Best Beatle Moment/song/whatever

[Lonesomedave]

The site's a bit slow right now, usually does slow down (no pun....) in the summer, so I recall one time when Diederik started a Bruce thread and it stirred things up a bit so I'm going to try the Beatles. Hey, everyone has an opinion about the Beatles, right?

So the topic intro says it all.

One Beatle moment for me is a bit odd and ya' almost had to be there, in body and mind as well.

There was this drive-in theatre in the Bay Area in the late 60's and they'd do these dusk till dawn things in the summer and fall. You know, four Eastwood films. Four Wayne films, etc.
One night they did four Beatle films, starting in order through the newly released, Let It Be.
Four of us from my ship took this guy's GTO rag top, and some.....ahem, "stuff" to see the films.
It was a nice night and we had the top down and two of us sat on the trunk to watch, the other reclined in front.
Well, they got to, Yellow Submarine and we were all pretty well mellowed and in one scene, the submarine sails right off the screen over the top. All four of us watched it sail over our heads, just as focused as we could be and then someone else pointed out it was the Goodyear blimp which had been doing a 49's game at Candlestick and was making a turn over the bay.
Of course we started into that laughing fit one get's in an altered state and everyone's looking at us and we leave.
Again, ya' had to be there. But I never see that film without thinking about that night. And that GTO.

[studiogirl]

There are so many wonderful Beatles moments in my life...hundreds, probably. The best ones are the three brief "in person" moments.

In the summer of 1965 when they were in L.A., they were staying at a house in Benedict Canyon above Beverly Hills, which was owned by Cary Grant. Apparently, it was a celebrity rental compound as other bands stayed there for periods of time as well. Anyhow, it was next door to my friend's aunt and uncle. I don't think they ever saw so much of their niece as they did that week or so!! Another friend of mine who was pretty well connected got the phone number for the house. So, my friend the niece and I went there every day and sat outside with the (dial) phone on the long cord, calling every so often. The butler (yes...a butler!) Fritz always answered the phone and politely said that no one was available. But once, Ringo answered when he was out by the pool. I said, "Look over the fence." He stood up, peered over the fence and waved. I invited him over to swim because the aunt's pool was bigger. He laughed and said it was nice talking to me but he had to go. And that was that. Thankfully, I didn't faint and fall down the hillside into the canyon!

The other time was in 1968 when I was sitting on a bus bench on Hollywood Blvd. just a couple of blocks from Laurel Canyon. John's psychedelic Rolls pulled up and stopped at the red light, right in front of me. I thought I was gong to jump out of my skin! He was not driving...but in the back seat. The window was halfway down. I jumped up and said something...God knows what...and he said something I couldn't make out, but he was smiling. And then the light turned green, and off he went.

I had some other close calls...but not close enough! I saw George on Blue Jay Way but he was going the other direction and I couldn't turn around fast enough, so I never caught up to him.

I also had the "altered" all four movies in one night experience, in a theater, but it was pretty much fun!

[DrMichaelGalvin]

Well, first off there was the Ed Sullivan Show and then the release of A Hard Days Night & Help. Every album release of their's was an event for me. Then in 66 I saw them at Suffolk Downs Race Track in East Boston and had fron row center seats. Then Let It Be, The Concert For Bangledesh and in 2006 I saw McCartney live at the Boston Garden (or whatever the hell it's called now). All that is as close to a religious experience as I can get.

Dr. Galvin

[Lonesomedave]

These first hand Beatle stories are impressive. I seemed to miss them where ever they were. My sister saw them in their limo in Baltimore in '64.
I may have been close to any of them who visted the Bay Area in '67-'71, but never knew if I was or not.
Like the good doctor(not counting his shows...), most of my memories were second hand or built around an album/film release.
Still, they remain such a huge part of my youth that I figure time from those moments rather than any other event in that period, except for the assassination of the Kennedy's.

[jimmym]

I never saw them in person. I will never forget the first time I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show. I was hooked from the start. My dad of course hated them. I ran down the next day and bought a 45 record that I still have. It changed the way I listened to music from that moment on. I still can't get enough of them.

[robc]

Ed Sullivan. I had just turned 9 in November. I had heard music. I knew who Elvis was and we saw Ozzie and Harriet every week.......Mom had a Ricky Nelson record or 2 laying around the house. But it was sort of like elevator music to me.....until Ed said, "The Beatles!" and I saw and heard those 4 guys with the haircuts drop the 1st notes of All My Loving . For the first time BOTH of my ears went up....like a dog hearing something Mom and Dad didn't. Mom laughed..."What are they"??!!! I think Dad just grunted a couple of times. ME? I was never the same and neither were you. Mom likes them now...Dad still grunts. And we're STILL talking about them.

[DrMichaelGalvin]

Every Beatles moment is a special moment for me. I just preordered the Beatles Trivial Persuit Game from Amazon. It will be available in August.

Dr. Galvin

[cimarron]

I saw the Beatles twice at Shea Stadium. The first time there was so much screaming you couldn't hear anything. The second time there was just as much screaming until Paul started to sing Yesterday... then it was quiet.

My mother bought me my first Beatles album in Alexander's on Queens Blvd. Claudia I'm sure you know where Alexander's was.

Keith and I have seen George,Ringo, John and Paul perform individually. Very excited that we will be seing Sir Paul at Citifield on Tuesday the 21st. I don't think that I will be screaming as much.
Paul will be returning to the Ed Sullivan Theater on Wednesday night to be interviewed by David Letterman.

Interesting stories Carolyn. I can just picture you talking to Ringo on the phone. Must have been fun times on the West Coast. I know that we had fun with you when we were there.

Linda

[MsUp]

I really don't know where to begin, there were so many 'run-ins', over the years. When they started out, I was a child (just turned 12 that January), but it was love at first sight & sound. If anyone dared to tell me 'they're just a flash in the pan, here today-gone tomorrow', I'd tear them a new one (in my sweetest way). We (the baby boomers) knew then, that they were '4 EVER'. The Beatles changed the entire world (music, fashion, lifestyle, politics, etc.). Thank you, to the original 'heaven sent' Fab Four, for making this little girl's life way brighter than it might have been, you inspired me, you made me think, you brought more love into my world.

[jerzeypocofan]

first Beatles moment was the Ed Sullivan show...my favorite Beatles moment was
going to the Millburn Movie Theater watching Hard Days Night and Help double feature
on the BIG screen for 50 cents....I've seen Help over 30 times in my lifetime