Sunday, August 26, 2007 BBC Beatles News
Last Updated: Saturday, 25 August 2007, 08:22 GMT 09:22 UK
Fans remember Beatles 40 years on
John Lennon and Paul McCartney with the Maharishi in BangorFans have been
recalling their encounters with The Beatles on the 40th anniversary of their
visit to Bangor.
The Fab Four came to the city in August 1967 to attend a seminar led by their
Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
But the landmark visit was cut short when they learnt of the death of their
manager Brian Epstein from an overdose of sleeping tablets.
Bangor was thrown into the spotlight because of Epstein's death and the band's
urgent departure from the city.
Mr Epstein, who was 32 when he died on 27 August, had been due to travel to
Bangor, Gwynedd from London to meet John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr
and George Harrison at the seminar.
Before leaving Bangor, John Lennon said: "Our meditations have given us
confidence to stand such a shock."
Hundreds of screaming fans greeted the Beatles when their train arrived in
Bangor on 25 August.
We started giving out flowers to people to put around their necks. They were a
happy bunch! We ran out of flowers that day
Leonard Jones, Bangor college gardener
Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull were also on the trip, arranged because the
Maharishi, then the leader of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, was
addressing the movement's conference at Bangor's Normal College.
In a BBC Radio Wales programme to be broadcast on Monday, fans and historians
will remember the significance of their visit and the affect it had on the city.
Christina Dunn, who was on the same train as the Beatles that day, said the
atmosphere was "electric".
"It was wonderful to be in their presence," she said. "It was a part of
history, absolutely, and I was a part of it."
Leonard Jones, a gardener at the college at the time, said the Beatles presence
prompted people to sing, play guitar and meditate in the bushes.
"We started giving out flowers to people to put around their necks," he said.
"They were a happy bunch! We ran out of flowers that day."
Back in 1967, the Beatles, who had given up touring, were number one in the
album charts with their critically-acclaimed Sgt Pepper's album.
The Beatles visited Bangor in their Sgt Peppers album hey-day
Their classic peace anthem All You Need Is Love was also riding high in the
singles charts.
So their appearance in Bangor took on a new significance, said music journalist
and author Jon Savage.
"The Beatles hadn't been seen for a while, they'd stopped touring and their
success had made them almost God-like," he said.
"Gone were the mop tops and smart outfits - instead they were turned out in
psychedelic fineries.
"They had everything they could buy by now and were looking for something more,
something spiritual."
The Beatles in Bangor will be broadcast at 1300 BST on BBC Radio Wales on
Monday 27 August.
Source:
BBCNews
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