50 years ago at Capitol Records
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This week 50 years ago I was 18 years old & the Beatles were expected any day in LA. Me & my friends decided we would be there & we would try to meet them. Well we never met them exactly........At Capitol Records they had to use an armored car to get them in & out for the big press conference. The newspapers said there were 5000 girls there but most of them were trapped by the police at the front entrance while the Beatles used the back door. We arrived late & went in thru the back parking lot. We saw the armored car & started towards it but for some reason I looked back & saw a wide open path to the back door of the armored car & so made a b-line to it. One cop was guarding the back, he said if I didn't touch his string, literally, he had a red string strung across next to the back side of the armored car, then I could stay there. So thats what I did & soon I saw John get in quickly followed by Paul. Both slid into a seat on the right side, then Ringo got in on the left, and then to my never ending wonderment George took the trundle seat in the back &, for a joke, he jumped into it which caused him to suddenly appear larger than life in the back window with this big smile on his face as if to say "Ha ha,got ya". He did too, made us jump back. He was probably only about 3 feet away!!!! He saw my camera & motioned for me to take a picture. I motioned back that I was out of film. He looked really surprised & motioned me to check my purse, emphasizing Check The Bottom, he seemed to know about the bottoms of most purses (junky). He tried to tell me to rewind the camera & double expose a shot but I didn't know at the time what he was talking about & I couldn't turn the dial back so we both gave up on a picture. He was watching the crowd too. They all were. I could hear muffled gasps, I think it was coming from inside, from them, every time the girls slammed into the side of the car. By this time the rioting had gotten worse, girls were jumping on the hoods of parked cars to see & to get closer. The 5000 girls had broken free from the front door & ran with all their might to the back. The cops were overwhelmed, mostly cause the main force was still at the front door. I think thats why they left me alone, at least I wasn't trying to break in thru the window. The whole thing was over in less than 10 minutes & George rode away waving to everybody. If I could guess I would say he was enjoying himself, having a bit of fun, in it for the laughs. God he was gorgeous. And so nice to us. One of my wonderful memories of that week. I'll add a little more later.
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Fantastic story!
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1966 was a good year for us. We got close to them even if we never really got to meet them. At least I think it was 1966. The data is conflicting, some say '65, I don't remember. Well, anyway, in contrast 1964 was a total bust. We were way too young to really get it together, I was still 16. None of us owned a car that could get us to LA (lived in San Diego area) & you can't stalk a Beatle very well using the LA city buses. One of the girls' mother insisted on going with us as chaperon, a real dampener. I think the only time we really saw them was at the concert. So when they came back & stayed a week on their next tour, we were 18 & we were ready. I had a new car, a chevy & we went by ourselves for a whole week! It was the first time any of us had been away from home without any adults around for so long. It was like being released from prison - freedom- we tracked them from LA to SD & back again, we were everywhere. We got close at the house, Capitol Records, & the airport: When the Beatles landed at LA airport we saw them from across the tarmac thru binoculars. They were loading up the limo & had all the lights on so with powerful binoculars we could see them well enough to know for sure it was them. Quick thinking we marked the spot, we knew where their plane was, I don't think anyone else did. When it was time for them to go to SF for the last concert of the tour we went to the airport, found the plane still sitting were they left it & plotted a way to it. There was no other way, we had to get to the other side of this big hanger. The place was guarded but they were busy having tours that morning & when one group went in past security we just went with them. We ducked into a stair well & hid & waited. We had a little transistor radio with us & listened to the DJ tell everyone that the Beatles were on the way to the airport. The radio kept giving their position, when they said "the Beatles are 20 minutes from the airport we made our move. We came out of the stairwell & just walked right thru the hanger, no one stopped us till we reached the back. There was an alarm on the back door but we went thru anyway & came out right next to their plane & got arrested. The guard was going to throw us out but we talked fast & got him to listen to the radio which was saying 10 minutes from the airport. So he called his boss & got permission to let us stay, bless his heart. The Beatles limo roared in, apparently it had been a hairy ride with fans chasing them on the highway. I saw John first, could not miss him, he gave us the finger as he walked from the limo to the plane. I was surprised but not upset, I figured we deserved it. Then Paul came over in front of us & stood looking around. He was about 20 feet away, my friends were yelling at him to come closer & I was getting ready to faint! I could not believe it, I thought after all the week & all we had been thru I was going to faint & miss Paul. What an ass! Well I didn't black out, just got real dizzy & when Paul turned away it cleared right up. Very strange. I think it was Epstein who came up & told Paul to get on the plane. He didn't seem to want to & he stood in front playing with his watch which must have stopped. There was a lot of noise, the jet was warming up, people yelling, one limo filled with older girls broke thru the baracade chasing them, the girls jumped out yelling & got arrested too. One more thing, their limo & bus & plane, all were so banged up & scratched up by the crowds looked ready for the junk heap. I remember looking at their plane & thinking I would not want to get on it either. Just before takeoff a man came out of the plane carrying autograph pictures & gave us all one. I still have mine, one thing I managed to keep for 50 years.
