​Beatlemaniacs England Trip 
June 30th-July 8, 2020​
email Sue for more details!  sue@beatletour.com   

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 2018 trip Fans take a magical mystery tour through
birthplace of  The Beatles
By Michael Fortuna, Daily Sun Staff Writer  7/18

Dr. Winston O'Boogie Jr and Gary Harrison Davis playing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.
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Jim Fraser, right, leader of the Beatlemaniacs of The Villages, plays a song with Len Garry, the bass player for the Quarrymen, John Lennon’s first band. The two are in St. Peter’s Church in Liverpool, site of Paul McCartney and Lennon’s first meeting. The Beatlemaniacs spent four days in London and Liverpool checking out Beatles locations.

​Fans take a magical mystery tour through
birthplace of  The Beatles
By Michael Fortuna, Daily Sun Staff Writer  7/18

              Jim Fraser, right, leader of the Beatlemaniacs of The Villages, plays a song with Len Garry, the bass player for the Quarrymen, John Lennon’s first band. The two are in St. Peter’s Church in Liverpool, site of Paul McCartney and Lennon’s first meeting. The Beatlemaniacs spent four days in London and Liverpool checking out Beatles locations.
 
       During the early 1960s, the Beatles cut their musical teeth at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, playing more than 200 performances.    Jim Fraser and Gary Davis experienced the same thrill more than 50 years later, strapping on some guitars to play a couple of Beatles tunes at the famous spot.  “It’s Mecca for Beatles fans,” said Fraser, of the Village of Silver Lake. “I don’t know how to describe it. We were standing at the spot where they stood and played, playing a couple of old songs they did. It was just fantastic — one of those things you can dream about.”   “It wasn’t as intimidating as I thought,” added Davis, of the Village of Mallory Square. “Someone handed me a guitar and I got up on stage.”
        The duo joined several other members of the Beatlemaniacs of The Villages on the trip of a lifetime, spending three days in London and four days in Liverpool from July 8 to 15.  “It was great to see their reactions,” Fraser said.  The majority of the 23-person tour group was making its first magical mystery tour to various Beatles landmarks in the United Kingdom.
“It was almost surreal,” said Doug Fields, of the Village of Tall Trees. “They looked like ordinary places.”
“I wanted to see all the Beatles’ history,” said Kevin Grand, of the Village of Pine Hills.  For Robert Coffman, it was his first trip overseas. In addition to talking with people who were associated with the Beatles, Coffman enjoyed seeing all of the architecture and feasting on the local cuisine.
        While going through Paul McCartney’s childhood home, Coffman, himself a photography enthusiast, focused on the camera McCartney’s brother used to take pictures.  “I’m glad I did go,” said Coffman, of the Village of Springdale.
        At the Cavern Club, the original building had been demolished back in the 1970s, with a facsimile later built in its place.   “It was hot and sweaty,” Davis said.
“They re-created the smell and the sticky floor,” added Bill Headen, of the Village of Alden Bungalows.
     Along the way, the Beatlemaniacs met a few people with ties to the Fab Four, including Freda Kelly, who was the Beatles’ secretary and helped run the group’s official fan club; David Birch, John Lennon’s cousin; and Tony Branwell, a childhood friend of George Harrison and McCartney who ended up working with Brian Epstein and shot many of the Beatles’ promotional videos.   “It was fantastic being with (Branwell),” Fraser said. “He had so much knowledge and inside stories.”
      In another bucket-list-worthy moment, Fraser met Len Garry and Colin Hanton, who were the bassist and drummer in Lennon’s first band, the Quarrymen. The location: St. Peter’s Church in Liverpool, where Lennon and McCartney first met in 1957. Fraser, Garry and Hanton even played “Twenty Flight Rock,” the same tune McCartney played for Lennon that first day.
       The group visited the building that used to be Decca Studios, where the Beatles recorded 15 songs as part of an audition in 1962. The record company rejected the band.  “That was the worst business decision of all time,” Davis said.
     And it wouldn’t have been a Beatles trip to London without some of the members getting their pictures crossing Abbey Road to re-create the famous album cover.
       Now back home, those members have several hundred photos to help bring back the memories of their journey.