Bizarre fan mail sent to The Beatles in their heyday is to feature in a new exhibition put together by a devoted collector. The letters of yesteryear were written by besotted teenagers to Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison and sent to Ringo Starr’s homes in London, Liverpool and Surrey.
Some were addressed with door numbers the wrong way around. One stated simply: ‘Ringo Starr, Liverpool, England’. There were requests like ‘Please give to Paul’ or ‘Please give to John’. Yet, somehow, they all ended up in the hands of the Beatles drummer. Many asked individual band members to write back to them directly, and had return addresses both inside and on the outside of the envelopes. They are to feature in a new exhibition inspired by “100 letters to Ringo” from fans as far afield as Australia, Brazil, and Spain.
Memorabilia collector Joseph Robert O’Donnell has amassed the collection of fan mail dating from Sept., 1965 to Jan., 1966. They ended up with Roger Hopkins, who was Ringo’s ‘odd job man’ at his ‘Sunny Heights’ property in Weybridge, Surrey. Roger worked for the star at the height of his fame, and lived in a caravan on the property.
He and his then girlfriend Iris, who later became his wife, would occasionally socialise with Ringo and his first wife, Maureen Cox. hey married in 1965 and divorced in 1975. Their marriage produced three children: Zak, Jason, and Lee Starkey.
Joseph, 28, of North Shields, North Tyneside, said: “There are 84 letters in total, and more than half of them have clear return addresses. “I have written letters to these fans, hoping that someone who knows them still lives at the old addresses. The goal is to obtain a further 16 letters and exhibit these fascinating pieces of Beatles history as ‘100 Letters to Ringo’.
“I’d also love to speak to any Royal Mail workers from this time, to learn more about the volume of letters sent to The Beatles”. Roger, of Wokingham, has fond memories of his time with Ringo.
The Surrey home was often besieged by fans. Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison were regular visitors. “John usually turned up on his moped,” Roger recalled. “One winter’s day, as John was leaving, he skidded and fell off. There were lots of female fans gathered outside.
“They all rushed over to help John. When I went to check on him, he just grinned and said he was fine. The fans were gobsmacked at the chance to touch and talk to John Lennon.
“He signed autographs for all of them, got back on his moped and headed home.” The letters cover an important period in the Beatles history.
Their album Rubber Soul, released in 1965, saw a shift to sophisticated songwriting and experimentation, paving the way for their later psychedelic work. The group had just completed their second film, Help!, and continued to dominate the charts worldwide. Their success meant they were busy touring, recording, and appearing on TV. Ringo happily answered fanmail until 2008, when he announced that he would no longer accept nor sign autographs and correspondence.
In 1991, Ringo featured in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ when Marge reveals that she was once a huge fan and had sent him letters along with portraits she painted of him.
Ringo rented his flat in Montague Square, London, to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, before evicting him. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were staying there when they were arrested for drug possession, and posed naked there for the ‘Two Virgins’ album.
All the letters, along with the names of the fans Joseph hopes to contact, are on his website: www.josephrobertodonnell.com.
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