The Beatles 50th Anniversary Weekend Adventure!

How can I even begin to describe what the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival into the United States means to me? As I drove through San Francisco on a damp, rainy Saturday morning, I found myself remembering our flat on Second Avenue off Lincoln Way near Golden Gate Park -- I can still picture the den where we watched the big-screen black and white TV, the hardwood floors and the white shag rug, the "basket" chair and rocking chair where the "grown ups," my Mom and Dad sat, the paneled walls and built-in wooden cabinets from the early 1900s.

That was where I sat when the Beatles arrived and changed my life forever -- I was not quite seven years old then. My mother and I both became hooked immediately, dancing, singing and yelling "she loves you" over and over until our voices were hoarse. it was the night I finally had something in common with my Mother, who was brilliant -- something that just the two of us shared.

Here we are at Bronco Billy's in Fremont sharing the Beatles music with at least 75 people if not MORE! what an amazing time we had!

we had our own "room" an extension of Bronco Billy's!!!

Words cannot even explain this fabulous day that took me from san Francisco to an amazing writing workshop and then to Fremont for our Bronco Billy's ukulele jam. Not just any ukulele jam, a very special one for the Beatles 50th anniversary!!! I couldn't believe it when I looked out at all the ukulele players, enthusiasts and singers... we had an entire room to ourselves and had to keep bringing in more chairs. We must've had close to 100 people in there all singing -- ESPECIALLY when we started the Beatles songs, one song after another and people wanted more. I was so touched and amazed that I almost cried... as I described each song we did from that first Ed Sullivan show... in order. All My Loving, then 'Til There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There and I Wanna Hold your Hand.

Steve played U-bass most of the night, but broke out the ukulele whenever he could!

Steve was there in full form rockin' on the U-bass (which makes a huge difference for our ukulele jam)... he even got me a special Beatles Day "Peace" card and everyone signed it... my friends from San Francisco Vickie and becky came and of course all the usual suspects. John, June Margaret and her sister and Leonard who moved beyond Sacto, so many familiar faces mixed with new ones. and Janet Lenore arrived and rocked out with us until the end!!! 

Leonard and James having fun!

Both Diane and I were totally amazed and delighted... acoustics were excellent in our room and I looked back and saw even more people. James joined us with awesome percussion... my friend whose wonderful idea of doing the abbey rd. Ending on ukulele... Jennifer... it was a wonderful, moving day... that morphed into evening and beyond. Can't think of a better way to celebrate the Beatles 50th anniversary than with all of you... 

George sang and played some songs from his new CD! it was awesome. Steve accompanied on U-bass...man it REALLY made a difference having him play U-bass for us!

Janet Lenore joined us and George played some songs from his singles and Steve wowed us with some more Beatles songs... and we ended with the most awesome rendition of Twist and Shout La Bamba finale ever!! By now we were down to the last 20 or 30 diehards who didn't want it to end... and yeah we danced all right. LUV YOU ALL... YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!

check this out, all of us dancing and singing at the end of the most awesome afternoon that morphed into evening that morphed into later evening:

 Ending With La Bamba Twist and Shout

Diane and Me -- Diane talked me into helping her with this amazing endeavor of starting a new ukulele jam in Fremont (East Bay) -- without her Bronco Billy's would've happened! Yayy! WE ROCK!

And what a night it was. But there's more. Sunday, February 9, the actual anniversary day of the Beatles' arrival, some of us invaded Michael McNevin's "Mud Puddle" in Niles for more music and fun -- especially to sing and play Beatles songs on the definitive anniversary. Yep, the ukulele players did invade...but in the best way imaginable! and Michael himself got out a ukulele...I dragged along my neighbor Mitch who had never been to the Mud Puddle or to a jam even...he ended up with a guitar even though he hadn't played in years. My friend Margaret showed up right on time on that rainy Niles afternoon where, as Michael McNevin likes to say, "we can get muddy!"

c'mon in!

beautiful rainy day in Niles!

Steve arrived with his ukulele! I had reminded him that the Mud Puddle jam was starting at 2pm, and he replied with, "Which mud puddle? there are many of them today." Margaret finally came into the circle and held her own very well...

and, being a prolific, awesome songwriter, Michael McNevin came up witht his right after we played and sang, "Imagine" thanks to Janet Lenore who showed up with her ukulele and Jeff and his U-bass.

