in the press to have caused me to tune into the Parr show. Needless to say, I was primed for the Ed Sullivan Show when it finally aired. From that point it became an obsession of scouring the local newspapers and going on shopping sprees with my high school girlfriends to find Beatle magazines which eventually led to scrapbooks full of Beatle minutia.
Then...
In the Summer of '64 my friends and I got wonderful news the Beatles were coming to Dallas!
September 18, 1964 - a day that will live in ecstasy! One of my girlfriends offered to line-sit for tickets for five of us. She was in line from Sunday afternoon until the following Monday morning when the ticket location opened. Her parents believed her to be slumber-partying at a friend's house. Instead, she procured five incredible seats on the floor, right in front of the stage! We were thrilled!
The evening of September 18, 1964 flew by, but we were forever changed. We had seen the Beatles in person. Nothing would ever be the same again.
1965...
My high school graduation year was filled with more Beatle memorabilia collecting and taping every Beatle interview that came on the radio during their American tour. Unfortunately, I learned that the Beatles would not be returning to Dallas in '65 but they were going to Houston! Close enough!
A local radio station put together a bus trip from Dallas to Houston to see the afternoon performance (there were to be two in Houston; one afternoon and one evening) at the Sam Houston Coliseum on 19 August. For one price, you got a bus ride to and from Houston, a box lunch on the bus, and your Beatle concert ticket. Life was good!
A next-door neighbor and I went on this adventure. Even though we had nose-bleed seats, we wouldn't have missed it for the world. We were in the presence of the Beatles, and that's all that mattered!
1966...
Even though I was busy with college, I was a huge fan of a local TV show loosely based on American Bandstand. They had a contest to name various British Invasion songs which they would play for snippets of 2-3 seconds on the air. You had to name 15 songs (and their respective artists) and then submit your list by mail.
Well, I submitted my list, and somehow, I just had a gut feeling that mine was correct. I was right!!!! I received a phone call at home from the show's MC asking me to appear on the program for a play-off with two other contestants! I was beside myself! Oh, and the prize??? A trip to Swingin' London for three days!
The play-off consisted of identifying three British Invasion songs and the respective artists' name on a white cardboard square which we were instructed to hold up to a television camera. The last song I had to identify was Gloria by Them. When I wrote that on my card and held it up to the camera, my mother whispered to my father, "Oh my gosh, she doesn't know who it's by, so she just put Them on the card!"
But I knew and I was the only one to get all three songs correct. I was off to London, baby!!!
End of April '66 - May 2, 1966.London!!
What an amazing experience I got to actually meet and get autographs from Tom Jones, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames band members (who at the time included Mitch Mitchell who went on to be Jimi Hendrix' drummer), The Who, and the Yardbirds at their recording studio while working on Over, Under, Sideways Down (including Jeff Beck!).
But the piece de resistance of the trip...FRONT ROW SEATS AT THE NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS POLL WINNERS SHOW at Wembley Empire Pool on May 1!!!!!!! And, we all know who the number one act for that year was!!!!!!!!! Yes, I saw the Beatles from the front row at the last official concert they gave in England!!!!!!!!!
Also on the show were the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Yardbirds, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Herman's Hermits, the Walker Brothers, Freddie & the Dreamers, the Seekers, Dave Dee, et al, Roy Orbison, Crispian St. Peter, and the Overlanders. And if that weren't enough, we were taken to a cabaret show at the Savoy Hotel for Cilla Black's opening night in her own show. There we met the Everly Brothers and Brian Epstein, whom I asked for and received his autograph!
October 2006
Once again, a local radio station played a part in a Beatles connection by offering a "Beatles vacation to Liverpool and London." Why not? I thought. Signed up to go by myself and was off to Liverpool via Manchester. Having developed a love for photography over the years, my camera never left my side. Here's a link to my photos from that trip: http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/london_2006 and http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/liverpool_2006.
Yes, I fell in love with Liverpool! There are just no words to describe that first visit to the childhood homes of John and Paul; actually being able to walk into their boyhood bedrooms and imagine what they experienced while there - standing in the very rooms where Please, Please Me and I'll Follow the Sun were written was indescribable.
June/July 2007
One of the ladies I met on this trip invited me to attend the first Las Vegas Fest for Beatles Fans. This was my first Fest...definitely a lot of fun! We got to see: Pete Best, Peter & Gordon, Denny Laine, Denny Seiwell, and Lawrence Juber (formerly of Wings), and Victor Spinetti.
August 2007
Once you "cross the pond" it's hard not to want to return and see what you missed the first time around. So, in 2007, I was off to "International Beatles Week" in Liverpool: http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/liverpool_2007 and to a two-day jaunt to Hamburg: http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/hamburg_2007 and London as well! http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/london_2007. In Hamburg, I actually stayed right on the Reeperbahn, visited the Bambi Kino, and saw all the sites along the Grosse Freiheit where the Beatles worked and relaxed.
While in Liverpool we stayed at the Adelphi Hotel and were treated to a bus tour of Beatle sites conducted by none other than Julia Baird, John's half-sister.
But, without a doubt, the highlight of this trip would be getting to meet Pete, Rory, and Roag Best. There were friendships forged on this trip that I truly cherish. The Beatles bring people together still today!
June 2008
As a result of those friendships, my next Beatles adventure developed. Five other ladies and I planned to do our own Beatles tour of England: http://www.pbase.com/nwilkins/england_2008. We planned this adventure to coincide with Paul McCartney's concert scheduled for 1 June 2008 at Anfield Stadium as a part of Liverpool's "2008 European City of Culture" year celebration.
Arriving on 22 May in Manchester, we boarded our van and headed for our first stop, Henley-on-Thames. A hot air balloon ride over Henley gave us a spectacular view of Friar Park, George's home. Having only seen its gatehouse before, we were thrilled to see the whole scope of the property and all the beautiful gardens and landscaping.
We also saw Paul's farmhouse in Peasmarsh, his Windmill Studio, and the English Channel at Winchelsea.
Around London, we saw the former Decca Studios, the Palladium, former Pavilion, MPL Offices, Thornbury Field ("Sorry if we hurt your field, Mister!") and Jane Asher's store in Chelsea. Whew!!!
Upon arrival in Liverpool we spent the first night at Stuart Sutcliffe's family home which is now a bed and breakfast called Blenheim Lakeside Hotel. Our second night was spent at the Hard Day's Night Hotel. What a fab and totally sumptuous accommodation!
The following day, we were lucky enough to run into Yoko Ono having lunch at the Carriagehouse Hotel and just missed her again at the John Lennon Art Exhibit which was being held at the Liverpool Echo building. The trip was just surreal!
Finally, we learned there were still tickets available for the Stella McCartney Fashion Show scheduled for 1 June at LIPA. So...you know the drill...we bought tickets and found ourselves sitting across the catwalk from Sir Paul, Beatrice, James, Alasdhair (Stella's husband), Yoko, Olivia, Sir George and Giles!!!
And since there's no way that I could possibly top seeing Paul in the flesh and then seeing him again that evening in concert in his hometown at the Anfield Stadium concert, I will end my adventures here. There are so many things I could say about that last memorable day in Liverpool, but instead, please let my camera speak for me...
Until next time, cheers luvs...and t'rah!
