Fact #189374
When:
Short story:
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr of The Beatles set off for a holiday in Greece, Europe, with Jane Asher and Maureen Starkey.Full article:
Paul McCartney : I remember going with Jane, Ringo and Maureen on a holiday to Greece, and nobody knew who we were. And we were trying to sell ourselves the whole holiday, ‘We are in popular singing group back in England,’ and they were going, ‘Uh, push off, gringo.’ ‘No, no, really, we are…’
The band at the hotel were actually quite good, they really had a little bit of acoustic stuff down and had obviously been playing there for years. In fact, in the song ‘Girl’ that John wrote, there’s a Zorba-like thing at the end that I wrote which came from that holiday. I was very impressed with another culture’s approach because it was slightly different from what we did. We just did it on acoustic guitars instead of bouzoukis.
We didn’t get pestered at all, but then I remember coming back and hearing, ‘Oh, your record’s big in Greece now,’ and thinking, Well, there goes another little safe haven, and realising we were knocking these little safe havens off one by one. I thought, Oh, shit, either we’re all going to get terribly disappointed and it’s not going to be what we wanted. Or get hip right now and start looking for things to offset it. I think I realised, before we even got there, that the Beatles would reach a point where there was no turning back, we couldn’t be unfamous after it. I never wanted to become a prisoner of my own fame. That always seemed to me the ultimate tragedy.
Ringo Starr : We went to Corfu for a week, then to Athens. We were living in chalets and we used to get up about ten in the morning and go sunbathing. The trouble was, it was so hot, we used to have to give up after an hour or so.
Paul McCartney : One of the best days out we had was at a wine festival where you paid ten drachmas – about five bob – and sampled as many of the 200 wines as you could. After that, you could choose the one you liked best and have your decanter filled.
Ringo Starr : We had a great time at the hotel we stayed at. We couldn't understand a word of the songs the hotel band were playing, so on the last night Paul and I did a few rockers like What'd I Say? Then we went round to a local bar with some people we knew and did the same act again. The locals loved it, they were trying to join in.
Paul shot about ten rolls of cine film, but I had my trusty little box camera.
Paul McCartney : We took pictures of the Acropolis and really lived it up. The only thing we didn't like was the club which seemed to be full of flashy old businessmen with a dreary band. And we paid £3 for a couple of drinks.
Ringo Starr : After a few days, we travelled around a bit to the island of Rhodes and then back to Athens. Coming back there was a bit of trouble – there was a plane strike and we had to stay another night. Then we sort of went all around the world to get back home, because we got a plane that went via Zurich and Frankfurt.
(Source : not known)
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The band at the hotel were actually quite good, they really had a little bit of acoustic stuff down and had obviously been playing there for years. In fact, in the song ‘Girl’ that John wrote, there’s a Zorba-like thing at the end that I wrote which came from that holiday. I was very impressed with another culture’s approach because it was slightly different from what we did. We just did it on acoustic guitars instead of bouzoukis.
We didn’t get pestered at all, but then I remember coming back and hearing, ‘Oh, your record’s big in Greece now,’ and thinking, Well, there goes another little safe haven, and realising we were knocking these little safe havens off one by one. I thought, Oh, shit, either we’re all going to get terribly disappointed and it’s not going to be what we wanted. Or get hip right now and start looking for things to offset it. I think I realised, before we even got there, that the Beatles would reach a point where there was no turning back, we couldn’t be unfamous after it. I never wanted to become a prisoner of my own fame. That always seemed to me the ultimate tragedy.
Ringo Starr : We went to Corfu for a week, then to Athens. We were living in chalets and we used to get up about ten in the morning and go sunbathing. The trouble was, it was so hot, we used to have to give up after an hour or so.
Paul McCartney : One of the best days out we had was at a wine festival where you paid ten drachmas – about five bob – and sampled as many of the 200 wines as you could. After that, you could choose the one you liked best and have your decanter filled.
Ringo Starr : We had a great time at the hotel we stayed at. We couldn't understand a word of the songs the hotel band were playing, so on the last night Paul and I did a few rockers like What'd I Say? Then we went round to a local bar with some people we knew and did the same act again. The locals loved it, they were trying to join in.
Paul shot about ten rolls of cine film, but I had my trusty little box camera.
Paul McCartney : We took pictures of the Acropolis and really lived it up. The only thing we didn't like was the club which seemed to be full of flashy old businessmen with a dreary band. And we paid £3 for a couple of drinks.
Ringo Starr : After a few days, we travelled around a bit to the island of Rhodes and then back to Athens. Coming back there was a bit of trouble – there was a plane strike and we had to stay another night. Then we sort of went all around the world to get back home, because we got a plane that went via Zurich and Frankfurt.
(Source : not known)