Imagine ukuleles. It's easy if yu try. No 5th n 6th strings. Above them only banjos. Imagine all the people, with little tiny things. Yuhooo, you may may say I'm a strummer. But I'm not the only one. Hope someday yu will join them. And plaaayy "Here comes the sun". 
Uke jam AND beatles 50th anniversary jam. ... I am drinking the koolaid.

I love it and was really thrilled that we had a place to play and sing on the special anniversary day I'd been feeling so incredibly emotional about for several days...

Photo courtesy of Michael McNevin -- at the Mud Puddle...the ukuleles kinda took over. Michael was worried that not many would show up, but all together, 17 people made it, some coming in and out, including at least six ukulele players and a poet who read her poetry and my friend Mitch who suddenly found himself playing someone's guitar, and a really awesome guitar player...and other regulars came and went.

Another magical musical day occurred, and I hung out with Mitch, Steve and Margaret for a while after the Mud Puddle jam -- but in the end I had to get home because the special anniversary show of the Beatles' arrival was happening, and I needed to be there...just like I was 50 years ago watching the big screen black and white. It mattered.

Baby Jeremiah waiting for the "Beatles" show to begin, another hour baby boy, another hour...the newest generation of Beatles fans...yes, they transcend generations!

When Jeremy posted he was watching the "Beatles" program with me, I was surprised that some of our long-time friends remembered the stories I'd tell about how much my mom and I loved the Beatles...! hehe!

I wasn't sure what to expect but I KNEW that I had to watch this show because it was exactly 50 years after that original Ed Sullivan Show that I remember sooo well...watching it on the big screen black and white TV in our flat on 2nd Ave. in San Francisco with my Mom and family... I even got a little emotional when the show opened with an actual clip of Ed Sullivan announcing the Beatles. I wasn't sure how I'd like the performances by the various artists, but for the most part, I LOVED THEM! I like hearing interpretations of the songs and also seeing Paul and Ringo out there (and family) grooving to the music made it super cool. loved the performances of Hey Bulldog (David Grohl from foo Fighters and gang), Imagine Dragons' rendition of Revolution was awesome... and LOVE LOVE LOVED seeing Joe Lind and Joe Walsh along with Dhani Harrison do Something and Here Comes the Sun... oh and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, EPIC!!!! "yesterday" by Katy Perry "worked" but not as well as I would've liked...and oh yeah, Stevie Wonder did an awesome "Stevie wonder" rendition of We Can Work It Out that I loved too! and of course when Ringo came out and did Matchbox and Boys and Yellow Submarine, I was thinking, oh my gosh, he sounds EXACTLY the same as he did in the original recordings back in the day...and Paul was in full form...of course that's what we always look forward to is seeing THEM...! loved of course the clips of the original show and the snippetts of conversation with Dave Letterman and Paul and Ringo...and their autobiographies. ONE thing I did not realize was how excited John Lennon was to play on the same stage Buddy Holly had played on, HA! overall it was fabulous!!! coming to you from a lifelong BEATLES FAN!

I even played along with some of the songs on ukulele...

It was truly an amazing "Beatles 50th Anniversary Weekend!" Almost 100 people showed up at our huge ukulele jam to play and sing or even just sing Beatles songs -- How wonderful to sing Hey Jude with everyone on Saturday night at Bronco Billy's and then again on Sunday afternoon at the Mud Puddle in Niles! The special tribute show exactly 50 years later on CBS was FABULOUS! I enjoyed all of it...and love seeing all the musicians and artists play and sing their interpretations of the Beatles songs and everyone paid tribute to four boys from Liverpool who showed up in so many of our lives that special night on Feb. 9th, 1964...

it was a true tribute with Paul and Ringo there and ending with Paul and Ringo (Paul on his signature bass and Ringo on drums) Hey Jude was beyond emotional and poignant...I closed my eyes and tried to imagine John and George being there and I know they felt the same way... but their spirits were definitely alive and well last night -- and every time they showed a clip from that first show in black and white I'd get all choked up...because I still remember. So tonight is our big ukulele jam at Dana St. Roasting in Mountain View and I have a feeling some Beatles songs WILL be played after a hard days' night...!  see you there.

