lonely teenager born years too late
This video [direct link] is “A Day in the Life of Abbey Road,” a time lapse movie in which people pause and pose on the crosswalk as the Beatles for their album cover. Clever! It reminds me of a photo I saw once, similar to this one, that depicts several tourists posing for pictures, pretending to be holding up the Tower of Pisa. But the picture is shot without the Tower in frame, so it looks like the people are doing some kind of puzzling Italian Tai-Chi. This appeals to the meta in me.
But back to the subject. Here are some other random Beatleness.
I went to a Beatles fan conference in 1978 in Los Angeles. I remember that Klaus Voorman (Beatle friend from the early days and designer of the Revolver cover. sheesh, you should have known that) did a Q&A session but abruptly walked out when someone asked him if John Lennon ever did heroin.
I just heard an anecdote on a radio show about a guy and his family running into Paul McCartney in Branson, MO a couple years ago. Paul and his girlfriend had been spending a few weeks driving Route 66 and generally being tourists. Paul played with this guy’s kids, whipped out a harmonica and played a little tune. The guy noticed that Paul was wearing a beaded “Beatles” belt, obviously handmade by a fan. I find that whole story utterly charming, and I have thawed my attitude towards Paul (which, I’ll admit, was quite frosty and a little dismissive.)
George Harrison was such a curmudgeon! Witness: “It’s shit. You can be a multi-millionaire and have everything you can think of in life, but it’s shit — you’re still going to die.” I love him.
I remember reading a (different) interview with George in which he mentioned he wore his Sgt. Pepper’s costume to a Halloween party in the 1970s. Can you imagine!
My sister was working in a fabric store in the late 70s when this guy walked in, wanting yards and yards of satin. He was making the Sgt. Pepper costumes for Boston cast of Beatlemania.
It shocks me that Beatlemania is still going on. I saw it on Broadway, um, several times during its first run. Again, in the late 1970s.
Hoo boy, I could fill an ocean with blog posts about the Beatles. I’m restraining myself from doing so, releasing evidence of my obsession out slowly, like letting the air out of a balloon in squeaky little shrieks.
Addendum. One of the reasons the Beatles popped into my head today is that it is the birthday of my good friend Tamar, who, though we did not meet until our late 20s, lived a parallel life to mine in many ways. Not the least of which was a slight preoccupation with the Beatles during our teenage years. I’d love to share a story, and Tamar knows what story it is, but it may make us look a little too crazy. So we’ll leave it unblogged! I love you, T.
Oh my, that is so funny. I kept waiting for someone to get run over. I am sure it is not uncommon for someone to get mowed over while posing at that crosswalk. My older sister was the crazed Beatle’s fan in the family, so she made them a big part of my upbringing. I liked all your trivia bits.
Holy crapola, Becky, I can’t believe I haven’t checked your blog since you posted this. A Beatles post on my birthday! Thank you! Ah, Abbey Road, the lane of roses. (Is that the story? Or is it our special travel plans?) I made sure to cross all the crosswalks because it was night and I couldn’t tell which one was THE one. None of the other crosswalks are like that these days.
Mwaw!