While those who knew George Harrison said he wasn’t exactly the Quiet Beatle, he was the most uncomfortable with fame, fan clubs, and paparazzi. He liked his privacy and grew tired of The Beatles’ fame by the mid-1960s. Still, it became a part of his life, and he dealt with it. In 1970, though, the fan club went too far. After learning about one of their plans, Harrison took steps to shut down the fan club.
George Harrison | William Lovelace/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images George Harrison was not happy with The Beatles’ fan club
Even after The Beatles broke up, their fan club continued on. Freda Kelly, the band’s longtime secretary and head of their fan club, stopped working for the band in 1972 but continued to answer fan mail until 1975.
“You can’t just close a fan club overnight,” she told The Guardian.
Check out the...
George Harrison | William Lovelace/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images George Harrison was not happy with The Beatles’ fan club
Even after The Beatles broke up, their fan club continued on. Freda Kelly, the band’s longtime secretary and head of their fan club, stopped working for the band in 1972 but continued to answer fan mail until 1975.
“You can’t just close a fan club overnight,” she told The Guardian.
Check out the...
- 4/25/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The Beatles wrote their music and won over fans with their charm, but they couldn’t have reached their level of success without the people who worked with them along the way. Producers, assistants, managers, and former bandmates all helped The Beatles become the biggest band in the world. While they didn’t receive as much recognition as the band, some people who helped lift The Beatles to success have become the subjects of both documentaries and fictional movies. Here are five to check out.
The Beatles and Brian Epstein | John Rodgers/Redferns ‘Good Ol’ Freda’ is a movie about The Beatles’ longtime secretary
At 17, Freda Kelly scored the job that thousands of people would have given anything to have. She became the secretary to The Beatles and the head of their fan club. She was also one of the few people to work with them for the entirety of...
The Beatles and Brian Epstein | John Rodgers/Redferns ‘Good Ol’ Freda’ is a movie about The Beatles’ longtime secretary
At 17, Freda Kelly scored the job that thousands of people would have given anything to have. She became the secretary to The Beatles and the head of their fan club. She was also one of the few people to work with them for the entirety of...
- 4/16/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Over the years, Beatles fans have enjoyed a wealth of programming that they can watch about the band. Documentaries have been made about each member of the band, and series like Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back follow the band through archival footage. Here are several films and series that fans of the Beatles should watch.
The Beatles | Fox Photos/Getty Images ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ (2021)
When The Beatles: Get Back aired on Disney+, fans had a chance to watch the band write, record, and perform classic songs. For the three-part documentary series, Jackson sifted through hours of footage originally captured for the 1970 documentary Let It Be.
While Let It Be provided audiences with a look into the band’s inevitable breakup, Get Back showed footage of the band enjoying their time together in spite of mounting tensions. Jackson said that he did not want to make the series...
The Beatles | Fox Photos/Getty Images ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ (2021)
When The Beatles: Get Back aired on Disney+, fans had a chance to watch the band write, record, and perform classic songs. For the three-part documentary series, Jackson sifted through hours of footage originally captured for the 1970 documentary Let It Be.
While Let It Be provided audiences with a look into the band’s inevitable breakup, Get Back showed footage of the band enjoying their time together in spite of mounting tensions. Jackson said that he did not want to make the series...
- 3/14/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Tony Sokol Dec 24, 2018
Crimble comes at the end of every year and The Beatles made it maybe. George Martin biographer chimes in.
The Beatles Christmas messages began as a personal show of holiday gratitude to the band’s fan club, but grew into an annual tradition as important as any evergreen chestnut for a generation. Growing up, the silly off-key carols meant Christmas. They were exciting. They were fun. They were funny. I never in my life worried about offending someone by saying Merry or Happy Christmas because, due to these recordings, I would forever mangle greetings like “Hare Kringle” and “very new jeers.” Inviting Krishna devotees and insult comics into the happy proceedings.
Christmas was never a religious holiday at our house. It rocked. And it all started when radio stations started playing the crimbly greetings. Long after the Beatles broke up, prog and oldies stations alike would keep up the tradition.
Crimble comes at the end of every year and The Beatles made it maybe. George Martin biographer chimes in.
The Beatles Christmas messages began as a personal show of holiday gratitude to the band’s fan club, but grew into an annual tradition as important as any evergreen chestnut for a generation. Growing up, the silly off-key carols meant Christmas. They were exciting. They were fun. They were funny. I never in my life worried about offending someone by saying Merry or Happy Christmas because, due to these recordings, I would forever mangle greetings like “Hare Kringle” and “very new jeers.” Inviting Krishna devotees and insult comics into the happy proceedings.
Christmas was never a religious holiday at our house. It rocked. And it all started when radio stations started playing the crimbly greetings. Long after the Beatles broke up, prog and oldies stations alike would keep up the tradition.
- 12/20/2017
- Den of Geek
Deadline reported Wednesday that Ron Howard, director of Rush, A Beautiful Mind and The DaVinci Code, will helm a documentary on the early years of The Beatles.
The film will focus on the years of 1960 to 1966, taking viewers through their formative days playing skiffle and at The Cavern Club in Liverpool all the way until their final tour and their infamous performance at Shea Stadium.
But separating this from many other rock docs that have touched on The Beatles’ massive influence, be it Martin Scorsese’s HBO documentary on the life of George Harrison or the much less sanctioned story Good ‘Ol Freda about the work of Beatles secretary Freda Kelly, is that Howard’s film will have the full support of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, Yoko Ono, and even The Beatles label Apple Corps Ltd.
Although there is no shortage of footage to be found on The Beatles,...
The film will focus on the years of 1960 to 1966, taking viewers through their formative days playing skiffle and at The Cavern Club in Liverpool all the way until their final tour and their infamous performance at Shea Stadium.
But separating this from many other rock docs that have touched on The Beatles’ massive influence, be it Martin Scorsese’s HBO documentary on the life of George Harrison or the much less sanctioned story Good ‘Ol Freda about the work of Beatles secretary Freda Kelly, is that Howard’s film will have the full support of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, Yoko Ono, and even The Beatles label Apple Corps Ltd.
Although there is no shortage of footage to be found on The Beatles,...
- 7/16/2014
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
"Good Ol' Freda" is an intimate portrait of an unassuming British secretary, Freda Kelly. By all accounts, in recent years, she has led a rather humdrum life. So how did this small documentary about a secretary go on to become a Swsw hit and get picked up by Magnolia Pictures for theatrical and digital release? That's easy to explain: Kelly wasn't just any secretary. She was The Beatles longtime secretary, telling her story in "Good Ol' Freda" for the first time in 50 years. After being released on September 6, the doc has grossed $51,442 in domestic box office – after opening in one theater, it went wide to 11 theaters around the country. It's the #22 Top Independent film in the iTunes store where, because of its built-in appeal and fan base, it should have a long shelf life. As Indiewire's Eric Kohn wrote in his review of the film, "Good Ol' Freda" moves along...
- 9/26/2013
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Earlier this year, the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom struck a deep chord with audiences because its ostensible subject matter (the struggles and hard-won victories of the professional backup singer) was a springboard for stirring conversations on the natures of art and spirituality. Good Ol' Freda is neither as ambitious nor as accomplished as that film, but audiences may find themselves similarly moved, as much for what the film says about the best of human nature as they are for the chance to be immersed in a rich fount of rare images and sounds of the Beatles. As a teenager, Freda Kelly lucked into the job of answering the band's mail and serving as an invaluable conduit between the foursome and their fans. She was with them from their very early club gig days, righ...
- 9/11/2013
- Village Voice
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