Ticket To Ride: Inside the Beatles' 1964 Tour

I fell in love with The Beatles almost ten years after they had broken up. I never knew real Beatlemania, but I did know the music and it was the Beatles that helped me fall in love with the idea of London.

Larry Kane was reporter who followed The Beatles around on the 1964 and 1965 US concert tours and Ticket To Ride is his recollection of those glory days. He says that he is still asked on a regular basis, so, what where The Beatles really like?

I listened to the audio book version of Ticket to Ride and found it to be absolutely perfect. Read by the author, an old radio and tv guy, Larry Kane knows how to give his words a great delivery and how to bring his stories to life.

The interviews he quotes are a glimpse into the world of the 1960s and how the Lads tended to repeat themselves and say things like-it's a drag, man, you know, it's a drag, it's kind of a bummer, man. The Beatles were amazing as musicians, but their off the cuff remarks show that they were just four guys as well.

Ticket to Ride is filled with stories of rabid fans rushing the stage and surround the cars in mobs that hope to see the Fab Four. Insane fan stories make up a deal of the story, with tales of fans sneaking into hotels and disguising themselves as maids and how often Larry was by a fan that they would do anything to meet the Beatles. He gallantly turns down all these offers.

There are few stories that put the Beatles in any kind of negative light-with Larry's one major gripe about John Lennon being that John was against the war in Vietnam and Larry joins the Air Force. He mentions in passing that the Beatles were living the Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll lifestyle. Women, all of which were over the age of consent Larry points out, were always around and always willing. Drugs from marijuana to 'pills' were a part of the Beatles life, and even 40 years later it is clear that the Beatles disappointed Larry by indulging in such activities.

Above all is the now amusing fact that everyone, even The Beatles, thought they were just a flash in the pan that would soon enough be forgotten. The 1964 Beatles were modest and kind and wanted to make a good impression on everyone.

Ticket to Ride is a fun book that tells us about Larry Kane's Beatles, four men that he really liked and who seemed to really like him.

Beatles Interview Found In London

"For 44 years a canister of film had been stored in a damp garage in South London; unopened, unloved and almost thrown away," the BBC reported.

The nine-minute Beatles interview took place in the studios of Scottish Television on Thursday, April 30, 1964. It seems that John Lennon said Ringo Starr should be seen and not heard-well, Ringo never did get much respect, did he? But he did get the occasional death threat and his songs were the fun ones-while John did that odd bit of business about #9. Well, John Lennon was always joking in those days. The Beatles were just a lark-they never thought it would last.

Seeing all the excitement about the lost Beatles tape, British PM Gordon Brown announced that his favorite Beatles song is "All My Loving." Actually he was asked about his favorite Fab Four song as part of Liverpool's Beatles Day celebration. Beatles Day, on July 10, will mark the 44th anniversary of the Fab Four's triumphant homecoming to Liverpool after they conquered America in 1964. The Echo is also trying to find the most popular Beatles Song.

I love all things Beatles and it is always cool when some new bit of business pops up. Nice that the tape turned up in London-lots of Beatles connections with London though. You'd think that after all these years there wouldn't be anything to find-but they were interviewed by like a gazillion people and some of them must still have the tape laying around somewhere.

I also love the BBC and BBC 4 has the Lost Beatles Interview. The interviewer talks about how he can't recall why he didn't take more photos of The Beatles, but this was before they became THE Beatles-so why would he have taken a ton of photos? Pop groups come and go, don't they? It's only in looking back that it seems a missed opportunity. One of my favorite early Beatles history bits is how Ringo wanted to open a Hair Salon, and how he did. Seems a bit silly now, doesn't it? A lot of the interview is kind of silly as well-but that was one of the great things about the Beatles.

Even after they had made A Hard Day's Night they still thought it was going to be over any minute. Here we are 44 years later and it still isn't over.

Beatles London Flat up For Sale

A flat once rented by the Beatles in London is up for sale for about $3.5 million. Who says living in London is expensive?

The Beatles moved into a falt at 57 Green Street, near Hyde Park, in the Autumn of 1963. This was the only home shared by all four Beatles. It was Manager Brain Epstein's way to keep the mobs of fans at bay. The flat is for with Sotheby's.

General Beatles Sites has a long list of sites that cover all aspects of the Beatles. I have a great love of The Beatles myself, having found them when I was an angst stricken teen in the early 1980s. I stay in a hotel in Russell Square just down the road form a hotel the Beatles stayed in. Of course, I didn't know it at the time. One of things to see the next time I am in London is the Abby Road Studio. Just to walk the zebra crossing in St. John's Wood, London, England.

The Beatles old flat has been remodeled into a two-bedroom apartment. It was used from time to time by it's present owner, who lives in California.

"The owner is aware of its history, but hasn't turned it into a Beatles shrine or anything like that," said estate agent Peter Bevan.

Too bad, if I owned it, it's be restored to it's 1963 glory days and added to the very long list of places to see in London that have a Beatles connection. The Beatles are to the U.K. what George Washington is to America, they pretty slept everywhere. Or at least, that's what I hear.