THE BEATLES. Its all been said by the experts. Everything about the Beatles history has been repeatedly chronicled, dissected and analyzed. There is simply nothing new to say about the banduntil now!

Its the FANS turn now! In this unique and exceptional collection, Beatles fans of all ages and backgrounds share their own true stories, poems, anecdotes and memories of the Fab Four! These stories will bring laughter and they will bring tears. But most of all, they will bring back so many wonderful memories of the band that changed our lives forever.


Here are excerpts from some of the hilarious and heart-wrenching stories you will read in this book:

My grandfather said the Beatles entered the lobby of the Deauville Hotel amidst a crush of photographers, reporters and commotion. It was difficult, but he managed to grab a Beatle and a Deauville Hotel memo pad. He said that this Beatle, in the midst of all this chaos, was very polite and stood there with him and signed three autographs.

I had just been brought back to so many moments of my life and I saw the happiness, the sadness, the triumph, the pain, and the beauty of it all. Happiness welled inside of me and I had to stand up, knowing that the Beatles music had just triggered an epiphany.

The Beatles went to the States, to be met by scenes of the same sort of pandemonium that were already commonplace here in England. We realised, at that point, that they had found the audience they deserved: the world.

I first became aware of the mania when I was about ten. Paul McCartney was coming to town, and tickets were nearly impossible to get. Mom heard on the radio that a jewelry store one hundred miles away was going to be selling tickets to those willing to camp in their parking lot overnight. Within minutes Mom had thrown blankets, pillows, three kids and a husband into the minivan and was on the highway.

The Beatles had done their job. They had gotten me through a very difficult and sad adolescence. They had loved me from afar and had sung their songs directly to my heart.

Then, suddenly, there THEY were on the screen in A Hard Days Night! We stood up and a huge scream emanated from all of us at once. One of my girlfriends actually passed out at the first sight of Paul on the screen. We had to crawl under people to pick her up, along with various pieces of her radio, which had fallen to the floor when she passed out. We dropped her and her radio back into her seat and resumed our screaming.

We were in for quite a shock as the bus turned the corner by the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. There were already hundreds and hundreds of Beatle fans lining the roads! We reached the end of the queue just as it was getting light. The place was filled with screaming, chattering girls of all ages. The police arrived on horses to keep us all in order. It seemed like hours as we stood waiting to get our dream tickets to see our idols.

When I heard that A Hard Days Night was playing at the Denis in Mt. Lebanon [in 2001], I had to go. Not because my adult self desperately needed to see it. I could have rented it, or I could have stayed home and had a beer and read a book. But inside me is a 12-year-old who would have been beside herself with excitement, and I wanted to take her out.

This was such an incredible evening that when the last encore was over and Paul left the stage, I just stood there for about twenty minutes. I could not even move. I didn't want it to end. I know it sounds sophomoric for a grown woman to have this reaction, but this was 25 years of pent-up desire to see someone that I held in such high esteem for all that time. When I finally made my way out of the stadium and met up with my husband, he knew that I would be a mess, and I was. I couldn't speak; all I could do was cry.

I am a lad from Liverpool who now lives in the States. Being from the same city as the Fab Four meant that we grew up with them whether we liked it or not. I didn't know or meet the Beatles, but we all felt as though we did. They were ours. Our heroes, our friends, part of our family.


From a 13-year-old fan, written for John Lennon:


NEVER REALLY KNEW YOU


Seen you countless times
On TV and photos
Heard your voice a thousand more
But I never really knew you
Looked longingly at the places
Youd stood once before
Stared dreamily at your pictures
But I never really knew you
For you were gone
Before I came
Gone so long before
So Ive never really known you
It hurts to realize, to think
That weve never lived on
This earth at one time
I will never really know you.