(Personal reflections inspired by Beatles songs)
Song: “I Saw Her Standing There”
Album: Please Please Me
Release Date: March 1963
Back in Fab Foundations #9, I wrote about the amazing record collection of my longtime friend Pete’s older brother Paul, which consisted primarily of Beatles albums. Pete and I would admire this well-kept collection from time to time back when we were teenagers in the 70s. Paul’s Beatles collection included rarity-albums, along with scores of original singles with their accompanying picture sleeves.
I was collecting other things at the time, including coins and comic books, but for a brief period I saved up my paper-route cash to delve into the world of Beatles-collectibles myself. The highlight of this short stint was a trip into the city to attend a Beatles convention of which the centerpiece was the buying and selling of Beatles memorabilia. My sole reason for going was to purchase collectible items for myself, particularly singles with pictures sleeves.
Aware of my interest, Pete’s brother Paul had informed me of this convention and drove a group of us in (this also being a period of time that predated my friends and I being of driving age). It was great having Paul there because this sort of thing was old hat to him, which gave me the peace-of-mind that I would not be ripped off and maybe even find a good deal. I had nothing in particular in mind other than purchasing original singles with intact picture sleeves. For the most part, I simply wanted to find items that caught my eye.
The details are sketchy, but I do recall a handful of vendor tables where I spent most of my time poking through the collectibles. I also remember one of these vendors - who resembled Santa Claus - talking up his wares. Throughout my shopping experience Paul gave me space, but he was never too far off to help guide me. I had about $200 to spend and figured I’d break it up to 5 items, seeing that the average price for the Beatles singles was running at about $40 (although some items, like the infamous “Butcher Cover” and the “Two Virgins” album were running for way more than that).
I homed in on my choices, and after some very helpful haggling on Paul’s part, I was able to get a pretty good lumped discount; 5 Beatles singles that ranged from $30-$60 at a group-discount price. These singles ended up being 1) “I Saw Her Standing There”/”I Want To Hold Your Hand” 2) “Nowhere Man”/”What Goes On” 3) “Lady Madonna”/”The Inner Light” 4) “Hello Goodbye”/”I Am The Walrus” and 5) “All You Need Is Love”/”Baby, You’re a Rich Man”. The sleeves and discs were all in very good condition. Right off, it felt great having them in my possession. I thanked Paul for all his help, and after poking around for a bit longer (while Paul made a few purchases for himself) we headed for home.
I went down cellar this week and pulled out those 5 singles (photo below) and for the first time in a long time I decided to remove them from their hermetically sealed vacuum packings (slight exaggeration there). Were these distinctive collectibles going to fall apart in my hands? Turn to dust? Thankfully no, but nonetheless I did handle them with extreme care. My hope was that by holding and observing these singles in such a way, I would rekindle some of those feelings I had when I first made that purchase over 45 years ago.
What makes an item valuable? I’m not necessarily talking about this in a monetary way. I mean, sure, there is a monetary aspect to any item’s value, but it’s way more than that. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or so they say. And yet, as they also say, you can’t take it with you. For this and other reasons, I lost interest long ago in collecting things. But I still value greatly many of the items I once collected, and I am thankful I still have most of them. My linkage to these material things - be they cereal box “Funny Fringes”, hockey autographs, comic books, Britain’s LTD plastic animals, coins, monster models, old magazines, or Beatles pictures sleeves - is a key reason why I am able to write this Music and Memory blog series. All these items are blasts from the past that stir up the imagination.
The picture sleeves remind me of my old paneled bedroom on Park Road, Franklin, Massachusetts, where I was surrounded by all these collectibles. Case in point, two of my four bureau draws, which would normally be dedicated to clothing, were instead dedicated to comic books, along with those five Beatles picture-sleeve singles. I kept the singles in the corner of the upper comic-book draw, propped up by one of my 20 or so comic series (I’m guessing it was the Avengers, seeing as it was the highest stack). My room was like a sanctuary to me. It was the one place that I could make completely unique unto myself.
On the top of my bureau was my turntable and speakers. I remember one time playing the Rolling Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” for my Dad to hear. Dad was impressed but gave the credit for the quality sound to my stereo system (vs. the Stones – Ha!). I had built up a nice album collection by the time I’d left for college, including Joe Jackson, Supertramp, and a good number of Beatles albums. My brother Fred, whose room was adjacent to mine, had built up a nice collection too. His albums included a handful of great Kinks music, as well as assorted new wave and punk. I give credit to Fred for getting me into the Stones with his “Hot Rocks” album (Side note to Fred: We should have discussed this last year when we attended that great Rolling Stones show).
My sister Jen also had some good music blaring from her room, which was diagonal to mine. I’m thinking we competed for volume and so shut our doors when necessary. Jen introduced the household to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin (Side note to Jen: We should have discussed this 2 years ago when we attended that fabulous Roger Waters show. Come to think of it, maybe we did!). Brother Joe rounded out the Rock craze from his room - which was 2 doors down - with his excellent cassette collection (sadly this collection would be stolen from him before he set off for college). Joe had a great assortment of Rolling Stones albums, as well as Tom Petty and other classic rock staples (Side note to Joe: You have to get hard copies of at least half of that old collection so you can get that old Musical Mojo back. I'll help!).
I was the Beatles sibling. We all loved them, and we all had their music in our collections, but I pushed the envelope with the deeper stuff (which included selections from their solo efforts). I did this until I discovered the Who during my Freshman year in college. From there, the floodgates opened with my Rock and Roll explorations. But make no doubt about it, the Fab Four were the Foundation.
The collectible picture-sleeve singles were rarely if ever played. They were there for show: Mine that is, not anyone else’s. Afterall, if they were for everyone, I would have displayed them somewhere in the open. But they were tucked in my draw, where only I would observe them on a regular basis. In this way, I suppose they acted as a keepsake…my personal linkage to a then-recent past that was very significant to me. I’m happy to say this remains the case.
It’s funny that I never added to that core collection. But it was enough for me. Those 5 singles validated my immersion into all things Beatles. Those 5 singles authenticated my bedroom as being part of the Magical Mystery Tour. Those discs gave me informal card-carrying membership to the ever-expanding fan base. Taking it a bit further those 5 singles gave me membership to a Rock culture that believed in something novel, real and intrinsic, which made it all the easier to take bold forays into that brave new world.
I dedicate this entry to the song “I Saw Her Standing There” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjt1gQI3o1k), which is track 1 on the very first Beatles album, Please Please Me (and of my 5 singles, it’s Side A on the oldest one). This url link shows a bass-player’s cover of said song. I have watched this video often. It was one of the first tunes I learned on bass, and I enjoy it to this day because it is both complex and fun at the same time. Mostly, however, “I Saw Her Standing There” is a reminder of a time in my life when it was all about collectibles. What an invaluable time it was.
- Pete
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