He wanted his ukulele for "Hey Jude" which Paul and Ringo and the gang played together...at the end.

"East Coast Biz Casual"

So today at work we were asked to dress in "East Coast Business Casual," whatever the heck that's supposed to mean? My office manager, who really is super nice, seemed a little anxious about the whole thing of this new manager from Philly visiting our office today, and she even sent out an email about this major event. one attorney jokingly sent an email of east coast people wearing snow gear and walking around in the snow! No, not gonna fly here in CA. So I did my best -- wore my nicer shoes and a solid-colored top (dark purple)...and...oh yeah, the flower in the hair! shall I take it off, leave it in, hmmm...? So Sandy brings her around and introduces the new manager to us and the first thing she said when she shook my hand was, "Oh I just LOVE the flower in your hair!"  GO FIGURE! she didn't bat an eye at the Yellow Submarine poster or the Beatles calendar either, WHEW! I'm sooo relieved now! but yeah, they do dress a lot more professionally in Philly and NY, that's for sure!

I don't have my ukulele at my desk -- it's down in the car! what's up with this?

this is the way I usually dress -- walkin' through my FAVORITE city, San Francisco (with Mark and Dave)

Kidnapped by My Friends!

Perfect day at the beach in Santa Cruz...with Margaret, Nancy, John and Margaret

So, on Saturday morning, Diane and Margaret kidnapped me, forced me into Diane's car and we rode to the beach in Santa Cruz to play ukuleles with about 100 other people. We met Nancy and John there...it was a beautiful, perfect day. It's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it. 

Havin' fun at the beach!

Sometimes I wonder what the obsession is, why do we love playing ukuleles together so much whenever we get a chance? Sometimes it's hard to explain to people who aren't caught up in this musical insanity like we are...something about the FEELING of strumming on those ukuleles, playing songs... at the beach, at Bronco Billy's in Fremont, at the Oakside Cafe in San Francisco, Denny's in San Jose and sometimes even the Strum Shop in Roseville...something magical draws us all together somehow and there we are... 

For me, playing music is deeper, it's a type of expression and sharing with other people...of remembering, singing the songs together. I really can't quite pinpoint it. All I can say is that it's loads of fun!!! 

Yet I found myself sitting at home on a Saturday night is almost unheard of! I just don't feel like driving anywhere...my friends Diane and Margaret kidnapped me and took me yo the beach in Santa Cruz to play ukes with about 100 people! Such a beautiful day. West nancy and John there and had a blast!! Funny how sometimes your day is completely different than what you expected. Tomorrow it's uke rebellion in San Francisco!!! I did watch the 60s British Invasion Beatles documentary with baby j tonight who yelled to his dad look its the Beatles!!! Hehe!

Then on Sunday I had a super fun day playing uke with my awesome San Francisco uke rebellion friends! We had a big crowd at the Oakside Cafe, you would never know it was Superbowl Sunday at all! The rain was good and didn't phase anyone either. We even had newcomers and we started with a couple of Pete Seeger songs I'd uploaded to our meetup site because we lost him this past week. If I Had a Hammer and Where Have All the Flowers Gone.  Then we played songs out of hte Daily Ukulele songbook, then back to Turn, Turn, Turn and some other songs out of the book. Sooo much fun!!!

Then a group of us hung out at a local cafe with no TV..me Steve nancy dean and John...we sang and played loads of great songs. Good to have u bass accompaniment! We managed to completely avoid the Super Bowl hoopla!! There wasn't even much traffic in San Francisco today! Gotta love that!

Superbowl Sunday!

Today I had a super fun day playing uke with my awesome San Francisco uke rebellion friends! The rain was good. Then a group of us hung out at a local cafe with no TV. Me, Steve, Nancy, Dean and John...we sang and played loads of great songs. Good to have u bass accompaniment! 

We managed to completely avoid the Super Bowl hoopla!! There wasn't even much traffic in San Francisco today.

Gotta love that!

Mark and Steve -- dueling banjoleles!

Beautiful day in the City!!!!