Beatle Girl

I don't know what day it happened. I don't recall exactly how old I was. What I do know is that when I was a little girl I fell in love with four men : John, Paul, George and Ringo. My mom had kept a lot of their albums from when she was a teenager during the height of Beatlemania. I listened to those records over and over in the darkness of our wood-paneled basement. Their music made an indelible impression on me. I heard the songs the way millions of first generation fans did. On a record player. The best way to hear them, in my opinion. I've always savored the sound of sweet nostalgia. " I love my records/black, shiny vinyl/clicks and pops and white noise/man they sounded fine" (Stolen lyrics from a Tim McGraw song. I couldn't have put it better myself). Most of my CD covers. I don't know what happened to all the records we used to have, but after they'd been through me they weren't exactly in pristine shape. I killed them with my love.

Here are the three 2-disc Anthology albums that were released when I was in high school. I was beyond giddy to get these. They had tons (literally!) of "never before heard" songs, along with rough early versions of their most recognizable work. It was so interesting for me to hear how they incrementally perfected each track.

My sisters and brother all shared my affinity for The Beatles, but I was for sure the most devoted out of all of us. We watched "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" a plethora of times each. I loved seeing my boys on film. I thought they were unbearably cute in their movies when they sang, goofed around, danced or said anything. British accents make me melt.

Over the years, my Beatle love deepened and increased. In junior high I got my first t-shirt that showcased that admiration. When I entered high school, some boys began calling me Beatle Girl.
I don't know how they came up with that. Just because I had enough Beatles shirts to wear
a different one each day of the week. And wear them daily I did. I loved the attention. I found that outwardly displaying my musical taste was the easiest way to attract other fans.

One day at school, early in my sophomore year, I discovered a hot boy wearing a "Beatles For Sale" album cover t-shirt. It was instant infatuation. I wanted him to see the Beatle shirt I happened to be wearing that day. I looked forward to each day when I would search the crowded halls for him. It took me a few days to muster up the courage to say anything to him. I liked hearing him talk and watching him walk. Actually, his walk drove me crazy. In a good way. ;) His name was Justin (and I'm sure it probably still is, wherever he may be). He was so cool. I didn't really know what to do about my crush. He mostly teased me and I mostly just giggled. One time we exchanged hand-written quizzes with Beatles trivia. I don't remember the scores, but I do recall a bit of debate about some of the answers. Sometimes at lunch I would go sit with him by his locker, but I was always so nervous around him. I'd never liked anyone as cool as him before. That kind of intimidated me. At some point we progressed to phone calls. I wasn't sure if he was thinking what I was thinking, so I asked him over the phone, "do you like me?" He said, "why not?" :) Later, he hinted that it would be cool if I would come with him and his friends to the Crazy Horse (a little venue near downtown where local alternative or punk rock bands played). I was only 15 and knew I wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere with him until I was 16, and that was almost a year away. So he just kind of gave up on me. And I didn't ever kiss him! Dang, what was my problem? I blame my nerves, my hesitancy to do anything daring, and my inexperience with boys. I had a crush on him the rest of high school even when I started dating other boys and when he had a girlfriend the next year. Oh well.

Wearing Beatles shirts so often had its good and bad consequences. While it often solicited positive feedback, I can remember one instance when a couple of girls were walking behind me and one of them said in a snotty voice, "I hate The Beatles!" I had to bite my tongue, but I was truly offended. Totally spoiled my mood. Their music was so deeply ingrained into the fibers of my being that any negative comments about my boys was a personal insult to me.

I sometimes wonder if I can get away with wearing Beatles shirts at my age. I don't know why I care about what others may be thinking. I just don't want people to think that I'm trying to look like a teenager. It's true that some days I wish I could take a trip back to my teenage years, but that's not why I wear Beatles shirts once in a while now. It's simply to advertise my ongoing adoration for the greatest band in history. (That's a fact, not just my personal opinion. =)

I bought this mug when I was probably 15. I came across this little notepad set a couple years ago. What a find!

Reverse side of my mug. Paul was always my favorite. So handsome ... and I loved his voice the most.

My trading card collection. They had these at Hastings when I was a teenager. My awesome sister gave me a whole box of them for Christmas that year. How exciting!

My mom saved some of her magazines from the Sixties. They aren't in very good condition, but I'm happy to have them. I remember poring over them and expanding my storehouse of Beatle
facts. I used to know pretty much everything about them. I would go to the library and check out stacks of biographies about them. If only I'd been so serious about my schoolwork. ;) Between boys and The Beatles, I was a lost cause when it came to getting good grades. I'm not proud of that, but that was my justification at the time. I can hear in my memory a sampling of my thoughts back then: I'm too distracted to do my homework.

These are more mags my mom unknowingly saved for me. ;)

Here's the report I gave in US History my junior year. Everyone got to choose a band from the '60s to research. It was understood that I had dibs on The Beatles. It was my favorite school assignment ever.

Some clippings I collected during the 30th anniversary of their first visit to America.



I almost forgot to mention that in 1999, I got to go see Ringo in concert here in Boise. It was SO AWESOME! I couldn't believe I was in the same room with him, after a lifetime of loving him. =)
I enjoyed every minute of it.

It's still my dream to see Paul in concert. I really hope someday it will happen. And I want very much to go to England, too.

Okay, I'll say one more thing, and that is, The Beatles' music has always had the ability to cheer me, even in my darkest hour. For as far back as my memory takes me. And it still does. It's my therapy. It doesn't fix my problems, but it somehow makes them more bearable. With a little help from my friends, The Beatles, I can take a sad song and make it better. :)

I'm kind of hoping my kids will fall in love with The Beatles like I did. I try to let them hear their music as much as possible. So far, no complaints... This could be the beginning of a beautiful obsession. ;) (Honestly I've been playing They Might Be Giants albums most of the time when we're in the car lately. We all love them, but I need to make sure my two favorite bands have equal "airtime".)

I'm planting the seeds, and with any luck I'll be responsible for creating a new generation of young Beatlemaniacs.